GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1872. 333 



scarcely fail to materially enlarge our knowl- 

 edge of the currents of the arctic seas, a 

 knowledge for the lack of which much effort 

 has been wasted. Captain Altman had ap- 

 proached this King Carl's Land in 1871, and 

 reported that it was entirely free from ice. 

 He believed that there were three large and 

 five small islands, lying about 79 3' N. lat., 

 and 32 17' E. long, from Greenwich. Captain 

 Jansen reports that there is but one large 

 island, which is much indented with bays and 

 caves, and some small islands. The explora- 

 tion of these seas and those farther east to the 

 north of Novaya Zemlya has been actively 

 maintained by these Norwegian sailors during 

 the last two years. Dr. Petermann has criti- 

 cally examined the logs of eight Norwegian 

 whaling-captains, and two or three German 

 sailors, all of whom have within a year and a 

 half sailed over the arctic seas north of No- 

 vaya Zemlya, some of them going as far north 

 as 77 30', and all report the sea as free from 

 ice at least to that high latitude as late aa 

 October 15th, and with unmistakable traces 

 of the Gulf Stream, in a higher temperature 

 of the sea, and West India fruits tossed ashore 

 on the islands. Thousands of white whales 

 sported in the sea to the eastward, and, so far 

 as any appearance of ice went, there seemed 

 little to prevent a vessel from sailing through 

 to Behring's Straits in one summer. The 

 Austro - Hungarian expedition, under Wey- 

 precht and Payer, is now in those seas, and 

 there seems quite as much reason to expect a 

 good result from their explorations as from 

 those of any of the exploring expeditions. 

 Dr. Peterraann has seen his theory confirmed 

 that there was at least an equal chance for 

 reaching high latitudes unobstructed by ice, to 

 the north of Novaya Zemlya, with the route 

 on which English and American explorers 

 have insisted by way of Smith's Sound. The 

 English geographers, however, refuse to be 

 convinced, and another expedition, to be fitted 

 out under the direction of Mr. Sherrard Os- 

 borne, is to start in the spring or early sum- 

 mer of 1873 for Smith's Sound. 



In the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1871, refer- 

 ence was made to the voyage of the Hassler, a 

 new coast-survey steamer, around Cape Horn, 

 and to the scientific expedition of Prof. Agas- 

 siz and a corps of physicists, in her, having 

 primarily in view the ichthyology of the South 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with reference to 

 their bearing on fossil ichthyology. But, 

 though the fish were the first object, no de- 

 partment of physical science was neglected 

 in this voyage. Geology, botany, zoology in 

 general, physical geography, ethnology, and 

 astronomy, were all embraced in its observa- 

 tions. In the Straits of Magalhaens and on the 

 Patagonian coast on both sides, the glacier 

 systems of that region were fully explored, 

 and much valuable knowledge acquired in 

 regard to the formation, movement, and dis- 

 integration of the monster glaciers of the 



Southern Hemisphere. Their vast extent in 

 some portions of the Straits of Magalhaens was 

 a surprise even to Agassiz, whose thorough 

 mastery of the whole science of glaciers is 

 unequalled. Two points of great interest in 

 reference to glacial action were settled, viz. : 

 that the great glaciers of the southern portion 

 of South America did not come from the An- 

 des, but had forced their way northward from 

 the south from Terra del Fuego, and from 

 the sloping sides of the water-passages or 

 natural canals which stretch northward on 

 the western side of Patagonian Chili, and ex- 

 tended formerly up the low-lying valley be- 

 tween the coast-range and the Andes, between 

 Talcahuano and Santiago, coming in all cases 

 from the south ; and, secondly, that in some 

 instances these glaciers have formed and have 

 carried the drift over a stratum of volcanic 

 lava showing that this glacial action is much 

 more recent than had usually been supposed. 

 The Hassler was detained at Talcahuano, Cal- 

 lao, and Panama, for repairs, and the scientific 

 party made good use of their time in exploring 

 the vicinity of those places. They arrived in 

 San Francisco late in August, and were ac- 

 corded a most hearty reception there. The 

 work of the expedition may be summed up in 

 a very careful and constant observation of the 

 temperatures of the sea, from Boston, through 

 the Straits of Magalhaens, to Panama, by Count 

 Pourtales; observations on glaciers, already 

 referred to, by Prof. Agassiz; astronomical 

 and meteorological observations by other mem- 

 bers of the scientific corps ; botanical and eth- 

 nological observations and collections in great 

 profusion, and the largest collection of zoo- 

 logical specimens, in every department, ever 

 made in this country ; so large, indeed, that 

 Prof. Agassiz is in despair for room to bestow 

 them. The COAST SURVEY has been, in other 

 directions, contributing largely to the advance- 

 ment of geographical science, having made 

 progress, during the year 1872, in its survey 

 of almost every portion of our coast, and thus 

 rendered inestimable advantages to our com- 

 merce ; and in its commencement of a geodetic 

 survey of prominent stations in the interior, 

 to connect, as by a net-work, its accurately- 

 ascertained positions on the coast with the 

 entire interior of the country, and thus fur- 

 nish data for the geodetic and geological sur- 

 veys of the several States. The results already 

 attained in these surveys show their very great 

 importance. In ascertaining the exact me- 

 ridian of Columbus, Ohio, it was discovered 

 that in the previously- accepted longitude of 

 that city there was an error of three miles, 

 and, consequently, that all previously-drawn 

 maps of the State or United States, based on 

 the old longitude, were wrong to that extent, 

 at least. There is some reason to believe that 

 this error is much increased in some of the 

 States farther west, though the longitude of St. 

 Louis had previously been correctly determined. 

 II. NORTH AMERICA. There are few items 



