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Zembla brings with it only as much warmth as October in 

 Drontheim, December in Edinburgh, and January in central 

 France ? M. v. Baer then shows that the idea of the vegeta- 

 tion proceeding very rapidly in the high north is, at least with 

 regard to the extreme north, incorrect, for during a stay of 

 three weeks in one district the progress of vegetation was found 

 to be far slower than in lower latitudes ; but there only such 

 plants occur as require a very short time of vegetation, as for 

 instance with us the spring flowers. The common cress was 

 sown at St. Petersburgh in May, and in July in the latitude of 

 Matotschkin-Schar, and the development at the latter place 

 proceeded three times slower than at the former; it is therefore 

 easily intelligible why scarcely anywhere ripe seeds were found 

 in Nova Zembla towards the beginning of winter. Plants like 

 Tussilago frigida, SalixBrayi, and the Vaccinium above men- 

 tioned, do not even appear to flower, whence one might pro- 

 bably be inclined to conclude that they had transmigrated from 

 the neighbouring coasts. Although M. v. Baer characterizes 

 the assumption of such a transmigration of plants as something 

 scarcely admissible, yet he observes that whoever has travelled 

 through these districts will certainly be determined in favour 

 of it. The coasts generally always abound more in plants than 

 the interior districts, and M. v. Baer regards the ice as being 

 the best means for conveying the wandering seeds. The plants 

 of Spitzbergen are almost without exception found in Nova 

 Zembla, but there are also other plants in these islands which 

 have hitherto been met with only in North America, and con- 

 sequently might also be considered as having migrated to Nova 

 Zembla. 



M. v. Baer then treats at great length of the height of the 

 limits of eternal snow on Nova Zembla, but arrives at the re- 

 sult that it is impossible to fix a general determination, for the 

 local influences are surprisingly great. Notwithstanding the 

 slight degree of warmth, all the snow in the plains melts to- 

 wards the end of July ; in the hollows and valleys it never 

 entirely disappears. In so cold a country, where the mean 

 temperature of the atmosphere is so exceedingly low, the 

 higher warming of the soil by the sun's rays must have the 

 greatest effect on the occurrence of vegetation, and M. v. Baer 

 has devoted particular attention to this subject. By this 



