80 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



fied. Physical phenomena, however, are not so suhject to change as 

 those of ethnography. Unknown tribes may be extinguished, or af- 

 fected by the direct or indirect influence of civilization. The outlines 

 of lands, tbe state of the weather and the sea, will not undergo altera- 

 tions in the course of a few years. 



Therefore we can not see any reason why polar expeditions should 

 be sent out only in order to reach the pole. The history of former expe- 

 ditions proves that the most successful results were obtained by mak- 

 ing ample use of the experience gained in former voyages, and that 

 most of the failures were due to ignorance of previous observations, or 

 to the careless neglect of previous experiences. If new expeditions 

 should be organized and they will be organized we shall always 

 plead for a slow but sure progress toward the pole. From the experi- 

 ence gained hitherto, we are able to start at a point far north, and by 

 studying the distribution of the land and the state of the ice yet 

 farther north, we can conquer step by step the region hitherto un- 

 known with comparative safety. The exploration of the pole is not a 

 work for the bold and daring adventurer ; it is the task of the careful 

 scientist, who knows thoroughly what science will profit by every mile 

 gained, by the study of all the phenomena of regions often passed by 

 ships or never visited by man. 



The results of a single expedition, however lucky it may be, will 

 always be trifling as compared with the number of problems which 

 have to be solved in the Arctic. It is quite possible that by favorable 

 circumstances an expedition might succeed in getting far north, or 

 discovering large areas of the unknown regions, as has happened in 

 former years. However, the risk which the adventurers run can not 

 be compared with the probable results. By deliberate perseverance, 

 though the progress may be slower, the exploration of the Arctic will 

 be accomplished in greater safety and with far greater results for 

 science. 



We wish to establish here the principle that, in the present state 

 of affairs, daring and adventurous explorations have to be excluded 

 from a plan of Arctic researches which is founded on scientific princi- 

 ples. This is not the place to determine the course which new expedi- 

 tions have to take, as the discussion of this subject is not the affair of 

 the public but of experts, who know thoroughly the phenomena of the 

 Arctic seas and are conversant with the whole of Arctic literature. 

 Whatever the new plans may be, the public and men of science must 

 ask that the plan be not confined to a single expedition. The best 

 results will be gained by considering the exploration of the polar 

 regions as one continuous task, and fitting every new expedition into 

 the far-seeing scheme of a thorough investigation of all the problems 

 subject to Arctic researches. In this way we have the strong convic- 

 tion that important results will be gained quicker than by spasmodic 

 efforts now in Greenland, now in Behring Strait, now in Franz-Josef 



