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Show 13~ MACLEAY SXSTEM OF is, ho·Never, observed in both the botany and zc )logy of Australia. There " we do not find in the great masses of veg~ta· tion, either the majesty of the virgin fores.ts of AmerlC~, or the variety and elegance of those of Asia, or the deh· cacy and fresllness of the wo?ds ?f our temperate coun· tries of Europe. The vegetahon IS generally gloomy and sad ; it has the aspect of our evergreens or heaths; t~e plants are for the most part woody ; the leaves o~ nearly all the plants are linear, lanceol.ated, small, conaceous, and spinescent. The grasses, wh1~h elsew~ere are ~ene· rally soft and flexible, participate In the stiffness ot the other vegetables. The greater part of the plar:tts of New Holland belong to new genera; and thos_e Inclu· ded in the genera already kno~vn are of new species. The natural farnilies which prevail are those of th~ heaths, the protre compositre, leguminosre, and Myrthmdere; the laraer tre~s a.ll belong to the last family."* rfhe prevalent animals of Australia are not less ~ec~· liar. It is V{ell known that none above the marsupiah~, or pouched anitnals, are native to it. The most cons:pi· cuous are these marsupials, which exist in great variehes here thonO'h unknown in the elder continent, and only found in a few mean forms in America. Next to them are the monotremata which are entirely peculiar to this portion of the earth.' Now these are animals at the bottom of the mamm\ferous class, adjoining to that of birds, of whose character and organization the m?notremat~ largely partake, the ornithorynchus pres~nbng the btll ~nd feet of a duck, producing its young In eggs, and having, like birds, a clavicle between the two shoulders. The birds of Australia vary in structure and plumag~, but aU have some singularity about them:-the s~an, for Instance, is black. The country abounds In rep~Iles, and. the. prevalent fishes are of the early lnnds, having a carhlagtnous structure. . Altogether the plants and animals of this minor c?nh· nent convey the im'Pression of an early system of thtngs, such as might be displayed in other p3:rts of. the .ear_th about the time of the oolite. In connexwn with this c.ucumstance, it is a fact of some importall:ce, th.at t~e g~og· ltostic character of Australia, its vast and -plains, Its little dtversified surface and consequtnt paucity of streams, • Prichard. • ANIMATED N A. TURF 133 and the very slight development of volcanic rock on its surtace seem to indicate a system of physical c0nditions such as we may suppose to have existed elsewhere in th~ oolite _era; perhaps we see the ch.all~ formation preparing there tn the vast coral beds frorihenng the coast. Australia thus appears as a portion of the earth which has, from some unknown causes, been belated in its physical and organic development. And certainly the greater part of !ts surface is not fitted to be an advantageous place of residence for beings above the marsupialia, and judgix1g from analogy, it may yet be subjected to a series of changes in the highest degree inconvenient to any human beings. who may have settled upon it. Th~ general conclusions regarding the geography of organic nature, may be thus stated. (1.) There are numerous distinct foci of organic production throughout the earth. (2.) These have everywhere advanced in accordance with the local conditions of climate, &c., as far as at least the class and order are concerned, a diversity taking place in the lower gradations. No physical or geographical reason appearing for this diversity, we are led to infer that (3.) it is the result of minute and inappreciable causes giving the law of organic development a particular direction in the lower subdivisions of the two kingdoms. ( 4 ) Development has not gone on to equal results in the various continents, being most advanced in the eastern continent, next in the western, and least in Australia, this inequality being perhaps the result of the comparative ~ntiquity of the various regions, geologically and geographically. It rnust at the same time be admitted that the line of organic development has nowhP-re required for its advance the whole of the families comprehended in the two kingdoms, seeing that some of these are confined to one con· ti_n~nt, and some. to another, without a conceivable possibility of one having been connected with the other in the \Va~ of ances~ry: The two great familiP.s of q_uadrumana, cebJdre. and sJmia~re, are a. noted instance, the one being exclu~Ively Amencan, while the other belongs entirely to the ol.d world. There are many other cases In which the f~ll. ~ucular group. can onl~ be completed by ta1~ing subdivisiOns from varwus continents. This would seem to imply that while the entire system is so remarkable for its unity, it has neYerthele~s been produced in lines geogra- |
