Abstract
NO portion of the earth's surface surpasses the British Empire in India in the wealth and importance of its vegetable and animal life. Not only is there no other equally large tropical area that has received the same amount of exploration from naturalists, but the territories and dependencies of British India comprise regions with a marvellous variety of climates, from tropical islands like the Andamans and hot plains like the Carnatic, to the snows of the Himalayas and the frigid plateaus of Tibet; whilst the rainfall varies from the “record” 600 inches or more on the Khasi hills to the meagre supply that occasionally damps the arid sands of the Sind desert, where, frequently, for years in succession, rain is unknown. The remarkable antiquity of the Indian peninsula, the greater part of which appears to have been land from the earliest geological times, adds greatly to the scientific importance of the fauna and flora.
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The Flora and Fauna of British India. Nature 58, 250–251 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/058250a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/058250a0