Excerpt from Wild Life of the World, Vol. 2: A Descriptive Survey of the Geographical Distribution of Animals The Boreal zone Of animal life extends all round the North Pole, its Asiatic portion being consequently much more extensive than the European, which com prises only the coast from the North Cape to the mouth of the Obi River; and it may be shortly defined as the tract lying northward of the limit of trees, where the realm Of the Arctic steppe-area, or tundra, begins. In the Western Hemisphere the northern boundary of tree-growth lies somewhat to the southward Of the Arctic Circle, but in the Eastern Hemisphere runs slightly north of the same in certain parts of Siberia. The landscape and vegetation of the tundra bear the impress Of the Polar climate, with its long dark cold winter, and its short cool summer of perpetual daylight. Among the characteristics of the Arctic winter are the violent winds which heap up the thin mantle of snow in certain parts Of the tundra, and sweep it clean away in others. Equally noticeable is the absence of moisture in the air, under the clear wintry sky. The long winter drags on into the months of our own spring, and in March or April Often develops its most intense cold; but in May the temperature Of the air suddenly rises, July being the hottest month. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.