160 THE FOREST LANDS OF NORTHERN RUSSIA. 
tude, viz., 63°. Nature, as the author himself had an 
opportunity of observing, here assumes an imposing aspect 
—immense forests, vast rivers, beautiful meadows flourish- 
ing in all the unexhausted luxuriance of primitive vegeta- 
tion, make an impression on the traveller that can only be 
adequately conceived by those who have wandered through 
the unexplored forests, and beheld the majestic streams of 
the New World. 
Thus do we pass from the Arctic Circle into the tem- 
perate zone, finding each stage marked by a change in 
the character of the vegetation, And the vegetation char- 
acteristic of the several regions which have been so defined 
may with interest be studied in its details. 
It will be found that even the icy region of the Arctic 
Circle is not without its vegetation; marine alg@ of more 
or less complex structure may be considered the primary 
food of all organisms in that region belonging to the 
animal kingdom. Here, as in the study of fossils, the 
existence of animals may be’accepted as indicative of the 
existence at the same time and place of vegetable urgan- 
isms; and here the abundant fauna speaks of a most 
abundant flora. 
With regard to the wide dispersion of fish, both in the 
northern portion of the temperate zone and within the 
Arctic Circle, it is stated by the author of The Arctic 
World: its Plants, Animals, and Natural Phenomena*— 
‘The wealth of the Arctic and sub-Arctic seas is appar- 
ently inexhaustible. In many parts cod are plentiful, and 
supply the Greenlanders with a valuable article of food. 
The capelin (Mullotus vitlosus), which in May and June 
frequents the Greenland waters, is eaten both fresh and 
dried; in the latter case forming a useful winter pro- 
vision. The halibut is found of a large size; and ocean 
also contributes the Norway haddock, the salmon-trout, 
* London: T. Nelson & Sons. 
