is the coldest spot of the Eastern Hemisphere; each wind, whatever its direction, brings to it a warmer air, and its average yearly temperature is no more than 2° F., while that of January is 56° below the freezing-point of the Fahrenheit scale. See TEMPERATURE (TERRESTRIAL). (c) The Kamchatka province, receiving much more rain than the preceding, is moister and more genial. (d) The Chinese have a cold winter, and receive in the summer the periodical rains due to the monsoons ; in Japan the climate is much the same, but more moderate. (e) The Central-Asian plateau is characterised by an exceedingly dry climate, with very cold winters, the cold being increased by its height above the sea-level. (f) The same exceeding dryness of climate is met with in the Aral-Caspian lowland, with its scanty rains and depressingly hot summer; and the same again is true with regard to (g) the Arabian region and Mesopotamia, which together may be considered as an eastern continuation of the Sahara. (h) The Mediterranean region, including Asia Minor, enjoys the best climate, reasonably moist, and more moderate in its extremes of temperature. (i) The valley of the Lower Indus, whose climate is dry and very hot, must be considered as a separate region; while (k) India, the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, and Australasia have a tropical climate, characterised by abundant periodical rains, especially in the summer, and a limited range of temperature. During the winter, Asia, as a whole, with the exception of India, the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and Southwestern Arabia, enjoys a temperature much lower than that of corresponding latitudes elsewhere; while in July, throughout all Asia, except on the coasts of the Kara Sea, Kamchatka, and the Manchurian littoral, the temperature is higher than under the same latitudes elsewhere.

The extreme cooling of North-eastern Asia during the winter results in a high pressure of air, which flows in January south, south-east, and south west, resulting in NW., N., and NE. winds in Manchuria, China, India, and South-eastern Europe. In July, the barometrical minima in India, Northeastern Siberia, and Northern Manchuria result in SW. and W. winds on the west coasts of India, and S. and SE. winds in South-eastern Asia, while North-eastern Asia is under ENE., NE., and E. winds.

It may be seen from the above how unequally the rainfall must be distributed over Asia. Thus, the Western Ghats of India, and the western slopes of the Assam Mountains, receive during the year no less than 98 inches of rain, which often falls in torrents. As a rule, the western coasts of India and the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, as also the valley of the Ganges, receive more than 75 inches of rain per year; while immense tracts of the Aral-Caspian depression, the Central-Asian plateau, Arabia, and Persia have less than 10 inches per year (no more than from 2 to 5 inches over Central Asia); and the remainder has from 10 to 25 inches, with between 25 and 50 in Southern Siberia and

Manchuria.

Flora.-When the traveller crosses the Urals and enters the lowlands of Western Siberia, he finds but little difference between the vegetation of the east of Europe and that of North-western Asia, and therefore the whole of Siberia, down to the 50th degree of latitude, has been included in one and the same domain of vegetation stretching from Scandinavia to the Pacific, across the northern half of the Old World. Only a narrow strip of land along the shores of the Arctic Ocean, where tree vegetation is represented only by two species of dwarf willows, 2 or 3 inches high, and by shrubs of the dwarf birch, is considered as a separate region-that of the tundra region, which extends

