140 On the Mammalian Drift of Wiltshire and its Fossil contents. 



First. — There is good evidence to prove that our Ishand was at 

 that period united to the Mainland, and that no channel existed as 

 a barrier to the wanderings of vast herds of wild animals, which 

 then held undisputed possession of the entire Continent ; the Drift 

 on the opposite coast of France closely resembles our own, and is 

 found to contain precisely similar animal remains. 



Second. — It is difficult to come to any conclusion as to what 

 were the climatal conditions of Great Britain during the period of 

 which we have been speaking. Evidence is certainly in favour of 

 the opinion that the mean temperature was much lower than at 

 present. The majoritj"^ of the animals of the drift, such as the 

 Musk Ox, Rein Deer, TJrsus arctos, Beaver, &c., now inhabit sub- 

 arctic regions, whilst others were furnished with such clothing as 

 enabled them to endure excessive cold. (Of these the woolly 

 Elephant, and woolly Rhinoceros are examples.) And although 

 the occurrence of the Hipjjopotamus may be adduced in favour of 

 a contrary opinion, yet the other facts are too weighty to be easily 

 set aside. This is nevertheless one of the difficulties of Geology, 

 which further investigation alone can enable us to remove. We 

 must not omit to mention that, associated with the remains of these 

 cold-climate Mammals, there frequently occur abundance of land 

 and fresh- water shells of the same common species as those now 

 living in this country. Examples may be seen at Fisherton and 

 in other places in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, as described in 

 Mr. Prestwich's paper before cited. 



Third. — The animals must have lived and died where their 

 skeletons are found ; this is proved beyond all question by the 

 extraordinary abundance of their fossil remains. We are informed 

 that from one limited tract of sea bottom on the Norfolk coast, the 

 fishermen engaged in dredging for oysters, brought ashore in the 

 course of 13 years, no fewer than 2000 Elephants grinders, be- 

 sides great tusks, and numerous portions of skeletons. I have 

 myself seen parts of 20 or 30 Wiltshire Elephants within the 

 last two years. 



This conclusion is further strengthened by the fact noticed by 

 Mr. Owen, that of the Deer horns which are found, few compara- 



