242 NATURAL SCIENCE. Oct., 



shades of scientific opinion were represented in the discussion by 

 such authorities as Sir Joseph Hooker — now the only survivor of 

 Ross's Expedition in the "Erebus" and "Terror" in 1843 — Dr. 

 John Murray, Mr. de Lapparent, and General Greely. It was 

 unfortunate that Mr. C. E. Borchgrevink did not reach this country 

 in time to read his paper on the same day ; but he was enthusiasti- 

 cally received at a later meeting, and it was felt that his description 

 of the neighbourhood of Cape Adare removed one of the most serious 

 difficulties which has hitherto stood in the way of Antarctic explora- 

 tion — the want of a place suitable for wintering. We hope that the 

 strong expression of opinion on the part of the Congress as to the 

 results to be expected from an Antarctic expedition will help to bring 

 this country to the sticking point ; for if we do not undertake the 

 work soon, somebody else assuredly will. 



There was a general disposition to reserve judgment as to 

 schemes for Arctic exploration until something is known about the 

 expeditions at present in those regions. Mr. S. A. Andree's scheme 

 for sailing from Spitzbergen across the Pole in a balloon was rather 

 severely criticised ; but so far as appeared there was no fatal 

 objection to the methods proposed. It takes a good deal of faith 

 to believe that the wind will carry a balloon to the Pole and bring it 

 back again to civilised latitudes ; but if Mr. Andree is willing to risk 

 it, no one can prove it to be impossible, and a stroke of luck might 

 realise the dreams of ages in a few days. 



The other great field-day was over the colonisation of tropical 

 Africa. Mr. Stanley to the contrary notwithstanding, it seemed to be 

 clearly brought out that in tropical Africa, more than anywhere else, 

 we must have a sound basis of scientific geographical knowledge 

 of the country to go on before we can really know how to make the 

 most of it. The acquisition of that knowledge will be costly enough, 

 but not so ruinous in lives and capital as the methods we have been 

 accustomed to adopt in the past. After the general discussion, to 

 which Sir John Kirk, Count Pfeil, Mr. Stanley, Mr. Ravenstein, 

 Mr. Silva White, Mr. Lionel Decle, Slatin Pasha, and other 

 authorities contributed. General Chapman read a paper on the 

 Mapping of Africa. A resolution was afterwards drawn up on this 

 subject by a committee, which recommended, among other things, 

 the accurate determination of a number of fixed points from which 

 travellers could take their " departures," and advised travellers to 

 sketch areas rather than mere routes. We may be permitted to 

 express the hope that similar excellent advice in other branches 

 of science may be formulated for the benefit of explorers, who cannot 

 be experts in every department, any more than people who stay at 

 home. It seems a pity, for example, to burden a traveller, whose 

 main object is to cover ground as quickly as possible, with a complete 

 set of meteorological instruments and the maddening worry of 

 observing with them. Rain-gauges and thermometers are excellent 



