118 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



nearest to it on the east ; second, to penetrate northeasterly 

 to the limit of the polar ice ; third, at least to make an effort 

 to get as far as possible to the east, and to explore the re- 

 gions along the mouths of the Siberian rivers; fourth, to 

 make accurate geographic determinations along the least- 

 known portions of the Siberian coast; fifth, to prosecute stud- 

 ies in regard to the hunting ventures of the Norwegians and 

 Russians in Nova Zembla. These two regions of country 

 will be intrusted to two different sailing vessels respectively, 

 each provided with a competent commander, a specialist in 

 physical geography, and a zoologist. The experience gained 

 by these expeditions during 1872 is to be utilized still further 

 in a much more extended and more completely equipped ex- 

 ploration in 1873, in which the same persons will take part. 

 3 C, September 25, 1871, 934. 



Rosenthal's exploring expedition. 



In a lately published number of the Mittheilungen Dr.Pe- 

 termann gives an account of the exploring expedition of Ro- 

 senthal, of Bremen, into the Siberian Arctic Sea. This gen- 

 tleman has been distinguished for some years past by his zeal 

 in prosecuting a trading business in the high north, and for 

 the extent to which he has connected with this inquiries into 

 the natural history and physics of that region. The results 

 obtained in Spitzbergen by Dr. Bessels in the voyage of one 

 of his vessels (the Albert) are well known. During the past 

 year he sent out the Bienenkorb, manned by Norwegian sail- 

 ors, and under the command of the Norwegian Captain Mel- 

 sam, to prosecute the seal fishery in the north, an experiment 

 attended with such success that, after a short absence, the 

 vessel returned with 6500 seals. During the present year 

 Ilerr Rosenthal chartered the Germania, the well-known Ger- 

 man exploring ship, and has sent her out, under the command 

 of Captain Melsam and his party, accompanied by Messrs. 

 Von Heuglin and Aagard, with an outfit and provisions for 

 fifteen months, and all the necessary astronomical and phys- 

 ical apparatus. The vessel is to proceed direct to Nova Zem- 

 bla, passing the Straits of Matotschkin into the Kara Sea, so 

 as to reach the mouth of the Obi, and there to establish a 

 harbor and refuge for heavy weather. From this point op- 

 erations are to be carried on as far as possible toward the 



