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America had been noticed, and it was very interesting to note that 

 many Scotch plants, such as Dryas and others, were to be found so 

 far south as the Pyrenees. Of the ferns shown he found that 

 there were seven species, all British. He was also somewhat struck 

 with the absence of many plants from this collection, but this was 

 certainly not a matter either for surprise or complaint, because 

 he knew how impossible it was to get a representative collection 

 during a visit of this kind. He felt very much obliged to Mr. 

 Reed for the opportunity afforded of seeing this collection, and 

 also for the very interesting way in which he had brought the 

 subject before them. 



Mr. E. T. Newton did not like to let the opportunity pass 

 without expressing his and the Club's indebtedness to Mr. Reed for 

 his paper and for the opportunity of seeing this beautiful collection 

 of plants — for, putting on one side the labour of the collecting, Mr. 

 Reed had taken a large amount of trouble in order that the members 

 might have the pleasure and privilege of seeing the specimens. 

 With regard to the botanical portion of the subject he had little to 

 say, but the similarity of the flora of Ireland to that of Spain was 

 of great interest to him. The idea that these two countries might 

 in geological times have been united was not at all an impossibility, 

 and that the British Islands were once a portion of what was now 

 the main land of Europe was a supposition which did not rest upon 

 mere conjecture. There was no doubt that England and Ireland 

 were originally peopled from the East, and it seemed probable that, 

 before all the animals made their way so far west, Ireland was first 

 cut oft from the main land and then England ; hence they found 

 that the fauna of Ireland was much poorer than that of this 

 country, whilst England itself was poor by comparison with the 

 Continent of Europe. When did this separation occur ? This was 

 a question not very easy to answer with certainty — some authorities 

 claiming it for Pleistocene times whilst others contend for the 

 Pliocene. The birds were, of course, not so restricted, but the 

 animals must have come over when the countries were united, and 

 the period could not have been much farther back than the earlier of 

 these periods, because if beyond that limit the animals would have 

 been different from those known to have inhabited the country. If 

 it was so with the animals, might it not have been so also with the 

 plants ? There was, of course, the possibility of plants being intro- 

 duced in other ways, but he thought the probability lay on the 



