GEOGRAPHY 



2427 



GEOGRAPHY 



by the variations in the forms of plant life 

 in different localities. In Canada there are 

 vast forests of cone-bearers pines, firs, spruces 

 and hemlock; in the Eastern United States 

 there are woods of beech and chestnut and 

 oak; in Florida there are those gloomy, mys- 

 terious but beautiful swamps, the Everglades, 

 while the western part of the continent has 

 here and there great stretches where sage, 

 cactus, yucca and similar plants grow. Some- 

 times one finds sharp contrasts. Thus, in the 

 American continent, a high mountain range 

 separates fierce deserts on the one side from 



a large part in determining all these crops, 

 and the geographer must pay attention to soils 

 as well. When it is considered that directly 

 or indirectly, every form of animal life on the 

 globe, including man, is dependent upon plants 

 for its very life, the importance of such study 

 of plant geography is evident (see PLANT). 



Animal Geography. Animals are not so com- 

 pletely dependent upon conditions of temper- 

 ature and moisture as are plants. If surround- 

 ings become too unpleasant and unfavorable, 

 they can migrate, and, within reason, adapt 

 themselves to a different environment. Never- 



BEH AIM'S MAP OF THE WORLD 



Prepared about the year 1490. The American continents were not known to exist, and it was be- 

 lieved the way was open straight across the trackless sea to the continent of Asia. 



fertile and productive lands on the other. In 

 the tropical rain belt pour down the rains 

 that make Central Africa an almost impene- 

 trable jungle, flanked on both sides by inhos- 

 pitable deserts. Now the geographer does not 

 content himself with saying, "There are deserts 

 where there is no water, and rich plant growths 

 where rainfall is abundant;" he goes back of 

 that and works out the causes which govern 

 the scanty or the plentiful rainfall. 



Nor is it climate only with which he con- 

 cerns himself. It is not merely because of 

 temperature and rainfall that the Canadian 

 Northwest is a wonderful wheat-growing coun- 

 try; that Iowa produces great quantities of 

 corn; that Florida grows grapefruit and that 

 Italy is famous for its grapes. The soil plays 



theless, there are distinct climatic zones of 

 animal life as well as of plant life, and the 

 animals of the Arctic regions differ as decidedly 

 from those of the tropics as do the plants of 

 the two sections. One may go to a zoological 

 garden and see polar bears, lions, monkeys, 

 Arctic foxes and elephants in adjoining cages, 

 but they are not thus closely associated in 

 their natural homes. Time was when many 

 of the animal forms were far more widely 

 distributed than they are at present, but chang- 

 ing climatic conditions led to repeated migra- 

 tions and to the existing distributions. Here 

 again, however, as with the plants, it is not 

 climate alone which has been the determining 

 influence. South America and Africa, for in- 

 stance, are both equatorial continents, but they 



