Evening star., 1937-09-02
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The Arctic is region of pigmy forests.
There are birch trees an inch high.
full-grown willows which barely attain
two inches.
The worlds largest collection of this
strange vegetation soon will be housed
in the herbarium of Catholic University.
1t already has the extensive collections
made in Greenland by the Danish COL
lector, Theodor Holm, and now will
receive specimens of all the plants col
lected by Rev. Artheme Dutilly. appointed
by the Vatican as naturalist for the two
great Canadian Arctic bishopricS.
Once the lands surrounding the North
Pole were covered with great forests. The
great ice sheets swept the rocks bare of
trees and vegetation is just beginning to
get another foothold as limited areas are
cleared of glaciers.
The forms of life are essentially the
same as those found further south but
they can survive in their new habitat
only in greatly dwarfed condition. The
Arctic Summer lasts only two or three
weeks. All the growth must be concen-
trated into such q brief space. Conse-
quently trees that grow two or three
feet in year in more hospitable climates
Sdh why SAo" a 4AdSllOll VI dll ulSI
They also have to adapt themselves to
the 24-hour-day followed so shortly by
the 24-hour- might and the effect of this
alienation in growth still is only partly
understood
Another curious phenomenon which
Father Dutilly will investigate is the
prevailing colors of flowers. Nearly 60
per cent of the blossoms which dot the
landscape during the short Arctic Sum-
mer, he says, are purple. There is also a
purplish tint to the MOSES and tho
grasses. Green is a rare color in the
great white silences. Another Is per
cent of the blossoms are yellow or
yellowish-white.
This may be an important phenomenon
in the pattern Of northern life, Father
Dutilly says. Plant color, in the final
analysis, probably depends on the dis
tribution and the quality of light. Sun
light strikes the Arctic regions at very
acute angle of incidence Its reflection
and refraction are different than in lower
latitudes. All these factors, he believes,
influence subtly the character of the
plants which have found an insecure
home at the edge of the ice-sheets. But
here the relations of light to the growth
Of vegetation are probably reduced to the
simplest form they ever have in nature
Notable in Father Dutillys collections
now at Catholic University are the flow-
ering plants Of the Far North, such as
the Arctic poppies. These appear sud-
denly about mid-July and in places make
the landscape riot Of color for few
days. Sometimes, Father Dutilly says,
they actually blossom on top of the ice.
the plants having melted" their way
through from the shallow soil below.
II there were more soil the Far North
might be very colorful place during its
brief Summer but in most localities, the
naturalist-priest says, there are 50 few
places where plants can get q foothold
that there Is little relief to the sharp
whites and blacks Of the picture.
Among the subjects which Father
Dutlly plans to investigate In detail is
the nutrition of the Eskimo. There is
so little vegetable life that it supposedly
constitutes an insignificant part of their
diet. 1t is often stated that the race
lives entirely upon meat and remains
healthy-a mystery to Psychologists who
cannot see how the essential vitamins
are obtained.
But his observations to date, Father
Dutilly says. indicate that the statements