y reached the
sea, just as the Greenland and other northern glaciers do (_vide_ p.
237). A country which at the present day probably somewhat resembles the
former Scandinavia climatically is Tierra del Fuego, in the extreme
south of South America. Though there is an abundant snowfall, so that
glaciers reach the sea in many parts of the country, the flora has been
described by travellers as luxuriant; and it appears that the fauna also
is richer than might be expected from the cheerless climate.

Towards the latter part of the Glacial period the land-connection
between Scandinavia, Spitsbergen, and Greenland broke down, and the
waters of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans joined. Whether it was at this
time or later that the other land-connection between Scandinavia and
Scotland collapsed is difficult to determine; but it is certain, I
think, that Scotland was still united with Ireland even after these two
great land-bridges ceased to exist.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER IV.

The fauna of the Arctic Regions is much poorer than that of the other
regions which are dealt with in this work. In some groups, such as
Reptiles and Amphibia, there are no representatives at all, but no doubt
a larger number of species existed there in earlier Tertiary times. At
least we have fossil evidence that during the Miocene Epoch plants of
many families flourished in Greenland of which no vestige is now left in
the Polar area. Climatic conditions must therefore have changed, as in
Europe. A gradual refrigeration took place, owing probably to the slow
withdrawal of the current which supplied the Arctic Sea with warmth.
Greenland and Europe were then connected, and the Arctic Ocean was
separated from the Atlantic. This land-connection is supposed to have
lain far north between Scandinavia, Spitsbergen, and Greenland, and must
have persisted until towards the end of the Glacial period.

As the temperature decreased and the land-area available in the north
diminished, the surplus population, consisting of animals and plants,
and possibly also of human beings, moved southward. We have traces in
Europe, and especially in the British Islands, of a very early migration
from the north in the so-called American plants and in the freshwater
sponges. The geographical distribution of some of the Arctic species of
mammals is referred to in greater detail, to show how the relative age
of their entry into Europe can be determined. Two forms of Reindeer,
resembling