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BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 



bounds of knowledge in this direction may confidently be looked for 

 in the near future. Much of this rapid progress is due to the stimulus 

 given by the appearance of Warming's great work on this subject, a 

 work likely to be viewed in the future as one of the classics of 

 Botanical Science.* To the members of this Society, eager for the 

 advancement of Science and scientific education in New Brunswick, 

 this new phase of Botany must be of especial interest, and some 

 formulation of it for this province will therefore be acceptable. 



A complete treatment of the Ecological Plant-geography of New 

 Brunswick will involve three parts, as follows : 



Tart. I. THE ELEMENTS COMPOSING THE NEW BRUNSWICK 

 FLORA — An account of the species actually occurring in tin- 

 Province and their habits here ; a systematic list of all the 

 species, with the situations they occupy, and the variations in 

 their structure in the different situations. So far as concerns the 

 listing of the species, much work has already been done by our 

 local botanists, but the study of the other phases has hardly been 

 attempted. The great difficulty in this study of habits is the 

 lack of accessible guides in which its principles are distinctly 

 formulated. 



Part II. THE GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE 

 NEW BRUNSWICK FLORA— 



A. Present provincial and world distribution of the species. 



B. Past History and Changes now in progression, including 



occurrence of Colonies, and Migrations. 



This part is capable of, and needs, thorough statistical study. 

 upon which suggestions will later be offered. It has alt tad \ 

 received some investigation by Dr. Matthew , Professor Fowler 

 and others. 



Part III. THE ECOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF THE NEW BRUNS- 

 WICK FLORA — The vegetation of no very large region is homo- 

 geneous as to its adaptations, but segregates itself into (iron p.* 

 including plants, most diverse in their systematic relationships, 

 brought together by their common adaptations to a particular 

 si -1 of external conditions. These groups as they occur in New 

 Brunswick may tentatively be classified as follows. 



* The original is in Danish, liut tin; German translation is most used. It is entitled 

 "Lehrbuch der Oekologisuhen l'llanzengeographie," Berlin, 1896. An English translation 

 is said to be in preparation. 



