however, we shall have offered no violence to the sacred text, if we suppose that plants sprang up spontaneously and originally in the localities where they are now found, or in consequence of the operation of causes connected with the constitution of this globe; "and God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so." But it is not sufficient for vegetation that the seeds or roots of plants be merely carried from one part of the world to another, by whatever means; unless transported to a congenial climate and soil, they sooner or later perish. The only way for their preservation is by adopting artificial means suitable to their nature. Year after year living seeds are carried from the shores of tropical America, and deposited by the Gulf stream on the coasts of Europe, without securing to themselves any permanent existence in its flora. What then, it may be asked, are the conditions requisite to the successful development of vegetable life and its continuance? Doubtless they are various both in kind and degree, each particular species perhaps requiring some modification of the general conditions. Heat, light, and moisture, besides being agents in the distribution of vegetable life, are likewise its great supporters. The various kinds of soils are each distinguished by some peculiarities in the plants they produce; and when by any chance the species flourishing in one kind of soil is transplanted to another, their stunted appearance proves sure evidences how little their new position is congenial to them. By studying the flora of a district, its geological character can be ascertained accurately, and thus, by a beautiful combination, the one science acts as a key to the other. Certain conditions then of the atmosphere, as regards temperature and moisture; of the soil, as regards qualities and composition; and of situation, as regards altitude, exposure, and shelter, all combined, influence the locali

sation of plants. The geography of plants acting terrestrial habitations, depends chiefly, although not entirely, on climate, whether as resulting from istitude or from altitude; from which it follows that the distance of a few degrees of latitude affects for the most part s very material change in the character of the vegetable productions found at the extreme parallels. Hence each country or continent has a flora that may be said to be peculiar to itself, or it gives a peculiar cast of feature to plants of the same species; in the same manner as climate or country gives a peculiar cast of aspect and of colour, not merely to the several tribes of brute animals, but even to the several tribes of mankind. Asiatic plants, for instance, are notable for their superior beauty; African plants for their thick succulent leaves; American plants for the length and smoothness of their leaves; and European plants for their lack of beautiful flowers. Plants indigenous to polar or mountainous regions are generally low, with compressed leaves. Plants indigenous to New Holland are distinguishable for small and dry leaves that often have a shrivelled appearance. In Arabia the indigenous plants are chiefly low and dwarfish. In the Grecian Archipelago they are shrubby and furnished with prickles.

But the peculiarities of floras are not confined merely to tracts of external aspect; they depend chiefly upon the presence or absence of certain distinct species in certain given districts. Thus America has but few plants that are indentical with those of the other great continents of the world. The flora of Africa is distinct from that of Asia; and the flora of Asia from that of Europe; while that of New Holland is distinct from all others on the face of the earth. Take these continents in their several divisions, and you have the same peculiarities. In the small island of St. Helena we find species and genera which are peculiar to that island, and not occuring in any other island or region of the world.

The late Baron Von Humboldt divided the earth into regions, by lines running parallel to the equator; the divisions being:-torrid, temperate, and arctic. He further subdivided these into eight zones, between the equator and the poles, as follows:-equatorial, tropical, subtropical, warmer and colder temperate, subarctic, arctic, and polar. It is impossible to say where one ends and the other begins, as they run as it were into each other. Beyond the arctic circle, the number of plants is extremely limited. Captain Ross, speaking of a tribe of Esquimaux that he met with on the shores of Baffin's Bay, says, "Their knowledge of wood seemed to be limited to some plant like heath, of a dwarfish growth; accordingly, they knew not what to think of the timber they saw on board the ship; and so little notion had they of any kind of vegetable texture, that when presented with a shirt, they inquired of what animal's skin it was made." In Europe, however, vegetation extends considerably further; a great part of Sweden, Norway, and the north of Russia is covered with forests of fir. In Norway and Lapland the plants that are found to approach nearest the limits of perpetual snow, are the dwarf birch and dwarf willow. Even beyond the limit of these trees, are found several small plants, and among them the reindeer moss, which forms the principle food of the reindeer; an animal employed by the Laplanders for drawing their sledges. The plant abounds in nutritious and mucilaginous properties, and has been employed as a remedy in consumptive complaints. Next after the dwarf birch and willow, come the common birch, the mountain ash, and the Scotch fir. Still travelling toward the south, we arrive successively at the northern limit of the ash, the oak, and the beech. Despite the inclement climate of Lapland, it can boast of some wild flowers of great beauty. Among these are the mezereon, the yellow and white water lilly. Proceeding southward along the shores of the Baltic towards Stockholm, we find the wood

