CO. Reid and H. N. Ridley—Fossil Arctic Plants. 443 
other papers dealing theoretically with the question of the age of 
the deposit, will be found ; but for a record of the facts it is still 
necessary to go to Professor Prestwich, whose carefully measured 
sections and clear descriptions of the beds will stand, however 
our views as to the connection of the Paleolithic deposits with 
the Glacial beds may change. 
Thus far what the writers have seen is strongly in favour of Prof. 
Prestwich’s contention, that the lacustrine deposits rest in a hollow 
in the Boulder-clay. 
The reason for our taking up with this subject was that we had 
been working for some time at Pre-historic and Pleistocene botany. 
Looking through the account of the Hoxne deposit we observed that 
Prof. Prestwich had recorded the plants already mentioned, as either 
associated with or underlying the implement-bearing beds. We 
wished to obtain a more complete knowledge of this flora, and to 
ascertain, if possible, the climatic conditions under which Paleolithic 
man lived. 
At first sight it looks as if the long list of mollusca, or the mam- 
mals, ought to settle this question; but they are all species of wide 
range, and for sensitiveness to climatic changes no class equals the 
plants. 
We, therefore, visited Hoxne last May, and again in July, but 
found that the digging of the clay had stopped for the season, and 
that the deeper parts of the pit were full of water. However, there 
was a large heap of clay, belonging to bed d, which had been dug 
during the winter from one of these flooded pits. This clay showed 
the lithological character, and the wood, shells, and bilberry-like 
leaves mentioned by Prof. Prestwich. We took away some of the 
clay, and on carefully washing and examining the samples after our 
return to London, we arrived at the somewhat unexpected result that 
there was a considerable proportion of thoroughly Arctic species 
among the plants, including such distinctly northern forms as Salix 
polaris and Betula nana. The following is a complete list of the 
plants, as far as we have been able to determine them :—— 
List or Species OBTAINED. 
Ranunculus aquatilis, L., Fruits. 
R. sceleratus, L., Fruit. 
LR. repens, L., Fruit. 
R. Flammula, L., Fruit. 
Rubus Ideus, L., Stones. 
Comarum palustre, L., Fruits. 
Hippuris vulgaris, L., Fruits. 
Enanthe Phellandrium, Lam., Fruits. 
Cornus sanguinea, L., one unusually 
large seed. 
Bidens cernua, L., Two fruits. 
Ceratophyllum demersum, L., Fruits. 
Alnus glutinosa, Gaertn., Cones & Seeds. 
Betula nana, L., Leaves. 
Saliz polaris, Wahlb., A stem, leaves 
and fruits. 
S. myrsinites, L., Leaves and fruit. 
Taxus baccata, L., Wood and a seed. 
Pinus, sp., Bark. 
Sparganium ramosum, L., A whole fruit, 
and one bitten in two. 
Potamogeton pusilius, L., Fruit. 
P. trichoides, Cham., Fruit. 
P, rufescens, Schrad., Fruit. 
P. pectinatus, L., Fruit. 
P. crispus, L., Several fruits. 
Scirpus lacustris, L., Fruit. 
Se. pauciflorus, Lightf., Fruit. 
Eleocharis palustris, L., An imperfect 
nut. 
Carex ampullacea, L., Fruits. 
Chara, sp., One nucule. 
