The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

—chap, xiii.] THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. 4G3perhaps, wholly been produced, in order to attract insects which aidin their fertilization—that in New Zealand, where insectsare sostrikingly deficient in variety, the flora should be almost as strikinglydeficient in gaily-coloured blossoms. Of course there are someexceptions, butas a whole, green,. inconspicuous, and imperfectflowers prevail, to an extent not to be equalled in any other partof the globe ;and affording a marvellous contrast to the generalbrilliancy of Australian flowers, combined with the abundanceand variety of its insect-life. We must remember, too, that thefew gay or conspicuous flowering-plants possessedby New Zealand,are almost all of Australian, South American, orEuropeangenera; the peculiar New Zealand or Antarctic genera beingalmost wholly without conspicuous flowers. In the tropicalGalapagos the same thing occurs. Mr. Darwin notices thewretched weedy appearance of the vegetation ; and states thatit was some time before he discovered that most of the plantswere in flower at the time of his visit ! And the insect-life wascorrespondingly deficient, consisting mainly of a few terrestrialbeetles.The poverty of insect-life in New Zealand must, therefore, bea very ancient feature of the country ; and it furnishes an additionalargument against the theory of land-connection with, oreven any near approach to, either Australia, South Africa, orSouth America. For in that case numbers of winged insectswould certainly have entered, and theflowers would then, as inevery other part of the world, have been rendered attractive tothem by the development of coloured petals ; and this characteronce acquired would long maintain itself, even if the insects had,from some unknown cause, subsequently disappeared.After the preceding paragraphs were written, it occurred to me,that if this reasoning were correct, New Zealand plants ought tobe also deficient in scented flowers ; because it is a part of thesame theory, that the odours of flowers have, like their colours,been developed to attract the insects required to aid in their fertilization.I therefore at once applied to my friend Dr. Hooker,as the highest authority on New Zealand botany ;simply askingwhether there was any such observed deficiency. His reply was: