404 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION [Chap. VI 



points referred to, the letter seems to us on the whole so interesting that 

 it is printed with the omission of only one unimportant sentence. 



The subjects dealt with in the letter are those which were occupying 

 Hooker's attention in relation to his Flora Antarctica (1844). 



Letter 315 I must thank you once again for all your documents, which 

 have interested me very greatly and surprised me. I found it 

 very difficult to charge my head with all your tabulated results, 

 but this I perfectly well know is in main part due to that head 

 not being a botanical one, aided by the tables being in MS. ; 

 I think, however, to an ignoramus, they might be made 

 clearer ; but pray mind, that this is very different from saying 

 that I think botanists ought to arrange their highest results 

 for non-botanists to understand easily. I will tell you how, 

 for my individual self, I should like to see the results worked 

 out, and then you can judge, whether this be advisable for the 

 botanical world. 



Looking at the globe, the Auckland and Campbell I., New 

 Zealand, and Van Diemen's Land so evidently are geogra- 

 phically related, that I should wish, before any comparison 

 was made with far more distant countries, to understand their 

 floras, in relation to each other ; and the southern ones to the 

 northern temperate hemisphere, which I presume is to every 

 one an almost involuntary standard of comparison. To 

 understand the relation of the floras of these islands, I should 

 like to see the group divided into a northern and southern 

 half, and to know how many species exist in the latter — 



(1) belonging to genera confined to Australia, Van Diemen's, 



Land and north New Zealand. 



(2) „ „ „ found only on the mountains of 



Australia, Van Diemen's Land, 

 and north New Zealand. 



(3) » ,, „ of distribution in many parts of 



the world {i.e., which tell no 

 particular story). 



(4) » » ,, found in the northern hemisphere 



and not in the tropics ; or only 

 on mountains in the tropics. 



I daresay all this (as far as present materials serve) could 

 be extracted from your tables, as they stand ; but to any one 

 not familiar with the names of plants, this would be difficult. 



