Page:The Journal of Indian Botany, Volume III.djvu/60



The writer has always deprecated the action of those persons who evolve new theories* from a priori considerations, out of their own inner consciousness, without any material evidence to support them, as well as of those who glean some facts from half a dozen published sources, diligently select those favourable to a particular pet theory, ignore all the other facts which do not fit it and rush into print.

It seems, therefore, advisable to state that the theory to be developed here has not arisen in either of these two ways. It is based mainly on some oecological work which is being carried on at the present time by the writer and some of his students. This work is likely to be continued for some months at least and meanwhile the idea gradually crystallizing from it seemed sufficiently important, in its relation to Indian oecological problems, to justify this attempt to complete the crystallizing process. It is proposed rather to explain the idea than to give details of the facts which first led to its adoption.

Probably many Indian Botanists have been struck by the extreme paucity of references to India in oecological literature. Warming’s classical "Oecology of Plants" contains practically no reference to India except a few passing remarks about “Monsoon Forest” (which he quite possibly classifies incorrectly). I know of no work in recent years which has suggested any broad basis upon which detailed oecological studies in India may rest. Consequently such oecological work as has been done, apart from any question of its intrinsic merit, has no basis of correlation except European and American work. The result has been that those who have tried to define Indian plant communities have quite definitely made the attempt to fit them into the systems which have evolved in the last twenty years from the oecological work done in Western countries. Those systems are already comparatively rigid and the task of fitting our plant communities into them is no* an easy one. Indeed I have come to the conclusion that it cannot be done, at least not on the lines which have been hitherto attempted.