AERIAL 221 



rabbits in Australia and house-sparrows in America, and the 

 practical extermination of many animals, such as bison and beaver. 



It seems to us very important that the Nature Study should 

 merge with Geography, and we venture to illustrate the point still 

 further. Some attempt should be made to understand the fauna of 

 our own country, whence it came and why it is as it is-. We may 

 indicate the first few steps in the inquiry. 1 (a) Of the original animal 

 population, when Britain was simply a corner of the Eurasian 

 continent, no traces remain, on land at least, except the fossils 

 in the rocks. Many of these, e.g. some of the reptilian types, 

 represent lost races, without living descendants anywhere. (&) 

 In late Tertiary times, when the country had acquired many of 

 its essential present-day features, but was still bound to Europe, 

 there was an abundant animal population similar to that on the 

 Continent. Britain had lions and bears, elephants and mam- 

 moths, rhinoceros and reindeer, and so on. (c) Then came the 

 Ice Ages ages of elimination when Britain was all but covered 

 by a huge mer-de-glace, and all the terrestrial animals probably 

 perished. (cT) In post-glacial times, when Britain was still bound 

 by land bridges to the Continent, migrations occurred from north, 

 east, and south, and the old haunts were re-peopled. To some 

 extent it is still possible to distinguish with some probability 

 the northern, the eastern, and the southern contingents. (e) 

 Since all connection with the Continent was broken, British fauna 

 has suffered many losses and has had but few gains. 



On dull winter days, with the help of the naturalist 

 travellers, 2 it may be possible to people the earth with some 

 of its most interesting animals, and thus to make the 

 world - picture more truly living. To some extent even in 

 school it is possible to travel with Humboldt, to go on 

 the Beagle voyage with Darwin, to visit the Malay Archi- 

 pelago with Wallace, to explore the Amazons with Bates, to 

 visit the Celebes with Hickson, to spend " idle days " in Patagonia 

 with Hudson, to sail on the Indian Ocean with Alcock, or to go 

 to the Antarctic with Bruce. But the pictures and the inquiries 

 must not end without introducing a new consideration, what 

 all this complex distribution of animal life has meant and still 



1 See (Scharff) p. 22. 2 See (Brehm) p. 222. 



