10 THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



of the ocean, vegetable life seems to become 

 entirely extinct, and not a plant even of the 

 simplest form appears. Between these extreme 

 limits, however, every gradation is seen, ac- 

 cording to the increase of latitude or height 

 The species which inhabit each particular dis- 

 trict of our globe are just those best suited to 

 the physical condition of each, and to the 

 requirements of its inhabitants, whether of the 

 human species or of the brute creation. Thus, 

 the Avater-melon, tha banana, the bread-fruit, 

 and the rice-plant, are peculiar to tropical regions ; 

 while the vine, wheat, barley, and the common 

 corn-plants, will not succeed in so high a tem- 

 perature, but require a cooler climate. Many 

 facts, which we shall have to notice, will 

 exhibit to us the goodness of God in so 

 arranging the vegetable productions of our 

 globe, that not only (to a great extent) are the 

 food-plants of the various countries exactly 

 such as are best adapted to the wants of the 

 inhabitants, but also that a vast variety of the 

 more useful plants are so distributed as to 

 induce commercial intercourse ; and thus, 

 while they render nations mutually dependent 

 on one another for many of the comforts and 

 conveniences of life, they are an indirect means 

 of promoting the advancement of civilization, 

 and, above all, of the spread of the gospel. Why, 

 however, a certain species should only be able 

 to flourish in a certain soil, and under a certain 

 amount of heat and moisture, is a problem we 

 cannot as yet solve ; it doubtless depends on 



