CHAPTER X. 



THE ARCTIC OR POLAR ZONE. 



Its Position and Extent. Early Arctic Voyages. Highest Latitude 

 yet Attained. Value of Polar Researches. The Arctic Regions as a 

 Field for the Study of Natural History. Northern Limits of Tree 

 Growth. The Arctic Birch. A probable Survival of a Temperate 

 Era. Unchangeableness of Nature. Example of Egypt during 6000 

 Years. Probable Vast Antiquity of the Spitzbergen Birch. The Arctic 

 Summer Thaw. The Midnight Sun. Wonderful Rapidity of Growth 

 under Constant Sunlight. Effects of Sunshine on Ice and Snow. 

 Winter Descent of Arctic Cold into Temperate Regions. Open Sea 

 during Winter on the North Coast of Norway. Ice in the Baltic. 

 Causes of these Anomalies. The Gulf Stream. Drift Wood. Tree 

 Life near Hammerfest. Cause of the Closure of the Baltic by Ice. 

 Freezing-point of Sea Water. Baltic Pine Forests. The Subarctic 

 Summer's Night. Midnight Sun at the North Cape. Splendid 

 Panorama of Arctic Solitudes. The Spitzbergen Summer. Snow Blind- 

 ness. Serious Effects of Ice Glaze. Probable Combination of "Sun 

 Burn" and "Frost Bite." Icy Winds. Uses of Goggles and Cloth 

 Masks. The Period of Constant Day in Norway. Arctic Hay Crops. 

 Crops of Lapland. Antiseptic State of the Atmosphere in Great Cold. 

 Unchanged Corpses 250 Years Old. Frozen Bodies of Extinct 

 Monsters. Arctic Plants. Effect of Snow in Protecting Vegetation. 

 Arctic Flowers, Mosses, and Lichens. The Arctic Fauna. Wild 

 Reindeer in Spitzbergen. Theory of their Arrival from Unknown Lands 

 to the Northwards. Difficulties of Travel over Ice Hummocks. The 

 Spitzbergen Islands. How Polar Animals Live. Immense Size and 

 Fatness of the Spitzbergen Deer. Reindeer Moss. Habits of Reindeer. 

 Caribou and Caribou Migrations. Causes of Migrations of Animals and 

 Birds. Vast Concourse of Migratory Birds in the Arctic Zone. Up- 

 rising of a Vast Flock of Geese. Successive Arrivals of Arctic Migrants. 

 Antarctic Geese. The Subarctic Bush Forest. Sudden Break-up of the 

 Arctic Winter. Some of the Scientific Aspects of Snow. Its Immo- 

 bility. The Permanent Storing up of Cold in Snow. Its Effects upon 

 Climate. The Melting of the Great Snows by Heated Air. Mr. 

 Seebohm on the Sudden Transition from Winter to Summer on the 

 Yenesay. Extraordinary Power of the South Wind in Dissolving Snow. 

 Immediate Arrival of Migratory Birds. Wonderful Character of these 

 Migrations. Migratory Flights at Great Altitudes. Nocturnal Drama 

 of the Air. Punctuality of Railway and Steamer Records beaten by 

 Birds. Speed of Bird Flights. Mortality During Migration. Immense 

 Length of Flights Taken. Beauty of the Arctic Summers, Linnaeus 



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