340 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Oct. 



often out of the nettles of danger we have plucked the flowers of 

 safety. At the present moment the three propositions which were 

 ever present to the mind of Edward Forbes may be successfully 

 maintained, as agreeing with many observed phenomena; and 

 around them, as a basis of classification, may be gathered most of 

 the facts and most of the speculations which relate to the history 

 of life (n). First, it- may be admitted that plants and animals 

 form many natural groups, the members of which have several com- 

 mon characters, and are parted from other groups by a real bound- 

 ary line, or rather unoccupied space. Next, that each of these 

 groups has a limited distribution space, often restrained by high 

 mountains or deep seas, or parallels of temperature, within which 

 it has been brought into being. Thirdly, that each group has 

 been submitted to, or is now undergoing, the pressure of a general 

 law, by which its duration is limited in geological time ; the same 

 group never re-appearing after being removed from the series. 



How important, in the view of this and many other questions, 

 is that never-tiring spirit of geographical and maritime discovery, 

 to which through four hundred years Europe has sent her noblest 

 sons and her most famous expeditions; sent them, alas! too often 

 to an early grave. Alas ! for Franklin, who carried the magnetic 

 flag into the Icy Sea from which he had already brought trophies 

 to Science ! Alas ! for Speke, who came home with honor from 

 the head waters of the Nile ! Forgotten they can never be, when- 

 ever on occasions like this, we mourn the absence of our bravest 

 and our best; praise, neverending praise be theirs, while men 

 retain the generous impulse which prompts them to enterprises 

 worthy of their country and beneficial to mankind ! 



If it may be asked, what share in the discoveries and inven- 

 tions of the last thirty-three years is claimed for the British Asso- 

 ciation, let us answer fearlessly, We had a part in all. In some 

 of them we took the foremost place by the frequency of our discus- 

 sions, the urgency of our recommendations, the employment of our 

 influence, and the grant of our funds. For others we gave all our 

 strength, to support the Royal Society and other institutions in 

 their efforts to accomplish purposes which we approve. In all 

 instances our elastic system responds quickly to pressure, and 



(w) See the remarkable essay of E. Forbes on the distribution of the 

 existing Fauna and Flora of the British Isles, in Memoirs of Geol. Survey 

 of Britain, vol. i, p. 336. 



