Otago Institute. 615 



Dr. P. Marshall took up the history of discovery in geography and 

 geology, and gave some details of the voyages from the finding of the 

 South Shetlands in 1599 to the second year of the Scottish expedition, 

 which was first reported on the 31st May of this year. He laid particular 

 stress upon Cook's voyage in 1744, and Ross's in 1839-43, and mentioned 

 that each of the voyagers considered that a southern continent existed, 

 owing to the numerous large flat-topped icebergs consisting of inland 

 ice that they encountered in every longitude. He mentioned that fossils 

 had been discovered by the Swedish expedition in Graham Land that were 

 probably vegetation indicating a tropical climate, and also some land- 

 animals. Mr. Ferrar, of the "Discovery," had found leaf-fossils at an 

 elevation of 6,000ft. in south Victoria Land. The existence of volcanoes 

 in south Victoria Land and Graham Land seemed to point to a connection 

 between the great volcanic land of South America and a Pacific line through 

 New Zealand. 



Mr. J. S. S. Cooper spoke of what had been done by the expedition in 

 physics. He referred to the very cold weather experienced, the register 

 being at times 68° below zero, which was much colder than anything 

 experienced in the Arctic regions. Pendulums were swung in order to> 

 discover the force of gravity, and the results would have an important 

 bearing on the theories as to the shape of the earth. Important find- 

 ings were also made in atmospherical electricity. A very complete set 

 of apparatus sent down was checked in Christcburch before it went 

 away and after it came back. It was owing to the liberality of the 

 New Zealand Government in providing a magnetic observatory at 

 Christchurch that Lyttelton was made the base of the expedition. One 

 curious thing he mentioned— namely, in the western sledge journey 

 Lieutenant Shackelton got to the south of the south magnetic pole, so that 

 his magnetic needle pointed in an exactly contrary direction to that in 

 which it should point, the north end pointing south. A suspended 

 needle pointed almost vertical, the horizontal force being practically 

 nothing. Mr. Cooper exhibited curves taken by Mr. Bernacchi, and 

 compared them with curves taken at the same time in Christchurch and 

 Germany. On corresponding days they showed similar characteristics,, 

 thus proving that the disturbances recorded had been felt all over the 

 world at the same time. A great magnetio storm in November, 1903, 

 which largely deranged the telegraphic system of Europe, was clearly 

 recorded at Christchurch and by the " Discovery" party. 



Mr. G. M. Thomson touched on the biological work of the expe- 

 dition. There were, he said, several remarkable differences between 

 the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The former had quite a rich flora, 

 including a large number of flowering-plants, and numerous mosses and 

 lichens. In short, in the Arctic summer of a few weeks' duration the 

 sheltered parts were full of verdure and beautiful flowers — poppies, 

 buttercups, white scurvy-grass, purple saxifrages, and others — with beds 

 of green grass in many places. The mosses— green, red, and brown — 

 occurred in large beds wherever there was moisture, and the dead moss 

 formed masses of peat. The rocks were everywhere covered with many- 

 coloured lichens. Thus the whole aspect was varied and warm-coloured. 

 But in the Antarctic there were no flowering-plants whatever, very few 

 lichens, and still fewer mosse6. There being no plant-life, there was 

 none of the insect-life such as was always associated with plants. The 

 invertebrate fauna were all obtained within the 100-fathom line. There 

 was no littoral or tidal zone, because the shore was mostly hidden under 

 a permanent ice-face. The " Gauss " found much the same. The coast, 

 where accessible, was covered with an ice-face, and elsewhere was pre- 

 cipitous and inaccessible, and falling steeply to a deep sea. The most 

 interesting discovery of all, perhaps, was that made by Mr. Ferrar, 

 who accompanied Captain Scott on his western journey. A great. 



