Ch. VIII.] SUPPOSED CENTRES OF CREATION. 103

before the discovery of St. Helena (itself of submarinevolcanic origin), a multitude of new islands had beenthrown up in the surrounding sea, and that these hadea ch become clothed with plants emigrating from St. Helena , in the same manner as the wild plants ofCampania have diffused themselves over Monte Nuovo.Whenever the first botanist investigated the new ar-chipelago, he would, in all probability, find a differentassemblage of plants in each of the islands of recentformation; but, in St. Helena itself, he would meetwith individuals of every species belonging to all parts°f the archipelago, and some, in addition, peculiar toUself, viz., those which had not been able to obtain aPassage into any one of the surrounding new-formedlands. In this case, it might be truly said that theor iginal island was the primitive focus, or centre, of acertain type of vegetation; whereas, in the surroundingelands, there would be a smaller number of species,Jet all belonging to the same group.

But this peculiar distribution of plants would notWarrant the conclusion that, in the space occupied bySt. Helena , there had been a greater exertion of cre-ative power than in the spaces of equal area occupiedby the new adjacent lands, because, within the period

which St. Helena had acquired its peculiar vege-tation, each of the spots supposed to be subsequentlyconverted into land may have been the birth-places ofa great number of marble animals and plants, whichtaay have had time to scatter themselves far and wideever the southern Atlantic.

Why distinct provinces not more blended. — Perhapstt may be objected to some parts of the foregoing train°f reasoning, that during the lapse of past ages,especially during many partial revolutions of the globeF 4