TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 121 



Of the care aucl labour wliicli the author of this work has bestowed ujxm it, no 

 one here, I venture to think, has a better right to speak than myself, because it is 

 not very long- ago that I attempted a dissertation on the Geoo;raphical Distribution 

 of a single Class of animals*. Though it was the Class with which I am mo-;t 

 familiar, and though in my attempt I had the invaluable assistance of Mr. 

 Wallace's manuscript at my side, which cleared my way through many obstacles, 

 still I found the task one of enormous dithculty, and one which I at times almost 

 repented that I had undertaken ; j^et Mr. Wallace has treated not of Birds 

 only, as I did, but of Mammals, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Freshwater Fishes — 

 to say nothing of the most telling Families of two orders of Insects, with the 

 Mollusks so far as they were aA"ailable for his purpose. There is nothing that in 

 turning over the pages of these volumes so luuch strikes one as the energy the}- 

 evince on the part of their author. Tlnjse who have been most accustomed to the 

 literature of zoology must admit that there is scarcely any book with which 'The 

 Geographical Distribution of Animals ' may not, in respect of hard and honest 

 work, be advantageously compared. It deserves to bear good fruit ; and I am 

 greatly mistaken if it will not do so. From an educational point of view, it can 

 hardly fail to be of the greatest service. Attractive as is the subject to those that 

 know it and see its bearings, the learner has hitherto been repelled from its con- 

 sideration by the want of any work of general compass which would guide his 

 studies, while even few of those treatises which have a particular scope were of 

 much use to him. Mr. Wallace has now placed one in his bauds ; and the result 

 we need not trj^ to anticipate. One thing, however, is clear — the Distribution of 

 Animals can no longer be neglected as a secondary' or unimportant part of Zoology. 

 It only remains for me to add, while thus attempting to setfortli the general merits 

 of this learned work, that I by no means pin my faith to all the author's details, or 

 to all his conclusions. Most of the latter may indeed be justified by the present 

 imperfect state of our knowledge ; but it does not follow that they will eventually 

 meet with common acceptance. I must particularly call your attention to the 

 admirably cautious words in which he takes leave of his readers — words that 

 prove him to be thoroughly imbued with the right spirit of a true worker in a 

 progressive branch of study. Mr. A^'allace saj's : — • 



" The preceding remarlss are all I uov/ venture to offer, on the distinguishing- 

 features of the various groups of land-animals as regards their distribution and 

 migrations. Thej' are at best but indications of the various lines of research 

 opened up to us by the study of animals from the geographical point of A'iew, and 

 by looking upon their range in space and time as an important portion of the earth's 

 history. . . . Till every well-marked district, — every archipelago, and every im- 

 portant island, has all its known species of the more important groups of animals 

 catalogued on a uniform plan, and with a uniform nomenclature, a thoroughly 

 satisfactory account of the Geographical Distribution of Animals will uot be 

 possible." 



And then he goes on to point out that more than this is wanted : — 



" Many of the most curious relations between animal forms and their habitats, 

 are entirely unnoticed, owing to the productions of the same locality nrvcr being 

 associated in our museums and collections. A few such relations have been brought 

 to light by modern scientific travellers ; but many more remain to be discovered, 

 and there is probably no fresher and more productive field still unexplored in 

 Natural History." 



These coincident variations, he concludes by saying, '•' have never been systema- 

 tically investigated. They constitute an unworked mine of wealth for the enter- 

 prising explorer; and they may not improbably lead to the discovery of some of 

 the hidden laws (supplementary to Natural Selection), which seem to be required 

 in order to account for many of the external characteristics of animals " (vol. ii. 

 pp. r)ry2, 553). 



And now to follow out the idea witli wliich I began. Having touched on the 



* "Geographical Distribution of Birds" Eucyclopa^lia Britanuica, Ed. 0, vol. iii. 

 pp. 73G -7i>4. 



