104 NOTICE A BLACK CHRYSALIS. \April, 



find it much easier to grant him leave to take exercise 

 in his pursuit and convince himself, than expend reasons, 

 which seldom convince. 



But to return to our pieces of peat, for they really solved 

 a matter which as yet to me was an enigma. During a 

 close examination of this peat, after thawing in my cabin, 

 I found it to be composed, to a depth of nine inches, al- 

 most entirely of the remains of lemmings. The grass on 

 its upper surface exhibited signs of advanced vegetation, 

 assuming a light green hue, and about the roots I de- 

 tected a minute glossy maggot in full activity, brought 

 into existence perhaps by the temperature of my cabin 

 (52). This proof of the progress of vegetation beneath 

 the snow may possibly prove interesting to naturalists. 

 The maggot having been placed in a tin-box with some 

 of the grass tufts, in which I felt as much interest as 

 some would about flowers, shortly after assumed the 

 state of a black chrysalis, identical I believe with those 

 noticed on Grave Mount, the derivation of which was 

 now sufficiently explained. 



The history of the lemming is of itself, even in North- 

 ern Asia, one of great interest, and the allusion to the 

 "armies" of these field-mice must be extended even to 

 these regions, for nothing short of such myriads could 

 have produced beds of exuviae nine inches in thickness. 

 They are still numerous here ; but as their forays, even 

 in warmer climes, do not occur for intervals of many 

 years, they may yet exist on the southern shores, and 

 await for a marvellous summer for their marvellous 

 marches ! We have noticed their tracks far out of sight 

 of land ; upon what they live we cannot determine, but 



