396 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM VOLUME 1 



objc-ct for which she was sent out, the Fox brought back important zoological collections, 

 including specimens of this species from Melville Bay. 



In 18(54 A. E. Nordenskiold and N. Duncr, accompanied b}' A. J. Malmgren, 

 sailed for Spitzbergen, also visiting Bear Island, in the schooner Axel Thorssen. Their 

 puj-pose was to conclude the reconnoitering of the southern part of the chain of tri- 

 angles for measuring an arc of meridian, the northern part of which had been staked 

 out in 1861. 



In 1868 a Swedish expedition, which was equipped and manned through the media- 

 tion of tlie Minister of Marine, Count von Platen, out of the grant for naval maneuvers, 

 started for Spitzbergen under the leadership of A. E. Nordenskiold. The vessel used 

 was the iron steamer Sofia, belonging to the Post OfEce Department. The followang 

 naturalists took part in this expedition: S. Berggren, Th. Fries, A. E. Holmgren, G. 

 Nauckhoff and F. A. Smitt. The commander of the Sofia was F. W. von Otter, the 

 second-in-command L. Palander, and the surgeon C. Nystrom. Bear Island was visited 

 and at Spitzbergen the fjords on the west and north coasts were studied. 



With the three cruises of the Porcupine in 1869, the intensive study of the broader 

 aspects of oceanography may be said to have been begun. The first of these cruises 

 was off western Ireland and northwestward to Rockall, the scientific work directed by 

 Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, assisted by Mr. William Lant Carpenter; the second, off south- 

 western Ireland, was under the supervision of Prof. C. Wyville Thomson, assisted by 

 Mr. Hunter; and the third, northward from Scotland to the Shetlands and the Faroes, 

 was under the leadership of Dr. William Benjamin Carpenter, accompanied by Prof. 

 Wyville Thomson and assisted by his son Mr. Philip Herbert Carpenter, all three of 

 whom had served in the same capacities on the Lightning in August and September of 

 the previous year. On this third cruise the Porcupine discovered this species in the 

 Faroe Channel, a region far removed from any previously known habitat. 



In the summer of 1872 Mr. Benjamin Leigh Smith made a voyage on his schooner- 

 yacht Samson to the north of Spitzbergen, and in the following year he visited Spitz- 

 bergen again in the Diana. 



An Austro-Hungarian expedition in the steamer Tegetthof, commanded by Captain 

 Weyprecht, left Troms0 on July 14, 1872. Franz Josef Land was discovered, other 

 important geograpliical observations were made, and large zoological collections were 

 brought together. But the Tegetthof encountered particularly unfavorable conditions, 

 and it was finally found necessary to abandon her. The party from the Tegetthof was 

 picked up by a Russian schooner and reached Vard0 on September 3, 1874, bringing 

 with them a considerable amount of their zoological material. 



The Challenger in 187.3 dredged this species off Halifax, Nova Scotia, and specimens 

 from this locality were presented by Sir Wyville Thomson to the local museum. 



In 1872-73, under A. E. Nordenskiold, the first wintering of the Swedes in Spitz- 

 bergen was undertaken. The State placed at the disposal of the expedition the steamer 

 Polhem, built as a winter mail steamer for the Baltic, and the brig Gladan, both 

 equipped and manned. A special transport vessel, the Onkel Adam, was chartered in 

 addition. The naturalists of the expedition were F. R. Kjellman and Aug. Wijkander; 

 the commander of the Polhem was L. Palander, and the surgeon was A. Envall; Lieut. 

 E. Parent of the Royal Italian Navy also accompanied the expedition. 



In 1875 the two steamers Alert and Discovery, under the command of Capt. (later 

 Adm., Sir) George Nares, detached from the Challenger to lead this expedition, with 



