OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 419 



ing his daring and self-sacrificing plans, and ofFering him the sympa- 

 thy and influence of the Academy; appointing at the same time a 

 committee of seven Fellows for the purpose of co-operating with him, 

 and of rendering him scientific aid and counsel. The efforts of Dr. 

 Hayes to obtain the equipment for his expedition last year were unsuc- 

 cessful, and he is now engaged, as the Academy is aware, in renewed 

 efforts to obtain means of conducting a party of exploration to the Arc- 

 tic Pole, and of thus definitely solving the chief geographical problem 

 of our times, — that of the supposed open Polar Sea, its boundaries, 

 approaches, physical characteristics, and the vegetable and animal in- 

 habitants of its shores and waters. 



It may, I think, safely be said, that the great majority of scientific 

 men believe in the existence of such an open sea around the North Pole, 

 for reasons of various kinds, with which the Academy is familiar, ^- rea- 

 sons derived from the course of the Gulf Stream, from known habits and 

 habitations of the whales, from the form of the isothermal lines, and 

 from various reports of different explorers since 1810. The evidence 

 brought back by Dr. Kane's expedition tended strongly to corroborate 

 this belief in the public mind ; and now, guided by the experience and 

 discoveries of that expedition. Dr. Hayes proposes to aim directly for 

 the Pole, to complete the work so brilliantly begun by the Grinnell ex- 

 pedition, and to secure for our own land the honor which such an enter- 

 prise, successfully conducted, cannot fail to receive. 



At our last meeting Dr. Hayes was, by a unanimous vote, invited to 

 address the Academy this evening upon the subject so near his heart, 

 and in acceptance of this invitation he is here. He naturally desires to 

 enlist the immediate personal interest of gentlemen present, in behalf 

 of his plans, that their influence may aid him with the community to 

 which he proposes to appeal for help. 



Of the feasibility of the exploration, of the extent to which our pres- 

 ent experience promises to enable us to surmount difficulties hitherto 

 encountered, of the details of the plan which he has so carefully matured 

 for the equipment of a party and the prosecution of his undertaking, 

 Dr. Hayes will speak. But before taking my seat, I beg leave to 

 urge one important consideration upon the notice of the Academy, 

 namely, the great danger that, if the efforts of Dr. Hayes are unsuc- 

 cessful in organizing his expedition during the present season, the 

 opportunity may be lost to our country. The Arctic service is ex- 



