33 



it will lie I'dimd ilial, in tlii' majmily oi land-plants with lu'avv fruits piodiiced 

 at a k'ss or <::rcatfr distaiict' ahiivi' the uroiind. winds |irevailing at tin' time the 

 fruit is ripe, more tlian any oilier factor, doterminc the diiection of their ran>i;e. 

 The slender investigation of meteoroloijical tables so far made is in harmony witii 

 these suggestions, luit the wlude titiili remains yet to he ascertained. 



r.otanists have < ften eommented on the remarkahle difference between the 

 (lorn of the California coast and that of the Atlantic States; and the strange re- 

 semblances of our eastern tlora to that of eastern Asia. There is a long list of 

 trees, for instance, of similar or identical species common to east Asia and the 

 eastern States of .\merica, including representatives of the genera in which are 

 found magnolias, lindens, sumacs, buckeyes, box-elder, yellow wood, honey- 

 locust, j)ear, shad-bush, dog- woods, rhododendrons, holly, persimmon, catalpa, 

 sassafras, osage-orange, planera. walnut, l)uttei'nut, hazelnut, liirch, alder, yel- 

 low and white pine, hemlock, arbor \it,e, bald cypress and yews. 



Looking over this list, it is noticeable that most of them are trees with heavy 

 fruits ripe in the fall; and have, for the most part, in the United States (in gen- 

 erall a n(U-theasterly range. Many of them are of southern afhnities, and some 

 northern. 



Now. as plants are known to be delicate indicators of climatic conditions, and 

 as it is fair to suppose the same or identical species will always behave the same 

 way under the same conditions, if we lind them behaving in a certain manner in 

 two different places or parts of the world, the logical inference is that the condi- 

 tions of the two regions are the same, or approximately so. Again, knowing the 

 conditions in the two ])laces to be practically the same, and the plants common to 

 the two regions, acting the same, we naturally conclude that the same forces are 

 operating in the same manner in both places. Following this out, we see that the 

 truth in regard to the inlluence of winds in shaping the range of some of our 

 American trees having been ascertained, bids fair to throw some light on the sim- 

 ilarity between our eastern llora and that of eastern Asia, and explain how sim- 

 ilar species in the two continents came to occupy like portions of their resj)ective 

 homes. 



Phoi'A<,.\tion and Pkotkitiox of Gami; and Fishi. IJv I. W. Shaki- 



ANTHKofoLOfJY : TnK Sti UY oi' Max. By Amos W. Butt>kk. 



