Chap. VIII. PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE. 249 



sober cheerfulness, the uninterrupted good order, and even, 

 in some measure, the extraordinary state of health which 

 prevailed among us during this winter." — pp. 50, 51. 



The several officers had full employment during 

 their winter confinement in the various observations 

 to which their attention was to be directed. Mag- 

 netism was one of the earliest subjects after the 

 erection and arrangement of the observatory on 

 shore. The interesting fact was discovered of an 

 increase in the variation of the magnetic needle, 

 since their former visit in 1819, amounting to about 

 nine degrees, namely from 114° to 123°. A regular 

 series of hourly experiments on the magnetic in- 

 tensity was instituted, by which was found a 

 diurnal change of intensity, exhibiting a regular 

 increase from the morning to the afternoon, and as 

 regular a decrease from the afternoon to the morn- 

 ing. "It also appeared,'' says Parry, "that the 

 sun, and, as we had reason to believe, the relative 

 position of the sun and moon, with reference to the 

 magnetic sphere, had a considerable influence both 

 on the intensity and diurnal variation, although the 

 exact laws of this influence may still remain to be 

 discovered." It is to be hoped that the result of the 

 observations that have been carrying on for three 

 years, by England and its colonies, and also in 

 various parts of Europe and in America, in obser- 

 vatories especially erected for observations and 

 experiments, in all that regards terrestrial mag- 



