226 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



chey, Dr. Allraan, James Ferguson, Esq., and John Evans, 

 Esq. The arctic committee of the Royal Geographical So- 

 ciety includes Admirals Sir George Back, Collinson, Omraan- 

 ney, Sir Leopold M'Clintock, and Sherard Osborne ; Dr. J. D. 

 Hooker, Mr. Findlay, and Mr. Clements Markham. The joint 

 labors of these committees, it is expected, will soon be com- 

 pleted. 6 A, Juli/j 1873, 169. 



THE PROPER GATE-WAY TO THE POLE. 



The problem as to the proper gate-way to the north pole 

 has acquired additional interest since the late news from the 

 Polaris; and it is gratifying to know that the approval by 

 the United States authorities of the Smith's Sound route for 

 Captain Hall's exploration is fully indorsed by the best En- 

 glish geographers. In a communication by Captain Sherard 

 Osborne before the Royal Geographical Society of London, 

 on the 20th of April last, it was remarked that at only two 

 points has it been found practicable to penetrate to the arctic 

 seas as far as the eightieth degree of north latitude the one 

 by way of Spitzbergen, and the other by way of Baffin's Bay, 

 the two being about ninety degrees apart. The route by 

 way of Spitzbergeii has never been followed beyond eighty- 

 two and a half degrees, from which point an impenetrable sea 

 of ice was seen extending toward the north, with indications 

 of land running east and west beyond Spitzbergen. Here 

 the southward motion of the ice-fields, on which Parry trav- 

 eled in 1828, carried him back as fast during the night as he 

 advanced during the day. This, in Captain Osborne's opinion, 

 must be a standing difficulty in the way of any explorer, and 

 he is satisfied that the Baffin's Bay route, and especially that 

 by Smith's Sound, is the one that must be relied upon for 

 any future advance toward the pole, es23ecially as by this 

 route (in the same parallel as that of the Spitzbergen -path- 

 way) land was seen extending northward instead of from 

 east to west, and with indications of open water, and the 

 probability of much less trouble from ice drift. 6 A^ 3Iay, 

 1873,82. 



DR. HAYDEn's surveys. 



One of the special results of the United States geological 

 and geographical survey of the Territories, in charge of Pro- 



