AUSTRALIAN FUNGI. 485 
Queensland, with about 44, while West Australia has the lowest 
with 9:8; 766 of the total number of species are British, or about 
31 per cent. Now that the Agricultural Bureau of West Australia 
has a resident botanist in the person of Dr. A. Morrison, who 
has already done good work in the fungi of Victoria, we may 
shortly expect to have the numbers there largely increased. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
While I have indicated how the fungi are numerically distri- 
buted in the different Colonies, I feel that the time has come when 
the geographical distribution within each Colony should be carried 
out in detail on a scientific basis. The Government Botanist of 
New South Wales, in his anniversary address before the Royal 
Society (1897), has already suggested the use of county maps and 
parish maps for recording the exact localities of economic plants ; 
but we also require, as he has hinted, the different Colonies to be 
divided into well-defined geographical areas. Natural divisions 
based upon the drainage of the country, or other natural features, 
would take the place of merely arbitrary districts determined by 
the outlines of counties ; and as these natural districts apply not 
only to the flora, but the fauna—would be, in fact, biological 
regions. I consider that such districts might best be settled for 
each colony by a joint committee of naturalists chosen by an 
association for the advancement of science such as this. 
The number of genera in proportion to the species may also be 
taken into account as in the following table :— 
Table IV.—Number of Genera in proportion to the Species in 
the different Colonies. 
Genera. Species. Proportion. 
WrestrAtustralliay sgrscaodsenonteeaen once end stietel 126 243 51°8 
SOUbhpAMIStraltarcs.scn ese acceso cme beste 128 266 48:1 
MIP US TIAA INTE cre cicachsisiacte sorrectatirteiaemais iste ecgaisicierst 221 500 44°1 
ING Wa SOW Widlesiaascssassmoxevesteceustucuaes 161 454 35°5 
BVAT COO Rl teri stecrsciose sissveinnd anise tcisamaarsin nmin 304 1,142 26°6 
Mucosal Aes ens ce caxssoventn- ce SieseseneOswaee ees 281 1,089 25°8 
PANS Ora oa esi ra; oes Osa aetna nes, Gases ese tereeuer 447 2,480 18 
The number of genera in proportion to species is naturally 
jarger in those colonies where the species are not yet extensively 
known, while for the whole of Australia the proportion is 18 per 
cent. The three genera which contain the most species are 
