OBSERVATIONS OF A NATURALIST 

 IN THE PACIFIC 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION 



The study of insular floras. — Their investigation in this work from the stand- 

 point of dispersal. — The significance of plant-distribution in the Pacific. — 

 The problems connected with the mountain-flora of Hawaii. — The per- 

 sistence of dispersing agencies at the coast, their partial suspension on the 

 mountain-top, their more or less complete suspension in the forest, and the 

 effect on the endemic character of plants. — The connection between the 

 endemism of birds and plants. — The relative antiquity of plants of the coast, 

 forest, and mountain-top. — The genetic relation between coast and inland 

 species of the same genus. — The ethics of plant-dispersal. — Evolution takes 

 no heed of modes of dispersal. — The seed-stage is the price of Adaptation. 



To proceed from the general to the special is the only method 

 of dealing with insular floras, A broad and comprehensive grasp 

 of plant-distribution, such as is only acquired by a life-time of 

 research aided by travel and the handling of large collections, is a 

 necessary foundation for the study ; yet in the nature of things 

 such qualifications can be possessed by but a few. To direct an 

 inquiry in the opposite direction, and endeavour to attack the 

 problem of continental floras through the insular floras would 

 result merely in the investigation of a few of the many questions 

 connected with plant-distribution. 



The panoramic sketch of the surveyor on the mountain-top 

 aids him in a thousand ways when after months of tedious labour 

 he plots the details in his chart. Without such a panoramic view 

 of the plant-world in his mind's eye, an observer like myself can 

 only look for guidance to the writings of those who have 

 VOL. II B 



