Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-01-31

----------.,- .,..v.4 AO4I IOuuIt unuU-'
the permanent ice a sedimentary de-
post made in sweet water, and thus
apparently found where this island was
a part of the mainland In this deposit,
mixed with pieces of willow and the
bones of mammoths and other post
tertiary mammals, were complete
trees, fifteen feet long, with leaves
and cones. This interesting discovery
shows that at the time when the NAM
moth wandered over north Asia and
Europe tree vegetation reached the
74th degree of latitude, and SO its
northern limit was at least two hun
bred miles north of the line that now
marks its boundary in that direction.
The baron makes some interesting
observations on the present animal life
of the islands. He says the only win
ter inhabitants of the archipelago are
white mice, which he found there in
great quantities in the spring. They
furnish abundant food to one or two
varieties of gulls, and also to white
bears, which were frequently met.
The mice were in a state of feverish
activity, travelling from one island to
another, and making the long journey
over the ice to and from the continent,
while geese and gulls, which abandon
the islands in the fall, were returning
to their summer haunts.
The explorer observed some of the
vagaries of the Arctic spring and sum
mer climate. When Baron Toll made
his first visit, to the islands in May,
1856, the temperature was far below
the freezing point. At the same period
last year however, warm, rainy days
were the forerunner of summer, and
two months later, on the coast of the
Arctic ocean, in latitude seventy-two
degrees, the temperature was ninety
three degrees Fahrenheit above zero,
rivaling the dog days of this latitude.
The heat intensified the plague OF
gnats, and the baron thinks he has
discovered the real usefulness of these
pests in the Siberian tundras. He says
they greatly annoy the wild reindeer,
keep them on the move, and drive them
within convenient reach of the few
scattered inhabitants Of tn region;
so gnats and mosquitoes, he thinks,
serve a useful; purpose as FOUNDERS up
of game for the benefit of the Arctic
cousins of cur EsquimauX.
i biologists will find much Of interest
t in the record of Baron Tolls work in
the region west of, the Lena river
drained by the. .Anabar, a region that
had not been visited by a European
/ for more than ole hundred and fifty
years. Here and there in northern 81.
Iberia havei been found, !, isolated or in
bowlder, specimens Of that wide spread
fossil of many varieties, the ammonite;
l:but Baron Toll, in the. Anabar basin,
first saw it in Inappropriate geological
horizon and he was thus able to learn
Fits proser, place in the succession of
Fossils Of ,mesozoie time. He has been
ITthe first also to discover traces of gla-
Itciation in, northern Siberia. In one
4cliff in Anabar bay he found the creth-
Gceous deposits covered with anguish
Ebowlders twenty or more feet in diam
iaeter, many of them polished and
lfscratched. The original location Of
ltthese fragments was about two hun
kired and. seventy miles northwest Of
Ethe. place where they are found, and
lsthere is no doubt that they form mo-
:raine. rr Z
I: During his. work Baron Toll rode
Ehundreds of miles on the backs of rein
Edeer, and proved that the tundras may
be crossed at any time of the year in
this manner. The reindeer easily
:cross the swampiest places, and if the
traveller has in addition boat made OF
a poplar tree of three larch planlSs for
crossing the rivers he need not fear
meeting any impediment in the Siber-
ian tundras.
The result of the expedition were
''over three thousand miles of. survey
based upon thirty-eight positions as.
Economically determined; nine months
| Of meteorological observations in the
tundras; Measurements of elevations
RHGvc the sea along the whole route
many photographs and very rich col
4 lections. botanical, geological, and
chronological. The achievements Of
these two excellent explorers in re
gion EN- bracing nearly fifty degrees OF
longitude show chat even the most
| desolate parts OF TIE world are fertile
| fields OF study FOR those, who are prop
eriy equipped for the worlS.-B0ston
| Herald.
Tobacco stems were long consider
| e1 almost "A waste product, but VIII