Ii8 The Irish Naturalist. December, 



Now it is a well-known fact that in late Pliocene times, 

 or just before the time when the climate of Europe is 

 supposed to have become greatl}^ refrigerated, both the 

 fauna and flora as a whole were similar to what they are 

 to-day.^ No doubt there still existed then a large number 

 of species, particularly among the mammals, which having 

 survived from previous geological periods are no longer 

 with us. We must also assume that certain species 

 originated' during the subsequent Pleistocene period or 

 *' Ice Age " as it has been called. But the great mass of 

 our animals and plants must have come into existence 

 during a time when the climate of Europe was temperate 

 or mild. Some forms, especially those which are known 

 as persistent types, may have originated in still earlier 

 periods than the Pliocene, when Europe had a warm or 

 even semi-tropical climate. 



Dr. Praeger states that in Pliocene times a new flora 

 of Europe came into existence mainly derived from the 

 Asiatic highlands. I am not sure that this view is generally 

 accepted by botanists, but it seems as if the alpine plants 

 and animals at any rate were largely of Asiatic origin. 

 Irish botanists visiting Siberia in the summer would be 

 surprised to find there puzzles comparable to those they 

 were familiar with in Europe. The famous Edelweiss (Leonto- 

 podittm alpinum) of the high Alps, which can be successfully 

 cultivated in almost any Irish garden, is a common weed 

 in the damp meadows of Siberia. There are many such 

 examples which we need not enlarge upon. We seem 

 therefore to share with Siberia the peculiarity that alpine 

 plants grow naturally at a low level, whereas in Switzerland 

 they need the mountain air. Although climatically Siberia 

 and Ireland have little in common, the aipines in the 

 former country are everywhere protected from the severe 

 cold of the winter by a thick covering of snow. In the 

 Alps they flourish under similar conditions. It is only in 



1 Reid, C- — Relation of the present plant population of the British 

 Isles to the Glacial Period. Irish Naturalist, vol, xx., pp. 201-209, 191 1. 



Kennard, a. S. and B. B. Woodward. — British Pliocene non- 

 marine Mollusca. Proc. Malacol. Soc. London, vol. iii., pp. 187-201, 

 1899. 



