Botany.] 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
509 
lar fact in the geographical history of this genus, that its 
species, which have been traced through almost every meri- 
dian of the South Coast, upon the islands in Bass’ Strait, in 
Van Diemen’s Land, and widely scattered throughout the 
whole extent of New South Wales to the North Coast, 
at which extreme of the continent, B. dentata has been 
observed as far west as longitude 130° East, should be 
wholly wanting on the line of North-west Coast. Why the 
links of this almost perfect chain should have been broken 
on these shores appears unaccountable, since they are, by 
reason of their general sterility and exposure, extremely fa- 
vourable to the growth of the greater portion of the order. 
Our limited knowledge of the West Coast (properly so 
called) does not afford us materials to hazard even a partial 
conclusion, relative to the existence of this family on its 
shores, excepting from the total absence of any one plant of 
Proteaceae at those parts of Rottnest and Dirk Hartog’s 
Islands visited during the Bathurst’s voyage ; an inference 
may be drawn of the general paucity of any part of the 
order on the shores of the neighbouring main. Although 
no speeies have been found common to shores opposite to 
each other, in the higher latitudes, the identity of Grevillea 
mimosoides, Persoonia falcata, and Hakea arborescens, has 
been established upon the East Coast, and the north- 
western shores, in the parallel of about 15° South; but 
whilst this geographical diffusion has been remarked in re- 
ference to those particular species, the range of Grevillea 
gibbosa, a plant discovered at Endeavour River by Sir Jo- 
seph Banks, is now tolerably well defined by observations 
made during the late voyages, from whieh it appears to be 
eircumseribed to an area not exceeding one hundred and 
twenty miles on the East Coast. In the course of the pro- 
gress of the land expedition above referred to, the discovery 
