BY R. VON LENDENFKLD, PH.D. 51 



mountains on the slopes of which the glaciers were formed, and 

 New Zealand also lies further south than Mount Kosciusco. 

 Further there is no doubt that there were warm dry winds from 

 the interior of Australia blowing over the Kosciusco plateau at 

 the time of the glacial period as they do now, winds which must 

 have diminished the size of the nevees very considerably. 



Taking all this into considei-ation we must come to the conclusion 

 that the glaciers of the glacial period in Australia need not have 

 been very extensive, even if nearly the whole of the middle Island 

 of New Zealand were covered by eternal ice at the time. 



Hutton (1) is not inclined to believe that the glacial period in 

 New Zealand was so severe as is generally believed, in consequence 

 of the great abundance of animal life at that time. I must say 

 that I do not see this at all. Chamois and many other mammals, 

 as well as birds, live always high above the glacial terminations in 

 summer and winter in Europe, so that there is no reason to suppose 

 that there should not have been an abundance of animal life even 

 if the glaciers had extended further than von Haast (2) states. 

 Hutton (I.e.), is quite I'ight when he says, that if the glaciers in 

 Australia had had that extent which Griifiths supposed, that then 

 the climate in the South Island of New Zealand (I suppose the 

 Middle Island is meant), would have been polan 



This certainly was not the case, as the fossil fauna shows, and 

 therefore, the simultaneous glacial period in Australia could not 

 have been very severe as Hutton very ingeniously concludes. 



My own observations tend to jirove the correctness of his state- 

 ments, and the extent of glaciers in the glacial period of Australia 

 according to my oh>servations, is quite in accordance with the much 

 greater extent of glaciers in New Zealand. 



(1) Hutton. The Origin of the Fauna and Flora of New Zealand. Part 

 II., p. 16. 



(2) Von Haast. Geology of Canterbury and Westland. 



