whatever elevations and subsidences these countries may have undergone, they have not been connected either with Asia, Africa, or South America during the whole Tertiary period.
In conclusion, I would especially remark that the various changes in the outlines and mutual relations of our continents, which I have now endeavoured to establish, must not be supposed to have been all strictly contemporaneous. Some may have been a little earlier or a little later than others; some changes may have been slower, others more rapid ; some may have had but a short duration, while others may have persisted through considerable geological periods. But, notwithstanding this uncertainty as to details, the great features of the geographical revolutions which I have indicated, appear to be established by a mass of concurring evidence ; and the lesson they teach us is, that although almost the whole of what is now dry land has undoubtedly once lain deep beneath the waters of the ocean, yet such changes on a great scale are excessively slow and gradual; so that, when compared with the highest estimates of the antiquity of the human race, or even with that of most of the higher animals, our existing continents and oceans may be looked upon as permanent features of the earth's surface.
At page 59 I have said that there are only three or four species of Mimosa which are sensitive. This is a mistake, as the greater portion of the species in the extensive genus Mimosa, as well as some species of several other genera of Leguminosæ, and also of Oxalidaceæ, possess this curious property. I cannot find, however, that any one has suggested in what way the sensitiveness may have been useful to the species which first acquired it. My guess at an explanation may therefore induce botanists who are acquainted with the various species in a state of nature, to suggest some better solution of the problem.
Argus-pheasant, wonderful plumage of,
205
Arums, 48
Assai of the Amazon, 43
Auckland Isles, handsome flowers of,
238
Audubon, on the ruby humming-birds,
130, 137
Australian Region, mammalia of, 340
birds of, 340
extinct fauna of, 341
its supposed union with S. America,
341
Azara, on food of humming-birds, 135
Abrus precatoria, perhaps a case of
mimicry, 226
Absorption-colours or pigments, 183
Acræide, warning colours of, 174
Adaptive characters, 150, 155
Affinities, how to determine doubtful,
148
African large mammalia, recent immi.
grants, 323
Allen, Mr. Grant, on protective colours
of fruits, 225
Alpine flowers, why so beautiful, 232
Amboyna, large sized butterflies of, 258
American monkeys, 118
American Continents, past history of,
332
Ancient races of North and South
America, 298
Andaman Islands, pale butterflies of,
260
white-marked birds of, 263
Anderson, Mr. W. Marshall, on cranium
from N. American mound, 296
Andes, very rich in humming-birds, 139
Animal colours, how produced, 184
life in tropical forests, 70
Anthribida, 95
Auts, wasps, and bees, 80
numbers of, in India and Malaya,
81-88
destructive to insect-specimens, 85
and vegetation, special relation
between, 89
A patura and Heterochroa, resemblance
of species of, 257
Apes, 116
Aqueous vapour of atmosphere, its
influence on temperature, 9
quantity at Batavia and Clifton, 10
Arctic plants, large leaves of, 236
flowers and fruits brightly coloured,
237
Areca palm, 45
Arenga saccharifera, 43
B.
BAMBOOS, 52
uses of, 53—58
Bananas, wild, 47
Banana, 48
Barber, Mrs. on colour changes of pupa
of Papilio nireus, 168
Barbets, 105
Bark, varieties of in tropical forests, 33
Barometer, range of, at Batavia, 24
Batavia, Meteorology of, 4
and London, diagram of mean
temperatures, 5
greatest rainfall at, 24
range of barometer at, 24
Bates, Mr. on climate at the Equator, 24
on scarcity of forest-flowers on
Amazon, 61
on animal life in Amazon valley, 70
on abundance of butterflies at Ega,
on importance of study of butter-
flies, 78
on leaf-cutting ants, 86
on blind ants, 88
on bird-catching spider, 97
on use of toucan's bill, 106
on large serpents, 115
on the habits of humming birds,
132
Bats, 118
Beetles, 94
abundance of, in New Forest-clear-
ings, 96
probable use of horns of, 202
Belt, Mr. on virgin forests of Nicaragua,
62
on aspects of tropical vegetation, 67
on leaf-cutting ants, 86
on an Acacia inhabited by ants, 89
on uses of ants to the trees they
live on, 90
on a leaf-like locust, 93
on tree-frogs, 116
on the habits of humming-birds,
133, 134
on uneatable bright-coloured frog,
175
on use of light of glow-worm, 205
Betel-nut, 45
Bill of humming-birds, 129
Biology, by-paths of, illustrated, 251
Birds, 99
how many known, 124
cases of local variation of colour
among, 262
influence of locality on colours of,
255
which fertilize flowers, 273, 274
and insects blown to oceanic islands,
308
of Palæarctic Region, 316
of Ethiopian Region, 318
of Oriental Region, 320
Bonelli, Mr., on the Sappho comet
humming-bird, 132
Bullock on food of humming-birds, 153
Buprestidæ, 94
Burchell, Dr., on the “stone mes-
embryanthemum," 223
Butterflies, abundance of, in tropical
forests, 72
conspicuousness of in tropical
forests, 73
colours and form of, 74
peculiar habits of tropical, 76
tropical and temperate compared as
to colour, 164
females do not choose their part-
with gaily-coloured females, 204
numbers and variety of, 255
influence of locality on colours of,
255
Buttressed trees, 31
Campylopterus hemileucurus, pugna-
cious and ornamental, 214
Cattleyas, 51
Cecropias, trees inliabited by ants, 89
Celebes, large and peculiarly formed
butterflies of, 259
white-marked birds of, 263
Centipedes, 97
Ceylon and Malaya, resemblances of
fauna of, 327
Chameleons, 113
Chameleon, cause of changes of its
colour, 170
Chemical action changes colours, 183
Chili, humming-birds of, 141
Chiroptera, 119
Chrysobactron Rossii, 238
Clark, Rev. Hamlet on leaf-cutting
ants, 86
Climate of Equator, general features of,
17
Climates of Timor, Angola, and Scot-
land compared, 14
Climbing plants of tropical forests, 37
uses of, 39
Cockatoos, 100
Coelogynes, 51
Coloration of tropical birds, 110
Colour, cause of change of, in humming.
