412 



NATURE 



{Sept. 9, 1875 



A list of the fishes of the Solomon Islands is given by Dr. 

 Guntherin Mr. Brenchley's ",Cruise of _the _Cnracoa," which I 

 shall allude to presently. 



VII.— PACIFIC REGION. 

 Of this region, where Mammals (except a few bats) [are alto- 

 gether absent, and birds are the predominant form of verte- 

 brate life, I will say a few final words under three heads : — 

 I. New Zealand. 2. Polynesia. '3. The Sandwich Islands. 



1. New Zealand. 



In New Zealand, of all our Colonies, most attention has lately 

 been devoted, to natural history, and several excellent naturalists 

 are labouring hard and well — I need only mention the names of 

 Dr. Hector, Dr. Haast, Capt. F. W. Hutton, and Dr. Buller. 

 The commendable plan of affiliating the various local societies 

 together to one institute has resulted in the production of an 

 excellent scientific journal, already in its sixth volume, which 

 contains a mass of most interesting papers on the fauna and flora 

 of the colony. To refer to these memoirs in detail is quite 

 unnecessary ; but it is obvious, on turning over the pages of the 

 • volumes of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, how 

 great are the exertions now being made to perfect our knowledge 

 of the natural products, both recent and extinct, of our anti- 

 podean colony. 



Dr. W. L. BuUer's beautiful volume on the ornithology of 

 New Zealand, finished in 1873, is likewise a most creditable 

 production both to the author and to those who have supported 

 and promoted his undertaking. Few, indeed, are the colonies 

 that can boast of a similar piece of work ! 



In 1843 the late Sir John Richardson presented to this associa- 

 tion a special report on the Ichthyology of New Zealand ; 

 but much advance has, of course, been made since that period. 



The lizards of New Zealand have been recently enumerated 

 along with those of Australia in Dr. Giinther's memoir above 

 referred to. 



2. Polynesia. 



Great additions have recently been made to our knowledge of 

 the natural productions of the Polynesian Islands by the travellers 

 and naturalists employed by the brothers Godeffroy of Ham- 

 burgh. These gentlemen not only have extensive collections 

 made, but also trouble themselves to get them properly worked 

 out. The excellent volume on the ornithology of the Fiji, Samoa, 

 and Tonga Islands, published in 1867 by Drs. Finsch and Hart- 

 laub, is based entirely upon materials thus obtained, as are 

 likewise the many capital memoirs which fill the parts of 

 the illustrated quarto jfournal der Museum Godeffroy — a 

 journal replete with information upon the geography, ethno- 

 graphy, and natural history of Polynesia. Amongst these 

 memoirs I must call special attention to Dr. Giinther's "Fische 

 der Sudsee," founded upon Mr. Andrew Garrett's splendid 

 collection of fishes and of drawings of them, coloured from life, 

 of which three parts are already issued. We have now almost 

 for the_first time the after opportunity of becoming acquainted 

 with the exceeding beauty of the tropical fishes in life. 



The late Mr. Julius Brenchley's account of his cruise in H.M.S. 

 Curafoa among the South Sea Islands, and published in 

 1873, contains an appendix of " Natural History Notices," illus- 

 trated by figures of remarkable specimens obtained on the occa- 

 sion. Of these the part relating to the birds is by the late Mr. 

 G. R. Gray, and those concerning the reptiles and fishes by Dr. 

 Giinther. 



3. The Sandwich Islands. 



The Sandwich Islands stand apart zoologically as geographi- 

 cally from the rest of Polynesia, and merit more special attention 

 than has yet been bestowed upon them. Of their birds, which 

 form the most prominent part of their vertebrate fauna, Mr. 

 Dole has given a synopsis in the " Proceedings of the Boston 

 Society of Natural History." In noticing this paper in the 

 " Ibis " for 1871, 1 have introduced some supplementary remarks 

 upon the general facies of the Avifauna. 



Conclusion. 



In concluding this address, which has extended, I regret to say, 

 to a much greater length than I anticipated when I selected the 

 subject of it, I wish to endeavour to impress upon naturalists the 

 paramount importance of locality. 



