208 Scientific Intelligence. 



on being brought again into the cabin, only twenty-three came to life ; 

 these were at the end.of four hours put once more into the air, and again 

 hard frozen. After another week they were brought in, when only eleven 

 were restored to life. A fourth time they were exposed to the winter 

 temperature, and only two returned to life. On being again brought in- 

 to the cabin, these two survived the winter, and in May an imperfect 

 larva was produced from one, and six flies from the other; both of them 

 formed cocoons, but that which produced the flies was not so perfect as 

 the other. — Ross's Voyage. 



10. Polar Bear. — During our stay at Fury Beach, many of these ani- 

 mals came about us, and several were killed. At that time, we were for- 

 tunately in no want of provisions, but some of our party, tempted by the 

 fine appearance of the meat, made a hasty meal of the first one that was 

 shot. All that partook of it soon after complained of violent headach, 

 ■which, with some, continued two or three days, and was followed by the 

 skin peeling off" the face, hands, and arms ; and in some, who had pro- 

 bably partaken more largely, of the whole body. " On a former occasion, 

 I witnessed a somewhat similar occurrence, when, on Sir Edward Parry's 

 Polar Journey, having lived for several days on two bears that were shot, 

 the skin peeled off" the feet, legs, and arms of many of the party. It was 

 then attributed rather to the quantity than the quality of the meat, and 

 to our having been for some time previous on very short allowance of pro- 

 visions." — Ross's Voyage. 



11. The Black Whale. — The capture of the whale, which gives employ- 

 ment to several thousands of our seamen, and has annually produced, on 

 an average of the last twenty years, between eleven and twelve thousand 

 tons of toil, and from five to six hundred tons of whalebone, has of late 

 years greatly declined, owing to the increasing difficulties attending thfe 

 fishery. Wearied by the incessant persecutions of man, the whale has 

 lately abandoned all the accessible parts of the Spitzbergen Sea, where it 

 was by no means unusual to see sixty or seventy sail of British vessels 

 engaged in its capture. On the east side of Baflin's Bay, as far as the 

 72° of latitude, abundance of whales, of large size, were to be found some 

 few years ago ; but, like the fishery in the Spitzbergen Sea, this also Was 

 deserted. The whales retired to the westward of the then considered 

 impenetrable barrier of ice that occupies the middle of Baffin's Bay. " In 

 1818> that barrier was passed by the first expedition of discovery sent bj'" 

 the government to those regions, where the haunts of the whale, and the 

 nursery for its young, were laid open to the fishermen, whose daring en- 

 terprise and perseverance in following the track of the discoverers, were 

 amply rewarded for the first few years by the most abundant success ; since 

 the produce that in anyone year has been brought to England from those 

 newly discovered portions of the Arctic Seas, is more than sufficient to 

 cover the whole expenses of all the expeditions of discovery that have 

 been sent during the last twenty years to those regions; and yet people 



