Februaky, 1902.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



25 



mNCEJLJTERATtJfiEAMfe^ 



Founded by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 



Vol. XXV.] LONDON : 1- KB U VARY, 1902. [No. 19G. 



CONTENTS. 



Across Russian Lapland in Search of Birds. — I. Vardoe 



and the White Sea. B_v Hahky I'". Witiiebut, 



y.z.s., M 11.0 r. (IllnxtrniedJ 



Vegetable Mimicry and Homomorphism. — I. By Rev. 



Alk.v. S. Wilson, M. \. u sr. flilusiruteitj 

 The History of Fahrenheits Thermometer. By Sir 



Sami-bl Wii.ks, Ml)., LL D.. F.E.s. ( IlliistratedJ 



Silk and Its Producers. By K. Lydekkeb 



The Use of Hand Telescopes in Astronomy. By Cecil 



Jackson, (lllustraled) 

 The Polar Rays of the Corona. By llrs. Waltek 



Macndbb. {Plate.) 



Letters : 



The SrECTBii.M of Lightmino. By William Goddex 



B> I NBOw BEFOBB Sunrise. By W. T. Lynn 



Hoar Fbost. By F. T. Mott 



A Poi.-fONors SiiBVB. Bv C. JlArn Battkesbt. Note 



by R I.I.. P. ... ■ 



British Ornithological Notes. Conducted by Habet F. 



WlIUEHBY, F.Z.S., M.B.O.r. ... 



Notes 



The Nobodies,— A Sea-faring Family. — I. By Rev. T. R. R. 



SlEIIBlNO. M.A . F.R.S., F.L.S. (IllustralerlJ 



Notices of Books ... 



UoOK3 Rrceived 

 The Flight of a Hailstone. By Abthuk H. Bkll 

 Collecting and Preparing Foraminifera. By A. Eaelakd 



Microscopy. Conduotod by 51. I. Cboss 



Notes on Comets and Meteors. By W. P. De.vnino, 



F.R.A.S. ... .. ... 



The Face of the Sky for February. By W. Shackleton, 



F.B.A.a. (lUuatraledJ 



Chess Column. By C. D. Locock, b.a. 



ACROSS RUSSIAN LAPLAND IN SEARCH OF 

 BIRDS. 



By Harry F. Withehuy, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 

 I.— VARDOE AND THE WHITE SEA. 

 There are some people, one might almost term them 

 a fraternity, for whora a wild and desolate land has 

 a strange fascination. A barren and forsaken spot, the 

 very aspect of which casts a gloom over the ordinary 

 mortal, is for them a jiaradise. There they are thrilled 

 with joy, an overwhelming feeling of freedom takes 

 possession of them, and a desire to race over the countiy 

 and explore it to the horizon seizes upon them like a 

 mania. For stich tho regions to the north of the arctic 

 circle have many attractions, and when once tho wealth 

 of wildness and solitude to be found there have been 

 tasted by one infected with this craze then ever after- 

 wards the North Pole will draw him as surely as it 

 attracts the needle of a compass. 



Oniithologists, and English ornithologists especially, 

 whether worshippers of solitude or nob. seem to be 

 particularly devoted to those northern regions where 

 in summer the sun reigns supreme. The northern parts 

 of Norway, Lapland, and Siberia have been so thoroughly 



explored by them that it was only after a long search 

 that my friend Mr. A. E. Hamertou and myself could 

 fix on a route in those regions which had not been 

 visited by somo brother craftsman. We agreed at length 

 to jouniey to Archangel by sea, and then proceeding 

 to the southern end of the Kola peninsula or Kussiau 

 Lapland to walk across to the Arctic Ocean along the 

 route taken by Messrs. Edward Rae and H. P. Brandreth.* 

 As far as we could discover this country had not been 

 traversed by any other Englishmen, and although 

 Russian ornithologists had worked there in the winter 

 when the snow makes travelling easy, very little was 

 known of the birds inhabiting the interior of the penin- 

 sula in Slimmer. 



Starting from homo early in June, 1899, and crossing 

 the North Sea. whose vinkindly nature is well known 

 to all who visit Norway, we soon arrived at Christiania. 

 An eighteen hoiu's' railway journey thence brought us to 

 Trondhjem where we embarked on the good ship " Sigurd 

 Jai'l " bound for Vardoe. It> was a pleasant voyage 

 in and out amongst the islands, and through rocky 

 channels where the snow-capped hills rise sheer out 

 of the sea. We passed the Lofoden Islands, devoted 

 to fisheries, and Tromsoe, and arrived at Haminerfest. 

 where the streets were still coated with ice and bordered 

 with heaps of dirty snow. 



From Ilammerfest a few hours of rough water round 

 the North Cape brought vis to Vardoe. Here we learnt 

 that the "oldest inhabitant" could not remember so 

 late a season, and that the Russian boat that was to 

 take us to Archangel had not yet broken through tho 

 ice in the White Sea. 



However, a few days in Vardoe were well spent. Tho 

 town and the small isla.nd upon which it stands aro 

 entirely given up to cod fish. Vardoe is built along 

 the edge of its harbour, and the harbour is fringed 

 with small quays, which aro at all times scenes of the 

 greatest activity, day and night in this latitude being 

 scarcely distinguishable. Open boats, shaped exactly 

 like the old viking ships, rowed or sailed by hardy 

 Norsemen, aro continually coming into the harbour laden 

 with cod and red mullet, while others are going out 

 to the fishing groumls away in the Arctic Ocean, often 



A Boat-load o£ Cod on the liuay at V'ardoe. 



10 or 15 miles from land. The quays are always full 

 of fish, which are hauled up from the boats in baskets 



* See " The White Sea Peninsula," by Edward Rae, f.e.0.8. 

 (Murray), 1881. 



