CLIMATE OF EUROPE. 



431 



from any mountains. If the temperature had been much above the 

 freezing-point the ice would melt before reaching London. Even 

 an excessive snowfall would scarcely allow the ice to travel so far 

 unmelted, unless the air were very cold. 



The arctic plants and animals found fossil in Britain point to a 

 similar conclusion, for the same species now flourish in a climate fully 

 20° colder than that of the lowlands of Britain. 



Further south, though the Alps, Pyrenees, and Caucasus show 

 evidence of a former greater extension of the glaciers, yet, when we 



Isothermal Map, showing the Probable Mean Annual Temperature 

 (Fahrenheit) during the greatest severity of the Glacial Epoch. 



Note. — No attempt has been made to restore the ancient topography ; as far 

 as yet known there was little change in the boundaries of sea and land during the 

 Glacial Epoch. 



remember that extensive snowfields must cause fogs and greater con- 

 densation locally, it does not appear that the climate in the lowlands 

 of Southern Europe can have been so much as 20° below the present 

 mean ; 10°, or perhaps less, seems more likely to have been the 

 extent of the refrigeration in the Mediterranean region. Though the 

 reindeer was once abundant in Central France, few remains of 

 northern mammals have yet been found near the Mediterranean. 



All the evidence yet available seems to show that during the 

 Glacial Epoch the temperature increased rapidly towards the south, 

 and that the effects of the cold did not extend very far towards the 

 equator. Future discoveries in North Africa may necessitate a modifi- 