from the White Sea to the north-eastern extremity of Asia. It is the true domain of lichens and mosses, which clothe the deeply frozen ground; but in the few sheltered places where some soil has accumulated, we find hundreds of our common European flowering plants. The remainder of Siberia is included in the European-Asiatic boreal domain. Forests cover these extensive tracts, both in the hilly districts and in the marshy lowlands of Western Siberia, and they consist of the same trees (pine, fir, larch, cedar, silver-fir, birch, aspen, and poplars) with which we are familiar in Europe. Only the red beech, which even in Middle Europe does not advance farther east than Poland, does not penetrate into Siberia; and the oak does not cross the Ural, reappearing only on the south-eastern slope of the great plateau. Besides, some conifers (larch, fir) show slight differences from their European congeners, which permit us to treat them as separate species. Nevertheless, the forests of Siberia differ widely from those of Europe in the predominance of the larch, the rarity of the Scotch fir, which grows only on the drier ground, and the very characters of the trees, compelled to accommodate themselves to a harsh climate, and to a soil either stony or swampy. The underwood of the Siberian forests also offers a richer variety of species, and many a bush, now a favourite in our gardens for its wealth of blossom (Pirus baccata, Robinia caragana, Lonicera tatarica and cœrulea, Clematis, Rhododendron), has its home in the alpine tracts which border the great plateau on the north-west. On the meadows which cover immense areas both on the lowlands and high plains, the vegetation, as a whole, differs but slightly from that of Eastern Europe; but it has a very different appearance, on account of the immense size reached by many grasses with hard, woody stems, and the brilliancy of their showy flowers. Peonies, aconites, gentians, asters, and the like, in the spring-time impart such a brightness to the meadows of the Baraba Steppe in Western Siberia, and still more of the high plains of Minusinsk and Transbaikalia, as makes our European meadows appear exceedingly tame in comparison with those of Siberia. Corn grows freely throughout the region, except in places having a great altitude, where early frosts destroy the crops. Barley is cultivated even at Yakutsk, where it ripens rapidly during the hot summer, and under the greater amount of light received in these high latitudes. But fruit-trees, although they blossom every year, yield no fruits; the late May frosts nip their blossom.

This wide vegetation-region, which occupies all Northern Asia, is bounded on the south by a line traced roughly from the Black Sea to Lake Baikal, and thence to the Upper Amur and the Sea of Okhotsk. It has not, however, the uniformity it may be supposed to have from a glance at a geo-botanic map. While the species freely spread from west to east on the lowlands of Siberia, they spread quite as easily from south-west to northeast, both along the high plains and the alpine regions which border the high plateau in the north-west, and over the plateau itself. Therefore, even the Siberian flora is easily subdivided into several separate regions. Thus we see the cedar-tree spreading all along the highest parts of the north-west border-ridge of the high plateau, from the Altai to the Lena; we find the same vegetation on the high plateau of the Kosogol and on the Vitim; the vegetation of the high plains of the Altai offers features common to that of the high plains west of Lake Baikal; and the Transbaikalian flora partakes of the characters of the Gobi. As soon as the Amur issues from the high plateau, we find on its banks the Chinese

and Japanese flora under the same latitudes as the purely Siberian flora in the west. Finally, it appears from recent investigations that even about Lake Balkhash and at the foot of the Tian-shan we have remainders of a European-Siberian flora, which has maintained itself on the better-watered slopes. The next vegetation zone marked on our maps is that of the Steppes, which extends from the Steppes of South-eastern Russia over the AralCaspian depression and the middle parts of the high plateaus of Western and Eastern Asia, including several separate desert-regions (the Han-hai, the Gobi, the dry interior parts of Arabia, Persia, and North-western India). This wide region ought to be divided in Central Asia alone into at least four sub-regions: the Aral-Caspian, the Tian-Shan, the Tibetan, and the Mongolian floras. The excessive dryness of climate gives to this region its characteristic aspect. Tree vegetation maintains itself only on the snow-covered mountains, which supply enough of moisture to the soil, while on the drier southern slopes, the Steppe vegetation climbs up to the limits of perennial snow. Only those bushes prosper which, like the Artcha (Juniperus pseudosabina) and Saksaul (Anabasis ammodendron), have hardly any leaves, giving a dreary aspect to the Aral-Caspian Steppes and the base of the Tianshan Mountains. The Steppes, the surface of the high plateau, and even (during the spring) the dry deserts, are covered with a rich carpet of nutritious grass. The grass of the Steppes is reduced to a few species-Festuca, Stipa, Artemisia, Salsolaceœ. In the dry regions of Arabia, the flora assumes a decidedly African character, owing to the presence of the gum-acacia and the datepalm.

