GENERAL INTRODUCTION 37 



few of them are also found in the Alps of South Eastern 

 Australia. The following plants may be taken as examples of 

 these sub- Antarctic types. Acaena sanguisorbae is known 

 from the Kermadecs to the Macquaries, and is also found in 

 Australia and Tristan d'Acunha, while A. adscendens occurs 

 from Marlborough to the Macquaries, and also in Chili, 

 Fuegia, and the Falkland Islands. Tillaea moschata is found 

 throughout New Zealand and the Southern Islands, and also 

 in South Chili, Fuegia, the Falkland Islands, Kerguelen's Land, 

 and Marion Island. Oxalis magellanica has been collected in 

 Victoria, Tasmania, South Chili, and Fuegia as well as in 

 New Zealand. Callitriche antarctica is found in the Snares, 

 The Auckland Islands, Campbell Island, the Antipodes, 

 Macquarie Islands, Kerguelen's Land, Falkland Islands, and 

 South G-eorgia. Other similar examples might readily be 

 given, but these will probably suffice for our present purposes. 

 This remarkable connection becomes even more striking, when 

 we examine the floras of the sub- Antarctic islands themselves. 

 Thus Mr. Hemsley* states that of eighty-four genera found in 

 the Falkland Islands, fifty-six are also represented in New 

 Zealand. More recent research may have modified these 

 numbers, but the proportion will probably not be largely 

 altered. Though these sub- Antarctic islands show such 

 marked resemblances in their plant life, there is no such 

 similarity amongst them in the distribution of the higher 

 types of land animals. Obviously, the connection, though a 

 very recent one, has not been a close one. Hence Captain 

 Hutton concluded that in Pliocene times " A number of 

 islands existed in the Antarctic Ocean, which have since 

 then disappeared." According to this theory, there has been 

 no direct connection with the Antarctic continent since 

 the Jurassic period. At that time, New Zealand, South 

 America, and South Africa are believed to have been united 

 by land. 



*Challenger Reports : Botany Vol. I., p. 57. 



