530 MR. J. J. LISTER ON THE NATURAL [DeC. 4, 



If they were approached, they brandished their second pair of legs in 

 a threatening manner as though accustomed to be masters of the situ- 

 ation. They were, of course, perfectly harmless. I watched one of 

 them at a tide-pool on the shore apparently replenishing the store 

 of water in the branchial cavities. The movement was similar to 

 that of eating. The end of one of the large chelse was dipped in 

 the water and lifted towards the mouth, where it was touched by 

 one of the palps and the moisture passed on, whilst the chela de- 

 scended for a further supply. 



IX. CONCLUSION. 



The collections from Christmas Island are necessarily very in- 

 complete. The visit of the ' Egeria ' only lasted ten days, and owing 

 to the thickness of the bush and the diificult nature of the ground 

 on the sides of the island, a comparatively small part of it was 

 traversed. Among the Invertebrate animals and the plants, espe- 

 cially, many species rema'in to be discovered. 



Incomplete as the collections are, however, there can be no doubt 

 that the island is very poor in species. Thus five kinds of Mammals, 

 seven of Land-birds, four of Lizards, and one Snake, make up the 

 list of Vertebrate animals of the existence of which evidence was 

 obtained. 



The most striking feature is the peculiarity of the fauna. Of the 

 mammals, three out of the four which were collected are peculiar 

 species, the other a peculiar variety of a species which extends from 

 the Himalayas to Java. 



All the land-birds are peculiar to the island, though some, as has 

 been pointed out, approach their allies in the Archipelago very 

 closely. 



Four out of the five reptiles are peculiar. 



Turning to the Invertebrate groups, the same proportion of new 

 forms is met with, though here many families have not been 

 sufficiently studied in the Archipelago to justify the conclusion that 

 a new form is a peculiar one. 



Of the land-shells five out of eleven species are new, as are six out 

 of ten of the Lepidoptera. Sixteen of the Beetles have been re- 

 ferred to their genera, and six to species, of which six five are new 

 and one constitutes a new genus. Of the other insects, seventeen out 

 of twenty species which have been worked out are new. One of three 

 species of Chilopoda is new, as are both the species of Diplopoda 

 (Millipedes), one belonging to a new genus. Three kinds of Spiders 

 belong to known species, while a small land-crab is new. 



The affinities of the Christmas Island fauna and flora are of great 

 interest in relation to the sharp line of separation between the Indo- 

 Malay and Austro-Malay subregions, which, especially as regards 

 their mammals and birds, divides the islands of the Malay Archi- 

 pelago. The presence of three terrestrial placental mammals appears 

 at first sight to connect the island with the Indian region, and the 

 Shrew-Mouse, a variety, as Mr. Dobson points out, of a species 



