870 Captain Robert F. Scott [May 27, 



such work calls for an outlay of time and ship-space which could not 

 be afforded l)y the expedition. I have therefore considered that 

 500 fathoms is the limit at which dredging operations can be con- 

 ducted, and the equipment of the ship has been arranged accordingly. 



Two gentlemen have consented to accompany the expedition for 

 this work : Mr. Nelson, from the Plymouth Biological Laboratory, will 

 be landed with the Western party, and will be given every facility 

 possible to conduct researches in the waters of McMurdo Sound ; Mr. 

 LilHe will remain in the ship. It is difficult to say when and where 

 his dredges can be brought into use, but I am hopeful that at least 

 some opportunities may be found on the southern voyage, and that 

 after the wintering parties have been landed, on the northern voyage, 

 and especially in the shallow waters of the Belleny Islands, Mr. Lillie 

 may have a chance to glean a rich harvest of result. 



The subject of meteorology makes an ever-increasing appeal to the 

 domains of Polar research, in view of the fact, which is now very 

 generally accepted, that Polar conditions have a preponderating effect 

 upon the weather of the whole world. For this reason I am most 

 happy to have secured the services of an eminent physicist. Dr. G. 

 Simpson, a member of the Meteorological Department of India. Con- 

 versant with all the latest methods of exploring the upper air-currents 

 and investigating the electrical conditions of the atmosphere, Dr. 

 Simpson is prepared to take the fullest advantage of the opportunities 

 which will be afforded for the exceptional, as well as for the more 

 usual, routine observations of our meteorological station. Realising 

 the importance of this work, I have allowed him a special hut and 

 space for a very large outfit of scientific instruments. In addition to 

 the meteorological instruments, self-recording magnetic instruments 

 will be taken with the object of comparing the magnetograms with 

 those obtained by the Discover?/ expedition, and ascertaining the secular 

 magnetic changes as well as of connecting the more irregular changes 

 with other physical phenomena. Arrangements have also been made 

 for gravity observations, for auroral photography, and for the study 

 of the other branches of physical science which Dr. Simpson will 

 undertake. 



Ever since my first introduction to the Antarctic I have felt that a 

 new and most interesting field of research was open to any one who with 

 trained abilities would undertake a close study of ice-structure in that 

 region. Nowhere in the world can ice-formations be found with more 

 varied characteristics. It seemed to me that these varied ice-formations 

 could tell their history to the initiated as clearly as the rocks of our 

 geological formations. Recent inquiry has shown me that more com- 

 petent persons than I have pursued this line of thought, and already 

 the structure of the glaciers of the temperate climates has been studied 

 with a view to disclosing the nature of their origin. For this study, 

 and for the further investigation of physical problems which lie outside 

 the scope of Dr. Simpson's work, I have obtained the services of 



