378 APPENDIX II 



thermometers taken proved of so little use that they were soon 

 discarded; the observations have not been included here. 



It was due to a misunderstanding that mercury thermometers 

 were not also used in the first half-year, during those periods when 

 the temperature did not go below the freezing-point of mercury 

 (-39°C.). But the toluene thermometers in use were old and 

 good instruments, so that the observations for this period may also 

 be regarded as perfectly reliable. Of course, all the thermometers 

 had been carefully examined at the Norwegian Meteorological 

 Institute, and at Framheim the freezing-point was regularly tested 

 in melting snow. 



The results show that the winter on the Barrier was about 

 12° C. (21 '6° F.) colder than it usually is in McMurdo Sound, 

 where the British expeditions winter. The coldest month is 

 August, with a mean temperature of -445° C. (-48'1° F.); on 

 fourteen days during this month the temperature was below 

 -50° C. (-58° F.). The lowest temperature occurred on 

 August 13: -58-5° C. (-73-3° F.); the warmest day in that 

 month had a temperature of - 24° C. ( - 11*2° F.). 



In October spring begins to approach, and in December the 

 temperature culminates with a mean for the month of - 6*6° C. 

 >( + 20'l° F.), and a highest maximum temperature of -0*2° C. 

 (+31*0° F.). The temperature was thus never above freezing- 

 point, even in the warmest part of the summer. 



The daily course of the temperature — warmest at noon and 

 coldest towards morning — is, of course, not noticeable in winter, 

 as the sun is always below the horizon. But in April there is 

 a sign of it, and from September onward it is fairly marked, 

 although the difference between 2 p.m. and the mean of 8 a.m. 

 and 8 p.m. only amounts to 2° C. in the monthly mean. 



Humidity of the Air. 

 For determining the relative humidity of the air the expedition 

 had two of Russeltvedt's torsion hygrometers. This instrument 



