390 Observations on the Flora of (\mrtaUiim. [Oct. 



hou- miuli wo have still to learn liofdre we can arrive at 

 anv correct estimate of its extent. Humbold and Browti 

 have atlcn^pted to form such an estimate. ])ut from very- 

 imperfect materials, as they malce the IHora of India, 

 and its islands amount to only species, a nundxn- 



already proved by the Linnran Society's Indian Her- 

 barium, presented by the Company, to fall short of the 

 truth by at least a half. Viewing this fact in conjunc- 

 tion V ilh the re5«ult of my own collections during the 

 few days I was at Courtallum, and with the additional 

 one, that in a small collection received from the Malabar 

 coast, (made by a native collector who 1 know never 

 Vv ent far into the jungles) I found a considerable number 

 of new plants ; and further, bearing in mind that no part 

 of the vast range of mountains, .000 miles in length, 

 which traverses India from north to south has yet been 

 adequately explored, I think we may, without exaggera- 

 tion, add a half to what is known, for what is unknown. 

 If such an addition is allowable, it wili raise the Indian 

 Flora to about 14,0C0 species of Phanoganeous, or flow- 

 ering plants, which is about double that of Europe ; and 

 exceeding by 1,000 that of Equinoctial America, esti- 

 mated at 13,000 by Humbold, the best of all authorities. 

 In a vegeto-statistical point of view, these inquiries 

 are exceedingly interesting, and as this is a science yet 

 in its infancy, it is impossible to conjecture from our 

 present knowledge, to what useful results they may lead; 

 and as the only way to arrive at that knowledge, is by 

 the accumulation of facts bearing on it, it appears desira- 

 ble that it should be prosecuted to the utmost possible 

 extent. Perhaps it would add still further to the interest 

 of such an enquiry, to take a limited tract of country, the 

 superf cial extent of which is known, and have it well 

 examined as a point of comparison, not only with the 

 rest of Tndip, but with every part of the globe. The 

 country lying between the latitudes of the Arangall pass 



