BRITISH FERTILITY 197 



very fastidious and restricted in their range, proba- 

 bly liave no parallel in England. The island is 

 small, is well assorted and compacted, and is thor- 

 oughly homogeneous in its soil and climate ; the 

 conditions of field and forest and stream that exist 

 have long existed; a settled permanence and equi- 

 poise prevail; every creature has found its place, 

 every plant its home. There are no new experi- 

 ments to be made, no new risks to be run; life in 

 all its forms is established, and its current main- 

 tains a steady strength and fullness that an observer 

 from our spasmodic hemisphere is sure to appreciate. 



