M 
No. 410.] THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. 97 
northern Iceland and Bering Straits and a January temper- 
ature like that of Reikiavik. 
On page 183 Dr. Scharff makes the following statement: 
* Everybody knows that northern and Arctic species can live 
perfectly well in a temperate climate, but that it is almost 
impossible to acclimatize southern animals in an Arctic or 
even temperate one. We have in this circumstance almost a 
proof, therefore, that the climate cannot have been very cold. 
Though a cold sea bathed the shores of eastern England, and 
even eventually invaded a portion of northern England, the 
warm ocean on the west must have effectually prevented any 
great lowering of temperature." Of course a good deal 
depends on what we understand by “great.” At the period 
of which Dr. Scharff treats he admits that a cold Arctic cur- 
rent came down along the eastern base of Scandinavia, wash- 
ing the east coast of England on the west and the northern 
shore of central Europe on the south. Now, England has even 
to-day a warm ocean on the west coast; does he imagine that 
if a cold current — like the Labrador coast current — were to 
strike the east coast of England the temperature of the British . 
Islands would not be “greatly " lowered? On the two sides 
of the Atlantic the warm and the cold currents make a differ- 
ence in the annual temperature of the countries of the same , 
latitude of about 10? C. Such a lowering of the annual tem- 
perature in Europe east of Ireland would bring the climate of 
South Greenland, Labrador, and the Hudson Bay countries 
to middle England, Holland, central Europe, down to Vienna, 
the northern:edge of the Black Sea, and the northern forth 
of the Caspian Sea ; it would also render Lapland and ‘northern 
Finland equal to Baffin Land, while the climate of Spitsbergen 
would be as severe as that of Grinnell Land or both sides of 
Smith Sound. Under similar conditions France and northern 
Italy would have the same yearly temperature as Newfound- 
land, Winnipeg, and the Aliaska peninsula. The conditions 
Which must have prevailed in Germany when land and water 
Were distributed approximately as indicated by Dr. Scharff on 
is map on page 170 remind one strikingly of a leen 
of Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay, a combination certainly no 
