510 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 
The question next arises: If the Scoto-Norwegian land bridge 
only existed before the maximum of the second glaciation, could the 
animals and plants have survived the latter period on the ice-free 
coast border along western and northwestern Norway? Hansen 
(Landnaam i Norge, 1904, p. 288) comes to the conclusion that the 
yearly temperature at the very edge of the neoglacial time cannot 
have been more than 6° to 8° C. lower than at present, while farther 
away from the ice it probably was only 5° to 6° lower. 
Of the species composing the biota involved probably none re- 
quires a more temperate climate than the red deer, and it is there- 
fore sufficient to inquire into the possibility of this species surviving. 
The yearly isotherm of the present habitat of Cervus atlanticus 
in Norway is about + 6° C. Consequently the inquiry may be for- 
mulated as to whether there is reason to suppose that this deer could 
have survived, if the yearly temperature of the coast strip during 
neoglacial time was say 7° C. lower than now, or about —1° C? 
It is well to bear in mind that the distribution of an animal like 
the deer is not affected so much by the annual temperature as by 
that of the six hottest weeks of the year, approximately equaling 
the temperature of the month of July. The average temperature for 
July in the present habitat of Cervus atianticus is about + 13° C. 
There are plenty of climates having this July isotherm combined 
with an annual isotherm of —1° C. Such a climate would of course 
have a much lower isotherm for January than that of western Nor- 
way, which is +-1° C. The mean temperature of January in such a 
climate might fall as low as —8° C. Now, can the deer live in a 
climate indicated by the latter isotherm, and do we know of any 
region where a species of Cervus related to C. atlanticus really 
exists under such conditions? In reply to these questions it is only 
necessary to refer to the distribution of the central European forms 
of C. elaphus in eastern Europe and it will be seen that the January 
isotherm of —8° C. indicates the southern limit of the range rather 
than the northern. It may be objected that in this case we have to 
do with an extreme continental climate not likely to have obtained 
in west Norway even during the neoglacial period. It is not diffi- 
cult, however, to point out some coast with temperatures essen- 
tially agreeing with those indicated above and where a form of red 
deer flourishes at the present day. Such a territory, for instance, 
is found along the east shore of the Gulf of Tartary from Vladi- 
vostok northwards nearly to the mouth of the Amur (only the 
January isotherm is considerably lower than —8° C.) and here a 
