145 
constantly going on of these shrubs, partly in order to bring fresh 
ground into cultivation, while the dead ones are sought for the sake 
of fuel. In gradually-descending order after the Euphorbias, we have 
the faunas of the pines, the Spartia, and the Semperviva, all principally 
Canarian, the last having only five dependent species. Of the 423 
genera into which the Coleoptera of these Islands are distributed, not 
one is characteristic of the African* (or Ethiopian) region, or, as Mr. 
Wollaston puts it, “a ¢ruly African element is perhaps scarcely indi- 
cated.” At the same time the large number of endemic species, as we 
have seen at least half of the whole number, would scarcely warrant 
us, as Mr. Wollaston thinks, in referring them to the European (in- 
cluding the Mediterranean) region; but when we consider the great 
difference, comparatively, that exists between the Madeiras and the 
Canaries, but which, as Mr. Wollaston himself observes, is no more 
than what would naturally be looked for at stations distant from each 
other to an equal extent on a continuous tract, we may, by parity of 
reasoning, come to the conclusion that these island groups are no 
further removed from the European fauna than, except as regards the 
greater distance, they are from one another. Be this as it may, they 
have no claim to the presence of a satellite fauna like Madagascar or 
New Zealand, or to constitute an intermediate region like India or the 
northern part of Mexico. ft The question of the origin of species on 
these islands is but briefly touched upon, but the author evidently 
inclines to the opinion that they were aboriginally stocked when they 
were yet a part of a continuous land ; and if, as is the opinion of Sir 
Charles Lyell, they were islands during the miocene era, an enormous 
period must have elapsed since they were broken up, and detached 
from the main-land. The influence of physical causes in modifying 
species must, therefore, either have been exceedingly weak, if, after 
so long an interval, all that we can trace is “some slight departure 
from the normal standards ;” or, this alteration took place at the 
commencement of the period when they became islands, and was 
probably due “ to a combination of circumstances and conditions which 
are altogether unprecedented and exceptional.” The latter is Mr. 
Wollaston’s opinion, and as one of the proofs of its correctness he ad- 
duces the thick beds of indurated mud and calcareous sand, full of semi- 
fossilized land-shells (over 100 species), which “ display no perceptible 
* T.e., Africa south of the desert and Upper Cataract. 
+ I am speaking solely in reference to the Coleoptera. No definite limits as to 
regions will apply to the various classes or even orders of animals collectively. 
U 
