922 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS I BOTANY. 



ing descriptions which he gave of what he had seen, as well as the 

 numerous specimens collected and his interesting speculations, rendered 

 the field of his explorations forever classical, and formed a proper open- 

 ing for the career which has made his name a household word. When 

 in Southern Patagonia, he led a botanical expedition up the Rio Santa 

 Cruz more than 300 kilometers inwards. His work was primarily on the 

 Zoology and the Geology of the countries visited ; but he never missed 

 an opportunity of gathering examples of the vegetation. His visits were 

 quickly followed by Jacquinot, Hombron and Gaillant, 1837-38, to 

 Magellan Strait. Then the United States Exploring Expedition, under 

 Captain Wilkes marked the entrance of our Western Republic into the 

 civilizing service of science. The results of this voyage were partly 

 worked out and a couple of botanical volumes published under the care 

 of Asa Gray. The great British expedition to the south speedily followed, 

 in the ships Erebus and Terror, 1839-43, under Captain Sir James C. 

 Ross, with Joseph Dalton Hooker as botanist. Hooker's splendid vol- 

 umes on the Flora Antarctica, illustrated by colored plates, are the out- 

 come of this expedition, with companion volumes on the Flora of New 

 Zealand and of Tasmania. The first volume of the Flora Antarctica is 

 confined to the plants of a few islands in the neighborhood of New Zea- 

 land ; and the second, much the larger volume, deals with the vegetation 

 of Patagonia and neighboring islands (including the Falklands, South 

 Shetlands, South Georgia) arid also of the more distant Tristan d' Acunha 

 and Kerguelen. Of this last Hooker writes : "It may appear paradoxical, 

 at first sight, to associate the plants of Kerguelen's Land with those of 

 Fuegia, separated by 140 degrees of longitude, rather than with those of 

 Lord Auckland's group, which is nearer by about 50 degrees. But the 

 features of the Flora of Kerguelen's Land are similar to, and many of the 

 species identical with, those of the American continent, constraining me 

 to follow the law of botanical affinity in preference to that of geographical 

 position." This statement, published in 1847, was the precursor of sev- 

 eral striking discussions as to the origin and probable distribution of 

 species, contrary to the views which at that date were prevalent in the 

 New World ; these discussions prepared their author for a ready accept- 

 ance of the generalizations of A. R. Wallace and Charles Darwin, which, 

 whether accepted in their totality or not, had the effect of disposing of 

 the preceding speculations in the same field. 