anemone, the hepatica, the dog rose, and the sycamore. A great part of the Russian empire, both in Europe and Asia, is one mass of forests. In the northern provinces are found chiefly the various kinds of firs. As we pass into Asiatic Russia, we lose the kinds referred to; thus you perceive that some plants are affected by climate, and many are confined to a particular latitude. which they cannot pass; nature seems as it were to say. so far shalt thou come and no farther. Yet nature. always provident for the preservation of all her works. and always fertile in resources for the accomplishment of her object, has furnished some plants with the capacity of vegetating in almost all climates, and of naturalising themselves in almost any way. This is particularly the case with eatable roots, such as the common culinary plants most useful to man. Hence they have followed him into all climates.

By directing our attention to the countries occupying the southern side of the Baltic, we shall find a wide district of heath, beginning from the northern extremity of Jutland, thence westward as far as the ocean eastward over a considerable part of the north of Germany. To the south of this tract of heath, we find a region of remarkable fertility, in which several species of our cultivated grain grow. This district, which is for the most part unbroken by hills of any considerable height, comprises the Netherlands, the greater part of France, the middle of Germany, Poland, and southern Russia. The eastern part of this region being comparatively thinly peopled, supplies with corn several other parts of Europe, the produce of the soil being carried down by internal navigation, partly to the ports on the Baltic and partly to those on the Black Sea. The line which limits the cultivation of corn, like that which limits the growth of the oak and other forest trees, extends much further on the western side than on the eastern side of the continent. The cultivation of corn does not succeed better in the torrid zone than in the polar regions.

Within the tropics

wheat, barley, and oats are not cultivated, excepting in situations elevated considerably above the level of the sea. In the north of Italy, west of Milan, we first meet with the cultivation of rice. This is the seed of a species of grass, bearded like barley. Rice can only be grown in a situation where the ground can at pleasure be covered with water. This is an advantage enjoyed by the whole plain of Lombardy, naturally of great fertility, and rendered still more so by a system of irrigation. Inclosed between two noble chains of mountains, the Alps to the north and west, the Apennines to the south, the deep and rich soil of this plain seems to have been deposited by an inundation, which brought down a portion of the substance of those mountains, consisting, near their bases, of large rounded stones, which gradually diminish in magnitude towards the shores of the Gulf of Venice, where the soil consists of finely-divided matter. The fertility of the kingdom of Naples, from its not possessing generally equal advantages with respect to water, is inferior to that of the countries north of it. Yet there are exceptions; and what it is deficient in point of quantity is made up for, in some respect, in the quality it produces. Here flourish the cotton tree, and even the sugar cane. Vines load with their clusters the lofty trees they climb. The abundance of trees give to the luxuriant country the appearance of a forest, and the silk gathered from the worms is of high value and abundant. While thus whatever is adapted to the sustenance of man is generously lavished on this country with an unsparing hand by a kind Providence, it is no less indulgent with all that can please the eye or delight with its perfume. If we now direct our attention to the narrow, but fruitful, valley of the Nile, we find several new vegetable productions. Among the most remarkable of these is the papyrus, a species of reed, which was employed by the Egyptians in early times for making paper; and from Egypt was introduced the mignonette. This country was once regarded as the granary of