MAN AND NATURE. 305 



than the domesticated vegetable. This statement, we 

 believe, requires a good deal of qualification. If we 

 are rightly informed, it is contradicted by various facts 

 derived from those Southern colonies of which we are 

 now speaking. The native wild grasses of New Zea- 

 land are said to have been extruded when brought 

 into contact with the artificial grasses imported from 

 Europe ; and analogies may be drawn from the animal 

 kingdom to show that culture and selection are capable 

 of giving increase of vigour, as well as those other 

 qualities to which they are often more especially 

 directed. 



. All the domestic animals we have named as given 

 to America from the Old World, with many others 

 birds as well as quadrupeds have been brought into 

 these great colonies ; and the sheep-farming in Aus- 

 tralia is becoming, if not so already, the largest in the 

 world. The silkworm, the salmon, and the sparrow 

 are to be considered, we believe, as the most recent 

 attempted acquisitions to their fauna ; the latter in its 

 valuable capacity as an insectivorous bird. As regards 

 the silkworm, and its needful appendage the mulberry- 

 tree, we consider their successful introduction into 

 Queensland and other colonies to be almost certain. 

 The effort to bring the salmon into the Australian 

 rivers is yet of uncertain result, but the object has 

 been assiduously and skilfully pursued ; and success is 

 well deserved, whether obtained or not. The Accli- 

 matisation Societies of England and France are working 

 actively at this time in promoting these exchanges of 

 animal life over the globe. 



