TEMPERATURES 317 



tained, but it is quite clear that many of them are new and un- 

 expected. Enough data have been collected to require many 

 years for their adequate discussion by specialists. A few numeri- 

 cal results obtained during the first year are given in the table at 

 the end of this article. 



Throughout this book there have been constant references 

 to temperature and wind two meteorological factors which 

 have been of vital importance to the members of the expedition. 

 It appears therefore that it would not be out of place to ex- 

 amine here these two factors from the scientific point of view 

 to see what justification there was for the verdict passed on them 

 from purely physiological experiences. 



TEMPERATURE 



The mean temperature at Cape Evans during the first year of 

 our stay was - 0-4 F., which compares with - 1-3 F. found for 

 the two years that the Discovery was in the same region. The 

 corresponding temperature for a place in the same latitude in 

 the Arctic is 2-5 F., thus the difference is not very great. The 

 lowest temperature recorded at Cape Evans was 50 F., which 

 is not particularly low, for many well inhabited towns in Alaska 

 and Sibera experience lower temperatures every winter. The 

 real severity of the Antarctic climate is not shown in its low 

 minimum temperatures, but in its low maximum temperatures. 

 The July temperature at the North Pole has been calculated to 

 be 30 F., the mean temperature at Cape Evans during Decem- 

 ber 1911 and January 1912 was 21 F. Thus the summer tem- 

 perature at our base station over 900 miles from the South Pole 

 was 9 F. below the summer temperature at the North Pole 

 itself. It is interesting to compare*the mean temperature through- 

 out the months of the year at Cape Evans with that of a station 

 in the corresponding latitude in the northern hemisphere. The 

 comparison is made in the table on p. 318. 



Thus during the three summer months our temperature was 

 more than 15 F. below what would have been experienced at a 

 similar latitude in the Arctic. The low temperature during the 

 summer in the Antarctic is one of the outstanding features of its 

 climate and has not yet received a really satisfactory explanation. 



As stated above, the lowest temperatures experienced at Cape 