The flora of the region to the east of the high plateau, including China, Manchuria, and Japan, must be considered as an East-Asiatic equivalent for the Mediterranean fauna of Europe. Oak reappears as soon as the eastern border-ridge of the plateau is crossed. So also the walnut, the hazel, the lime-tree, the maple; while several new species of poplars, willows, acacias, and many others, make their appearance. The forests, consisting of a most mixed vegetation, where southern species meet with northern ones, become really beautiful; in Japan a variety of species of pine, and the reappearance of the beech, add to their beauty. A rich underwood of lianas, ivies, wild vines, roses, and so on, renders the forests quite impassable, especially in the littoral region, which is submitted to the influence of the monsoons. In the lower parts, rich prairies cover immense spaces; the grass vegetation becomes luxuriant; and in the virgin prairies of the Amur, man and horse are easily concealed by the stems of grasses of gigantic size. Rice and cotton are cultivated in the southern parts of the region. The gradual disappearance of the southern species, and the prevalence of northern ones, permits the division of the region into two parts: the Chinese flora, and that of Manchuria and the Okhotsk littoral.

In Western Asia, the rich vegetation of the moister parts of Caucasus and the southern shores of the Caspian belongs to the Mediterranean flora of Europe. The beech is characteristic of the forests of this district, which besides contain all the trees of Southern Europe. The vine and several of our European fruit-trees (plum, cherry, apricot, pear) are regarded by botanists as belonging originally to this region. The flora of Asia Minor combines those of Southern Europe and Northern Africa, owing to its evergreen oaks, laurels, olive-trees, myrtles, oleanders, and pistachio-trees, as also to its variety of bulbous plants.

Southern and South-Eastern Asia, with their

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numerous islands, display the richest flora, which seems quite distinct from the above, and extends as a separate domain of vegetation over India, the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, and the archipelagos, and (according to Drude) reaches North-western Australia. The hot climate, and the great amount of the summer rains, with a relatively dry winter, contribute to the development of a rich tropical vegetation. Thanks to the moisture of climate, the higher parts of the region, particularly the Himalayas, are clothed on their southern slopes with forests up to heights of 12,000 and 13,000 feet. The vegetation of the higher hilly tracts is very like the European. Numbers of plants growing on the Himalayan summits are common to all Arctic regions, showing thus the unity of flora of the Old World at its issue from the glacial period. Lower down, in the forest-girdle, pines, Scotch firs, juniper, and yew-trees are quite like their European congeners. The Indian cedar or deodar' yields an excellent timber, while in the underwood a remarkable variety of rhododendrons, growing sometimes 90 feet high, at heights about 8000 feet above the sea, are noteworthy.

In the lower parts of the region, and especially the neighbourhood of the seacoasts, the tropical vegetation reaches the variety and size of the American. Here the sugar-cane, the cotton-shrub, and the indigo had their origin. The cocoa-nut palm and the banyan-tree are the most striking feature of the coast vegetation. Ferns reach the size of large trees. The gigantic banyan, under whose branches hundreds of men can find a shelter, the screw-pine (Pandanus), the indiarubber, and the red cotton trees grow in immense forests; and bamboos grow thick and high.

In Borneo, Java, and the islands of the archipelagos, the tropical vegetation is, in its broad features, the same as in India. The mountain-flora also is like that of the Himalayas; rich forests clothe the volcanoes up to their tops. The sagopalm, the bread-tree, imported from the South Sea Islands, and the tamarind, also imported, are largely cultivated, as also the cocoa-nut palm and the sugar-palm. Orchids appear in their full variety and beauty. The swamps are covered with mangroves, or with the anomalous-looking Nipa or Susa-palm; and vanilla, pepper, clove, and nearly all the spices are native to this region.

It is easy to see from the above what a variety of useful plants Asia has given to Europe. Wheat, barley, oats, and millet come from Western Asia; so also onions, radishes, peas, beans, spinach, and several other vegetables of our kitchen-gardens. Nearly all our fruit-trees have the same origin. The apple, pear, plum, cherry, almond, pistachio, and mulberry-tree were first cultivated in Asia; the raspberry and even lucerne have been imported from Asia to Europe.

