414 X. GENERAL REMARKS. 



page 269, it may be seen that 77 species are deemed pe- 

 culiar to single sub-provinces, on present knowledge of 

 their localities ; some 20 or 22 of them being found in 

 two counties each. In a comital census of the vegetation, 

 those 77 species together would count only equal with BelUs 

 perennis or Plantago lanceolata, ascertained in 97 or 99 

 counties and vice-counties. By a sub-provincial census, 

 they would be made about equal with the Bellis and 

 Plantago united; that is, 77 sub-jirovinces would be 

 nearly the same as twice 38. If based upon a large 

 number of local sections, a census of species does in this 

 manner supply data for making some sort of approach 

 towards an ordinal census of the vegetation, as distin- 

 guished from an ordinal census of the flora ; repetitions 

 being reckoned up, instead of the number of species 

 simply. Still, even this degree of approach may be dis- 

 tant from the reality ; it being likely enough that twice 

 77 species might be selected-, which in their aggregate 

 are not represented by as many individual plants, as 

 either the Bellis or the Plantago. And so with many 

 others. 



But that ' census of species ' is itself partial and im- 

 perfect on another ground ; namely, through taking no 

 account of size in connexion with frequency, or of the 

 compound character of arborescent and other branching 

 species. The winter buds of trees are so many plants, 

 chained together through the trunk and branches ; each 

 of them equivalent (say) to the underground bulb of a 

 snowdrop, or to the surface bulb of a butterwort in 

 winter. In this way one single shrub or tree might be 

 held equivalent to hundreds or thousands of snowdrops 

 and pinguiculas ; and it will produce as great a quantity 

 of vegetation, when its buds expand into twigs under the 

 sun of summer. While regarding species through this 



