276 HIS.TOKY OF THE 



CHAP. V. 

 MISTOllY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 



Linne, de Telluris habiiabilis incremento : in Amcen. Acad. vol. ii. 

 Zinn, Vom Ursprung der Pflanzen : im Hamburgishen Magazine. 

 Bergman, Jordklot. Phys. beskrifn. ii. 

 Zimmerman, Geographische Geschichte des Menschen. 

 Schouw, Diss, de Sedibus Plantarum originariis. 



402. 



We come now to answer the questions, in what manner 

 plants have originated, and how they have distributed them- 

 selves. Are we to admit, that plants have been distributed 

 from one point on the surface of the earth, to all its parts ? 

 or must we believe that they belong properly to every coun- 

 ti'y in which they grow ? The founder of Scientific Bo- 

 tany has defended the former of these opinions at a great ex- 

 pence of ingenuity, acuteness, and learning ; but we appre- 

 hend that we must adopt the latter conclusion, with some h- 

 mitations. 



403. 



When we examine the remains of the primeval world, we 

 find the first traces of vegetable impressions in the slate for- 

 mation. These remains of the former vegetable world be- 

 long almost entirely to the lower families : they consist, for the 

 most part, of Grasses, Reeds, Palms, and Ferns, — the latter, 

 however, being almost always destitute of fruit. But although 

 these forms cannot be referred to any one of the species which 

 are at present known, they have yet so much the appearance 

 of tropical productions, that Ave are forced to admit a very 

 high degree of heat at the surface of the earth during its 



