BRITISH GRASSES IN POLAR REGIONS. 277 



Among others there is an arctic poa, an arctic 

 foxtail, and an arctic fescue, besides rushes of 

 several sorts; also several berry-bearing shrubs and 

 plants which grow remarkably well in Lapland, such 

 as the juniper, crowberry, bilberry, and the Alpine 

 strawberry. Then as a spice there is the aromatic 

 caraway-seed (Carum Carui], also the highly flavoured 

 herb Angelica (Archangelica Officinalis) used by confec- 

 tioners. Among the valuable mosses or nutritive lichens 

 which partake of the character of mosses, we may mention 

 the well known Iceland moss (Cetraria Islandica) and 

 reindeer mosses (Cladonia Rangiferina and C. Gracilis}\ 

 while as the commonest and chief of the most arctic 

 flowering and forage plants we have the wonderfully 

 hardy " Saxifraga Oppositifolia " deserving of special 

 mention. It is supposed to be upon this plant that 

 the arctic hare and grouse and very likely the musk 

 ox mainly subsist, and it is known to grow as far to 

 the north as arctic explorers have gone, and prob- 

 ably goes to the pole itself, if there are lands there. 



As regards the arctic fauna, they are of course, 

 like the flora, comparatively few in number; besides 

 the beasts of prey, such as the polar bear ( Ursus Mari- 

 timus], which lives mostly on seals and fish, the arctic 

 fox ( Vulpes Lagopus], and the marten (MustetaJSrmtm'a), 

 there are the reindeer (Tarandus Rangifer], the musk 

 ox ( Ovibos Moschatus\ the arctic hare (Lepus Glacialis), 

 and the lemming (My odes Torquatus], each of which 

 deserves a short passing notice at our hands. 



From our earliest days, the picture of the Lapp, in 

 his robes of fur, drawn in his sledge by reindeer across 

 the snowy wastes, has been present to all our imagina- 



