Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/78

 58 ON THE BOTANICAL SUBDIVISION OF IRELAND. XXIII. LiFFEY AND BoYNE.— 124. Kildaro ; 125. Dublin; 126. Month; 127. Louth. XXIV. Lower Shannon. — 128. Limerick; 129. Clare; 130. East Gal way. XXV. Upper Shannon.— 131. North Tipperary ; 132. King's Co.; 183. Westmeath ; 134. Longford. XXVI. North Atlantic— 135. WestGalway; 136. West Mayo. XXVII. North Connaught. — 137. East Mayo ; 138. Sligo ; 139. Leitrim; 140. Eoscommon. XXVIII. Erne.— 141. Fermanagh; 142. Cavan ; 143; Mona- ghan; 144. Tyrone; 145. Armagh. XXIX. Donegal.— 146. Donegal. XXX. Ulster Coast.— 147. Down; 148. Antrim; 149. Derry. Following Watson, Babington founded his twelve provinces as far as possible on the principal river-basins of the country. Ireland does not readily lend itself to'such a plan of division. The Shannon valley occupies about one-sixth of the entire island, and other river- basins are small in comparison. Also, the mountain-chains being mostly near the coast, considerable areas are drained by small rivers only. The consequence was that in many cases river-basin provinces were not practicable, and this gave an opportunity for the using of natural botanical divisions, such as Kerry and South Cork, Connemara and West Mayo, and Donegal. So that, although the partition of Ireland by river-basins is not satisfactory, never- theless Babington's twelve provinces appear to be as good as could have been selected. Seven years after the publication of Babington's paper, Cyhele Hibernica appeared, under the authorship of Dr. David Moore and Mr. A. G. More. In this work the twelve provinces suggested by Babington were adopted, the only alteration being that they were called "Districts," and were numbered 1 to 12, instead of XIX. to XXX. — of which more anon. In his British Riibi, published three years later (1869), Babington used the twelve provinces he pro- posed ; indeed, it was for the purpose of showing the distribution of the liuhi that he first imdertook the botanical division of Ireland ; as he himself modestly says,'"' " I should not have intruded myself into a work which seems especially Irish, had it not become neces- sary for me to subdivide the country for the purpose of recording the distribution of the Irish Ruhi, as a part of my projected, and to a considerable extent completed, treatise upon the Buhl of the United Kingdom." So much for the proposed twelve botanical divisions of Ireland: they have been adopted by the leaders of Irish botany, and the large amount of botanical survey work carried out since they were first suggested has not in any way shaken our faith in their scientific usefulness and practical convenience. Next, as regards the second part of Babington's scheme — the subdivision into counties and vice-counties. We have not yet in Ireland got so far as a Topogi-aphical Botany ; and, although the
 * «• Hints towards a Cybele Hibernica," L c.