The Romance of a Wayside Weed. 67 



all round the shore of England at a comparatively- 

 recent period — that is to say, since the close of the 

 last glacial epoch. How recent they are is well shown 

 by the nature of the remains themselves ; for they 

 often contain undecayed leaves, water-logged hazel- 

 nuts, bits of small twigs, and other forestine rubbish 

 of a perfectly undecayed and modern-looking charac- 

 ter. Some of the twigs even break with a sharp 

 crackling sound, like dry wood freshly taken from a 

 modern forest. 



The question now remains, If the land once thus 

 extended farther out to sea than at present, how far 

 out did it extend ? or, in other words, how large a 

 subsidence has taken place? Here we have an 

 excellent hint for our guidance in the fact that Ireland 

 must have been united to England since the glacial 

 epoch, because we find in Ireland a large proportion 

 of the British plants and animals, including a con- 

 siderable number of land mammals. Now, how much 

 must we raise the general land surface of the British 

 Isles in order to unite Ireland to Great Britain ? 

 Well, a rise of less than one hundred fathoms would 

 suffice to join the whole of our islands throughout 

 nearly all their length, leaving only two large lakes in 

 the very deepest parts of the sea, where the plummet 

 marks a depth of a hundred and fifty fathoms. One 



