essential as it is amongst the Norwegian fiords. It is not only on account of its remarkable appearance that the skärgård deserves attention. It has had an important influence on the arrangement of the national defences, and has helped to shape the history of the country.

Stockholm is the most beautiful capital-probably the most beautiful city-in the world. The beauties which 'Lisboa first unfolds' do not surpass those of Stockholm, aud even the glories of Sydney pale before those of the capital of Sweden, which are due to a rare harmony of natural features and well-placed imposing architectural monuments. The Swedish taste, even in its rococo manifestations, has seldom failed to turn a favourable site to the best advantage; and on Lake Mälar favourable sites are many. Though Stockholm is in about the same latitude as Northern Kamschatka and the Alaskan peninsula, the climate for great part of the year is delightful, and the mortality statistics show that in the matter of healthiness it takes a high place amongst cities.

There is much in Sweden to make it attractive besides its scenery and climate, about the latter of which we shall have a few words to say farther on. Its history is extraordinarily interesting. For three generations the small Swedish nation played an astonishingly prominent part in the world, and Sweden for a time was justly looked upon as a Great Power. Why it became, and why it ceased to be, one have not been adequately explained, though it is probable that an explanation can be found without much difficulty. If its external history was impressive, its internal history has been illustrated by episodes of an interest equal to that of the most captivating romances. Gustavus Vasa, Gustavus Adolphus, and Charles XII. were singularly dramatic figures, and Gustavus III. was hardly less so. The constitutional history of Sweden has in several points a fascinating resemblance to our own. The annals of a kingdom in which great families struggled for predominance and aimed occasionally at supreme power naturally supply materials for many a romantic situation. The condition of the country generally, and the standard maintained by it in the intellectual and in the material domain, are well worth our attention. The commercial developement, if looked at carefully, will be found to justify admiration or surprise quite as great as that which we are fond of expressing when the progress of larger countries is discovered by us.

The Swedish Government has very judiciously, in our opinion-removed every excuse for our ignorance of the present condition and recent advance of the kingdom and its people. It has lately published an English edition of the handbook of statistics prepared for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. This goodly volume, the title of which heads the present article, gives us a fairly full account of everything that we can reasonably wish to know about the people of Sweden and their country. It is characteristic of the patriotic temper of the Swedes that, when the sum voted by the Riksdag for the publication of the work in French, Swedish, and English was found to be inadequate, a private person, Mr. K. A. Wallenberg, of Stockholm, came forward and made up the deficiency. The munificent support accorded to public objects by individual subjects of King Oscar, and the readiness with which taxpayers and ratepayers contribute to State and municipal institutions, are made evident to every visitor by a number of stately buildings.

The volume, which is edited by Mr. Gustav Sundbärg, of the Royal Bureau of Statistics, assisted by many collaborators with special qualifications for dealing with the different sections, is divided into two parts, and each part has many subdivisions. It is written in generally excellent English. Occasionally, but rarely, a modern eye may detect quaint forms of expression, apparently due to the influence of models now looked upon as old-fashioned or to a close translation of Swedish phrases. The smoothness of the diction in this edition is a pleasant proof of the general similarity of the English and the Swedish idiom and of the near relationship between the two tongues.

The first part of the work contains an account of the country and its people, with a summary of its history; a description of the constitution and the system of administration; disquisitions on the educational methods in use, the state of literature, art and science; and also an explanation of the facilities for touring and sport. The second part is devoted to a consideration of the occupations of the people, and deals very fully with their several industries and the commercial conditions in the kingdom.

A glance at an orographical map of the great Scandinavian peninsula enables us to see the difference in the superficial aspect of the two countries composing it. It also offers an explanation of the distribution of population in Sweden and much of its history. Historical Sweden, the

old Svea-land and Göta-land of the legendary period which combined to form the kingdom of the Folkungas and the Vasas, extended in effect but little to the north of Uppsala ; and the district generally, including, as it does, the great Lakes Vener and Vetter, may be described as low. The loftiest point of the so-called Småland Highlands,' Tomtabacken, is only 1,216 feet above sea-level. The geology of Sweden is discussed with some fulness in the special section of the work under notice. Therein we are informed that

'Sweden, geologically viewed, is a very old country. By far the largest part of its rocks were formed during early geological timesthe so-called Primitive or Archæan age-and during the next or Precambrian, anterior to the appearance of organic life. Furthermore, at most, the whole of the area now called Sweden has been raised above the sea during the immeasurably long ages which have passed away since the Silurian strata were deposited. . . . Its continental character during the above-named long ages Sweden had in common with Norway, Finland, and adjoining parts of Russia. Within these lands the rocks are almost entirely of Archæan or Precambrian age, while in most other European countries young formations, hundreds and thousands of metres in thickness, prove them to have been submerged during the larger part of the time when Sweden was dry land.'*

