1 66 



NATURE 



\ytme 2^, 1876 



had a sort of vague notion that certain forms were pecu- 

 liar to hot climates, and that certain others were only 

 found in cold countries, but that was about all they knew 

 or cared to know. Of the necessity of precise knowledge 

 on the subject of locality they were absolutely incre- 

 dulous. 



" To the modern naturalist, on the other and," as Mr. 



Wallace most truly observes, "the native country (or 

 'habitat' as it is technically termed) of an animal, or a 

 group of animals, is a matter of the first importance ; 

 and as regards the general history of life upon the globe, 

 may be considered to be one of its essential character?. 

 The structure, affinities, and habits of a species, now 

 form only a part of its natural history. 



" We require also to know its exact ringe at the pre- 

 sent day and in prehistoric times, and to have Fome 



Fig. I. — Forest in Borneo. 



knowledge of its geological age, the place of its earhest 

 appearance on the globe, and of the various extinct 

 forms most nearly allied to it. To those who accept the 

 theory of development as worked out by Mr. Darwin, 

 and the views as to the general permanence and immense 

 antiquity of the great continents and oceans so ably deve- 

 loped by Sir Charles Lyell, it ceases to be a matter of 



surprise that the tropics of Africa, Asia, and America 

 should differ in their productions, but rather that they 

 should have anything in common. Their similarity, not 

 their diversity, is the fact that most frequently puzzles us." 



Yet, in spite of the increased attention paid to locality 

 by Swainson, Waterhouse, Strickland and all the more 



m 



