242 



THE MUSEUM. 



be noticed that the land masses, by 

 their unequal radiation, form an im- 

 portant agent in the del^ection of the 

 isotherms. In the northern hemis- 

 phere, where the land masses greatly 

 predominate, the parallel system can 

 hardly be traced; but south of the 

 equator, the system is more noticeable, 

 and.asvvepass beyond the limit of con- 

 tinental influence, there is very little 

 deviation from the direct course. Thus 

 the fiftieth, fortieth and the thirtieth 

 isotherms very nicely co-incircle, 

 throughout their entire length, with 

 the fortieth, fiftieth and si.xtieth 

 parallels of latitude respectively. Now 

 this indicates that the Antarctic conti- 

 nent must be of a circular form; and 

 that it must be situated around the 

 South Pole, which is, necessarily, very 

 nearly in the e.xact geographical center 

 of the continent. This theory is 

 strongly corroborated by other circum- 

 stances which will be noticed in their 

 proper places. 



Now a general law of continental 

 relief is, that an independent land 

 mass of this form coi;sists of an undu- 

 latmg i.)iain, of a low elevation, sur- 

 rounded by a range of low mountains 

 situated near the const, to which it is 

 parallel. There is no reason for be- 

 lieving that the Antarctic continent is 

 any e.xception to the general rule; and 

 hence we are justified in assuming that 

 thepe are the general features of the 

 ccuntr\. Ill fact Sir James Ross, who 

 discovered ihc continent noticed and 

 described such a range of mountains, 

 which, in memory of another distin • 

 j;uished navigator, he called Parry 

 mountains. He also described two 

 volcanoes, Mt. Erebus with an alti- 

 tude of 12,400 feet, and Mt. Terror, 

 10,900 feet in height. From these al- 



titudes (assuming the measurements to 

 have been correct) we might be justi- 

 fied in supposing the range itself to 

 have a greater elevation than it really 

 possesses. But the position of these 

 volcanoes, so far from the volcanic 

 zone, shows them to be but isolated 

 volcanoes; and, as one distinguished 

 writer has said. "Isolated volcanoes 

 are but accidents in the relief of a 

 continent," and do not affect the gen- 

 eral laws of relief. Their height, to- 

 gether with their steep, precipitous 

 sides, show, however, that they be- 

 long to that class of volcanoes which 

 emit ashes and stones instead of melt- 

 ed lava. 



It may well be stated, in this con- 

 nection, that a land mass of this form 

 possesses few good harbors, and it is 

 worthy of note that Rofs, who sailed 

 along the coast of this continent for a 

 tlistance of four hundred and fifty 

 miles without finding a single safe har- 

 bor. The encircling ring of mountains 

 generally presents an inseperable bar 

 rier to the perfect drriiiuige of the m 

 terior of a land mass cd this kind At 

 each extremity of the longer a.xis ot 

 such a land mass the mountains have 

 a less elevation, often bt^ing nothing 

 but hills through which the few rivers, 

 which have their sources in tiie interior 

 break their way to the ocean. This is 

 the case with the Antarctic continent 

 The climate is too severe tn admit of 

 the existence of a stream of ilowiiig 

 water. But the topography ol the 

 continent is such, that, did riveis exist 

 in its interior, the main streams would 

 reach the ocean not far from the mtr- 

 idian of Greenwich and that of < ne 

 hundred and eighty. Considering ihe 

 temperature, I incline to the opinion 

 that the interior plain is filled uith 



