﻿ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  73 
  

  

  are 
  numerous. 
  Thus 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  Miocene 
  mammals 
  of 
  the 
  Pikermi 
  

   beds 
  resting 
  upon 
  Pliocene 
  marine 
  strata 
  in 
  Greece 
  ; 
  a 
  Middle 
  

   Jurassic 
  flora 
  in 
  beds 
  interstratified 
  with 
  others 
  containing 
  a 
  Carboni- 
  

   ferous 
  marine 
  fauna 
  in 
  New 
  South 
  Wales 
  ; 
  similar 
  strata 
  with 
  Middle 
  

   Jurassic 
  plants 
  in 
  India 
  overlain 
  by 
  beds 
  with 
  Triassic, 
  and 
  by 
  others 
  

   with 
  Phcetic 
  plants, 
  and 
  these, 
  again, 
  succeeded 
  by 
  others 
  with 
  Triassic 
  

   reptiles 
  ; 
  Middle 
  Jurassic 
  plants 
  intercalated 
  between 
  Neocomian 
  and 
  

   Tithonian 
  beds 
  in 
  Cutch, 
  and 
  Tertiary 
  plants 
  associated 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   strata 
  with 
  Cretaceous 
  Dinosaurs 
  in 
  the 
  Laramie 
  beds 
  of 
  North 
  

   America. 
  Such 
  cases 
  are 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  circumstance 
  that 
  the 
  

   distribution 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  is 
  very 
  

   much 
  less 
  uniform 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  sea; 
  that 
  a 
  terrestrial 
  zoological 
  

   genus 
  of 
  anything 
  like 
  world-wide 
  distribution 
  scarcely 
  exists 
  ; 
  and 
  

   that 
  even 
  under 
  the 
  same 
  parallels 
  of 
  latitude, 
  amongst 
  the 
  terrestrial 
  

   genera 
  in 
  America, 
  Africa, 
  and 
  Australia, 
  for 
  instance, 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  

   percentage 
  are 
  the 
  same, 
  whilst 
  man}'- 
  of 
  the 
  families 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   orders 
  are 
  peculiar, 
  all 
  testifying 
  to 
  isolation 
  from 
  great 
  antiquity. 
  

  

  There 
  is, 
  moreover, 
  evidence 
  that 
  the 
  recent 
  fauna 
  is 
  sometimes 
  

   descended 
  from 
  that 
  which 
  inhabited 
  the 
  tract 
  in 
  Tertiary 
  times, 
  

   sometimes 
  from 
  an 
  immigrant 
  fauna. 
  Thus, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  pointed 
  

   out 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Huxley, 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Wallace, 
  and 
  others, 
  the 
  Mammalian 
  

   fauna 
  of 
  Central 
  and 
  Southern 
  Africa 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  is 
  descended 
  

   from 
  the 
  Miocene 
  (and 
  Pliocene) 
  life 
  of 
  Europe. 
  If 
  a 
  bed 
  were 
  

   found 
  in 
  Southern 
  Africa 
  containing 
  bones 
  of 
  giraffes 
  and 
  certain 
  

   antelopes, 
  naturalists 
  only 
  acquainted 
  with 
  European 
  fossil 
  faunas 
  

   would 
  class 
  it 
  as 
  Miocene 
  (or 
  Pliocene), 
  although 
  it 
  might 
  rest 
  upon 
  

   strata 
  with 
  Pleistocene 
  marine 
  fossils. 
  

  

  Again, 
  the 
  recent 
  Mammalian 
  fauna 
  of 
  Australia 
  and 
  New 
  Guinea 
  

   is 
  Mesozoic 
  rather 
  than 
  Tertiary 
  in 
  its 
  affinities. 
  Nevertheless 
  it 
  is 
  by 
  

   no 
  means 
  improbable 
  that 
  the 
  gigantic 
  migrations 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  

   cold 
  of 
  the 
  Pleistocene 
  epoch 
  have 
  rendered 
  the 
  Earth's 
  terrestrial 
  

   fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  more 
  uniform 
  than 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  in 
  past 
  times 
  : 
  and 
  it 
  

   may 
  be 
  doubted 
  if 
  anywhere 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  at 
  present 
  there 
  is 
  so 
  won- 
  

   derful 
  a 
  contrast 
  as 
  that 
  between 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  flora 
  of 
  Australia 
  

   and 
  the 
  contemporaneous 
  vegetation 
  of 
  Europe 
  and 
  North 
  America. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  possible, 
  when 
  far 
  more 
  is 
  known 
  than 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  at 
  

   present, 
  to 
  make 
  out 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  terrestrial 
  faunas 
  and 
  floras 
  

   of 
  different 
  subdivisions 
  of 
  the 
  Earth's 
  surface. 
  But 
  when 
  the 
  

   history 
  is 
  known, 
  it 
  is 
  safe 
  to 
  predict, 
  from 
  the 
  little 
  already 
  ascer- 
  

   tained, 
  that 
  the 
  tale 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  will 
  not 
  coincide 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   sea, 
  nor 
  will 
  the 
  story 
  of 
  one 
  terrestrial 
  region 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  that 
  

  

  