180 DISCUSSIONS IN CLIMATOLOGY. 



in the south — a fact which still further confirms the 

 opinion that the mammoth lived where his remains 

 are found, inasmuch as the greater severity of the 

 climate in northern parts would certainly hinder the 

 growth and full development of the animal. 



Northern Siberia much Warmer during the Mam- 

 moth Epoch than now. — It is true that the mammoth 

 and the Rhinoceros tichorhinus were furnished with a 

 woolly covering which would protect them from cold ; 

 but it is nevertheless highly improbable that they 

 could have endured a climate so severe as that of 

 Northern Siberia at the present day, where the ground 

 is covered with snow for nine months in the year, and 

 the temperature is seldom much above zero Fahr. 

 And even if they could have endured the cold, they 

 would have starved for want of food. Some parts of 

 Siberia are no doubt fertile, as, for example, the valley 

 of the Yenissei, described by Nordenskjold ;* but there 

 is little doubt, as Mr. Howorth remarks, that the 

 larger portion of Northern Siberia, where the mam- 

 moth and the rhinoceros lived, is now a naked tundra 

 covered with moss, on which no tree will grow. On 

 such ground it is physically impossible that the mam- 

 moth and rhinoceros could exist, for they cannot graze 

 close to ground like oxen. They live on long grass, 

 and on the foliage and small branches of trees. 



Evidence from Wood. — The fact that the mammoth 

 was most abundant beyond the present northern limit 

 of wood is pretty good evidence that the climatic 

 condition of Northern Siberia must then have been 

 milder than now. Wood must have extended, in the 

 days of the mammoth, far beyond its present limit, 

 probably as far north as New Siberia: facts of 

 observation support this conclusion. 

 * " Nature," Dec. 2, 1875. 



