434 



ISLAND LIFE. 



[PAET II. 



groups, and produce upon them all a common result. Nearly 

 thirty species of butterflies, belonging to three different families, 

 have a common modification in the shape of their wings, by 

 which they can be distinguished at a glance from their allies 

 in any other island or country whatever ; and all these are 

 larger than the representative forms inhabiting most of the 

 adjacent islands.^ No such remarkable local modification as 

 this is known to occur in any other part of the globe ; and 

 whatever may have been its cause, that cause must certainly 

 have been long in action, and have been confined to a limited 

 area. We have here, therefore, another argument in favour of 

 the long-continued isolation of Celebes from all the surrounding 

 islands and continents — a hypothesis which we have seen to 

 afford the best, if not the only, explanation of its peculiar 

 vertebrate fauna. 



Concluding Bemarhs. — If the view here given of the origin 

 of the remarkable Celebesian fauna is correct, we have in this 

 island a fragment of the great eastern continent which has pre- 

 served to us, perhaps from Miocene times, some remnants of its 

 ancient animal forms. There is no other example on the globe 

 of an island so closely surrounded by other islands on every 

 side, yet preserving such a marked individuality in its forms of 

 life ; while, as regards the special features which characterise its 

 insects, it is, so far as yet known, absolutely unique. Unfortu- 

 nately very little is known of the botany of Celebes, but it 

 seems probable that its plants will to some extent partake of 

 the speciality which so markedly distinguishes its animals ; 

 and there is here a rich field for any botanist who is able to 

 penetrate to the forest-clad mountains of its interior. 



1 For outline figures of the chief types of these butterflies, see my 

 Malay Archipelago, Vol. 1. p. 441, or p. 281 of the second edition. 



