The "Blue-eyed Grass" of Canada (_Sisyrinchium angustifolium_)
is likewise confined to the West of Ireland and to North America; and
further instances might be quoted. In the animal kingdom, too, parallel
cases have been noted, the most interesting being the discovery of no
less than three American species of fresh-water sponge, which are
unknown in the rest of Europe.
To account for the presence of this American group naturalists are
driven, as in the case of the southern species, to the conclusion that
these represent one of the very oldest components of our existing fauna
and flora, and point to a period when the edge of Europe was prolonged
far to the north-west, forming a continuous land area, presumably by way
of Iceland and Greenland, to America. And here on the wild western coast
of Ireland these last inhabitants of the lost lands of Europe still
survive.
[Illustration: The Kerry Slug, showing the manner in which its
coloration mimics clusters of lichen among which it lives.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Nest of Wood Ant at Killarney]
4. ~CLARE AND EAST GALWAY.~--Our last district--West Cork and Kerry--was
characterised by great ribs of slate and sandstone, and by an absence of
limestone and the numerous plants which follow in its train.
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