Then came an upheaval; a vast tract
of land rose above the water, without any break, as at present between
England and the continent; and at this period 'there appears to have
been a migration of both plants and animals from east to west, the
descendants of which still constitute the great body of the flora and
fauna of the British lowlands.' Meantime, the elevation of the former
islands into mountain summits, placed them in a temperature suited to
the perpetuation of their vegetation. Then, to account for the
presence of a Spanish flora in the west of Ireland, a bold hypothesis,
started by Professor Edward Forbes, is put forward--'that the west of
Ireland was geologically united with the north of Spain;' admitting
which, there is no difficulty in supposing the plants to have
travelled along the intervening land, which has subsequently
disappeared, and that, owing to climatic changes, the hardier sort of
plants, such as saxifrages and heaths, have alone survived.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] The Vegetation of Europe, its Conditions and Causes. By Arthur
Henfrey, F.L.S. London: John Van Voorst. 1852.
A HALF-PENNYWORTH OF NAVIGATION.
Who's for a cheap ride on what a pleasant writer calls the 'silent
highway?'--silent no longer, since the steamers have taken to plying
above Bridge at a charge which has made the surface of the Thames,
where it runs through the heart of London, populous with life, and
noisy with the clash of paddles and the rush of steam, to say
nothing of the incessant chorus of captains, engine-boys, and
gangway-men--with their 'Ease her,' 'Stop her,' 'Back her,' 'Turn
ahead,' 'Turn astarn,' 'Now, marm, with the bundle, be alive,' 'Heave
ahead there, will you?' &c.
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