Scientific Intelligence. Meteorology. 385 



to construct their humble dwellings in pits dug on purpose, and 

 Schonen, or the southernmost district of the peninsula, there is a 

 great diversity of climate ; but in the most favoured situations, 

 as at Lund in Schonen, the mean temperature of the year does 

 not exceed 45 Fahr. ; while at North Cape, on the sea-shore, it 

 is at the freezing point ; and at places distant from the ocean, 

 as at Enontekis, 150 miles farther south than North Cape, 

 and 1470 feet above the sea, the mean temperature of the 

 year is four or five degrees below the point of congelation. 

 The extreme cold of winter is modified throughout the penin- 

 sula by the proximity of the sea and the elevation of the place, 

 in each instance, as much as by the latitude. In Stockholm, 

 which, owing to its insular situation, enjoys a comparatively 

 mild climate, the thermometer frequently descends in winter to 

 28 below zero. A hundred miles north of that city (or beyond 

 the 60th parallel), the mercury in winter freezes in the tube of 

 the thermometer, indicating a degree of cold exceeding 40. 

 We must altogether pass over the interesting details furnish- 

 ed by Forsell, illustrative of the dependence of temperature 

 on latitude and elevation, and content ourselves with a hasty 

 glance at the zones of vegetation observed in the Scandinavian 

 peninsula. At North Cape, Lat. 71, potatoes, broccoli, and 

 gooseberries, are reared with some difficulty. One degree far- 

 ther south, at Alten (70), a little barley makes its appearance. 

 At Enontekis (68 30') the crops barley and bear yield a remu- 

 nerating harvest, on an average, once in three years. Rye and 

 hemp cannot be successfully cultivated beyond the 66th, nor 

 oats beyond the 64th parallel. This latter is also the general 

 limits of garden cultivation. The cherry-tree, alder, and maple, 

 cease to thrive beyond the 63d, the ash and the willow at the 

 66th, the elm, lime, and oak, at the 61st parallel. The natu- 

 ral beech-woods of Sweden do not extend beyond Lat. 57. Fi- 

 nally, the mulberry, the chestnut, and the walnut, arrive at per- 

 fection in Schonen (54), at the southern extremity of the penin- 

 sula. On the coasts of Norway, vegetation is less curbed by 

 the rigours of winter than in corresponding parallels on the 

 shores of the Baltic ; and, according to Mr Laing, pears, plums, 

 and sometimes even chestnuts, ripen in the neighbourhood of 

 Molde, 62 47' north latitude. 



