178 
enough for that,—but the queen of our forests, if the magnolia 
was not there with it to dispute the prize of perfection by the 
still grander majesty of its stature, the larger size of its foliage, 
the elegance and the perfume of its flowers. Our sense of 
admiration for these noble trees is heightened still by the 
dignity of their ancient origin.” 
Now we have heard a great deal lately about the variability 
of species. Whole books have been written to prove the very 
obvious proposition that plants and animals if placed under 
artificial conditions are likely to vary in an artificial manner. 
We have had enough of this one-sided collection of facts 
favourable to certain hypotheses. It is time also to say some- 
thing about the permanence of type to be found in nature. 
‘That there is something stable and fixed amidst all the varia- 
tion of living things is absolutely certain. ‘To pass over species, 
it 1s undoubtedly true that many genera are extraordinarily 
stable, as we have seen to be the case with the maple, the 
oak, the tulip-tree, and so on, persisting from the chalk. 
But an illustration from the floras of distant lands in the 
present day will, perhaps, help us in another way to realise 
the astonishing constancy of some generic types. Suppose 
we take ship and get away as far as ever we can from our 
own island, we shall find ourselves at last amid the waste 
waters of the vast Pacific Ocean. Among these stormy waves 
rise almost at our antipodes the small islands known as Lord 
Auckland’s group and Campbell’s Island, visited by the pre- 
sent Sir J. Dalton Hooker during the Antarctic expedition of 
the Hrebus and Terror under Sir James Ross, which lasted 
from 1839 to 1843. Lord Auckland’s group lies in 50° 30’ 8. 
lat. and 160 H. long.; Campbell’s Island in 52° 30’ S. lat. and 
169 EK. long. If we consult the magnificent Flora antarctica, 
and gaze at the beautiful coloured portraits of the plants 
executed by the skilful hand of Mr. Fitch, we shall almost 
imagine ourselves landing upon these steep and desolate 
islands, formed of volcanic rock, ‘‘ ever lashed by heavy swells 
and exposed to a succession of westerly gales.”’ Still, inspite 
of rain, and snow, and fog, these lonely spots produce a flora 
rich in beautiful plants, a fact attributed by Sir J. D. Hooker 
to the comparative mildness and uniformity of their oceanic 
climate. However, what we wish at present to call atten- 
tion to is the constancy of generic type. Any novice 
in botany whilst exploring these lands would be able to 
name off-hand plant after plant as belonging to genera 
familiar to him in Great Britain. Nor would this be true only 
_ of these islets, but also of all the other fragments of Antarctic 
land, such as Kerguelen’s Land, Falkland Islands, and so on. 
