Fauna and Flora of New Zealand. 79 



has been found south of 62° S. The most southerly land on 

 which vegetation occurs is Cockburn Island, one of the South 

 Shetlands, in lat. 64° 12 r S., and here there are but a few 

 mosses and lichens. Sir J. Hooker landed on Possession 

 Island, in 71° 56' S., and on Franklin Island, in 76° 8' S., 

 and did not find a fragment of vegetation on either *. 



But if marine currents, petrels, and the wind have been the 

 only, or, indeed, the chief means of transport, we ought to 

 find that the diffusion of plants and animals bears some rela- 

 tion to the distances of the land-masses from each other. 

 Now the distance of South Africa from Tasmania is about the 

 same as that of New Zealand from South America, and 

 between Africa and Tasmania there are several possible 

 halting-places ; so that we should expect that the connexion 

 of New Zealand with South Africa, brought about by these 

 means, would at any rate be nearly as great as that between 

 New Zealand and Patagonia. This is really the case in our 

 marine fishes and marine Mollusca, in each of which about 

 the same number of species belong to South Africa as to 

 South America ; while about six times as many are found in 

 Tasmania, which is about one fifth of the distance of Pata- 

 gonia and one sixth of the distance of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 But such is by no means the case in the marine Crustacea, 

 for here as many of our species are found in South America as 

 in Australia, while only one third of the number occur in 

 South Africa. The species of flowering plants common to 

 New Zealand and antarctic South America are three times as 

 many as those common to New Zealand and South Africa. 

 The species of antarctic flowering plants (excluding the 

 grasses) common to New Zealand and Australia (including 

 Tasmania) are only twice as many as those common to New 

 Zealand and South America, while the grasses are only three 

 times as many. Even the sea-weeds do not agree in distri- 

 bution with the marine fishes, for while the number of species 

 common to New Zealand and South America is rather larger 

 than the number common to New Zealand and South Africa, 

 the species common to New Zealand and Australia are only 

 about twice as numerous as those common to New Zealand 

 and South America. The freshwater fishes show the same 

 thing 5 five are common to New Zealand and Australia and 

 two to New Zealand and South America. Evidently then the 



* Icebergs are said to be formed in the Gulf of Penas, in Chili (lat. 

 47° S.) ; but such an isolated occurrence need not be taken into account 

 in the dispersal of plants, for these icebergs could not drift far without 

 melting. 



