324 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 



That since the Glacial Epoch, the Eremian flora has been 

 developed from Autochthonian and Euronotian elements, largely 

 modified by an incursion of Indian types ; and co-temporneously 

 the Euronotian gained accessions from the Indo-Malay Province 

 though it is not improbable that migrants haA^e been received at 

 all times since the flora of the Indo-Malay Province acquired a 

 specialized character. 



In concluding the botanical portion of my Essay, [ express the 

 desire that the enormous mass of facts summarised by Baron Sir 

 F. von Mueller in his " Census of Australian Plants " should be 

 tabulated and compared so as to exhibit the various relations of 

 our flora in the same manner as was done by Sir Josei^h D. 

 Hooker, in his Essay on the Flora of Australia with the materials 

 available thirty years ago. It is not that vast accessions have 

 been made to the list of species during this long interval ; but 

 that the limits of the majority of the genera and species are better 

 defined and their distribution better known, whilst a greatly 

 extended knowledge of climatic, physiographic, and geologic 

 conditions has been gained. 



It is my belief that we have sufiicient data to co-ordinate the 

 botanical features with certain physical phenomena, and from 

 which we may determine the relations of the respective floras ; 

 obviously the task of dismembering our provincial floras, of rele- 

 gating their constituent species to their natural provinces will ab- 

 sorb many weeks of labour, demanding so accurate a topographical 

 knowledge, and of other kindred subjects, as it is hardly possible 

 for any one man to possess. Hence my sketch may seem crude 

 and imperfect because it has not been possible for me to compile 

 all the facts bearing on the distinctive features of each floral 

 region,, but at the same time I claim that it is not from a consi- 

 deration of specific details that the problem of the relations of 

 our floras and their origin will ever be solved, though these details 

 must eventually supply the proofs of the solutions. 



It is a trite saying of those familiar with the life of the Ere- 

 mian Region — " No rain, no flowers ; no flowers, no insects." 

 Thus implying a co-ordination between physical phenomena and 

 life, and an interpendency between the plant and the animal — 

 an interpendency so pronounced as to suggest morphological 

 adaptations for permanent establishment in this region subject to 

 great climatic vicissitudes. Correspondingly therefore we are lead 

 to expect that not only in the Eremian Region but in the others, 

 that the fauna of each will exhibit, though perhaps in a less 

 degree, similar relationship to one another as the floras. 



In all classes of terrestrial animals morphological variety is at 

 a maximum in the Euronotian — the converse of the vegetation. 

 It is richer in Oriental types than the other Provinces, and in 

 some classes partakes of a tropical character common to the rest 

 of the world. 



