470 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION [Chap. VI 



Letter 357 altogether ice-transport and water-transport, but I cannot 

 realise their giving rise to such anomalies, in the distribution, 

 as Greenland presents. So, too, I have always felt the force 

 of your objection, that Greenland should have been depopulated 

 in the Glacial period, but then reflected that vegetation now 

 ascends I forget how high (about 1,000 feet) in Disco, in 70°, 

 and that even in a Glacial ocean there may always have 

 been lurking-places for the few hundred plants Greenland 

 now possesses. Supposing Greenland were rcpeopled from 

 Scandinavia over ocean way, why should Carices be the chief 

 things brought ? Why should there have been no 

 Leguminosas brought, no plants but high Arctic ? — why no 

 Caltha palustris, which gilds the marshes of Norway and 

 paints the housetops of Iceland? In short, to my eyes, the 

 trans-oceanic migration would no more make such an 

 assemblage than special creations would account for repre- 

 sentative species— and no "ingenious wriggling" ever satisfied 

 me that it would. There, then ! 



I dined with Henry Christy last night, who was just 

 returned from celt hunting with Lartet, amongst the Basques, — 

 I hey are Pyreneans. Lubbock was there, and told me that 

 my precious speculation was one of Von Baer's, and that the 

 Finns are supposed to have made the Kjokken moddings. 

 I read Max Mliller a year ago — and quite agree, first part is 

 excellent ; last, on origin of language, fatuous and feeble as a 

 scientific argument. 



Letter 358 To J. D. Hooker. 



Down, Nov. 1 2th [1862]. 

 I return by this post Dawson's lecture, which seems to 

 me interesting, but with nothing new. I think he must be 

 rather conceited, with his " If Dr. Hooker had known this 

 and that, he would have said so and so." It seems to me 

 absurd in Dawson assuming that North America was under 

 sea during the whole Glacial period. Certainly Greenland 

 is a most curious and difficult problem. But as for the 

 Leguminosaj, the case, my dear fellow, is as plain as a pike- 

 staff, as the seeds are so very quickly killed by the sea-water. 

 Seriously, it would be a curious experiment to try vitality in 

 salt water of the plants which ought to be in Greenland. I 

 forget, however, that it would be impossible, I suppose, to 