Fauna.-The fauna of nearly the whole of continental Asia is considered by zoologists as belonging to one single domain-that of Northern and Central Asia; and the immensity of this zoogeographical region is easily accounted for by the ease with which animals could spread over the plains of Europe and Siberia on the one side, and on the other, along the high plateau which stretches from Tibet to the land of the Tchuktchis. But this wide region can be easily subdivided into the Arctic region, which shares its characters with Arctic regions generally; the boreal, embracing the lowlands of Western Siberia; the Daurian, in the northern parts of the great plateau; and the Central Asian. The fauna of Siberia is much like that of Eastern Europe, and would be still more like, were it not for the disappearance from Europe of several species still existing in Siberia. It is the true habitat of all

fur-bearing animals, as the bear, wolf, fox, sable, ermine, otter, beaver, common weasel, and squirrel; as also of the hare, the wild boar, the stag, the reindeer, and the elk, all belonging to the European faunas, with the addition of several species common to the Arctic fauna. In Eastern Siberia, however -i.e. in the northern parts of the high plateauwe find representatives of the fauna of Central Asia, which spread from the south-west (see SIBERIA). A further addition of Mongolian species is found on the lower plateau in Transbaikalia, where the fauna of the Central-Asian depression meets with that of Siberia.

The Central-Asian plateau has a fauna of its own; we find there the wild ancestors of several of our domestic animals-viz. the wild horse (Equus Przewalski), discovered by Przewalski (Prejevalsky) in the Ala-shan Mountains, the wild camel and donkey, and the Capra ægargus, from which our common goat is descended. The yak, several species of antelopes, and the roebuck are characteristic of the Central-Asian fauna; so also are the huge sheep (Ovis argali and Ovis polii), now disappearing, which found refuge in the wilder parts of the plateaus. In the Steppe region we find the same fauna as in Siberia, with the addition of the tiger, which occasionally reaches Lake Zaisan, and even Lake Baikal; the leopard and hyena, coming from warmer regions; and a variety of endemic birds; while in Arabia there is an admixture of African species.

The fauna of mammals in China, Manchuria, and Japan differs but little from the Siberian. The difference is mainly notable with regard to the birds, among which the pheasants are richly represented. Several Indian species also penetrate within this region. The Caucasus has a fauna belonging to the Circum-Mediterranean region, and it is worthy of notice that the bison, which has now completely disappeared from Europe (with the exception of the Byelovyezh forests in Western Russia), is still found in the forests of Caucasus; there we find also the same abundance of pheasants as on the Pacific littoral. The fauna of Asia Minor unquestionably belongs to the CircumMediterranean region, and includes representatives of the warm zone-viz. small apes, which spread from Africa into Persia, the porcupine of Southern Europe, and the Genet (q.v.).

Southern and South-eastern Asia belong to a separate zoological domain. The heights of the Himalayas have the fauna of the Tibet portion of the high plateau; but on their southern slopes the fauna is purely Indian and Transgangetic, while a few African species are found on the plains of India and in the Deccan. As a whole, the tropical fauna of Asia is richer than the African, and the American tropical fauna surpasses it only in the number of parrots and the family of Picariæ. It is characterised by the great number of carnivora, which find ready refuge in the jungles, and by the elephant, rhinoceros, wild buffalo, red deer, many long-armed apes and half-apes, huge bats, genets, and a variety of serpents and crocodiles; while the bird fauna includes vultures, a variety of parrots, pelicans, and flamingoes. The fauna is still richer in the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, while in the archipelagos of South-eastern Asia several Australian species add to its extent.

The fauna of Asia, as of Europe, has undergone notable changes since the glacial period. The mammoth and hairy rhinoceros have disappeared, and their skeletons are buried in innumerable quantities in the great glacial deposits. So also the cave bear, tiger, wolf, and hyena. Even within historic times, several species of mammals, like the bison and the aurochs, have all but disappeared, while others are found only in

very small numbers in the wildest parts of the high plateau. See AUROCHS.