With regard to the vegetation the country may be divided into several regions. There are the Alpine region, principally characterised by the absence of trees and occupying the highest part of the kingdom in the north-west. Dwarf willows and other shrubs abound in certain places, and when the snow melts in summer the Alpine heaths are found. The Birch region, characterised by woods of common birch interspersed with occasional aspen and mountain-ash trees, forms an irregular belt below the Alpine. The Firwood region occupies the north of Sweden below and south of the Birch. Then comes the Oak region. The Beech region embraces the southern part of the country. The flora of Sweden consists of about 1,600 species of wild flowering plants. Of these about 1,050 are found in the area of the former province of Skåne. It is interesting to connect with the above the distribution of agricultural products. As regards cereal cultivation Sweden may be said to be divided into three regions. Barley is the predominant crop in the northern part. Central and southern 'Sweden are divided into an eastern half with a large culti'vation of rye, and a western half with a still greater culti

* P. 36.

'vation of oats.' The department of Malmöhus, in the extreme south, has nearly double the wheat acreage of any other section.

Like its flora, so the fauna of Sweden entered the country at a comparatively late period. We are told that, on account of climatic conditions and the still extensive 'forests, a number of forms have been able to survive here 'which have long since disappeared from Southern and 'Central Europe.' A feature of the Swedish fauna is the 'white winter dress of certain birds and mammals.' In some cases, as in those of the hare and the ptarmigan, this is protective, as it helps concealment from enemies; in others, on the contrary, it facilitates the stealthy attacks of predatory animals on their prey. The common bear and the common wolf are often met with on the mountains. elk is found as far south as the old province of Småland. Amongst the birds the capercailzie, the ptarmigan, and the grouse in several varieties may be mentioned. The fauna of Sweden is marked by its poverty in reptiles and batra'chians.' The rivers and lakes of Sweden are rich in fish, of which the greater number are edible. There are forty salmon rivers with a length of 3,700 kilomètres (2,300 miles) accessible for the salmon.

The

A visitor to Sweden will soon infer, from the robust appearance of the people of all classes, that the climate generally is a healthy one. 'Scandinavia enjoys a most favourable climate, considering its northerly situation. The 'principal reason for this is to be found in the warm seas, tempered by the Gulf Stream, which wash the coasts of Norway.' The length of Sweden from north to south is equal to about one-seventh of the distance from the North Pole to the equator. This is sufficient to produce considerable climatic differences. The annual average temperature of the northernmost part is somewhat below the freezingpoint (32° F.); whilst on the southern and south-western coasts it is 45° F. or a little higher. The summer, however, in the north is not much inferior, in the matter of heat, to that of Southern England; and if the Swedish summer season is short the days in it are long, giving an aggregate of many hours' sunshine. 'At Karesuando the sun remains ' above the horizon during fifty-three successive days, from May 26 to July 18.' The twilight in the north adds several hours to the length of the summer day. In fact 'there is uninterrupted day as far south as Hernösand from June 16 to June 27. A knowledge of these facts

will enable us to understand why it is possible to carry on agriculture successfully even north of the Arctic circle. It is claimed for Sweden that it has a relatively hot summer ' and a not very cold winter.' In the southern half of the kingdom, at all events, and especially in the capital and the larger cities, the winter is the festive season. In winters of exceptional severity the waters off the western and southern coasts are covered with ice. This, however, does not stop navigation there except once or twice in a century.' On the Baltic coast, on the other hand, navigation can go on, after the cold returns, only during mild winters.

Few, if any, parts of the work which we are noticing will be found more interesting and valuable than those treating of the Swedish people and their history. Scandinavian archæologists have achieved well-deserved renown for their inquiries into the antiquities of their group of countries, and probably it is they who have set the fashion of beginning the history of a nation with a discussion of its condition in the earliest times.

'The nation which at the present day inhabits the kingdom of Sweden is considered to have had its dwelling-place there for an unbroken period of at least six thousand years-a longer period than any other European nation can look back upon within its present boundaries, with the exception of the kindred race in Denmark. There are traces of an earlier population than the present, one dating back perhaps ten thousand years ago; but it is not possible to determine whether those tribes of hunters and fishers belonged to the present race or to another. Since the beginning of the Stone Age at least, Sweden has been uninterruptedly inhabited by its present race of Swedes belonging to the Germanic branch of the great Aryan family.'*

The Swedish people, it is estimated, number at present about seven millions, of whom about 5 millions live in Sweden; 13 million in America; 370,000 in Finland; and about 100,000 in other European countries. About 20,000 Finns and 7,000 Lapps are to be found in Sweden. The Swedish people claims to be, and there is little doubt that it is, the purest remainder now extant of the old Teutonic race.'t The Swedes are tall. The average height of the

* P. 68.

+ P. 134. The different views on the appearance of the Germanic race in Sweden are summarised by Emil Hildebrand in § 2 of the First Book of his 'Svenska Statsförfattningens historiska Utveckling,' Stockholm, 1896.

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