ABSTRACT
Much of the new world is still inhabited by primitive tribes, who are being rapidly driven from their old hunting grounds by the whites. Mountains play a very different part in the development of the arts of life. Although the sea divides, even primitive man can cross it, but some mountains are practically impassable on any large scale. A big mountain chain plays exactly the same part as deserts do in preventing culture-contact and the minglings of peoples. But in much the same way that deserts have their oases, mountains have their passes, and through these passes humanity and human methods of culture have poured. The climate of mountains has a very marked effect on the flora and fauna. The similarity of “alpine” plants, with a markedly discontinuous distribution, is a well-known fact.
