432 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mossy valleys, bright with running streams and waterfalls during the 

 brief arctic summer. Everywhere are indubitable signs that the ex- 

 tensive tner de glace, which is believed to cover the whole interior of 

 Greenland, once covered at least the greater part of 'vfhat is now the 

 uncovered or " fast-land " of the Danes. Tlie ice is again beginning 

 to encroach on the land, and everywhere in this vicinity there are 

 l^roofs of a gradual subsidence of the ground. 



From the fossil remains of numerous land-plants and a few^ insects 

 found in the Miocene beds of Disco Island, it appears that in com- 

 paratively recent times a luxuriant vegetation, somewhat similar in 

 character to that of California or the Southern United States, flour- 

 ished in these arctic wastes. Luxuriant evergreen-oaks, magnolias, 

 and sequoias, grew where now is found only the dwarf-willow, creep- 

 ing along the ground with a stem not over half an inch in diameter. 

 Among the fossil trees of Greenland, Prof. Heer has discovered three 

 distinct species of sequoia, nine of oak, four of which were evergreen, 

 like the Italian oak, two beeches, a chestnut, two planes, and a wal- 

 nut. " Besides these," writes Prof. Heer, " American species, such as 

 the magnolias, sassafrasses, and liquidambars, were represented there ; 

 and the characters of the ebony-tree are to be distinguished in two 

 of the sj^ecies. The hazel, the sumach, the buckthorn, and the holly, 

 the guelder-rose, and the w^hite, probably formed the thickets at the 

 borders of the woods ; while the vine, the ivy, and the sarsaparilla, 

 climbed over the trees of the virgin forest, and adorned them with 

 garlands. In the shadow of the wood grew a profusion of fei-ns, 

 which covered the soil wath their elegant fronds. The insects which 

 gave animation to these solitudes are not all lost. The impressions 

 of these Avhich have reached us show that Chrysomelas and Castilldce 

 enjoyed themselves in the sun, and large Trogsitm pierced the bark of 

 the trees, while charming Glcadellce leaped about among the herbage." 

 In all, about 167 species of Miocene plants have been discovered in 

 Greenland. 



The coal found on Disco Island is, like all tertiary lignites, of poor 

 quality, but yet, when mixed with English coal, it forms a good fuel 

 for household and even for steaming purposes. It is mined to a small 

 extent for the use of the settlements around the bay. Soapstone is found 

 in some places in the primitive rocks, on the southern shores of Disco 

 Bay ; it was at one time extensively employed by the Esquimaux for 

 making various domestic utensils, but is now much less used, owing 

 to the introduction of vessels of iron, copper, and tin. Tiiere is no 

 other economic mineral, cryolite being only found in one locality, Ar- 

 sut Fiord, in South Greenland. 



In the winter the cold is extreme in the region of Disco Bay, and 

 the ground is generally thickly covered with snow from September 

 till May or early June. During this period the wdiole sea is covered 

 with ice, and the Danes and Esquimaux visit from settlement to settle- 