Ethnography.-The aggregate population of Asia is estimated at 835 millions, being thus more than one-half of the entire population of the globe. In comparison with the total area of Asia, this population is nevertheless small, giving only an average of 49 inhabitants per sq. m. It is, however, very unequally distributed, and reaches 557 per sq. m. in some provinces of China-denser than in Belgium (514 per sq. m.)—and 470 in some parts of Northwestern India. As a rule, it is greatest in those parts of Asia which are most favoured by rains, the densest population being met with to the south and south-east of the great plateau, on an area comprising only one-fifth of Asia's surface. Seventenths have scarcely more than from 3 to 20 inhabitants per sq. m.; and nearly one-tenth is almost quite uninhabited.

Having been inhabited by man since the earliest period of the stone age, and having been moreover the theatre of so many migrations, Asia has but few human races free from mixture with other races. Nevertheless, the hindrance to mutual intercourse opposed by its mountains, and still more by its high plateaus and deserts, prevented the mingling of races and stems to such an extent as in Europe; therefore we find now in Asia the greatest variety of ethnological types and languages. And distinct stems in the less accessible tracts, numbering now but a few families, are sometimes the last remainders of great races. The work of classifying the immense variety of stocks inhabiting Asia according to their ethnological affinities and origin is being busily prosecuted by ethnographers and philologists, but is as yet far from being terminated.

The inhabitants of Asia belong to five different groups: the so-called Caucasian (Fair type) in Western Asia and India; the Mongolian in Central and Eastern Asia, as also in the IndoChinese Peninsula; the Malay in Malacca and the Indian Archipelago; the Dravidas in South-eastern India and Ceylon; and the Negritos and Papuas in the virgin forests of the Philippine Islands and Celebes. A sixth great division, comprising the stems which inhabit North-eastern Asia-the Hyperboreans-whose affinities are not yet well known, must be added to the above. The Mongolian race alone embraces nearly seven-tenths of the population of Asia; the Malay, about twotenths; and the Caucasian about one-tenth. The Europeans reckon about six millions (Russians) in Caucasus, Turkestan, and Siberia; some 150,000 (English) in India; and 45,000 in the Dutch Indies.

The further subdivision of the inhabitants of Asia, according to language, is as follows: The Caucasian race embraces (1) tribes and stems in Caucasus (Georgians, Lezghians, Circassians, &c); (2) the Semitic branch, partly mixed with others, and subdivided into northern and southern; it comprises the Jews and the Arabs, who spread over Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and partly over Africa; and (3) the Indo-Germanic branch, containing: (a) the Indians, whose language has, besides the Hindi, spoken in Central India, several dialects spoken in Kashmir and Punjab, the Hindustani or Urdu, the Sindhi, the Marathi, the Bengali, and Assami; and (b) the Iranians (Persians, Tajiks, and ZendoAfghans, as also the Kurds, the Armenians, and Ossetians). To these must be added the Russians and other Europeans.

The Mongolian race (Yellow type) is represented by four great branches, each of which comprises a great variety of stems (some very numerous, others composed only of rapidly disappearing tribes). These are: (1) the Ural-Altaians, or Finno-Tartars, subdivided in their turn into (a) the Samoyedic

tribes; (b) the Finnish stems; (c) the TurcoTartars (Turks, Turcomans, Yakuts, Nogais, Djagatais, Uigur-Turks, and Kirghizes); (d) the Mongols, including the Mongols proper, the Buriats, and the Kalmucks; and (e) the Manchurians and Tunguses. The two other great branches belonging to the same subdivision of polysyllabic peoples are (2) the Japanese, and (3) the Coreans; while a fourth great branch includes (4) the nations speaking monosyllabic languages, namely: (a) the Chinese; (b) the Tibetans; (c) the Himalayan tribes; (d) the Burmese; (e) the Siamese; (f) the Annamese; and (g) the Sifars, Miautse, and several others.

