572 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



different regions. 1 W. Gray was the first to give a detailed account 

 of the distribution of our indigenous natural orders throughout the 

 Presidency of Bombay with some general considerations on the flora as 

 a whole. In the " Forest Flora of British Burma" we find a short de- 

 scription of the distribution of forests in that Province. Kurz dis- 

 tinguishes " mixed " forests, "upper." and "lower mixed" forests. 

 There exist, besides, some plant-geographical papers by David Prain 2 

 and C. B. Clarke 3 and a very recent general paper on the Indian flora 

 by Jos. Hooker. 4 Also our Journal contains some valuable contribu- 

 tions. Th. Cooke wrote some notes on H. M. Bird wood's " Catalogue of 

 the Hill Flora of Matheran and Mahableshwar"5 ; Woodrow described 

 the " Plants of a Bombay Swamp " 6 ; and G. A. Gammie examined 

 " The trees and shrubs of the Lonavla and Karla groves." 7 The latest 

 and most interesting contribution received is from W. A. Talbot: 

 " The distribution of the forest flora of the Bombay Presidency and 

 Sind." 8 He distinguishes an evergreen forest flora of Malabar, which 

 shows a distinct Malayan affinity, a dry deciduous flora of the Deecan 

 with a predomination of African elements, and the flora of the Konkan 

 and the Western Ghats, which shows a mixture of dry deciduous 

 and evergreen forest. 



How eagerly the naturalists in Europe are waiting for papers of 

 this kind, may be seen from a remark made by Engler, the greatest 

 living authority in botany, on an article which appeared -in the Journal 

 of the Botanical Survey of India (I, 1894): "Considering," he says, 

 " the scarcity of descriptions of the plant- formations in India, also notes 

 like G. Woodrow's, ' on a journey from Haveri to Kumta,' are of a 

 certain value." 9 ). 



If anybody in the Presidency is able to respond to the wishes and 

 expectations of our Western colleagues, it is certainly the Bombay 

 Natural History Society. We have our members scattered all over 

 the country, many stationary for a longer or shorter time, others 



1 " Ocean Highways, " October 1873, p. 200. 



2 In his " Botanical Notes and Papern", 1901. 



;: In the Journal of the Linnsean Society of London, Vol, XXXV. 



- l It is printed in the Gazetteer of the Indian Empire (descr. vol.) 



5 Journal of the Bombay Natural Hist. Sec, Vol. X., p. 391-440. 



e Vol. XI., p. 88 ; XI., p. 335. 



7 Vol. XV., p. 279. 



s In the " Indian Forester, 1906, Vol. XXXII., Nos. 1, 2, 3. 



Engler : Die Entwicklung der Pfhnzengeographie in den letzten hundert Fahren u 

 weitere Aufgaben derselben, Berlin 1899. 



