on the zoologt and botant of the west india islands. 439 



Botany. 



Nominally all the British West Indian Islands are included in Grise- 

 bach's ' Flora of the British West Indian Islands,' bat that work was 

 mainly based on collections from Jamaica and Trinidad, and the vegeta- 

 tion of the Lesser Antilles is still very imperfectly known. So far as it 

 is known, however, it presents great sameness throughout, and the 

 number of endemic species in each island is either very small or there is 

 none. Moreover it is not anticipated that future investigations will add 

 materially to the number of peculiar forms, and the principal feature 

 of interest in the flora is the direction in which its constituents have 

 extended. 



Zoology. 



The list does not include any comprehensive work on the zoology of 

 the Windward Islands, nor of any one of the islands separately. The 

 most complete list appears to be that of the birds by Cory : this group of 

 animals has received more attention than the others, but the work that 

 has been done at it is of a fragmentary nature, and some islands have 

 been little or not at all explored even for birds. 



Very little has been published about the mammalia, reptilia, and 

 batrachia. In the case of mammals this might be attributed to there 

 being but few in the archipelago ; but in the case of the reptilia and 

 batrachia, at any rate, it is more probably due to want of investigation, as 

 is shown by the fact that Garman's recently (1887) published paper con- 

 sists, to a considerable extent, of descriptions of novelties. 



The land Mollusca are known chiefly by lists published by naturalists 

 a generation or more ago of the species of the islands of the group 

 belonging to France ; but less has been done in the other islands, and 

 investigation even in this comparatively rich and favourite class has 

 apparently been very unequal. 



A most singular dearth of information exists as regards the Arthro- 

 poda, an d in this — the most extensive department of zoology — nearly every- 

 thing remains to be done. Undoubtedly a considerable number of 

 insects and other arthropods from the Lesser Antilles exist in collec- 

 tions, but they are rare and indicate that very little has been done in 

 collecting; while insular lists are almost entirely wanting, and there is no 

 information as to the distribution of the species in the various islands. 



The bibliography includes a considerable number of memoirs on 

 marine zoology, but it is not necessary to remark on these, as it is pre- 

 sumed that the exploration of marine zoology will be considered by the 

 Committee as subordinate in present importance to that of the terrestrial 

 fauna. 



The abbreviations of titles of several works are those used in the 

 ' Zoological Record.' 



Boohs and Papers referring to the West Indies generally or to more than 

 one island, chronologically arranged. 



Botany. 



Oviedo, Gr. F. de. Primera parte de la historia natural y general de 

 las Indias, yslas y tierra firma. Sevilla, 1535. Folio with rude woodcuts 

 ' Ad rem herbariam pertinent libri vii., viii., ix., x.' Pritzel. 



