CHAPTER III. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON "THE CLIMATIC 



Decisive Influence of Climate upon Fauna and Flora. " Heat " and 

 " Moisture " as Factors in Climate. Boundaries of Climatic Zones 

 subject to Variations. Difficulties in defining the Limits of Deserts^ 

 Limits of the Ice Pack on the Ocean constantly shifting. Variations 

 of Climate between the Regions East and West of the Andes in South 

 America. The Theory of Climatic Zones not new. Nature and Arti- 

 ficial Management of Land. Vegetation destroying the Works of 

 Man. Sand Drifts on Deserts, burying Cities and Temples. The 

 Primeval Forests of Britain. The Great Cities of Antiquity as Deserted 

 Ruins. Metaphor of "The Spider's Web" of an Ancient Persian 

 Poet. Scriptural Description of a Ruined City. Land reverting to 

 " A State of Nature." The Climatic Charts of Physical Geographers. 

 The Evergreen Band of Equatorial Forest. The Great Prairie or 

 Steppe Regions. Tendency of Soil to revert to its Primeval Condi- 

 tion. Flora as a Clue to Climate. The Cocoa-nut. The Date Palm. 

 Characteristics of Climate determinable from a Collection of its Plants. 

 But Geographical Position no sure Guide to Flora. Deflection of 

 Isothermal Lines on Climatic Charts. Climates of Great Britain and 

 Labrador contrasted. Table of Madden's Climatic Zones and Their 

 Respective Boundaries. Table of Special Regions. 



WHEN a traveller is about to visit a strange land, 

 the very first question which he asks himself 

 will naturally be: "What is the character of its 

 climate?" because the nature of his outfit, and the 

 whole of his subsequent arrangements will necessarily 

 depend upon that. So also, while investigating the 

 phenomena of Nature, we shall find almost every detail 

 of the landscape governed by the same considerations : 

 the character of the trees, plants, and animals, seen 

 in it, will of course, all be dependent upon the climate. 

 That being so, we need offer no further apology for 



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