Of Celebes. 289 



cessity for the large-winged and showy butterflies. It is some 

 confirmation of this view, that neither the very small nor the 

 very obscurely coloi'ed groups of butterflies have elongated 

 wings, nor is any modification perceptible in those strong- 

 winged groups which already possess great strength and ra- 

 pidity of flight. These were already suflSciently protected from 

 their enemies, and did not require increased power of escaping 

 from them. It is not at all clear what effect the peculiar curv- 

 ature of the wings has in modifying flight. 



Another curious feature in the zoology of Celebes is also 

 worthy of attention, I allude to the absence of several groups 

 which are found on both sides of it, in the Indo-Malay islands 

 as well as in the Moluccas, and which thus seem to be unable, 

 from some unknown cause, to obtain a footing in the interven- 

 ing island. In birds we have the two families of Podargidae 

 and Laniadae, which range over the whole Ai-chipelago and 

 into Australia, and which yet have no representative in Celebes. 

 The genera Ceyx among kingfishers, Criniger among thrushes, 

 Rhipidura among fly-catchers, Calornis among starlings, and 

 Erythrura among finches, are all found in the Moluccas as well 

 as in Borneo and Java, but not a single species belonging to 

 any one of them is found in Celebes. Among insects, the 

 large genus of rose-chafers (Lomaptera) is found in every 

 country and island between India and New Guinea except 

 Celebes, This unexpected absence of many groups fi-om one 

 limited district in the very centre of their area of distribution, 

 is a phenomenon not altogether unique, but, I believe, nowhere 

 so well marked as in this case ; and it certainly adds consider- 

 ably to the strange character of this remarkable island. 



The anomalies and eccenti'icities in the natural history of 

 Celebes which I have endeavored to sketch in this chapter all 

 point to an origin in a remote antiquity. The history of ex- 

 tinct animals teaches us, that their distribution in time and in 

 space are strikingly similar. The rule is, that just as the pro- 

 ductions of adjacent areas usually resemble each other closely, 

 so do the productions of successive periods in the same area ; 

 and as the productions of remote areas generally differ widely, 

 so do the productions of the same area at remote epochs. We 

 are therefore led irresistibly to the conclusion, that change of 

 species, still more of generic and of family form, is a matter 



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