Our knowledge of the present and past fauna of Europe is as yet insufficient to indicate with precision the original homes of its component elements, but I hope that the lines of research laid down here, and the method of treatment adopted, will aid zoologists and geologists in collecting materials for a more comprehensive study of the history of our animals. I trust also that a fresh impulse will be given by the publication of this book to the study of the Geographical Distribution of Species.

Every student of natural history, whether he be interested in birds, butterflies, or shells, contributes his share of facts which help to show how the fauna of his country has originated. The capture of a Swallow-tail or of a Marbled White Butterfly in England at once furnishes material for reflection as to the reason of its absence from Scotland and Ireland. Why should the Nightingale allow its beautiful song to be heard in England, and never stray across the Channel to the sister isle or cross

I have endeavoured to show in this chapter how we can determine approximately the original home of an animal. By this means we are able to study the component elements of the European fauna, which is found to consist to a large extent of migrants from the neighbouring continents. There is a Siberian, an Oriental, and an Arctic element in it. The remainder of the fauna is derived from local centres of dispersal. What was formerly believed to have been one great northern migration now resolves its

The history of the British fauna is not only of interest to us from a sentimental point of view, it is a convenient starting-point in the study of the larger European problem. The fauna, broadly speaking, is composed of three foreign elements, viz., the northern, eastern, and southern, to which may be added a small endemic one. Examples are given of the more noteworthy forms belonging to each of these. This leads us to the subject of the natural divisions of the British Islands according to thei

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 Europ

What has been spoken of in the earlier parts of this book as the eastern migration, refers in a general way to the animals which have come to England from the east. But these are by no means natives of one country alone. We can trace a number of the British mammals to a Siberian origin, and also some birds; among many of the lower vertebrates and invertebrates, however, there are few species which have reached us from Siberia. They may have had their original homes in the Alps, in Eastern Europe

Like the last chapter, this deals with the Asiatic migrants. But while the former described the history of the northern invasion, those animals which entered Europe from the south-east are here more particularly referred to. They originated in Central, Southern, and Western Asia. It is not easy to discriminate in all cases between this Oriental migration and the Siberian. To a certain extent, even an entry of Northern Asiatic species has taken place by the southern route, and vice versâ . On the

The term "Lusitanian" is in this chapter employed in the wide sense, as indicating the South-west of Europe and North-western Africa. From this centre, and probably also from a now sunken land which lay to the west of it, issued a fauna and flora of which we have abundant evidence in our own islands, especially in Ireland. Edward Forbes held that the Lusitanian element of the British flora was of miocene age, and that it survived the Glacial period in this country. At the time when the Straits o

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 i

( Titles of Works and Papers referred to in the Text. ) Adams, A. Leith.—Report on the History of Irish Fossil Mammals, "Proc. Royal Irish Acad." (2nd series), vol. iii., 1878. Alston, E. R.—"The Fauna of Scotland," 1880. Ball, J.—On the Origin of the Flora of the European Alps, "Proc. Royal Geograph. Soc.," vol. i., 1879. Barrett-Hamilton, G. E. H. ( vide also Thomas and Barrett-Hamilton ).—Notes on the Introduction of the Brown Hare in Ireland, "Irish Naturalist," vol. vii., 1898. Beddard, F.

GRAVURE EDITION. PRINTED ON ANTIQUE PAPER. 2s. 6d. PER VOL. Each Volume with a Frontispiece in Photogravure. By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. By OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. By HENRY THOREAU. Crown 8vo, Cloth Elegant, Price 5s. net. Drawn and Described by JOHN DUNCAN. This volume contains about 400 drawings of birds by John Duncan, naturalist and artist. The drawings are accompanied by a concise description of each bird. Mr. Chas. Dixon, in the Introduction to this work, says:—"Just a century ago, British natu