202 On the Campus 



that explanation would ever be offered now. On the 

 other hand we should simply say, having less immediate 

 respect to reasons teleologic, where is the rest of it? 

 This species seems to be monotypic, here wholly alone; 

 where are its congeners ? And so in the present problem, 

 our first inquiry is How in the world did this happen ? 

 Where are the rest of the cypresses ? where are the kin of 

 this particular pine ? 



The cypresses of North America are seven : one known 

 as the white cedar occurs along the Atlantic coast and is 

 associated with the bald cypress, a relative but not of 

 the same genus; three are Mexican and two belong to 

 Oregon and Washington, while one is confined to the 

 peninsula of Lower California, All are Pacific Coast 

 species but one. On the other side of the ocean the dis- 

 tribution is equally peculiar. There is no cypress in 

 western Europe; two or three are in China or Thibet, 

 one of which is now found as far west as Constantinople, 

 planted everywhere over graves: curious fact; not with- 

 out suggestion, but not to be here discussed. It seems 

 then that the cypresses tend to follow the shore-lines of 

 the great continents. They are few ; they are northern ; 

 they do not exist south of the equator and in fact form 

 two groups, separated by the whole diameter of the 

 globe. This of course would only deepen the mystery 

 that surrounds our lone California species, were it not 

 for some other facts the first of which began to come to 

 light about fifty years ago. 



Just about one hundred years ago, in 1807, in fact, a 

 man named John Franklin having won distinction at the 

 famous battle of Trafalgar, was put in command of an 



