north, must have been delightful. There is ample testimony to
this effect in the rich vegetative remains over wide areas.

In Spitzbergen, within twelve degrees of the pole, where now a
dwarf willow and a few herbaceous plants form the only
vegetation, and the ground is most of the time covered with snow
and ice, there were growing, in Miocene times, no less than
ninety-five species of trees, including yews, hazels, elders,
beech, elms, and others.<33> But it is in the Miocene forests of
the continent of Europe where we meet with evidence of a
singularly mild climate.

There were at least eleven species of palms growing in
Switzerland; and one variety of them grew as far north as
Northern Germany.<34>

We can not give a list of all the species. On the one hand,
there were elms, willows, poplars, oaks, and beeches, thus far
similar to the forest growth of temperate regions. Mingled with
these were forests of trees like the tulip-tree, swamp cypress,
and liquid amber or sweet gum of the southern part of the United
States--plants whose home is in the warm and moist regions of
the earth. But there were also representatives of the tropical
regions--such as fig-trees, cinnamon-trees, and camphor-trees:
these are found growing now in tropical countries. Fruit-trees
of the cherry, plum, and almond species were also to be seen.
Prof. Heer points out how all this should convince us that a
large part of Europe, in the Miocene Age, possessed a climate
not unlike that of the Madeira or Canary Islands to-day.
He calls especial attention to the fact that these trees were