Evening star., 1897-05-08

- of forbidding terrors
| with little of those softer qualities of ma
ture to relieve them which SO charmingiy
diversity and make pleasurably habitable
the less distant quarters of the globe. In
eacn the eye sees pictures of interminable
SHOWS and ice masses, Of giant icebergs
towering to mountain heights. of bleak and
! lhhospitable shores, and tempest tossed
seas. while the mind ccnjures up visions of
disaster. of dreary toll and staggering mis-
fortune to all who venture within the Dor
tals Oh the black night To this we add q
climate of rigorous severity, and the pic
ture virtually frames itself.
All these conditions are material and
t1uiy existing, but they must be accepted
with their proper limitations. 1t is not
alone that the mind has blindly taught
itself conditions that are only partially ex-
lsteEt OR emphasized certain qualities which
tne sterner demands of truth would ha We
slorn OF their rough outer cover. but it has
pers-StentiJ paved the way for that grosser
exasseratioE which time alone can efface
II has united Arctica and Antarctica as
ieSioAS OF equal. or, at least of very SIM
. ,'i oohuit.ons' m IL pictures the opposite olar
,iacts OF the globe as representing an al
iiost identical phase of nature. In truth
hcWe'ef, the two regions, while very SINH
iar IN some respects, are markedly different
III otHefs, not only in their general nhvsio
graphical contours-the mutual reJa tions of
isihu ana water, the relief of the land etc
do they depart from one another but like
,h Mise III mat which pertains to climate in
TIE features of animal and vegetable life
ana IN the physical activities that are thers
manifested. eie
Ihe'Gentier Mood of the Arctic World
WIN all taat may be wanting of those
qua!itles which have made dear to Us the
speciai regions which We inhabit, the far
horth mas hot been 90 completely neglected
as TO be devoid of individual charms of
It's own Thtre are CLEANS of nature in
It's smiling mood. and a genial sunshine
casts the vaHn breath of life over an in
Flting landscape. Meadows and mountain
Sides throw to the eye yerdure Of green
renewed by bounteous display of bright
coiorlng-the Scloring of the yellow poppy.
Oh the mountain pink the buttercup star
wort potentiila and dwarf rhododendron
over all is spread an azure blue sky and
around and about the tumbling brooks and
cascades s1ng1 their woes to the sea while
merry birds chant the usual morning and
evening anthems. 1t is. indeed the land
scape OF high Switzerland-the landscape
OF the border sEows. with its fields of grass
OF gertian and Alpine rose We are vet
with the busy bees and restless butterfly.
10 Inc ear, IN concert with the music of
rllls and rivulets. comes the piping of thou-
sands of mosquitoes which lend their aid to
give voice to the landscape. This Is a
true arctic picture. and one that represents
the northern world not in a near corner of
its borderland of civilization. but yery
nearly in its furthest point that has been
reached by man. 1t is the summer aspect
the landscape of July and August of a re-
gion removed only -5G0-GOO miles from the
pole. 1t is one of the widely differing as
poets under which the arctic world pre-
SentS Itself to us-a winter aspect of rugged
severity, and summer aspect of joyous
repose.
An Antarctic Contrast.
The dwarf birch a diminutive treeIet.
barely eight inches in greatest height, with
trunk not thicker than a lead pencil
and with leaves of about the size of a
coffee besn, is perhaps the most northerly
of al! "foresters"-at any rate, competi-
tor with the arctic willow for this s,IDrem-
acy. The tiny forests which IL constructs
so tiny that whole one could rest peace
fully within the shade of a large hat held
over 1t extend we'll to the SD parallel of
latitude, and perhaps considerably further
They are part components 0f a vegetation
which in arctic America numbers not less
than so species Of Towering plants beyond
the soth parallel of latitude. In Siberia
tree life in it's grander forms pushes well
to the northward. for, we are informed
by Nordersksold. the elements of the pine
and fir forests along the Jenissei river, so
far north as approximately the 10th par
allel. are still Of colossal dimensions.
How bleakly contrasting is the region of
the far southi Not tree south of the
tifty-fifth parallel Of latitude. not a single
Towering plant within the antarctic circle
not single moss to add color to the bare
and rugged rocks which only at distant
intervals thrust out their uncovered heads
from the snow and ice fields which ner-
petually veil the landscape A solitary
lichen Possession Island and on Vic
toria Land opposite, near Cape Adare is all
that today stands fol the vegetation of the
antarctic world-a contribution to knowi-
edge which in itself is hardly two years
old. No trace Of a strictly terrestrial
fauna. whether OF quadruped. reptile. insect
give life to this inhospitable tract No
song, twitter chirp hum is known to
give life to the southern landscape-there
appears to be nothing to respond to the
awakening call OF returning summer or
to the mild breath of the midday summers
sun. More than strange, indeed is the con-
trastfng landscape Of the north, where
musk oxen well toward the eighty-second
parallel Of latitude still browse upon the
fertility of the land.
The Eccentricities of Climate
1t appears to be a prevalent belief that
the climate of the two regions under con-
sideration isr a very similar one, about
equally rigorous, and showing but little of
those alterations of heat and cold which
are assumed % bebdistinctive of the more
favored regions Of the south. It is trulv IN
the north. however, that some of the most
marked seasonal changes are to be met
with. The summer months bring with
them a genial temperature varying bnt a
reW degrees Rom the freezing point and
tempered in the open sunlight by an addi-
common thing to sea the thermometer dur
ing the months ofsJune-August. Of marking
20 to 70 DEGREES OF the Fahrenheit scale.
Every winter proR3bly, sees very nearly
the lowest point registered for the world.
from 90 to 89edegrses; at Verkhojansk. a
Russian hamlsa In Siberia, the Thermometer
has in two successive winters registered 60
degrees. No such extreme Temperature as
that Of the gArth has ever been recorded
from the soup, nee does 1t appear likely
has so often been designated the antarctic
continent. 1t wtlls ever be noted. It is true
that no winter has yet been passed in even
an approximate extreme south but the In
dicattons point to q much less rigorous ex-
preston than is presented by the north
contrary to the ordinary belief REGARDING
the southern climate. That which consti-
tutes the climatic n1hospitality Of the Tar
south Is the diminished summer heat-the
dreary fogs that navigate the atmosphere.
and. replacing the energy which In the
north develops that lovely carpetinr Of
grass and flowers which takes to itself the
charms Of the upland meadows Of Switzer-
land. render desOlate region that extends
nj WI yY7oV ho