20 
There was also almost certainly land stretching from Ireland 
and Scotland by way of the Faroe Islands and Iceland to Green- 
land, thus cutting off the cold waters of the northern Seas from 
those of the present Atlantic. In this way we can account for the 
warmer climate of that period as shown by the character of the 
vegetation. Indeed along this pathway (which is now traceable as 
a submarine ridge) our best authorities tell us the Eocene flora 
travelled from the Arctic Regions which then had a subtropical 
climate. 
While water was doing its work there was great volcanic activity 
in the north of Ireland and along the west of Scotland, and this 
continued far on through the next two periods; the remains of the 
voleanoes are to be seen in Mull, Eig, Skye, and other parts of 
the Hebrides. Their present ruinous condition (for they are mere 
stumps) points to the enormous time that has elapsed; and the 
lavas themselves are now scored out into numerous valleys, water- 
courses and riverbeds, showing a plenteous rainfall. 
The earliest of the Eocene deposits, as those of the period 
succeeding the chalk are called, are those known as the Thanet 
Sands, laid down when the sea had again slightly encroached on 
the south east. It then gradually advanced, and occasionally 
through upheaval receded, until as the map shows, in the time of 
the deposit of the London Clay it covered the whole of south-east 
England from the Wash to Dorsetshire, and stretched over the 
north-east of France. The deposits are sometimes marine, but 
oftener estuarine, or freshwater—a proof of a series of minor 
elevations and depressions. The Isle of Sheppey yields us remains 
of palms and gigantic pines ; also the skull of a bird (Odontopteryx) ' 
having regular toothlike projections along the edge of the 
mandible. Bournemouth, in Hants, has yielded a large supply of 
leaves and other plant remains buried during this period. They 
are so abundant and well preserved that we can form a good idea 
of the nature of the locality and of the chauges it passed through. 
We notice in Eocene deposits the appearance of the placental 
Mammalia, all those before having been marsupials. Some of the 
forms partake of the characters of both divisions. These all made 
their way across by means of the land connection on the south 
with the plains of France, One of the most striking facts in 
connection with this period is the sudden, apparently abnormal 
increase in the numbers of the mammalia. Some of these are 
shown on the next slide ; the Quadrumana are represented by a 
kind of Lemur, a family now found in Madagascar; the Palco- 
therium and Axaplotherium among the hoofed animals, and the 
Xiphodon, a lighter deer-like form of the same group. The land- 
scape on the next slide gives an ideal restoration of the general 
