322 Chapter VI. 



slowly up the rigging. It is Johansen, on his way up 

 to the crow's-nest to read the temperature. Blessing 

 is at present engaged in counting blood corpuscles again, 

 and estimating amounts of haemoglobin. For this purpose 

 he draws blood every month from every mother's son 

 of us, the bloodthirsty dog, with supreme contempt for 

 all the outcry against vivisection. Hansen and his assistant 

 take observations. The meteorological ones, which are 

 taken every four hours, are Johansen's special department. 

 First he reads the thermometer, hygrometer, and ther- 

 mograph on deck (they were afterwards kept on the 

 ice) ; next the barometer, barograph, and thermometer 

 in the saloon ; and then the minimum and maximum 

 thermometers in the crow's-nest (this to take the record 

 of the temperature of a higher air stratum). Then he 

 goes to read the thermometers that are kept on the ice 

 to measure the radiations from its surface, and perhaps 

 down to the hold, too, to see what the temperature is 

 there. Every second day, as a rule, astronomical 

 observations are taken, to decide our whereabouts, and 

 keep us up to date in the crab's progress we are making. 

 Taking these observations with the thermometer between 

 22 F. and 40 F. below zero ( 30 C. to 40 C.) is a 

 very mixed pleasure. Standing still on deck working with 

 these fine instruments and screwing in metal screws with 

 one's bare fingers is not altogether agreeable. It often 

 happens that they must slap their arms about and tramp 

 hard up and down the deck. They are received with 



