THE 



DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS 



ON 



THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH. 



LECTURE X. 



IF we divide the globe by a great circle into two 

 halves, so that one half includes as large a surface as 

 possible of land, strangely enough, London lies exactly in 

 the centre of this hemisphere. Could we choose a better 

 starting-point, if we would, for any purpose whatever, 

 make a survey of the earth ? We enter this metropolis 

 of trade, we seek a relief from the restless traffic, in St. 

 James's Park, and thence we bend our steps, by Carlton 

 Terrace, into Waterloo Place. A party of somewhat 

 foreign-looking men induce us to turn with them into 

 Pall Mall, and to approach a handsome new building 

 between the Athenaeum and Reform Club Houses. It is 

 the Travellers' Club House. In England, every man 

 freely follows the bent of his own humour. Lord 

 John Russell makes it his glory to be the leader of 

 a Whig Parliament, O'Connell to agitate the Irish ; 

 Colonel Sibthorpe is famous for his moustache, Count 

 D'Orsay for his whiskers, and Lord Ellenborough 



15* 



