6 THE MAMMALIA. 



dry observations into a picture full of colour and 

 life. 



' The province of Attica has undergone great 

 changes since the far off times when these animals 

 existed, the remains of which are accumulated 

 round about Pikermi. At the present day it is 

 a strip of hilly country twenty miles (lieues) long 

 and ten broad. That this locality should have 

 been considered the abode of the gods, and should 

 have witnessed the glory of the most eminent 

 minds of antiquity, is quite intelligible. But the 

 numerous and gigantic four-footed creatures of 

 primeval times required a wider area, and they are, 

 moreover, too like the present species from the 

 interior of Africa for it to be possible that they 

 could have lived in Greece under the same con- 

 ditions as exist at present. Without doubt at one 

 time Europe was connected with Asia by un- 

 interrupted plains that are now covered by sea. 

 We must also imagine these plains to have been 

 provided with a more luxurious vegetation. The 

 marble hills of Pentelicus, Hymettus, and Lau- 

 rium produce now only small plants upon which 

 the bees find their food. At one time valleys with 

 a rich vegetation must have run along by the 

 side of those barren hills, and grassy meadows 



