464 Transactions. — Geology. 



the land, with corresponding changes in the fauna and flora, 

 and that the climatic contrasts during the period were very 

 marked. 



It is necessary, however, to guard against too hasty 

 conclusions on this important question of climate, for in the 

 " Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society," No. 198, and 

 published in May last, Mr. E. J. Newton, F.B.S., in an im- 

 portant paper which he communicates to the societ} T , says: 

 " Much interest attaches to a correct knowledge of the 

 climate prevalent during the Pleistocene period, indications of 

 which are to be found in the arctic fresh- water bed of Norfolk, 

 the boulder-clay, and the animals which are found in the 

 various deposits. The probability of alternations of warm 

 and colder periods during Pleistocene times has long been 

 advocated ; but it has been thought possible by some that, 

 with a more continental climate than at present prevails 

 in Britain, the alternation of summer and winter might 

 be sufficient to account for the seeming mixture of species. 

 Whatever may be the cause, the Pleistocene fauna as found in 

 the brick-earth, gravel, and cave deposits seems to be of a 

 mixed nature, the species finding their nearest allies at the 

 present day living under widely diverse climatic conditions. 

 Some of the Pleistocene species thus indicate extreme ccld, 

 others point to distinctly steppe conditions, while a third 

 seems just as strongly to prove the prevalence of a warm 

 climate. These difficulties will doubtless eventually be re- 

 moved, but in the meantime too much stress must not be 

 placed upon the range of Eecent animals as an indication of 

 the past, seeing that there are many circumstances besides 

 climate which help to determine the distribution of species." 



This quotation shows that the inferences drawn from find- 

 ing an intermixture of animals representing warm, temperate, 

 and cold regions of the earth must be accepted with caution 

 until we are better acquainted with the climatic conditions that 

 prevailed during the Pleistocene times. But the many changes 

 and the contrasts which characterized the Pleistocene period 

 of Europe and America do not appear to have taken place in 

 New Zealand during the period recognized as Pleistocene. As 

 remarked by Professor Hutton in vol. viii. of the Transactions, 

 p. 386, " The evidence is against the idea that a colder climate 

 formerly obtained in New Zealand." This statement is 

 founded on the character of the fossil shells found in certain 

 Pleistocene beds examined by him, and he arrives at the con- 

 clusion that " since the Miocene period there can have been no 

 reduction of temperature sufficient to account for the former 

 extension of our glaciers." This conclusion supports my own, 

 which is based upon evidence derived from entirely different 

 sources. As pointed out above, the fossil leaves which are 



