ANTARCTIC CONTINENT 
423 
reptiles and amphibians, Dr. Gill* * * § maintained that the evi¬ 
dence in favour of a former antarctic continental area is 
strong, and, in view of the affinities of the species of the now 
distant regions, the conclusion is logical that the time of 
disruption was not remote in a geological sense. 
So far as existing mammals and birds are concerned, said 
Dr. Allen,f there seemed to be very slight need for calling in 
the aid of a former antarctic continent to explain their pre¬ 
sent distribution. The distribution of marsupials alone 
among mammals gave a hint of a possible former land connec¬ 
tion between South America and Australia. 
Mr. Ancey J gives a valuable contribution to the subject 
at issue, founded on the distribution of the terrestrial 
mollusks. The results of his enquiries are that the evident 
relationship of the faunas of South America and the Austra¬ 
lian region can be satisfactorily explained by the assump¬ 
tion of a former antarctic continent uniting these land areas. 
As the antarctic problem has been widely discussed from 
an ornithological standpoint, and since Dr. Forbes and Pro¬ 
fessor Milne-Edwards have based their theories of former 
land connections largely on the past and present range of the 
flightless ratite birds, it is right to mention that Professor 
Burckhardt § disagrees entirely with their conclusions. He 
does not dispute the possibility of former antarctic land con¬ 
nections, especially between New Zealand and South America. 
But he does not consider that the flightless giant birds of the 
southern hemisphere can in any way be regarded as furnish¬ 
ing evidence in favour of the theory of a former antarctic 
continent. 
From a zoogeographical point of view, inconspicuous 
groups of invertebrates, such as the earthworms, are of far 
greater value than birds are. When the older writers dis¬ 
cussed the antarctic problems we knew as yet practically 
nothing of their distribution. Within recent years several 
zoologists have made a special study of this group, and have 
found that earthworms are of the greatest value in the study 
* Gill, Th., “ Pishes, Eeptiles and Amphibians of the Antarctic,” p. 315. 
t Allen, J. A., “Birds and Mammals of the Antarctic,” p. 317. 
f Ancey, C. F., “Faunes malacologiques australes,” p. 27. 
§ Burckhardt, R., “Problem des antarktischen Schbpfungscentrum.” 
