343 
its Applicability to the Ferns , &c. 
follows. No other hypothesis, be it noted, allows of any predictions. One 
will expect the Ferns to show a graduated arrangement by zones similar to 
that shown by the Angiosperms in Tables III to VI (9), and as they are on 
the whole a good deal older, one will expect them to have spread farther 
along the islands of New Zealand, so that the curves should be flatter. At 
the same time, one will expect to find them taking less notice of the 
presence of Cook’s Strait, as they were probably developed early enough to 
have crossed that part of New Zealand before the strait was formed. 
Turning to the actual facts, one gets : 
Table VI. 
Ferns: Wides 
Endemics 
Angiosperms: Wides 
Endemics 
a 
a 
a 
a 
9 
. 
a 
a 
0 
a 
a 
a 
a 
a 
0 
00 
q* 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
8 
0 
0 
8 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
CO 
O 
0 
Ui 
0 
VD 
1 
O 
i>. 
1 
0 
00 
0 
a \ 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
O 
c* 
CO 
4 
VO 
00 
C\ 
75 
77 
84 
84 
79 
78 
69 
69 
6l 
58 
39 
15 
18 
23 
21 
21 
21 
21 
*9 
18 
19 
8 
209 
210 
237 
237 
235 
242 
236 
227 
215 
204 
T12 
234 
280 
330 
368 
386 
537 
532 
527 
516 
4 J 4 
130 
It is evident that the prediction is borne out by the facts. The fern 
curves are flatter, and they, as well as the ‘ wide ’ Angiosperms, take no 
notice of Cooks Strait (between the 5th and 6th figures), which holds up so 
many endemic Angiosperms. Similarly, they take less notice of Foveaux 
Strait, between the last two figures. One gathers the impression that the 
angiosperm wides and the fern endemics are on the whole of somewhere 
about the same period, very broadly speaking. 
Another prediction one may make is that as the Ferns are older, more 
(proportionately) should have reached the outlying islands. This one finds 
to be the case, for 44 out of 92 do so, against 95 out of 301 Angiosperms. 
More of the Ferns, too, should have reached even farther than this, and 
thus those that were once endemic would have become wides, leaving 
a smaller proportion of endemics. The fern endemics are only 24 to 93, 
against 902 angiosperm endemics to 301 wides. 
It is thus clear that the Ferns also obey the law of age and area, and 
throw a good deal of light upon various problems associated with it. 
V. The Ferns of the Hawaiian Islands. 
Taking the Ferns from Hillebrand’s Flora (5), and naming them afresh 
from Christensen’s Index, one gets the following : 
