We have seen that wine is the universal drink through the greater part of France, and this in spite of the fact that the northern limit of the vine, so far as wine-making is concerned, is in France about lat. 47-1/2°, that is, about the north of the Loire. In Germany, the vine reaches to the east, in the Province of Posen, a latitude of nearly 53° N., owing to the fact that the summers grow warmer as we pass eastward. Nevertheless, in Germany, as a general rule, wine is a luxury, the influence of Mediterranean culture being less felt than in France. Throughout Germany, as throughout northern Europe generally, wine is replaced by beverages made by the fermentation of cereals or other plant products rich in starch. Throughout Germany, as throughout much of England, beer is the characteristic drink, and associated with it we have the growth of hops, used as a flavouring material. Further north stronger beverages tend to be used. Another plant which is widely grown in the more northerly parts of Europe, especially in Russia and the Baltic countries, is flax, which, though originally Mediterranean, is now grown for its fibre chiefly in the north, partly because it is especially suited for flat moist land. Having now looked at the cultivated plants of the Mediterranean in their bearing on the life of the inhabitants, and compared with them the plants cultivated in extra-Mediterranean areas, let us conclude this chapter by a few words on the purely pastoral peoples. These do not now occur in Europe in unmodified form, but the Asiatic steppes still contain pastoral folk, diminishing with the progress of civilisation. There can be no doubt that such pastoral folk have repeatedly invaded Europe, and have there undergone modifications owing to the different conditions which prevail. Of pastoral folk in the unmodified form the Kirghiz of the Asiatic steppes form perhaps the best example. They are pure nomads, wandering about in search of pasture for their numerous herds, and dwelling in a movable tent, or yurt, which can be readily carried from one place to another. The herds consist of horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, and the females of all these animals are milked. The Kirghiz do not cultivate land, or only to a very slight extent, and practically do not eat bread, though flour and rice, obtained by barter, are employed by the richer. Milk and milk-products, with the flesh of the flocks, form the basis of the diet, and a milk-wine or koumiss, produced by the fermentation of milk, is the characteristic drink. This brief description is based upon that of the traveller Brehm, and as it was written some fifty years ago, matters have doubtless changed considerably since, but it remains as the typical picture of the nomadic pastoral life. In the smaller spaces of densely populated Europe it would of course be impossible, and here pastoral nomadism is mostly replaced by that modified form known as transhumance upon which we have already touched.