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The Hyperboreans, whose origin is not yet sufficiently known, are considered as quite separate from the above. They include: (1) the Yukaghirs, (2) the Tchuktchis, and (3) the Koryaks and Kamchadales-all inhabiting the extreme north-east of Asia; and (4) the Ainos or Kurilians. The Yenisei Ostiaks and the Kotts are reckoned to belong to the same stock (see SIBERIA).

The Dravidian race, which formerly peopled all India, is now reduced to the mountain tracts of the interior and to Southern India, and is represented by (1) the Dravidas proper, including the Tamuls, Telingas, Canarese, and other smaller

The Malay race has three chief subdivisions: (1) the Malays proper; (2) the Polynesians; and (3) the Melanesians, who are by some regarded as a mixture of Malays with Papuas. All three are subdivided into separate tribes (see MALAYS). The Negritos and Papuas are now found (so far as Asia proper is concerned) chiefly in the less accessible forests of the peninsula of Malacca, and on the Philippine and Andaman Islands.

Religions. Since the dawn of history, Asia has been the birthplace of religions which spread all over the continent and the other parts of the world. The four great religions which are professed by the great majority of mankind--the Jewish, Buddhist,

At

Asia, where they grew up under the influence of still older religions-the Babylonian and that of Zoroaster-both also of Asiatic origin. Multitudes of new sects, or religions, mingled together, and exercising influence upon one another, are continually growing on the soil of Asia. present the inhabitants of Asia belong chiefly to the Buddhist religion, which-inclusive of the followers of Lamaism, the moral philosophy of Confucius, and the teachings of Lao-tse, who all accept more or less the Buddhist ritual-has no less than 530 to 560 millions of followers-i.e. nearly one-third of mankind. The old faith of Hinduism has no less than 187 millions of followers in India. Most of the inhabitants of Western Asia, as also of part of Central Asia, follow the religion of

Islam; they may number about 90 millions. The Christians number about 20 millions in Armenia, Caucasus, Siberia, and Turkestan. Many of the Ural-Altaians continue to maintain their ancient faith-Shamanism-though a number of them are nominal followers of the Buddhist or Christian religions. Jews are scattered mostly in Western and Central Asia. A few fire-worshippers Guebres or Parsi-who are found in the west of India and Persia are the sole remnant of the once wide-spread religion of Zoroaster; while vestiges of Sabæism are found amidst the Gesides and Sabians on the Tigris.

Civilisation.-Together with Egypt, Asia was the cradle of the present European civilisation; but, owing to many circumstances, partly physical and partly historical, the development of Asia proceeded on independent lines, and, as a whole, it may be considered as behind the civilisation of Europe. The current of civilisation, which formerly moved from Asia to Europe, returns now from west to east-unhappily, too often in its worst shape, that of conquest. Many a civilisation which grew up, either in South-western Asia or on the northern slope of the great plateau, has been swept away by invasions of less civilised halfnomads. At present one finds in Asia all varieties

of civilisation-the primitive tribes of North-eastern Siberia, the confederations of nomadic shepherds, and great nations in possession of a common stock of national customs, beliefs, and literature, like China; the tribal stage; the compound family,' forming the real basis of China's social organisation; the rural community, both of the Indian (also East European) and Mussulman type; the loose aggregations of Tchuktchis, having no rulers, and no religion beyond the worship of forces of nature, but professing with regard to one another principles of morality and mutual support often forgotten in higher stages of civilisation; and despotic monarchies, with a powerful clergy. So also in economic life. While the tribes of the north-east find their means of subsistence exclusively in fishing and hunting carried on with the simplest implements, among which stone weapons have not yet quite disappeared, and the tribes of Central Asia carry on primitive cattle-breeding and lead a half-nomadic life, others are agriculturists, and have brought irrigation (in Turkestan) to a degree of perfection hardly known in Europe.

Political Conditions.- Viewed in its broad features, universal history appears as a long record of the mutual intercourse of Asia and Europe,