232 HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. 



with a mild climate. Tree-ferns and other tropical 

 vegetation grow at the foot of glaciers in New 

 Zealand. We need not even go so far afield, for in 

 Switzerland grapes ripen and an abundant fauna and 

 flora thrive in close proximity to some of the well- 

 known glaciers. 



One matter of importance still remains to be con- 

 sidered before concluding this chapter, viz., the 

 fauna contained in the English geological deposit 

 known as the " Forest-Bed." This interesting 

 deposit is exposed at the base of a range of cliffs 

 on the coast of Norfolk. It is composed of beds 

 of estuarine and marine origin. The tree-stumps 

 formerly believed to be the remains of trees in situ 

 have, after more careful examination, proved to be 

 in all cases drifted specimens. A portion of the 

 "Forest-Bed" no doubt was laid down in close proxi- 

 mity to a large river, and subject to being periodi- 

 cally flooded by it. It is not absolutely certain, there- 

 fore, that all the mammals whose remains occur in 

 this deposit lived in England or whether only on the 

 banks of the river farther south. Nevertheless, we 

 may take for granted that some of them did. 

 England was at the time connected with France 

 and Belgium, and for our purpose it matters little 

 whether they had crossed the Channel or inhabited 

 those parts of the Continent through which the great 

 river flowed which sent its alluvial detritus as far as 

 the plains of Norfolk. All we have to remember 

 is that certain mammals, which appear to have 



