336 PROMOTION OF ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC DISCOVERY. 



an artist, and an accomi^lished author. Tt is to the training and encour- 

 agement of such men that the society must look, if we are to have great 

 travelers in the future to advance our science and to do honor to our 

 country. 



Circumstances have obliged us to pay very special attention to Arctic 

 questions in the past year; but the great meeting wliich assembled to 

 hear Dr. Murray's pajier, on the 27th of last November, is onr witness 

 that the Antarctic regions have not been forgotten. All the scientific 

 societies in the United Kingdom and on the Continent are now of one 

 mind as to the importance of Antarctic exploration, and they are con- 

 vinced that it must be a Government undertaking. It is half a century 

 since Sir James Eoss returned, and the time has come for renewing the 

 work which he commenced so admirably. The arguments of Dr. Murray 

 must have brought conviction to the minds of all who had not previously 

 studied the subject. An expedition is necessary for magnetic observa- 

 tions alone. I'rofessor jSTeumayer Avrote to Dr. Murray that " it is certain 

 that without au examination and a survey of the magnetic jiroperties of 

 the Antarctic regions, it is utterly hopeless to strive, with prospects of 

 success, at the advancement of the theory of the earth's magnetism." 

 Dr. Murray thus summed up the work of a modern Antarctic exijcdition : 

 " To determine the nature and extent of the Antarctic continent, to pene- 

 trate into the interior, to ascertain the depth and nature of the ice cap, 

 to observe the character of the underlying rocks and their fossils, to 

 take magnetic and meteorological observations both at sea and on land, 

 to observe the temperature of the ocean at all depths and seasons of the 

 year, to take x>endulum observations on land, to bore through the 

 deposits on the floor of the ocean at certain points to ascertain the con- 

 dition of the deeper layers, and to sound, trawl, dredge, and study the 

 character and distribution of marine organisms." All these observations 

 are earnestly demanded by the science of our day for many purj^oses. 

 Science demands a steady, continuous, laborious, and systematic explora- 

 tion of the whole southern region with all the appliances of the modern 

 investigator. 



Enlightened by the exhaustive and most interesting paper of Dr. 

 Murray, and encouraged alike by his enthusiasm and by the sound 

 sense of his remarks in favor of the renewal of Antarctic exploration, 

 our council appointed a committee with instructions to report upon the 

 best means of achieving the objects set forth by Dr. Murray. Our 

 Antarctic committee consisted of Sir Joseph Hooker, one of the two 

 survivors of Sir James Boss's expedition; of Sir George Nares, the 

 only living naval captain who has navigated the Antarctic Ocean; of 

 Captain Wharton, the hydrographer; of Admiral Sir Erasmus Omman- 

 ney, who has long been a warm advocate of such an enterprise; of 

 Admiral Sir R. Yesey Hamilton, one of our best Arctic authorities, who 

 has also written on the subject of Antarctic navigation of Dr. Murray 

 and myself. 



