ARCTIC INTERGLACIAL PERIODS. 177 



state is the normal condition of the polar regions, 

 the interglacial the abnormal. At present Green- 

 land and other parts of the Arctic regions are almost 

 wholly covered with snow and ice, and, conse- 

 quently, nearly destitute of vegetable life. In fact, 

 as regards organic life in those regions, matters during 

 the Glacial Epoch would not probably be much worse 

 than they are at the present day. Greenland and the 

 Antarctic continent are to-day almost as destitute of 

 plant life as they could possibly be. Although, in 

 opposition to what is found to be true in reference to 

 the temperate regions, the polar interglacial periods 

 were more marked than the glacial, it does not follow 

 that on this account the relics of the intero-lacial 

 periods which remain ought to be more abundant in 

 polar than in temperate regions. On the contrary, 

 the reverse ought to be the case. In the polar regions, 

 undoubtedly, there is least likelihood of finding traces 

 of interglacial periods ; for there, of all other places, 

 the destruction of such traces would be most complete. 

 The more severe the glaciation following a warm period, 

 the more complete would be the removal of the remains 

 belonging to the period. If, in such places as Scotland 

 and Scandinavia, so little is left of the wreck of inter- 

 glacial periods, it need be a matter of no surprise that 

 in Arctic regions scarcely a relic of those periods 

 remains. The comparative absence in polar regions of 

 organic remains belonging to a mild interglacial period 

 cannot therefore be adduced as evidence against the 

 probable existence of such a period. Who would 

 expect to find such remains in ice-covered regions like 

 Greenland and Spitzbergen ? Although not a trace is 

 now to be found, it is nevertheless quite possible that 

 during interglacial periods those regions may have 

 enjoyed a comparatively mild and equable climate. 



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