40 



Geological support for this theory is quoted by Wallace (7, 443) in 

 ' Island Life,' who points out that the " 1000 fathom line, which indicates 

 the land area which would be produced if the sea-bottom were elevated 6000', 

 extends in a broad mass westwards, then sending out two great arms, one 

 reaching to beyond Lord Howe's Island, while the other stretches over 

 Norfolk Island to the great barrier reef, thus forming a connection between 

 Tropical Australia and New Guinea." 



Sieberg 1 explains the same configuration in greater detail as follows : 

 " Neuguinea und der Bismarckarchipel gehoren nach E. Suess dem inner- 

 sten unter den Bogen junger Faltengebirge an. die vom Osten her sich 

 gegen die alte starre Festlandstafel Australien anlegen und die in Neu- 

 seeland zusatnmentreffen. Dieser innerste australishe Bogen setzt sich aus 

 zwei annahernd parallelen Teilstiicken zu?ammen, die beide in die Nord- 

 nordwesthalbinsel Neuseelands miiriden. Die Nordwestlich streichenden 

 Ketten holier Faltengebirge, die das innere Neuguineas der Lange nach 

 durchziehen (Bismarck und Kratkegebirge, Viktor-Emanuel, (Charles-Louis 

 Gebirge) reichen untermeerisch noch weithin und ragen in ihren hochsten 

 Spitzen als die Inselgruppe der Louisiaden und Neukaledonien ernpor ; der 

 ostliohe parallelbogen setzt sich zusammen .aus Neumecklenburg, den 

 Salomonen und Neuen Hebriden." 



Of the preponderating influence of the New Guinea Flora, when suffi- 

 ciently well-known, we have an instance in the Orchidacese, a family which 

 in the N.E. has received the expert attention of Schlechter (23), the 

 well-known authority and collector. Dr. J. J. Smith, of Buitenzorg, an 

 equally keen expert in this family, has not only described nearly all the 

 orchids of the N.W. and S.W. so far known, but has also consistently 

 enjoined on collectors in the Dutch possessions to devote particular atten- 

 tion to these plants, so that from both these sources we can form some idea 

 of the general incidence and distribution of tin's one order throughout the 

 country. 



Such is the wealth of material in a single instance in this little-explored 

 island that Schlechter, whose unrivalled experience in N.E. New Guinea 

 has spread over a number of years, summarizes his results in orchids alone 

 as 116 genera with 1450 species, of which 1102 are new (23, i. 14, xiii). 

 He considers that nowhere in the world is the Orchid flora so rich, quoting 

 2600 species as being known from there. Orchids known from Australia 

 and common to New Guinea he (23, i. 14, xix) looks upon as branches of 

 the Malayan-Papuan flora in Australia, the Orchid flora of tropical Australia 

 having developed under strong Malayan-Papuan influence, but it has had 

 little influence on the Papuan flora. This remark, to those who have 



1 Sieberg, A., " Die Ei'dbebentatigkeit in Deutsch-Neuguinea (Kaiser- Wilhelms-land und 

 Bismarckarchipel)," Peterm. Mitth. Ivi. pt. 2 (1910) 118. 



