CHAPTER XII. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLORA AND FAUNA IN 

 ARCTIC REGIONS. 



Flora and Fauna of Iceland and the Faroe Islands destroyed by last 

 Ice -sheet. — How was the present Flora and Fauna of these 

 Islands introduced? — Professor J. Geikie's Explanation. — Ice 

 and Ocean Currents as Transporting Agents. 



We have already seen (Chap. VIII.) that the ice-sheet 

 which covered Scotland, Scandinavia, the Orkney and 

 Shetland Islands, and the Outer Hebrides, towards the 

 close of the Glacial period, was hardly less thick than 

 that which mantled them at the climax of glacial cold. 

 It is therefore evident that the flora and fauna of 

 Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands could not 

 possibly have survived in such highly glaciated con- 

 ditions. The conclusion is thus forced upon us that the 

 present flora and fauna of these places must have been 

 introduced during Postglacial times. The question 

 then arises, How are we to account for the introduction 

 of the present flora and fauna ? Professsor J. Geikie 

 thinks* that, in order to account for the present life 

 forms of these places, we must necessarily assume 

 that, at some period during early postglacial times, a 

 land connection must have existed between Greenland, 

 Iceland, and the Faroe Islands and North-west Europe. 

 But are we really obliged to assume a land connection ? 

 I am strongly impressed with the conviction that, in 



* "Prehistoric Europe,'" p. 56S. 



