PLEISTOCENE FOSSILS. 281 



Stream into the North Atlantic. By these causes the 

 summer heat was increased, the winds both from the land 

 and sea were raised in temperature, and the heavy 

 northern ice was led out into the Atlantic, to be melted 

 by the Gulf Stream, instead of being drifted to the south- 

 west over the lower levels of the continent. Still the 

 cold arctic currents entering by the straits of Belle-isle 

 and the accumulation of ice and snow in winter, are 

 sufficient to enable the old arctic fauna to maintain itself 

 on the northern side of the gulf of St. Lawrence, and to 

 extend as far as the latitudes of Murray bay and Gaspe. 

 South of Gaspe we have the warmer New England fauna 

 of Northumberland strait. I may add that some of the 

 varietal peculiarities of the Pleistocene fauna in com- 

 parison with that of the St. Lawrence river, indicate a 

 considerable influx of fresh water, derived possibly from 

 melting ice and snow. 



MAN IN CANADA. 



No remains of man or of his works have yet been 

 found in the Pleistocene of Canada, though discoveries of 

 implements have been recorded from alluvial deposits at 

 depths which indicate a considerable historical antiquity ; 

 still they do not go farther back than the Modern period, 

 properly so called. Nor am I aware that human remains 

 have been found in those early Modern gravels, alluvia, 

 and sub -soils of bogs, which seem to be the repositories of 

 the remains of the Mastodon and Mammoth. 



The Post-glacial, or early Modern period in Canada, 

 was, as indicated in a previous chapter, characterized by 

 an elevation of the land to a greater height than at 



