Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1852-08-25
vegetatae1bof the Frozen Regions.

And think there's mich to learn
vsgetasieD a the Frozen Regions
Wetake the following from review
in the London Literary Gazette, 0
Seeman's Botany of the Voyage 0
n. M, S. Herald, under the command
Of Captain Kellett." The Herale
was one Of the ships engaged from
l645 to 1851, in exploring the Arctic
Regions, and il search for Sir Johr
Among th1 Hremarkable fea
lures of this lion are the
ice-cliffs crS LII kAnd lux
uriant vegel The foiI0wing &C
count of them will be new to most OF
our readers:
The soil is always frozen, merely
thaws during the summer, few feet
below the surface. But the thawing
is by no means uniform. In peat il
extneds not more than two eet,while
in other formations, especially in sand
or gravel, the ground is free from
frost to the depth of nearly a fathom,
showing that sand is a better conduc-
tor of heat than peat or clay, and
corroborating the observation of the
accurate J. ID. Hooker, who, after a
series of experiments in India, arriv-
ed at the same conclusion. The
roots of the plants, even those of the
shrubs and trees, do not penetrate
into the frozen subsoil. On reaching
it, they recoil as if they touched upon
a rock, through which no passage
could be forced.
1t may be surprising to behold a
vegetation hourshing under such cir
cumstances, existing independent, it
would seem, of terrestrial heat. But
surprise is changed into amazement
on visiting Kotzebue, where, on the
tops of iceburgs, herbs and shrubs
are thriving with the luxurience only
equalled in more favored climes.-
There, from Elephant to EssiGltz
Point, is series of cliffs from seventy
to ninety feet high; which present
some striking illustrations of the
manner in which Arctic plants grow.
Three distinct layers compose these
cliffs. The lower as far as it can be
seen above the ground, is ice, and
from twenty to fifty feet high. The
central is clay, varying in thickness
from two to twenty feet, and being in
termingled with remains of fossil ele-
plants, horses, deer, and musk oxen.
The clay is covered over by peat, the
third layer, bearing the vegetation to
which it owes its existence. Every
year, during July, August and Sep
TENDER masses OF ice melt, by which
the uppermost layers are deprived
ofsupport and tumble down. A com
plete chaos is thus created; ice plants,
bones, peat and clay, are mixed in the
most disorderly manner. 1t is hardly
possible to imagine a more grotesqae
aspect. Here are seen pieces still
covered with lichens and moses,
there shoal of earth, with bushes
of willows; at one place a lump of
clay with senecious and polygonums,
at another the remnants of the mann
moth, tufts of hair peculiar to burial
places, andis evidently decomposed |
animal ri The foot frequently |
stumbles <f0ol02ioo remains,
some elepl ksuring as
much a t IN length, and !
weighing mot b two hundred and
forty pounds. Nor is the formation
confined to Echholtz Bay. 1t is OBJ
served in various parts Of Kotzebue |
Sound, on the river Buckland and |
in other localities, making Improbable
that great portion of North western
America is underneath, a solid mass
flee, With such facts before US,
we acknowledge that terrestrial heat
exercises but q limited and indirectin-
iluence upon vegetable life, and that
to the solar rays we are mainly in
debted for. the existence Of those
forms which clothe with .yerdure the |
Ehr(ace Of oursplanct.
A curious 4 is stk GPSecting
the condifio eGetable world
during yllg Lot the Arctic
s sslls Z ;s nm ss m;s, ss's
about d when, ifitbe hot night,
it ought 10 BE; but regularly, as the
evening hours approach, and when
a midnight sun is several degrees
above horizon, droop their leaves and
sleep even as they do at sunset in
more favored climes. "lf man." OBJ |
serves Mr.. Seeman should ever
reach the Pole, and be undecided |
which way to turn, when his compass
has become sluggish, his timepiece
out of order, plants which he may
happen to meet will show him the
way; their sleeping leaves tell him
that midnight is at hand, and at that
time the sun is standing in the
north"
OJThat which we acquire with
the most difficulty we stain the ton-
sest, as those who have earned a
fortune are usually more careful of /