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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



which is known to enter the Arctic Sea 

 through Bearing Strait, and is believed 

 to emerge on the other side through 

 Baffin's Bay. The drift of ice on this 

 side is consequently northward, and the 

 danger is that it will cut off the retreat 

 in case of accident to the ship by which 

 the party is compelled to take to the 



ice. 



Of course the object of the expe- 

 dition is to reach the north pole, but, 

 even if it fails, there are subsidiary ob- 

 jects also to be accomplished. It may 

 be expected, at any rate, that the un- 

 known Arctic area will be reduced in 

 dimensions, and there will be the op- 

 portunity of scieutific observations in 

 places as yet unexplored. The magnetic 

 conditions north of the magnetic pole 

 will be examined. There will be geo- 

 logical and mineralogical observations, 

 and information collected with refer- 

 ence to the fauna and flora of the Arc- 

 tic regions. Systematic attention will 

 also be given to meteorology, in the 

 hope of getting further data for eluci- 

 dating the laws of storms. 



The scientists of the Western coasts, 

 as is very natural, have taken a deep in- 

 terest in this first Arctic expedition from 

 their side, and that has so many special 

 features of importance. A meeting of 

 the Academy of Sciences in San Fran- 

 cisco was convened June 16th, for the 

 special purpose of giving a reception to 

 Lieutenant De Long and the staff of the 

 Bennett expedition. A paper on Arc- 

 tic exploration was read by Dr. A. B. 

 Stout, and remarks were made upon 

 various connected topics by gentlemen 

 present. Lieutenant De Long spoke, 

 but only to say that he had very little 

 to say in regard to what they were go- 

 ing to do. They did not sufficiently 

 know themselves, and hoped to be bet- 

 ter qualified to talk satisfactorily upon 

 their return. Mr. Charles Wolcott 

 Brooks made some interesting observa- 

 tions regarding the ethnological possi- 

 bilities of the Arctic regions which we 

 here subjoin: "In offering his word of 



kind encouragement, he remarked that 

 men who use obstacles as stepping- 

 stones to success are apt to win ; and 

 he but expressed the universal desire 

 of all ethnologists that Lieutenant De 

 Long and his brave comrades should 

 overcome every barrier that the Frost 

 King might impose as an obstacle to 

 their success. As ethnologists, we all 

 feel great interest in the existence of 

 an Arctic Continent, and earnestly de- 

 sire to know if it is, or can be, inhabited. 

 In a world governed by mathematical 

 law, whose every atom is geometrically 

 correct, and subject to mathematical 

 proof, we may reasonably judge of the 

 unknown by what we can see, cautious- 

 ly using the great law of analogy as our 

 guide. If we should judge of the ulti- 

 mate atom, or the most distant orb in 

 space, we may study for that purpose 

 some object around us, or our globe 

 taken as a whole. He who has watched 

 the organization of crystalline forms 

 under electric currents has seen the 

 operation of the same law which has 

 formed the solid part of the earth we 

 live on. In its early and plastic condi- 

 tion it was a sphere like the dew-drop, 

 but, with the constant currents of or- 

 ganizing magnetism, it has assumed a 

 crystalline form, and to-day its solid ex- 

 terior, were its oceans emptied and re- 

 moved, would present the polyhedron. 

 If we carefully examine the almost uni- 

 versal features of all land known to us, 

 we find a prevailing form wherever we 

 turn. Each territorial area of magni- 

 tude seems to have an appendage trend- 

 ing southward. Thus, south of the large 

 continent of North America, we find that 

 leg-of-mutton or pend (Toreille form of 

 South America. Beneath Europe rests 

 a similar shaped area of land in the 

 continent of Africa, and south of Asia 

 is Australia and the Polynesian or Spice 

 Islands. The same relative position 

 of land is general among many island 

 groups, and all peninsulas seem also to 

 point southward, such as Kamtchatka, 

 Alaska, Lower California, Florida, Nova 



