T9905] A NATURALIST IN THE FROZEN NorTH. Sr 
not only how much remains to be found out, but also how much 
already alleged and taken for granted, requires corroboration, or 
even correction. If this be so, one whose opportunities have led 
him into fields hitherto little frequented, will commensurately feel 
the gravity of nature’s own obstacles which tend to impede the 
way in seeking to add to the treasury of knowledge, and therefore 
he ought to be as certain as possible of his data before entering 
into descriptions. The substance of the following remarks, then, 
is at best fragmentary and partial, an effort to adhere strictly to 
what was actually observed, leaving the filling in of details, in 
such a wide and varied field, to subsequent researches. ‘It is 
an old and firm conviction of mine,” wrote Darwin, ‘‘ that the 
naturalists who accumulate facts and make many partial general- 
izations are the vea/* benetactors of science.’’ And, surely, the 
true scientific method is to ascertain facts and marshal them, 
which of course implies incompleteness entailed through the pro- 
cesses of collecting them. 
The mammals observed are limited to the four orders of the 
Carnivora, or the beasts of prey; the Rodentia, or those which 
gnaw their food with chisel-like incisor teeth ; the Ruminantia, 
or those which chew the cud; and the Cetacea, or those of the 
whale kind. The tail in all the species observed, excepting those 
of the family of the Canidz, or dogs, wolves, and foxes, is short 
or rudimentary. This is true even of the Ruminants, although 
those creatures of the North are plagued by dipterous insects—at 
least the Caribou is. The tail in the Cetaceans is of course broad, 
so as to act asa propeller. The colour of the iris is generally 
brown, and this is the case in many of the birds also. I was 
struck with the similarity of the colour of the iris in the fox and 
in the hare, and was led to think that some homologous purpose 
is thereby served to those creatures. Burrowing does not seem 
to be a common habit, and, when resorted to, has usually to be 
done in the snow, the rocks affording little facility for that pur- 
pose, except in the instance of small rodents. 
In appearance the Walrus (Odobeus rosmarus) when seen in 
its habitations, is massive and unwieldy. Great numbers were 
* Italics his. 
