mSTOlUCAL N'OTICI'X \[ 



Aiiit'iii'iiii and l']iii'(i|M'iiii cliiiiiitcs so clijiriictcfisiif t)\' tin; 

 liiin'. 'I'lic cliiiiJilc (if wcslciii l')iint|M', in slimt. would, 

 iiiKkir siidi a stall' of thin''s, he ''ft'atlv I'cduci'd in nicaii 

 IcmiK'raliirc, the (diiiialc of Aim'ricii would sullrf a less 

 rcductJoM of its Micaii t('iu|M'rat urt', Imt would lie uiudi 

 less oxtfciuc than at incscut : tlic uviu'ial cll'cct Ikmu-j: tln! 

 I'slalilisliiut'Mt of a more ('(pialilc Imt lower tciuprraturt! 

 throughout the norihci'ii hcuiisiihcrc. 



" Till' I'stahlishiiU'Ut of tin- incscni disti'ihution of laud 

 ami water, j,'i\ iiiLi: to Anu'i'ica its uxtivim' (diuiatc, Icaviui,' 

 its seas cool and ihrowiiiLi; on the coasts of Kuropc tht; 

 hcalcil wulcr of the tropics, would thus allcct hut sliL,dilly 

 the luaiinc life of the Auu'ricau coast, hut veiy uiaterially 

 that of iMiiopc, lu'oducinj,' the result ali'cady I'efiured to, 

 that our Canadian pleistocene fauna ditlei's conii)aratively 

 little from that now existini!; in the ^ulf t»f St. r.awrenco, 

 thoujfh in so far as any ditl'erenee suhsists it is in tho 

 direction of an arctic character. The chan,ues that have 

 occurred are perhaps all the less that so soon as tho 

 Laurent'de hills to the north of the St. Lawrence valley 

 enierj^ed from the sea, the coasts to the south of theso 

 hills would he (^lleclually protected from the heavy 

 Jiorthern ice drifts and from the arctic curi'euls, and 

 would liave the henelit of the full action of the summer 



PaciHc coast ; but, on the other hand, the occurrence of many species 

 coniinon to the two sides implies a connection in cmnparativcly recent 

 times, and simihir evidence is atloi-ded by the modern deposits of the 

 Istlinuis. 



Uphanj reports from Dr. Maaclv, in tlie repf)rts of exphirations for 

 the Panama canal, the fact that on the watersheil between the Atlantic 

 and PaciHc a "vast area" of the Istinnns is occupied witii "late 

 tertiary " beils holding aiiells of living species. This would contirni 

 the supposition based on tlie grounds that a passage across the Isthmua 

 existed in pleistocene times. — American (Jeologist, December, 18JK). 



