212 The Iris h Na tura list. J uly , 



only confirm his belief in the survival of the Irish fauna through the Ice 

 Age, and the claim of the " Lusitanian " element to rank as its oldest 

 component. 



Many of the facts familiar to readers of the " European Fauna" are, 

 of course, repeated in the present -work, but they are to be found in a 

 new setting. The arrangement in the former book was faunistic, the 

 animals being treated in great groups, each characterised by a common 

 centre of origin — " Lusitanian," "Arctic," "Siberian," ''Oriental," 

 " Alpine." Here the plan is geographical. After an introductory chapter 

 the author gives us in succession chapters on Ireland, Scotland, Eng- 

 land and Wales, the Spanish Peninsula, Scandinavia, the Alps, Eastern 

 Europe and the Caucasus, the Western Plain of Europe, the Eastern 

 Mediterranean Region, and the Western Mediterranean Region. As 

 each country or district is reviewed, the faunistic groups inhabiting 

 it are enumerated, while their probable centres of origin, their paths, 

 and periods of immigration are discusser!. A pleasing feature in the 

 book, as to which Dr. Scharff and his publishers may be alike congratu- 

 lated, is the striking nature of the illustrations, an excellent photo- 

 graph of some animal being superposed on a map which shows its 

 distribution boldly and clearl}\ 



Dr. Scharffs views as to the importance of Ireland as a key to the 

 wider problems of the European fauna are well known to all Irish 

 naturalists. In the chapter on Ireland in the present book the com- 

 ments on the "Irish-American" fauna, represented by the freshwater 

 sponges of our western lakes, are especially interesting. With the illus- 

 trative maps before our eyes, it is hard to resist Dr. Scharffs suggestion 

 that the Freshwater Pearl-mussel [Margaritana margarittfcr) and the Great 

 Auk belong to the same distributional group ; although the former still 

 inhabits, and the latter inhabited until recently, western districts of 

 the European continent. Dr. Scharff is now disposed to consider this 

 American element of our fauna as older than the Arctic; indeed, he 

 states that it " may be almost of equal age " to the Eusitanian element. 



With regard to the Glacial Period and its influence on the European 

 fauna, Dr. Scharff strongly maintains his former well-known position. 

 The presence of a vole on the Orkneys, specifically distinct from the 

 common British species, and the nature of the fauna of Iceland, the 

 Faeroes and Shetland, point, as he claims, to the isolation of those 

 islands in Pliocene or early Pleistocene times, and the consequent survival 

 of their animal population through the Ice Age. The survival of the 

 Lusitanian fauna through the Glacial Period— admitted by many 

 naturalists who are unable to follow Dr. Scharff in minimising to any 

 great extent the effects of that period— seems clear indication to him 

 "that the climate was mild throughout." He suggests that "a more 

 uniformly humid climate in Europe may have favoured the production 

 of glaciers without decreasing the temperature." The chapter on 

 Scandinavia will be found particularly valuable for the evidence 

 brought forward in support of the survival of animals through glacial 

 times in that northern land, complaint being made that most zoologists 



