378 Foreign Literature and Science. 



three months of the year. The month of September is the 

 most convenient for ascending it. In July and August, it is 

 not uncommon to see snow fall, which remains for a long 

 time. 



M. Ramond, even in that climate, has collected one hun- 

 dred and thirty species of cryptogamic, or phanerogamous 

 plants, which preserve themselves under the snow. On a 

 small spot, accidentally laid bare, he observed seven spe- 

 cies of plants which vegetate vigorously, . 



It is a curious circumstance, that the species observed in 

 the Pic du Midi, are related to the same genera as the spe- 

 cies collected by Captain Parry in Melville Island, near the 

 Pole. This island, notwithstanding its extent, presents only 

 one hundred and thirteen species, which is seventeen less 

 than M. Ramond has collected on the Pic. In the Island, 

 as on the Pic, there is only one shrub, which is the willow, 

 reduced to the same dimensions. The climate is not so rig- 

 orous, on the Pic as on the Polar Islands. Tire winters are 

 certainly less severe, but the summers are not more warm. 

 Leaving the summit of the mountain, M. Ramond describes 

 the modifications which vegetation experiences as we de- 

 scend towards its base ; and he speaks particularly of cer- 

 tain vegetables belonging to warmer latitudes, which are 

 found in very limited spaces. If we do not admit that these 

 plants prove the existence of ancient communications with 

 the countries to which their species belong, we must recog- 

 nize an alarming number of particular creations. M. Ra- 

 mond endeavors to explain these facts by geological consid- 

 erations, which, however, he offers only as a simple hypothe- 

 sis. — he Globe, Jan. 19, 1826, Tome iii. No. xiii. p. 62. 



1 5. Polar Fogs. — The fogs that pervade the Arctic seas, 

 in the summer months, have been generally supposed to be 

 produced by the moist air depositing its vapor in conse- 

 quence of being chilled by contact with the seas, fyc. But 

 Dr. Wells (on dew,) proves that dew and hoar-frosts, 

 result only from air, perfectly or imperfectly saturated with 

 moisture, coming in contact with a cooler body. Dr. James 

 Hutton, (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. Vol. I.) has shewn that 

 volumes of air, of unequal temperatures, and holding mois- 

 ture in solution, must be mingled to produce mist and fog ; 

 and the circumstances of the arctic seas, appear to be in 

 perfect accordance with these conditions. 