In the study of distribution more probably than in any other 

 direction, if perhaps we except embryology, will be ultimately 

 found the key to the now much vexed question of the origin of 



species. The past generation of naturalists could not understand 

 the value of locality. A museum was regarded as a collection of 

 curiosities, and so long as the objects were there it little mat- 

 tered in their eyes whence they came. The consequence is that all 

 our older collections, and even, I regret to say, our national collec- 

 tion itself, are filled with specimens utterly without a history 

 attached to them, unless it be that they were purchased of a 

 certain dealer in a certain year. Even in the present generation 

 it is only the more advanced and enlightened thinkers that really 

 understand the importance of locality. It is with the hope of 

 impressing the value of locality and distribution more firmly upon 

 you that I have devoted my address not to the general progress 

 of biology, but to the present state of, and recent additions 

 made to, our knowledge of the geographical distribution of the 

 Vertebrata. 



Dr. Carpenter, in moving a vote of thanks to the President for 

 his address, said its value would only be fully appreciated by the 

 working naturalist studying and consulting it in the prosecution 

 of his researches. Such a stock-taking was of the highest value' 

 in guiding to the right study of what was known, and in laying 

 bare deficiencies. Within a few years the subject of geographical 

 distribution had arisen to great dimensions, both in relation to 

 the origin of species and to the changes in the earth's surface 

 since the present distribution of life had been approximately 

 attained. Any single fact with regard to distribution liad its 

 value, but accuracy was vital ; as he proceeded to show. The 

 different species of fresh-water fish in Swiss lakes were now 

 regarded as modifications due to differences of food, temperature, 

 bottom, &c., having their slow effect in developing races since 

 the time when the various waters were in communication, and if 

 changes were admitted to such an extent in our existing fauna as 

 the result of plain causes, it was legitimate to argue that much 

 greater changes might have taken place in the ages of geological 

 time. — Professor Allman spoke of the increased importance of 

 all the results of exploration since the promulgation of the doc- 

 trine of descent, which was now almost universally accepted in 

 one form or another. — Professor Rollest on said that Dr. Sclater's 

 paper on Geographical Distribution had come out in 1858, before 

 Messrs. Darwin's and Wallace's papers had been published ; and 

 yet what he had laid down in 1858, he had in no important points 

 had to modify. He did not know of any biological doctrines 

 that had undergone so little change since that period. — Dr. 

 Sclater announced that he proposed to add an appendix to his 

 address, containing the full titles of all the works he had referred 

 to. 



Department of Zoology and Botany. 

 Professor Newton read a paper " On certain neglected subjects 

 of ornithological investigation." He said that it seemed to him 

 that ornithologists had been getting into certain well-worn ruts, 

 to the abandonment of other tracks which were well worth 

 travelling upon. He had recently had occasion to take stock of 

 our present ornithological knowledge, and on the whole the 

 result was gratifying. Some departments had received an 

 enormous impetus from the .doctrines of evolution, and that 

 impetus would continue and would probably be increased. Some 

 years ago there was a very general disposition to cry down species- 

 mongers, as they were called in opprobrium ; but it was a very 

 short-sighted view ; and in his opinion they were having their 

 revenge, for their work had now a value far above that which it 

 had in the Pre-Darwinian days. The result of labours on 

 geographical distribution was good, and was gradually helping 

 to build the edifice of evolution ; not that the edifice was erected 

 yet ; its walls were still far from complete. Yet he thought 

 its completion was about as sure as anything well could be. The 

 subject of what he might call developmental osteology, in which 

 the illustrious name of Parker stood practically alone, was one 

 in which it might truly be said that the harvest was plenteous 

 and the reapers few. There was room for a score of Parkers ; 

 yet it was no more likely that they would get them than that 

 they would get a score of Shakespeares. Fossil ornithology 

 had not as yet produced very great results, but descriptive 

 anatomy was in a fairly good condition, although he was afraid 

 that a great many skilled observers of the outsides of birds knew 

 very little about it. As to pterylography, he feared it was not 

 very much thought of, and that a vast majority of ornithologists 

 did not k»ow the meaning of the word. He recommended all to 

 read the translation of Nitzsch's great work on the subject in the 

 Ray Society's publications. He noticed the greatest falling-off in 

 observational ornithology. They had outdoor ornithologists by 



