pe cu lia r produ ctio n s a re confined to the narrowest limits, is a s tro n g a rg um en t in favour
o f a general d istrib u tio n o f vegetable life over sep ara te spots on the globe. Hen ce it
will appear, th a t islands so situ ated furn ish th e best mate ria ls for a rigid comparison of
the effects o f geographical position and th e v arious meteorological phasnomena on vegetatio
n , and for acquiring a knowledge o f th e great laws according to which p lants are
distributed over th e face o f th e globe. T hese subjects are however foreign to th e p re sent
sk e tch , the a u th o r o f which hopes, ere long, to have an o p p o rtu n ity of dwelling
upo n th em a t large an d in a different form.
Those p ersons who h ave spent a series o f years on the o cean, in p u rsu it o f a favourite
science, know how little can be effected by th e u naided efforts of one individual, and
where much is accomplished, how large is the debt o f obligation in cu rred , n o t only to the
facilities afforded by shipmate s, b u t to the accommodating disposition o f those with
whom he comes in daily co n tac t, and with whom he literally shares one cabin and one
table. T h e a u th o r may he re be allowed to say, th a t no m an c an be more deeply sensible
th an h e is o f the rare privilege he enjoyed, in having messmates who were ever ready
to sacrifice th eir own convenience for his accommodation. Most especially does h e feel
it incumbent on him he re to re tu rn his th an k s to the commanding Officer of th e expedition
(as is his first duty) for th e o p p o rtu n ity afforded of accompanying him, for the
kind n ess always shown during th is the most imp o rtan t and in te restin g scientific voyage
th a t has been accomplished since th e days of Cook, and for the generous m an n e r in
which th a t officer’s p riv ate cabin and lib rary were unreservedly placed a t his disposal
during the whole time the expedition w as afloat. Attach ed as Sir Jam e s C la rk Ross has
ever been to th e various branche s o f N a tu ra l H isto ry , h e took a pleasure in promoting
th e in te res ts o f th e collections a t all times, and himself ga thered many o f th e p lants
here described.
T h e re were few of the officers o f e ith e r ship who did n o t co n trib u te some thing to
the collection o f p lan ts ; b u t the bo tan ist feels it p eculiarly imperative on him here to
enumera te and r e tu rn his especial th an k s to Mr. Lyall, Lieut. Smith, and Mr. Davis.
Mr. Lyall indeed, as appointed to tak e charge o f the b otanical collections on board the
“ T e rro r,” formed a most im p o rta n t herbarium, from which g rea t assistance has been
derived, amounting to no less th an 1500 species.
MAMMAL IA.
I .—T H E S E A L S O F T H E SO U T H E R N H E M IS P H E R E .
T he Seals have been long considered as one o f the most difficult families o f Mammalia, p artly on ac count of their
great resemblance to one anothe r in exte rnal characters, and the changes which they undergo during th e ir growth in
colour and form, b u t more especially on account o f th e difficulty o f observing them in their natural habitations.
T h e labours of M. de Blainville, th e two brothers Cuvier, and especially of Professor Nilsson o f L u n d , have done
much to elucidate the characters o f the Eu ro p e an species and those frequenting the eastern coast o f North America,
— th e species found on the west coast of No rth America being still known by the descriptions o f Steller only ; indeed
many naturalists have been inclined to consider them as identical with those found in the southern p a rt of th e Pacific
Ocean, believing th a t the species migrate from one extremity of the world to th e o th e r; though we have th e testimony
of all voyagers th at seals are never found between th e equatorial line and 21° no rth latitude, a fact first stated by
Dampier (Voy. p. 90).
The Seals of the southern hemisphere have n o t been so well studied, from th e want of sufficient materials. Cuvier,
when he wrote th e ‘ Ossemens Fossile.s,’ possessed only eight skulls, belonging to four species, (viz.—1. P h o ca lepto-
nyx ; 2. P. elephantina ; 3. P . p u s illa ; 4. P. leouiua ?), b u t as several o f these h ad b een brought home without the
skins, h e could only refer them doubtfully to established species. Inde ed, almost th e only knowledge th a t we have
of these animals is derived from th e obseiwations of Cook, and the Forsters, who accompanied th a t in trep id navigator
as n a tu ra lis ts ; and the materials which lliey brought home were well collated together by P en n an t, in his ‘ H isto ry of
Quadrupeds,’ a work o f very extraordinary merit considciing the date o f its publication. T o be sure th a t was a time
when E n g lan d might fairly be described as taking, as she should do, a lead in scientific Z o o lo g y ; and it is y et a
period which has not been fairly estimated by th e modern school of Zoologists, who, a t th e opening o f the continent
after the war, appear to have been so dazzled by the brilliant progress made by the Professors in Franc e named by
Napoleon, th a t they appear to have overlooked the fact th a t these men were only following in the footsteps o f P en n an t,
Latham,* Solander, the Forsters, Fabricius, and others, who were either natives of or h ad b een fostered by the scientific
men of th is country, as Liuneus followed in the footsteps of Ray.
Besides th e particulars given by Cook and Forster in the account o f their Voyages, Forster communicated to Buffon
the figures of two o f the species he h ad observed, accompanied by details o f their organization and habits, which
* I may mention as a proof of the indefatigable energy and industry of Dr. Latham, that he commenced at the age of ninety a new edition
of his ‘ Synopsis,’ in which he arranged all the more recently discovered species, with references to where they were described, and adopted some
of the modern genera. 1 have this work in my library, in three 4to volumes, all written in the dear old man’s own hand. Such was his interest
in science, that, having expressed a desire to procure a copy of the drawing of his Bulool Pheasant, to send to India, he, then in his ninety-second
year, copied the drawing and etched it, that I might have the impressions I required, He continued as much atuched to the study of
Antiquities and Architecture as to Natural History, to the end of his long and arduous life.