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platanus) transplanted from Christiania to Troms» have been fonnd
to increase greatly in size, while the trees themselves become
dwarfed in their growth. This leaf development is also attributed
to the long continuance of the sunlight in summer. It would be
interesting to know what effects the protracted light produces on
the colours of flowers and the flavour of fruits, but these points
have not yet been investigated.
The Animal Kingdom comprises most of the domestic and other
animals common in Great Britain , besides many which are now
extinct there, and a number of others peculiar to the Arctic regions.
Among the animals most characteristic of the country are the
reindeer (Cervus tarandus), an exceedingly useful mammal, and the
sole support of the nomadic Lapps, and the lemming (Georychus
lemmus), a rodent, somewhat resembling a water-rat, which
sometimes affords food to the reindeer fsee p. 151). Among beasts
of prey the bear and the wolf are still common in many parts of
the country, and the lynx and glutton occasionally occur. For
killing any one of these the government offers a reward of “25
crowns. Conspicuous among large game is the handsome elk
(‘Elgsdyr’; Cervus dices), now becoming rare, next to which rank
the reindeer and the red deer. The finest of the wildfowl is the
capercailzie (‘Tjnr’; Tetrao urogallus), after which come the
ptarmigan (‘Rype’; Lagopus mutu$~) and hazel-grouse (‘Hjerpe’; Tetrao
bonnsia). Partridges rarely occur in Norway, but abound in the
S. of Sweden, where they were introduced about the year 1500.
The most valuable of the wildfowl, however, is the eider-duck
(‘Eder’; Anas mollissima’), which is most abundant within the
Arctic Circle. The down of the female, which she uses in making
her nest, is gathered in ihe Dunvar of Finmarken, yielding a
considerable revenue.
The Population is now almost exclusively of Gothic origin, but
the oldest element consists of the Lapps and the Finns, who were
probably the aboriginal inhabitants of the country and who both belong
to the Ugrian race. Their languages are both of the Turanian stock
(akin to Hungarian), and are said by Castren, the philologist, to
have been identical some “2000 years ago. The Lapps now number
about ‘24,000 only in Norway and Sweden, and the Finns about
22,000 souls. They are both of the Mongolian type, with high
cheek-bones, low foreheads, full lips, narrow eyes, blunt noses,
and yellowish complexions, but the Finns are now by far the
superior race, both physically and mentally. The names usually
applied to them are not used by themselves. The Lapps (‘nomads’)
call themselves Sami or Sahmelads, and the Finns (‘fen-dwellers’)
Suomi. — The dominant race, by which the Lapps have been
well-nigh extinguished , is of the Aryan or Indo-Germanic stock , and
is believed to have begun to settle in the peninsula before the
birth of Christ (see below). With regard to their language, see the
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