[40] Origin of Species, C. Darwin, 5th edit. 1869.
[41] Thus Mr. Wallace considers that the identity of the small fish, Galaxias attenuatus, which occurs in the mountain streams of Tasmania, with one found in those of New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and the temperate regions of South America, cannot be considered as demonstrating a land connection between these places within the period of its specific existence. For there is a possibility that its ova have been transported from one point to another on floating ice; and for similar reasons fresh-water fish generally are unsafe guides to a classification of zoological regions. Mr. Darwin has shown (Origin of Species, and Nature, vol. xviii. p. 120 and vol. xxv. p. 529) that mollusca can be conveyed attached to or entangled in the claws of migratory birds. Birds themselves are liable to be blown great distances by gales of wind. Beetles and other flying insects may be similarly transferred. Reptiles are occasionally conveyed on floating logs and uprooted trees. Mammals alone appear to be really trustworthy guides towards such a classification, from their being less liable than the other classes to accidental dispersion.
[42] Mémoires concernant l’histoire, &c. des Chinois, par les Missionaires de Pekin, vol. iv. p. 481.
[43] The Natural History of Pliny, J. Bostock and H. T. Riley, book viii. chap iv.
[44] The Voyage of the Vega, A. E. Nordenskjöld. London, 1881.
[45] On the Range of the Mammoth in Space and Time, by W. B. Dawkins, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1879, p. 138.
[46] The notice is taken from Les Peuples du Caucause, ou Voyage d’Abou-el-Cassim, par M. C. D’Ohsson, p. 80, as follows:—“On trouve souvent dans la Boulgarie des os (fossils) d’une grandeur prodigieuse. J’ai vu une dent qui avait deux palmes de large sur quatre de long, et un crâne qui ressemblait à une hutte (Arabe). On y déterre des dents semblables aux défenses d’éléphants, blanche comme la neige et pesant jusqu’ à deux cents menns. On ne sait pas à quel animal elles out appartenu, mais on les transporte dans le Khoragur (Kiva), où elles se vendent à grand prix. On en fait des peignes, des vases, et d’autres objets, comme on façonne l’ivoire; toute fois cette substance est plus dure que l’ivoire; jamais elle ne se brise.”
[47] The World before the Deluge, L. Figuier. London, 1865.
[48] According to Woodward, over two thousand grinders were dredged up by the fishermen of Happisburgh in the space of thirteen years; and other localities in and about England are also noted.—Dana’s Manual of Geology, p. 564.
[49] Lyell, Antiquity of Man, p. 185, 2nd edit., 1863.