A. INTRODUCTION. 
Attempts are continually being made to extend the knowledge we possess 
regarding the magnetic conditions of our globe, both by regular observations 
with fixed instruments in observatories specially arranged for that purpose, 
and by occasional, but systematically prepared observations during scientific 
journeys. It is of especial importance to obtain determinations of the magnetic 
elements from the polar regions, because the observations have naturally 
hitherto been rather scarce from these deserted wastes, containing large tracts 
where the foot of man has never yet trod, and whose physical conditions 
place all kinds of difficulties in the way of delicate scientific investigations. 
They are also important because the action of the earth’s magnetic forces in 
these very regions, judging from the observations that have been obtained, 
presents peculiarities to which there is no parallel in the temperate and 
torrid zones. 
It was therefore reasonable that investigations of terrestrial magnetism 
should form an important part of Dr. Nansen’s plan for the scientific work 
of the Norwegian Polar Expedition. 
The member of the expedition who was appointed to conduct these 
investigations was Lieutenant, now Captain R. N. Sigurp Scort-Hansen, 
who, all through the three years in the ice, made all the observations be- 
longing to this subject with unabated interest and great skill. 
During the preparations for the expedition, Professor Moun applied to 
the director of ‘Deutsche Seewarte’ in Hamburg, the famous magnetician, 
Professor Dr. G. Neumayer, with a request that he would give his valuable 
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