THE LAST OF THE JEANNETTE. 517 



nineteen three fourths miles. I have always felt that 

 75° would be our Rubicon, and now we have passed it, 

 and may hope for better things. Soundings forty-four 

 fathoms, a rapid drift to N. by E. Happy omen. Mr. 

 Newcomb while out to-day noticed a piece of ice of 

 this year's formation, he thinks, with icicles a foot or 

 more in length, from which drops of water were ready 

 to fall. These icicles were hanging from the south side 

 of the piece of ice, and were sharpened to quite an 

 edge southeast and northwest, as if cut by a blast of 

 drifting snow during our late heavy southeast winds. 

 The sun was about 5° above the horizon, the temper- 

 ature of the air minus 9°. He brought a piece on 

 board with icicles depending, and upon melting it I 

 tasted some of the water, and found it unpleasantly 

 salt, accustomed as I am to distilled water. The specific 

 gravity proved, however, to be 1.0005, and that is 

 fresher than anything we have seen thus far from sea- 

 water ice. Now, as I am convinced that the con- 

 tinued consumption of just such water (if no worse) 

 has had much to do with the heretofore unaccountable 

 outbreak of scurvy in previous expeditions I am de- 

 termined to bottle this specimen and take it home, as 

 also a specimen of the distilled water such as we have 

 used nearly always ; and in America to submit the first 

 specimen to medical experts for examination and anal- 

 ysis, asking these questions : " How long, under the 

 peculiar conditions of life in the Arctic regions, could 

 men habitually use that water without becoming scor- 

 butic ? " And, " Would it not be wonderful (or at least 

 strange) if men continued to drink it and did not be- 

 come scorbutic ? " 



February 15th, Tuesday. — The wind veered to S. 

 S. W. and blew twenty miles an hour at six a. m., and 



