RECENT LITERATURE. 
REVIEWS OF PALEOBOTANICAL LITERATURE. 
BY THEO. HOLM. 
A. G. Natuorst: On the occurrence of fossil glacial-plants.* 
It is nothing less than a mapping of the former distribution of the 
Arctic flora in Europe, that the author presents in these papers. 
They are principally based upon his own observations, and contain 
an invaluable account of the distribution of these plants. The ac- 
companying map gives a comprehensive view of the former extent 
of the Ice-period in Europe, covering an area from 50° to 70° lat., 
besides Switzerland, a part of Hungary, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, 
France and the Pyrenees. 
The plants which especially indicate the presence of a former 
Arctic flora are: Salix polaris, S. reticulata, Betula nana, Polygo- 
num viviparum, Azalea procumbens, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Dryas 
octopetala, besides some others, including mosses. The author pre- 
sumes that several other species of Sadix will be found by closer ex- 
amination of the considerable material he has at hand, as there are 
some leaves which very much resemble S. myrsinites, S. myrtillo- 
ides, S. retusa, S. Lapponum and various others. 
The fragments of these plants are not only leaves, butalso branches, 
catkins and fruits. It will be interesting to know the conclusions | 
which the author promises will soon appear from these investiga- 
tions, concerning the former and present distribution of the Arctic 
plants. Some very interesting points have been given, however, 
in the present paper, concerning the distribution of Dryas. For 
the first time this has lately been discovered as fossil in Great Britain 
in a single locality near Edinburgh, while it is found in the living 
state among the mountains of Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland. 
Polygonum viviparum was found as fossil in Switzerland, but no 
fossil remains have ever been found of it in Sweden, although it is 
very common in the recent flora. 
***Ueber den gegenwartigen Standpunkt unserer Kenntniss von dem Vorkom- 
men fossiler Glacialpflanzen.” (Bihang K. Sv. Vet. Akad. Hdlgr. vol. 17, 1892; 
Stockholm, pp. 1-32, with map.) and: ‘ Den arktiska Florans forna Utbredning i 
Landerna éster och séder om Oestergén.”’ (Ymer, Stockholm, 1891, pp- 115-147, 
with map.) Also, ‘‘ Fresh Evidences Concerning the Distribution of Arctic Plant 
during the Glacial Epoch.” (Nature, vol. 45, Jan., 1892.) 
