GRINNELL LAND BY CAPTAIN H. W. FEILDEN. 71 



that nevertheless he had realized results of very considerable im- 

 portance. He referred to Prof. Heer's notion that a migration of 

 certain plants had taken place since Miocene times from north to 

 south, and pointed out that the existing North- American flora more 

 resembles the Miocene than its own Pliocene flora. An examination 

 of the Echinodermata brought home by the Arctic Expedition had 

 led him and Mr. Sladen to the belief that these also furnish indica- 

 tions of there being a polar zone of Echinoderms. 



Capt. Eeilden exhibited a photograph and gave some account of 

 the locality from which the plant-remains were brought. He stated 

 that shales and sandstones similar to those overlying the lignites 

 were found lying directly on the older schists in other neighbouring 

 valleys, and that in some instances fragments of lignite occurred in 

 them, and suggested that probably the whole of the valleys here 

 were at one time occupied by deposits of the same age. 



Prof. Bamsay remarked that after listening to all that had been 

 done in the investigation of Arctic floras, it was impossible not to 

 feel convinced that we only require to get hold of the right clue in 

 order to make out a great deal. He said that he could not believe 

 that plants such as Sequoias, Eigs, and Vines could live through the 

 long night of an Arctic winter and flourish again the following sum- 

 mer. He thought that the gradual accumulation of palseontological 

 facts was gradually leading to a general opinion that there must 

 have been a change in the direction of the axis of the earth with re- 

 spect to the sun's light ; and if, as he understood, Prof. Heer believed 

 that plants had spread from north to south, it seemed to him that 

 this was strongly in favour of a change in the direction of the polar 

 axis. 



Mr. Evans said that Capt. Eeilden had referred to a dying-out of 

 species as we advance towards the pole, and suggested that if this be 

 real, it may be due to our explorations northwards lying in the same 

 direction as that taken by the pole in its movement southward. The 

 variation of level mentioned to the extent of 1000 feet, might throw 

 some light on the question, as it might be due to a change in the 

 position of the nucleus of the earth with regard to its surroundings. 



Capt. Sir George Nares referred to the presence of vast fluviatile 

 deposits close to the bed of lignite. 



Dr. Murie thought that too much stress was laid upon the influ- 

 ence of the sun's light in this question, and referred to the fact that 

 tropical plants are preserved and flourish in St. Petersburg in spite 

 of the long dark winter. He suggested that changes in electrical 

 conditions might have some influence on the possibility of the exist- 

 ence of life at the poles. 



Prof. Hughes inquired how far round the arctic circle we can 

 find evidences of such changes as are assumed. If the changes in the 

 position of the pole were geographical, it was clear that the Miocene 

 vegetation could not approach the pole all round at the same time. 



Mr. Woodward remarked that the onus probandi rested, not with 

 the geologists, but with the mathematicians, upon whom it was in- 

 cumbent to show how plants could grow at the points where their 



