Page:VCH Norfolk 1.djvu/46

 A HISTORY OF NORFOLK Torquay), the wolf, hyasna, cave bear, glutton, bison, musk ox, numerous deer, hippopotamus. Rhinoceros etruscus, Elephas merUionalts, and E. antiquus, the Russian desman [Myogale moschatd)^ and many other forms, as well as birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, etc.* If the fauna of the Forest Bed is of great interest, no less so is its flora, for our knowledge of which we are especially indebted to the labours of Mr. Clement Reid. He has pointed out that while the cold of the succeeding Glacial period drove out many species, yet they must have survived within a moderate distance from England. Among those found in the Forest Bed Series, the following may be mentioned : — Yellow water-lily [Nuphar luteum) . Alder {Alnus glutinosd). Mare's tail [Hippuris vulgaris). Birch {Betula alba). Water chesnut {Trapa natans). Willow (Salix). Bog-bean {Menyanthes trifoliata). Pondweeds [Potamogeton). Golden dock {Rumex maritimus). Reeds {Phragmites). Horn wort {Ceratophyllum demersuni). Scotch Fir {Pinus sylvestris). Elm (Ulmus). Spruce Fir {Picea excelsa). Oak [Quercus robur). Yew [Taxus baccata). Beech {Fagus sylvatica). Royal fern {Osmunda regalis). Hazel [Corylus ave liana). Mr. Reid observes that the plants are aquatic and wet-meadow species and forest trees, and all that have been found in the deposits, except 'trapa natans^ Najas minor and Picea excelsa, are now natives of Britain.* Above the Upper Freshwater Bed there is a deposit of marine sand known as the Leda-myalis bed, and equivalent to the ' Mundesley Beds ' described by Prestwich.* This may be regarded as a passage-bed between Pliocene and Glacial deposits. Still higher than this is a bed which indicates more distinctly the incoming of colder conditions. It was first noticed by Dr. Alfred Nathorst in 1872, beneath the Glacial Drift at Mundesley, and he then discovered remains of arctic plants in it. The same horizon was a few years later detected by Mr. Reid at Beeston, and at Ostend, near Bacton. The arctic birch [Betula nana), the arctic willow {Salix polar is), and Hippuris vulgaris are among the plants. They appear to have flourished in the area when it was approximately about the same level as now, and before the incoming of any masses of the ice of the Glacial period. Gunn, Svo, Norwich, 1891. The Origin of the British Flora, 8vo, London, 1899. 16
 * See E. T. Newton, ♦ Vertebrata of the Forest Bed Series' {fieol. Survey), 1882 ; and
 * Vertebrata of the Phocene Deposits of Britain ' (Geo/. Survey), 1 89 1 . See also Memorials of "John
 * 'On the Flora of the Cromer Forest Bed,' Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc, vol. iv. p. 1,89 :
 * Report Brit. Assoc, for 1 88 1, p. 620.