ii THE FLORAS OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 17 



to form a plan worthy almost of Don Quixote, namely, to cultivate 

 the beach species of Ipomea, Scaevola, and Vitex in the interior 

 with the hope of finding them converted into inland species 

 when I returned to Hawaii after a lapse of years. Little matters 

 often determine a career, and for a while my future movements and 

 probably the remainder of my life were largely centred around my 

 interests in the well-being of Scaevola Kcenigii. The scheme was 

 actually undertaken, and I had fixed on a little plot of land at the 

 foot of the mountains rising behind Punaluu in Kau. The trans- 

 action was on the point of completion when the owner changed his 

 mind and the plan fell through. Subsequent observation and 

 reflection have led me to believe that in most cases no connection 

 exists between the littoral and inland species of a genus ; and I 

 have dwelt on this incident merely to show the importance that I 

 rightly attached to this distinction, whilst misinterpreting its 

 meaning. 



But to return to my own investigations. Had I indeed read 

 more carefully Professor Schimper's work on the Malayan 

 strand-flora, this subject would have been found discussed by 

 an observer far abler than myself, though from a very different 

 standpoint, that of Adaptation and Natural Selection. He points 

 out (pp. 179 182) that with a number of these tropical genera 

 possessing both littoral and inland species, such as Barringtonia, 

 Calophyllum, Clerodendron, Cordia, Guettarda, and Terminalia, 

 greater buoyancy of the fruits of the shore species is associated 

 with certain structural characters in the fruit-coverings, whilst with 

 the inland species, where the floating power of the fruits is either 

 much diminished or entirely absent, these structural characters are 

 either less developed or lacking altogether. 



The question of structure and the debateable matters con- 

 cerned with it are treated at some length in Chapters XII. and 

 XIII., and Professor Schimper's views are there given. I will 

 content myself with remarking that the genus Terminalia was 

 especially studied by him in this respect. He tested the buoyancy 

 of the fruits of ten species, and found that the flotation period 

 varied from nothing to 126 days and more. By far the best 

 " floaters " were the fruits of Terminalia Katappa, the only littoral 

 species tested, all the others being inland species with less buoyant 

 fruits, and diminished ranges, some of the fruits sinking at once, 

 whilst the others sank usually in a few days or in a few weeks. 

 It was also ascertained that, although the buoyant tissue in the 

 fruit-coats varied in amount generally with the floating-powers, 

 VOL. II C 



