172 ‘THE FOREST LANDS OF NORTHERN RUSSIA. 
By Arctic voyagers mention is occasionally made of the 
scurvy grass, a species of Cochlearda, of the medicinal proper- 
tics of which some of the undaunted explorers of the Polar 
regions were fain to avail themselves. 
The shores of the Polar Sea, with a severe temperature 
modified by proximity to the ocean, are not destitute of 
terrestrial vegetation. In Spitzbergen, with a latitude 
of 77° to 81°, besides delicate mosses which clothe the 
moist low lands, and hardy lichens which encrust the 
rocks up to the remotest limits of vegetation, and which 
are very numerous, there have been found about ninety- 
three species of phanerogamous, or flowering plants, amongst 
which are the Arenaria biflora, the Cerastium alpinum, 
and the Ranunculus glacialis, found on the Alps at alti- 
tudes varying from 9,000 to 10,000 feet above the level of 
the sea. The only esculent plant is the Cochleavia 
fenestrata, which here is devoid of the bitterness of which 
Arctic explorers complain, and may be eaten as a salad ; 
and several grasses supply, along with the Iceland moss, 
food for the reindeer. 
And thus it is also with the dreary wastes of the 
tundras. ‘Though not rich in bud and bloom, even 
these dreary wastes are not absolutely without floral 
decoration, Selinum and cerastium, as well as the poppy 
and sorrel, andromeda, and several species of heath, are 
mentioned by Dr Kane as blooming in the neighbourhood 
of Smith Strait. On the south coast of the Polar Sea 
Dr Richardson found a considerable variety of vegetation.’ 
stem, surmounted by a dome of rich orange scarlet, studded with white scaly tubcrules, 
and in some parts of Kamtschtka and the northern districts of Siberia is so abundant 
that the ground sparkles and shines as if covered witha scarlet carpet. The natives 
collect it during the hot summer months, and dry it. Steeped in the juice of the 
whortleberry, it forms a powerful intoxicating wine ; or rolled up like a bolus, and 
swallowed without chewing, it produces much the same effect as opium. On some, 
however, it acts as an excitant, and induces active muscular exertion, A talkative 
person, under its influence, cannot keep silence or secrets; one fond of music, sings 
incessantly ; and if a person who has partaken of it wishes to step over a straw or 
small stick, he takes a stride or jump sufficient to clear the trunk of a tree ! 
The Koriaks and Kamtschatkans personify this fungus, under the name of Mocho 
Moro, as one of their penates, or houschold gods; and if they are impelled by its 
effects to commit any dreadful crime, they pretend they act only in obedience to com: 
mands which may not bedisputed. To qualify themselves for murder or suicide, they 
drink additional doses of ‘this intoxicating product of decay and corruption.” 
