uggestions will be useful to
those intending to reinvestigate the problems raised in this chapter.
When our knowledge of the fauna of Asia is more complete, it will be
possible to give a more thorough and in many respects a more
satisfactory history of the European fauna than at present.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER VIII.

In early Tertiary times the area now covered by the European Alps was
covered by the sea. Islands slowly rose above the surface of the waters,
which finally coalesced to form a peninsula connected with the mainland
in the east. Animals now began to invade the new territory which
continued to rise, while the sea retired farther and farther to the
north and south. During the Pliocene Epoch the sea ceased to wash the
northern shores of the Alps, and both emigration and immigration became
possible in that direction, and also from and to the west.

The Alpine fauna and also the flora are made up of a number of elements,
the eastern one being the oldest. The latter is represented in the Alps
by the older and newer Oriental migration. The general range of the
Alpine Steinbock, Chamois, Marmot, Vole, Shrew, and Hare are specially
referred to. The Alpine birds are few in number, and all of them are
readily traceable to an Asiatic ancestry. Among the Amphibia, the
Salamanders are considered of Alpine origin.

Dr. Kobelt tells us that a uniformity of character marks the Alpine
molluscan fauna. _Campylaea_,--often considered a sub-genus of
_Helix_,--_Pomatias_, _Zonites_, are looked upon as truly Alpine genera.
For very long periods the Alps seem to have received no addition to
their molluscan fauna from other areas. The case is very different with
the _Lepidoptera_, some of the most striking species being evidently
Asiatic immigrants. Some examples of _Coleoptera_ and _Orthoptera_ are
mentioned, and their origin discussed.

We find as the result of these considerations that the majority of the
Alpine species are either indigenous or have come from Asia with the
Oriental migration. None of the northern or western immigrants appear to
be among the characteristic Alpine species, and it seems that the
Siberian migrants have not retired to the Alps, as some naturalists have
been led to suppose. It is evident that the fauna must have survived the
Glacial period on the Alps, though according to geological evidence
glaciers of enormous size originated on these mountains.

The identity of many Alpine species with Scandina