birds, 144
Colour in nature, problems of, 159
how far constant, 161
as affected by heat and light, 161
of tropical birds, 163
of tropical butterflies, 164
of temperate and tropical flowers,
165
changes of, in animals produced by
coloured light, 167
voluntary change of, in animals,
170
not usually influenced by coloured
light, 171
Colour, the nature of, 180
how produced, 183
changed by heat, 183
a normal product of organization,
185
as a means of recognition, 196
proportionate to integumentary de-
velopment, 198
not caused by female selection, 198
Colour absent in wind-fertilized flowers,
233
same theory of, in animals and
plants, 234
of flowers and their distribution,
235
Colour, nomenclature of, formerly im-
perfect, 247
Colour-development as illustrated by
humming-birds, 212
C.
CALAMUS, 41
Callithea, imitated by species of Cata-
granıma and Agrias, 257
Cailithea markii, 75
Colour-development, local causes of,
216
in animals, summary, 216
Colour-perception, supposed recent
growth of, 244
Colour-sense, origin of the, 241
need for, 243
not of recent origin, 246
not wholly explicable, 248
Colours, classification of organic, 172
protective, 172
warning, 174
sexual, 177
typical, 179
of animals, how produced, 184
theory of protective, 187
theory of warning, 189
theory of sexual, 192
theory of typical, 215
Colours and ornaments of humming,
birds, 127
Colours of fruits, attractive, 224
protective, 225
Colours, which first perceived, 243
Cometes sparganurus, very pugnacious,
214
Compositæ, arborescent in oceanic
islands, 276
Continent, past changes of the great
Eastern, 321
Continents of Tertiary period, probable
aspect of, 343
Copride, 95
probable use of horns of, 202
Crematogaster, genus of ants, 83
Cross-fertilization of flowers, use of,
228
complex arrangements for, 229
Cuckoos, 104
EARL, MR. GEORGE WINDSOR, on divi-
sion of Malay Archipelago, 307
Earth-sculpture or surface-geology, 250
Earth-works, North American, 292
Easter Island, sculptures on, 291
Eciton, genus of foraging ants, 87
Elateridæ, luminous species perhaps
mimetic, 205
Emperor-moth, protective coloration of,
174
Environment, relation of living things
to, 254
Epicalia, sexes of, differently coloured,
178
Epilobium angustifolium, E. parvi-
florum, 233
Epimachinæ, 150
Equator, cause of uniform high tempera-
ture near, 6
short twilight at, 21
Equatorial climate, general features of,
17
uniformity of in all parts of the
world, is
local diversities of, 19
Equatorial forests, general features of,
29
Equatorial forest-belt, cause of, 27
Equatorial heavens, aspect of, 23
Equatorial zone, temperature of, 3
Ethiopian Region, 317
Eugenes fulgens, 134
Eunica and Siderone, resemblance of
species of, 257
Euplea, pale species of, in Moluccas
and New Guinea, 258
Euro-Asiatic continent, miocene fauna
of, 323
Eustephanus, 141
Erstephanus galeritus, 143
Euterpe oleracea, 43
Evaporation and condensation, equa-
lising effects of, 16
DANAIDÆ, warning colours of, 174
Danainæ, Acræinæ and Heliconiinæ,
local resemblances of, 256
Daphne pontica, 230
Darwin, Mr., on mode of cross-fertiliza-
tion and its use, 228
not too highly rated, 252
on vegetation of Galapagos, 272
on use of scented leaves, 277
on former union of West Indian
islands and S. America, 306
on oceanic islands, 307
revolution in thought effected by,
284
Deserts on line of tropics, 28
Desmoncus, 41
De Vry, Mr., on the sugar-palm, 43
Dews, cause of heavy tropical, 10
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