THE PRESENT STANDPOINT OF GEOGRAPHY. 397 



Patrick Island and Siberia Avhicli ougbt to be discovered. The extent 

 of the ancient ice ought to be ascertained by an expedition up Jones 

 Sound. Franz Josef Land, particularly the coasts and islands on its 

 northern face, offer materials of peculiar interest to the ex])l<)rer. Mr. 

 Jackson, who left last suniiner to explore the Yahnal Peninsula, has 

 proposed to lead an expedition in this direction. The ditticulties will 

 be formidable and ought not to be disguised, but the value of the scien- 

 tific results to be attained are well worth the unavoidable risk. Another 

 direction for research is the area immediately to the north of Cape 

 Chelyuskin, in Siberia, where Lieut. Hovgaard, on plausible grounds, 

 believes that there is extensive land. It will occupy at least five suc- 

 cessive Arctic expeditions, all entirely successful, to complete our knowl- 

 edge of the North Polar area, and this society ought never to rest satis- 

 fied until the work is thoroughly done. For it must be borne in mind 

 that this work will not only unfold to us the varied phenomena of the 

 unknown regions. The earth's surface is a connected whole and its 

 phenomena are inter-dependent. For example, the climate of Europe, 

 as was pointed out in 1873, in no small degree depends on the atmos- 

 ])heric conditions of the Polar area. For the satisfactory appreciation 

 of these phenomena a precise acquaintance with the distribution of land 

 and water north of the Arctic Circle is quite necessary, and of that our 

 knowledge is still very unlimited. 



If a vast extent of the North Polar area is still unknown, and if, 

 as is undoubtedly the case, its complete examination is a scientific; 

 desideratum, how much more is this the case within the South Polar 

 area? The Antarctic regions, with millions of unknown square miles 

 full of geographical work, and teeming with the most interesting- 

 scientific problems, have been totally neglected by us for half a century. 

 It is not necessary that I should say more, because at our next meeting 

 Dr. John Murray will address us fully on the important results to be 

 derived from Antarctic discovery, and stir up our enthusiasm as geog- 

 raphers and our patriotism as Britons so that we may all combine in a 

 hearty effort to procure the renewal of Antarctic research. Certainly 

 fifty years is a long time for us to have totally neglected so vast and so 

 important a field for geographical discovery. We may now look forward 

 to a most interesting Antarctic meeting on November 1*7, and, mean 

 while, we will continue our survey of the other parts of the world, which 

 either need further exploration or are entirely unknown. 



There is plenty of interesting work even in our quarter of the globe, 

 although there are now no discoveries to be made. Even in our own islands 

 some of the lakes are unsurveyed and were not systematically sounded 

 until our accomplished librarian began the useful work in Cumberland 

 this year. The topography of the Alps may be considered to be fairly 

 complete, but there are still physical inquiries of great interest which 

 commend themselves to scientific Alpine travelers, such as the extent 

 and action of ice, the oscillations of glaciers, the origin of the FoUu 



