1 68 Transactions of tJic [Sess. 



islands,^ is some evidence in itself, for if there is admitted to have 

 l)een depressions of the land, what is there to have hindered elevations 1 

 We have, however, the best evidence in our flora and fauna of a land 

 attachment with the European continent, for we find these to be 

 in the main an extension of those of Germany, and altogether dif- 

 ferent from those insular floras rich in endemic or peculiar types 

 which characterise oceanic islands. We may therefore conclude that 

 most of our flora and fauna came from the east or south-east across 

 the continent of Europe. That comparatively few of the forme of 

 plant or animal life reached the limit of their journey westwards, but 

 that they gradually decreased in numbers the farther they extended 

 from the areas to which they had been driven by the cold of the last 

 glacial period, may be understood by some statistics of the flora of 

 Great Britain, Ireland, and Colonsay, compared with those of some of 

 the Continental countries bounding the northern portion of Western 

 Europe. Mons. A. Decandolle, in his ' Geographic botanique,' gives 

 the following as the number of plants in each of the countries : — 



France, which covers a large area with considerable elevations, . 3614 

 Holland, which covers a small area compared with France, and is 



a country with no great elevations, . . . . .1210 



Z)en?7ifwi-, also without great elevations, ..... 1197 

 Scandinavia, with considerable elevations, but at the same time 



having a rigorous climate, ....... 1677 



Great Britain, insular, but with considerable elevations, was said 



by the late Mr H. C. Watson, the greatest authority on the 



subject, to have ......... 1425 



This gives us the number of plants in England and Scotland 

 comljiued ; but we have thought it well also to try and give the 

 numbers for each country separate, which we think may be stated as 

 follows :■ — ■ 



. Em/land, 1357 



Scotland, ........... 1055 



Ireland. — Mr A. G. More, of the .Science and Art Museum, Dublin, 

 and one of the authors of Moore and More's ' Contributions 

 towards a Cybele Hibernica,' kindly informs us that they 

 believe Ireland has about ....... 970 



Colonsay and Oronsay. — The combined flora of those islands will 

 serve to show the decrease to the west of Scotland, and from 

 our own lists we would state it at . . . . .360 



If we glance at these statistics, we find that, with the exception of 

 Holland and Denmark, all the Continental countries we give have 

 a much more extensive flora than Britain. Holland and Den- 

 mark have no alpine or sub-alpine flora, still they have nearly as 

 many plants as Great Britain, which covers a much wider area, besides 



1 See Chart accompanying Pajier by Prof. James Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S., 

 " On Geology of Colonsay and Oronsay," — ' Transactions of Geological 

 Society of Glasgow,' vol. vi. p. 157. 



1 



