2/4 



NA TV RE 



[January 21, 1892 



called attention to the nature of the vegetation which 

 grew round the margin of the great northern inland ice, 

 on the soil which was left bare when it melted away. 



During my first visit to Spitzbergen, in 1870, it 

 occurred to my mind that — supposing the glacial theory 

 were true — the remains of those Arctic plants which, in 

 all probability, formerly existed in the area once covered 

 by the great Scandinavian inland ice, would have been 

 buried in the glacial fresh-water deposits, just in the 

 same manner as the leaves of Salix polaris, Dryas 

 octopetala, Polygoiiuin vivtparutn, &c., are at the pre- 

 sent day carried into the small lakes of Spitzbergen, 



found the Arctic fossil flora underneath some peat-mosses 

 in the immediate vicinity of Copenhagen. In 1872 I dis- 

 covered leaves of Bet 11 la iiatta in a peat-moss near Oertzen- 

 hof, in Mecklenburg, and at Kolbermoor, in Southern 

 Bavaria. In Switzerland I also found an Arctic- Alpine flora 

 in a fresh-water deposit at Schwerzenbach, on the low 

 ground between Ziirich and Bodensee. The flora was rich 

 in such species as Betula nana, Salix reticulata, S. 

 polaris, S. retusa, S. myrtilloides, Arctostaphylos tiva- 

 ursi, Polygonum vivipartim, Azalea procumbeiis, &c. 



From Switzerland 1 went to England, and first vi.-ited 

 Bovey Tracey (17),^ where I re-found Betula nana in the 



Sketch Map showing the Localities where Arctic Plant-fossii.s have been found within the Area once covered by the great 



Northern Ice-sheet. 



A, margin of the great northern inland ice at the climax of glaciation ; B, margin of the Uralo-Timan glacier (according to Nikitin); c, margin of the 

 glaciers of the Alps. 



(i) Several localities (more than thirty) in Scania; (2) Rangilstcrp, near Vadstena ; (3) Frojel, in the isle of Gotland ; (4) several localities in 

 Jemtland; (5) Leine, in Norway ; (6) several localities in Seeland ; (6') Moen ; (6") Northern Jutland ; (6") Bornholm ; (7) Kunda, in Esthonia : 

 (8) Samhof and Kinzli, in Liyonia; (9) Pingo and Wieratz in Livonia: (10) two localities at Rjestiiza, Government of Vitebsk; (11) Kuhrische 

 Nebrung ; (iz) Schroop, in Western Prussia: (13) Krampkewitz, in Pomerania; (14) Neetzka and Oertzenhof, in Mecklenburg; (15) Nantrow, 

 in Mecklenburg ; (16) Projensdorf. north of Kiel ; (17) Bovey 1 racey, in Devonshire ; (18) Hoxne, in Suffolk ; (19) several localities at and near 

 Cromer, Norfolk ; (20) Holmpton, Yorkshire ; (21) Bridlington, Yorkshire ; (22) localities near Edinburgh. 



and buried at their bottoms. On my return from that 

 expedition, I at once examined some glacial fresh-water 

 deposits at Alnarp, in Scania, and was glad to find in 

 them the leaves of Salix polaris, S. herbacea, S. reticu- 

 lata, Dryas octopetala, Betula nana, &c. ; thus proving 

 that a true Arctic flora had once lived in the southernmost 

 part of Sweden. The next year, after having discovered 

 the same flora in a great many other localities of the 

 same province, I was invited by Prof. Japetus Steenstrup 

 to extend my researches into Denmark ; and our joint 

 investigations were soon crowned with success, for we 



NO. J 160, VOL. 45] 



original locality, and also in another little basin close 

 by, together with leaves of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and 

 Betula alba. Then I went to the coast of Norfolk, where 

 I was so fortunate as to find Salix polaris and Hypnuin 

 turgescens in the pre-glacial deposits between the boulder- 

 clay and the forest-bed in the vicinity of Cromer (19). 

 This plant-bearing bed has since then been noticed by 

 Mr. Clement Reid, of the Geological Survey, who has 

 named it the "Arctic fresh-water bed," and he has traced 



I Thj figures within parentheses refer to those on the accompanying sketch 

 map. 



