ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 217 



i? not a dome of land increasing in height slowly from the coasts to a 

 central point near the South Pole; it is more likely to consist of a 

 lofty mountain range running near the Pacific shore and of a broad 

 plateau sloping downward from this mountain axis across the pole to 

 Weddell Sea on the one side and the bight between Wilkes Land and 

 Enderby Land on the other. 



The remaining problems of the Antarctic are of less general and 

 more technical interest. The magnetic survey, the need for which led 

 to the British Government's contribution of £45,000 to the cost of the 

 'Discovery,' is generally regarded as the most important item in the 

 scientific program. The principal point to be determined by the 

 British expedition is the variation in the magnetic elements since the 

 surveys of Eoss and of Clerk and Moore. The deep fauna of the 

 Antarctic seas was proved by the 'Challenger' and the 'Belgica' to be 

 rich in new forms of life; and according to Murray the Antarctic and 

 Arctic faunas have many elements in common. More material is needed 

 for the proper analysis of the resemblances between the two faunas, and 

 the collections may be expected to yield some hitherto undiscovered ani- 

 mals of ancient types. 



The exact shape of the earth is another question which cannot be 

 settled without fresh evidence from the Antarctic. For this purpose 

 two at least of the expeditions have been provided with pendulum 

 outfits; by noting the exact length of time occupied by the swing of 

 a pendulum the distance of the place of observation from the earth's 

 center can be determined. It is held that the south polar region 

 projects further from the plane of the equator than does the north 

 polar region ; according to one estimate the south pole is slightly more 

 than one hundredth further from the earth's center than the north pole. 



The work of the expeditions includes researches in the physics of 

 glacier ice, a subject in which Professor von Drygalski is an expert, on 

 the distribution and spectroscopic phenomena of the Aurora; on the 

 composition and movements of the atmosphere, and the currents of the 

 Antarctic Seas. 



If the explorers only have the success which they deserve their 

 arduous and devoted labors will contribute materially toward the 

 progress of many branches of science. In fact, as Sir John Murray 

 assures us, 'the results of a successful Antarctic expedition would mark 

 a great advance in the philosophy — apart from the mere facts — of ter- 

 restrial science.' 



