rincrs of growth indicated a total age for this 3-inch branch 

 of 130 years. Twenty-seven years were required to make the 

 first inch in diameter, 27 years for the second inch, 72 for the 

 third inch. 



Whether these animal and vegetable remains in the as- 

 Dhalt beds are 10.000 or 50,000 years old or 250,000, as some 

 have supposed, we have no accurate means of determining, 

 but the presence of the Cypress gives a somewhat definite 

 clue to the climatic conditions that prevailed when the Sloth, 

 Mastodon, and Saber Tooth Tiger animated our district. 

 Besides the Cypress many seeds of Juniperus occidentalis 

 and a few of the Manzanita have been found. This Juniper 

 is abundant in the Northern and Rocky Mountains, but is 

 only sparingly represented in Southern California. 



On Mt. San Antonio, at the height of 10.000 feet and 

 on the Margin of Bear Valley dam at 6700 feet, there are a 

 small number of trees and these are 40 and 80 miles distant 

 from the asphalt beds. A few Manzanitas still survive in 

 Grififith Park, but in Southern California this shrub usually 

 ranges above 4000 feet altitude. The associations of these 

 3 trees in such close proximity naturally suggest a climate 

 dififerent from the present, and unless there has been a 

 change in the adantations of those trees the climate then 

 must have been akin to our mountain or northern climate 

 now ; more moisture, with probably a lesser range of daily 

 and seasonal temperature. 



Future discoveries may of course modify this view. As 

 the giant Sloth was an herbivorous animal, it is doubtful if 

 such trees as Cypress and Juniper could possibly supply it 

 with the sustenance required for such a large body. 



European investigations would suggest that there has 

 been no material change in that climate for many years. 

 The trunks of the Scottish fir found by the writer in the 

 peat bogs of the North of Scotland, and presumed to have 

 fallen before the time of the Roman invasion, show the same 

 rate of growth as those of the present day. 



The cultivation of the date affords a delicate test as re- 

 gards climate and its distribution in Palestine today indicates 

 that there has been no variation in the annual temperature 

 since old testament times. A moister period preceded this 

 in Palestine, but Dr. Blanckenhorn estimates that this period 

 ended 50.000 vears ago, and that the existing conditions have 

 remained unaltered for the last 10.000 years. Similar investi- 

 gations in Egypt indicate that there has been no notable 

 climatic changes in historic times. If the conditions as re- 

 gards moisture on our coast paralleled those of Palestine and 

 if Dr. Blanckenhorn's estimate of the time of change is 

 correct, then it is 50,000 years since the climate here was 

 of such a character as to favor the associated growth of 



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