GREENLAND AND THE GREENLANDERS. 



3°7 



from the glacier, though seldom able to detect its primitive form, 

 the greater part, say at least six sevenths of its volume, sinking 

 below the surface. 



If Greenland, like other regions, passed through a glacial 

 epoch, the fossil remains preserved in its sedimentary rocks show 

 that it had also its hot and temperate periods. The old formations 



Scale 1 : 300,000- 



6 Miles. 



The scale of heights is 50 times greater than that of lengths. 

 Fig. 3.— Movement of the Kanderdlttg-Suak Glacier, Umanak District. 



which have yielded Carboniferous, Triassic, and Jurassic fossils, 

 present types of organisms comparable to those at present found 

 in the torrid zone. The upper chalk beds, abounding in vegetable 

 forms, analogous to those of the subtropical and temperate zones, 

 had already been examined by Giesecke at the beginning of this 

 century. They supplied to Nordenskjold a very remarkable flora, 

 especially rich in dicotyledonous plants represented by numerous 

 families of Cycadea, a tree-fern, and even a bread-fruit tree. At 

 that time the mean temperature must have been as high as 68° 

 Fahr. 



The Miocene flora, whose general physiognomy corresponds to 

 a more temperate climate, averaging about 53° or 54° Fahr., is il- 

 lustrated by splendid specimens discovered chiefly in Disco Island 



