10 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



starting on involuntary voyages upon floating islands of 

 ice. The sun's rays call a world of beauty forth : they strike 

 the icebergs, and every varied colour of the prism breaks 

 forth bright glowing crimson and sapphire blue they all 

 unite in silent praise of God. The air is filled with my- 

 riads of shining icicles, sparkling like diamonds ; the very 

 depths of the water glow with the tints of the beautiful mack- 

 erel of those northern seas, green and azure and polished 

 silver. 



The thermometer has risen in three weeks' time from 56 

 below zero to 40 above it. But the melting snow does 

 not discover, as it does in our happier land, a green grass 

 carpet beneath : " whole countries within this zone are, 

 on account of the barren soil, perfectly destitute of vege- 

 tation; and in others, the little, and, for the most part, 

 exceedingly pretty plants, grow in turf-like patches, or at 

 least socially/' 



Short are the lives of the flowers : about the beginning 

 of July they are in blossom, but not a human eye or heart 

 is there to greet them ; and by the end of this month, or 

 the beginning of August, the seed is ripe. "We shall find a 

 great many old friends amongst them: in the first place, 

 there are plenty of Crowfoots (Ranunculacea) : numbers 



