180 



Notes by the late W. Griffith, Esq^F.L.S., %e. $c. 



1st, — On those parts of Ly ell's Principles of Geology re- 

 lating to change of Climate.* 



Dr. Fleming's objectionf to the former high temperature 

 of northern latitudes (Lyell, p. 148, Vol. I, Ed. 1840) is of 

 some weight, but not so great perhaps as Mr. Lyell seems 

 to think it, because, as the Reindeer is only one of a large 

 family that is fitted for such food as Lichens, it follows that 

 analogy would be strong in favour of the extinct species 

 feeding on the ordinary form of vegetables, that is, that the 

 chances in the favour of this would be the amount of the 

 excess in number of the ordinarily feeding species. Nor is 

 there perhaps any instance in which the temperate zone 

 presents any circumstances at all analogous to those coun- 

 tries in which the Elephant and Rhinoceros are now found ; 

 no place in the temperate zone presents the abundance of 

 food, necessary to such vast quantities of Elephants, as once 

 existed in what we now call Siberia. 



The Mammoth being known to have existed in modern 

 times in association with freshwater shells which are now 

 found living in the adjoining country, at once suggests the 

 question — did it occur as a solitary or a gregarious animal ? 

 Are its remains rare or abundant ? 



The instance of the Panther may be of no account : in 

 the first place it is a new species ; in the second, what is the 

 range of the American Panthers ? 



The range of the Tiger in India, is so peculiar and so 

 limited with respect to certain circumstances, such as abun- 

 dance of cover, game, and dampness, that its identity with the 

 one noticed must be doubtful. However, the specimens killed 

 may have been stragglers from India, although their absence 



* The references arc to Book I, Chap, vi,, edit. 1840. 

 f See Ectin. New Ph. Jour. No. XII. April, 1829. 



