1846.] Li/mean Society. 313 



December 15. 



E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



Lovell Reeve, Esq., was elected a Fellow. 



Specimens of Jimcus diffusus, Hoppe, collected by John Ansell, 

 Esq., at Darman's Green near Hoddesdon, Herts, were exhibited 

 and presented. 



Read the conclusion of Dr. Hooker's memoir " On the Vegetation 

 of the Galapagos Archipelago, as compared with that of some other 

 Trojoical Islands and of the Continent of America." 



The present paper offers the deductions which Dr. Hooker has 

 drawn with reference to Botanical Geography from his " Enumera- 

 tion of the Plants of the Galapagos Islands," read during the previous 

 session. He regards the relationship of the Flora to that of the ad- 

 jacent continent as double ; the peculiar or new species being for the 

 most part allied to plants of the cooler parts of America or of the 

 uplands of the tropical latitudes, while the non-peculiar aie tlie 

 same as abound chiefly in the hotter and more humid regions, sucli 

 as the Islands of the West Indies and the shores of the Gulf of 

 Mexico ; and while on the other hand many of the species, and those 

 the most remarkable (as is likewise the case with regard to the 

 Fauna), are confined to a single islet of the group, and often repre- 

 sented in other islets by similar, but specifically very distinct, con- 

 geners. 



The author commences his memoir with an account of the geo- 

 graphical position, and of some of the most important features of the 

 climate and soil of the Archipelago, chiefly derived from the journals 

 of Mr. Darwin and of some other voyagers, including the unpublished 

 journal of the late Mr. T. Edmonstone. This is followed by an 

 Enumeration of the Naturalists who have explored it in the order of 

 the dates of their respective visits, including Mr. Cuming, Mr. David 

 Douglas, Dr. Scouler, Mr. Macrae, Mr. Darwin, Admiral Du-Petit- 

 Thouars and Mr. Edmonstone. The total number of species brought 

 together from these various sources amounts to 244, of which 202 

 are flowering plants and 28 ferns. All of these, excepting perhaps 17, 

 natives of Charles Island (the only inhabited one), are truly indige- 

 nous, but it is probable that this is only an approximation to the true 



No. XXXI, — Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 



