OUT OF THE ICE 149 



the warmth of summer would make no deep impression 

 on the frozen land. Repeated examinations have shown 

 that within the Arctic Circle at a depth below twelve to 

 eighteen inches from the surface the soil is perpetually- 

 frozen. Mastodons, mammoths and other prehistoric 

 animals which have become buried in the soil before 

 human history began are excavated in a wonderful state 

 of preservation. The meat and the hair still adhere to 

 the bones, so well preserved that the dogs feed upon their 

 remains. 



"Despite the continually frozen ground, a covering of 

 plant life extends over the ice-free portions of the tundra, 

 consisting mostly of Hchens and a few species of preca- 

 rious plants. Only in the southerly portions of the 

 tundra do meadows and Httle patches of willows appear 

 at the edges of streams and in the fiords, together with 

 stunted clusters of evergreen shrubs, which grow among 

 the Hchens and moss of the tundra. But where the 

 severest cHmate reigns the verdure consists only of small 

 patches widely separated from each other by bare stony 

 ground, and this is called 'rock tundra.' Oases of moist- 

 ure exist where the melted waters collect in shallow 

 depressions of the tundra. There the soil becomes a 

 muddy swamp with a shallow layer of turf supporting a 

 struggling growth of moss and small blooming plants. 

 Among these are many warm oases where the vertical 

 rays of the long summer sun melt so much ice and heat 

 the water so warm as to produce brilUantly colored gar- 

 dens of plants in profusion and variety. Only about two 

 months does the swift passing of summer allow for the 

 relatively rich and brilliant flowering. 



"The Arctic flora does not possess features peculiar to 

 itself, and represents only a degenerated picture of the 



