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TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



of the expedition in this branch of science. The 

 fishes collected by the expedition have been re- 

 ported upon by Dr. Gunther, of the British Mu- 

 seum. The most northern salt-water fish was 

 obtained by Lieutenant Egerton, in 82° 30' north. 

 It was a Cottus quadricornis, a fish which is not 

 included in Dr. Lutken's list of Greenland fishes. 

 The most northern fresh-water fish is a charr 

 (Salmo arcticus), several specimens of which were 

 found in small lakes as far north as 82° 34'. 



The collection of mollusca made by the late 

 expedition embraces thirty-five species between 

 79° and 82° 30' north, and represents very fully 

 the molluscan life within those parallels. For 

 the researches in this department were not con- 

 fined to dredging. Recent sea-beds, extending 

 from the present sea-margin to a height of not 

 less than a thousand feet, are being deposited, at 

 the present day, under precisely the same physi- 

 cal conditions as those now being elevated above 

 the sea-level, which gave satisfactory evidence 

 that the molluscan fauna of the past, represented 

 by these post-tertiary deposits, is precisely that 

 now existing in the adjacent sea. Upward of 

 fifty spots, where these post-tertiary beds occur, 

 were carefully examined by Captain Feilden and 

 the officers who zealously assisted him. Thus, 

 large deposits of recently-emerged sea-bed were 

 laid open to investigation, and this circumstance 

 rendered the researches in this branch of natural 

 history especially exhaustive and satisfactory. 



The cruslacea brought home by the expedi- 

 tion, although not including many novelties, are 

 of great interest, on account of the high and hith- 

 erto unexplored latitudes in which they were col- 

 lected. The most northerly species obtained, 

 and indeed the most northerly known animal in 

 the world, is the Anonyx nugax, several examples 

 of which were dredged up by Captain Markham 

 in seventy-two fathoms, in latitude 83° 19' north. 

 The next most northerly species is the Hippolyte 

 acukata, found in 82° 30' north. The number of 

 species collected north of Smith Sound was 31. 



The collections of i?isecla and arachnida, for- 

 ty-five species of the former and sixteen of the 

 latter, are very important. They have been ex- 

 amined and discussed by Mr. McLachlan. • 



The echinodermata of the expedition have 

 been reported upon by Prof. Martin Duncan and 

 Mr. Percy Sladen. The collection is so interest- 

 ing, and the specimens are so valuable, that these 

 eminent men of science have described it in a 

 separate monograph. Similar reports have been 

 made on the collections of polyzoa, spongida, hy- 

 drozoa, foraminifera, and polycystina. 



The plants were examined and named by Prof. 

 Oliver, and Sir Joseph Hooker has written a most 

 interesting memoir on the botanical results of tha 

 expedition. They prove that the vegetation of 

 the newly-discovered area is entirely Greenlandic. 

 The collection consists of no fewer than sixty- 

 nine flowering plants and ferns that can be iden- 

 tified, and six more in an imperfect condition ; 

 being ten more than were collected at Melville 

 Island in a much milder climate, and only twenty- 

 three less than have been found in Spitzbergen. 

 Mr. Mitten has reported on the mosses, and Mr. 

 Berkeley on the fungi. 



Such, then, very briefly and inadequately 

 stated, are the results of the late Arctic Expedi- 

 tion. They are the work of one year and a half 

 of arduous toil ; and they undoubtedly repay — 

 fully and completely — the expense, and the dan- 

 gers, hardships, and, alas ! the losses which it 

 was necessary to encounter and to suffer, in se- 

 curing them. But there is yet one other result 

 to record, which, though mentioned last, is not 

 the least to be considered. In advocating the re- 

 newal of arctic exploration, Admiral Sherard Os- 

 born specially dwelt upon the importance of en- 

 couraging a spirit of maritime enterprise, and of 

 giving worthy employment to our navy in time of 

 peace — a truly national object, and one which 

 should have as much influence in forming a de- 

 cision to dispatch an expedition, as the antici- 

 pated scientific results. That great object has 

 also been secured. The interest in arctic service, 

 always popular in former days, has been revived. . 

 We now once more have a supply of young but 

 experienced ice-navigators and sledge-travelers, 

 trained in the best school, where they have done 

 their work right well, and who are willing and 

 ready to face new dangers, and to win new laurels 

 in the polar seas. 



We have endeavored to explain the nature of 

 the difficulties and dangers which were encoun- 

 tered and overcome, and we have enumerated 

 the results that have been secured. Our readers 

 are now in a position to form their own judg- 

 ments as to the degree of success which may be 

 claimed for the late Arctic Expedition. Our de- 

 liberate conclusion is, that the scientific expedi- 

 tion commanded by Sir George Nares was, all 

 things considered, the most successful that ever 

 crossed the arctic circle. 



But,- whether its success was great or small, 

 there is at least concurrence among scientific 

 men that its rich and varied results are valuable. 

 Thus the first great step has been accomplished 

 by the advocates of arctic discovery. The work 



