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Climate and Vegetation.
Temperature. Judging from the degrees of latitude -within
which the peninsula is situated, one would expect the climate to
be uniformly severe and inclement, but this is only the case on
the E. coast and among the central mountains. The climate of the
Wl coast is usually mild, being influenced by the Atlantic and
the Gulf Stream which impinges upon it. In the same latitude in
which Franklin perished in the Arctic regions of America, and in
which lies the almost uninhabitable region of E. Siberia, the water
of these western fjords of Norway never freezes except in their
upper extremities. As we proceed from W. to E., and in some
degree even from N. to S., the temperate character of the climate
changes, and the winters become more severe. The climate is
perhaps most equable at Skudesnas, near Stavanger, where the
mean temperature of January is 34.7° Fahr., and that of July 55.4 :
difference ‘20.7°. At Stockholm, on the other hand, the mean
temperature of January is 24.8°, and that of July 63.5°: difference
38.7°. The difference is still greater in many places farther to the
N., as at Jockmock (66°36’ N. lat.; 925 ft. above the sea), where
the January temperature is 3.2°, that of July 57.92°, and the
difference 54.90°. The tract lying between the Varanger Fjord and the
Gulf of Bothnia, the interior of Finmarken and Lapland, and the
southern mountains above the height of 2300 ft., all have an
annual mean temperature below the freezing point. Some of the
other isothermal lines are curious. Thus the line which marks a
mean January temperature of 32° Fahr. runs from the Lofoden
Islands southwards, passing a little to the E. of Bergen and through
the inner part of the Stavanger Fjord. It then turns to the S.E.
to Cape Lindesnæs, and thence to the N.E. towards the
Christiania Fjord, and southwards to Gothenburg and Copenhagen. The
line marking a mean January temperature of 23° passes through
Hammerfest, Saltdalen, Keros, Christiania, and Upsala. In the
depth of winter, therefore, the Lofoden Islands are not colder than
Copenhagen, or Hammerfest than Christiania. Again, while the
mean temperature of the whole year at the North Cape is 35.6°, it
is no higher at Östersund in Jemtland, 552 Engl. M. farther
south. Lastly, it may be mentioned that while the climate on the
WJ coast is comparatively equable throughout the year, that of
the E. coast and the interior of the country is made up of a long,
severe winter and a short and sometimes oppressively hot summer.
The average temperature of the sea is l1/o-7° warmer than the air,
being of course lower than that of the air in summer and higher
in winter. The healthiest part of the peninsula is probably the
island of Karine, where the death rate is only 12 per thousand.
The average rate for Norway is 19, for Sweden 20 per thousand.
Rainfall. In the interior of Norway less rain falls than on the
coast. In Sweden the greatest rainfall is between Gefle and Gothen-
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