SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 1^9 



the sea. Although this elevation is less than that of the moun- 

 tains of Switzerland and the Pyrenees, all the phenomena of 

 the Alpine regions, and particularly glaciers, are observable. 

 At such a proximity to the polar circle, the region of eternal 

 snow commences at nearly 4,000 feet above the ocean, while 

 in the Alps it begins at from 7 to 8,000, and in the Pyrenees at 

 8,000 feet. 



On the 14th July, M. de Valenberg ascended the most con- 

 siderable glacier, called Sulitelma, a Lapland word, which 

 signifies Solemn Mountain, because formerly the Laplanders 

 adored on one of its summits their principal idol. This moun- 

 tain, which is the Mount Blanc of the north, is composed of a 

 succession of summits, of which the base has an extent of 

 several leagues. Its greatest elevation is 5,700 feet above the 

 se3. To reach this elevation, our traveller was obliged to make 

 his way over enormous crevices, where recently before some 

 hunters had been engulphed with their deer and their dogs. 

 Seas of ice have descended into th 3 vailies 700 feet below the 

 line of snow. There is a border of earth surrounds the ice, 

 consisting of slime and stones. The ice of Sulitelma is very 

 clear, and almost transparent; it is as hard as stone, but not 

 so heavy as the ice of the sea. The traveller gives several 

 details respecting its internal composition, the figures by which 

 it is characterized, and the crevices formed on it. The snow 

 is sometimes 100 feet in depth, and so hard that the footsteps 

 leave no mark on it. That which is detached from the sum- 

 mits, or crevices, roll to immense distances. Fortunately, 

 these avalanches in their descent act only on inanimate nature : 

 whatever direction they take they seldom encounter living 

 beings, or the abodes of men. All is desert in these regions 

 for vast extents, where industry has gained no conquest over 

 the solitary domain of the primitive creation. 



The traveller terminates his account by general conside- 

 rations on the temperature, and by tables of meteorological 

 observations. He determines with precision the , different 

 regions of the mountains, and characterizes them by the pro- 

 ductions which he found there. In proportion as the line of 

 snow is approached, the productive force of nature diminishes, 

 and men, brute animals, and plants, yield to the rigour of the 

 cold. At 2,600 feet below the line,, the pines disappear, as 



well 



