NA TURE 



[November i i, 1897 



in general. Hence the author conchided his last communica- 

 tion to the Chemical Society in the following words: "The 

 difference in the nature of the elements of the same family group 

 which is manifested in their regularly varying atomic weights, is 

 also expressed in the similarly regular variation of the characters 

 of the crystals of an isomorphous series of salts of which these 

 elements are the interchangeable constituents." 



A. E. TUTTON. 



THE JACKSON-HARMS WORTH ARCTIC 

 EXPEDITION. 



T^HE first meeting of the present session of the Royal Geo- I 

 graphical Society took place at the Queen's Hall, Langham i 

 Place, on Monday night last, when Mr. Frederick G. Jackson | 

 lectured on the expedition ltd by himself to the Arctic regions. I 

 For the following abridged account of the lecture we are indebted i 

 to the Times ."— i 



It was in August 1873 that the land afterwards known as 

 Franz Josef Land was first accidentally discovered by the Austro- i 

 Hungarian expedition, under the leadership of Weyprecht and 

 Payer. The following spring Payer made three journeys up and 1 

 in the neighbourhood of what he then named Austria Sound. I 

 Arctic authorities advocated the route to the north suggested by ' 

 Payer's impression that there was land still further to the north 

 in and beyond the eighty-third degree, and land to the north- 

 west reaching almost as far, and it was on Payer's observations 

 that Mr. Jackson formulated his plans in the latter end of 1892. 

 Unfortunately his expectations were fated to disappointment by the 

 non-extension of the land to the north. His plans embraced not 

 only an advance in a northerly direction, but the mapping-in of 

 the coast-lines of Franz Josef Land, a thorough examination of 

 that country, in taking scientific observations, and making col- 

 lections generally. Those plans they had been able to carry 

 out ; and scientific observations had been carried on un- 

 interruptedly for three years. They had also practically completed 

 the map of Franz Josef Land, and settled the Gillis Land 

 question. For some time the sinews of war wer« conspicuous 

 by their absence, and little encouragement was given, but 

 eventually Mr. Alfred Harmsworth generously offered to provide 

 the necessary funds for the proposed expedition. They left the 

 Thames on July 12, 1894, in the steam yacht Windward, calling 

 at Archangel. Then they procTeeded east, skirting the northern 

 shores of Kolguev Lsland to Kharborova, a Sainoyed settlement 

 on the Yugor Straits, to take on board their thirty dogs and 

 some fresh reindeer meat. They then steamed north through 

 the Barents Sea. making for Bell Island, Franz Josef Land. The 

 mass of islands of which Franz Josef Land was comprised con- 

 sisted of high glacier-land rising to 2000 feet, covered with an ice- 

 cap some hundreds of feet in thickness, and fronted along the shore 

 by high perpendicular glacier faces from 30 feet to 80 feet in height. 

 At rare intervals high black basaltic rocks jutted out of the ice 

 near the shore, forming the only conspicuous landmarks. In 

 front of these rocks the broken-down debris from the cliffs had 

 formed a plateau, or shore, upon which a certain amount of 

 stunted Arctic vegetation existed. Here might be found a few 

 poppies, saxifrages, mosses, lichens, &c. Everywhere else, 

 with the exception of a few low islands, the ice-sheet overran 

 everything. Thick mists generally overhung this land ; violent 

 gales were frequent, combined with heavily falling and driving 

 snow. Finding no suitable site for their hut, they returned to 

 Cape Flora, a high basaltic cape 1400 feel high, beneath which 

 they pitched their camp, as being the most favourable spot they 

 had yet seen, one of the strongest inducements being the pre- 

 sence of a large loomery therein the high rocks, and the known 

 presence of bears and walruses throughout the year. This they 

 reached on September 8. They at once set to work to shoot 

 bears and walruses for the winter, and to put up their log hut, 

 which was named " Elmwood," and to make themselves as 

 comfortable as circumstances would allow. On the return of 

 the sun, about the middle of February, they got ready to start, 

 and on March 9 Mr. Armitage and he took a preliminary journey 

 with the object of making a depot of provisions to the north 

 and of ascertaining the character of the travelling in that direc- 

 tion. In the beginning of April they got under way with three 

 ponies and a number of sledges, being accompanied for the first 

 week by Dr. Koettlitz and young Hayward with one pony and 

 sledges. Soon after rounding Dundee Point they discovered that 

 the existing maps were not quite in accordance with fact. To the 



NO. 1463, VOL. 57] 



northward lay floe ice where land had l^een mapped in ; and 

 it was not till they reached the latitude of Point Arthur that 

 they could discern land to the westward. To the south west 

 appeared open ocean. The weather now became very bad, and 

 they were frequently confined to their tent for days together. 

 Constant gales and driving snow impeded their advance, and 

 the floe ice itself became very unstable with water in the 

 deeper layers of the snow, so that they were frequently wading 

 about in slush above their knees. They, however, pushed on. 

 Richthofen Peak could nowhere be discerned, and no hill 

 worthy of the name of mountain could be seen in any direction, 

 although they were within half a mile of its supposed site. On 

 April 30 they rounded Cape Fisher, and to the north appeared 

 a low island, which in the di.«tance had rather a volcanic 

 appearance, owing to a cup-shaped elevation upon it. On 

 May I they rounded Cape M'Clintock, a low weathered cape 

 of columnar basalt, projecting out of the ice-clad land behind. 

 A striking feature of this rock was a pillar of columnar basalt 

 standing up in front of it. Thus it was in April 1895 that 

 they discovered the Queen Victoria Sea, which he named after 

 her Majesty. They reached a point 81° 20' N. They carefully 

 mapped in the whole coast-line, although the weather was 

 exceedingly unsuitable for taking bearings. On May 4 they 

 started back in a strong wind, dense mist, and driving snow, 

 returning by the same route as they had come up. The diffi- 

 culties of the floes daily increased. They had constantly ta 

 haul the ponies out of the snow morasses with ropes round 

 their necks. They would then go for a few yards further and 

 would flounder in again. They frequently had to take the 

 sledges on themselves, leading the ponies through especially bad 

 places, and had to go over the same ground thirteen times to 

 effect this. On their return journey they got a view of the land 

 to the north-west, which appeared to consist of islands. 

 They returned again round the cape that he had named Cape 

 Richthofen. thus giving themselves an opportunity of discovering 

 the whereabouts of Richthofen Peak, if such existed ; but they 

 again failed to see any sign of such a hill in any direction. 

 On May 12 they reached their hut at Cape Flora, getting the 

 ponies back in the nick of time. After their return they were 

 busy with botanical, geological, and other examinations, and in 

 fitting up their whaleboat, the Mary Hai insworth, for a journey 

 round the south-west coast as soon as the Windward should 

 break loose from her wii.ter quarters and depart for home. This 

 she did on July 3, after being cut out of the ice. To the south- 

 ward there appeared to be little ice, and from an altitude of over 

 1400 feet little more than open sea could be discerned. The 

 other expeditions made by Mr. Jackson during his stay were 

 described, and the lecturer concluded by saying that, so far from 

 viewing Franz Josef Land as a favourable route to the Pole, his 

 experiences now led him to believe it to be one of the worst ; 

 and although he had, in comm.on with other Arctic explorers, the 

 greatest desire to stand upori that mathematical point, still he 

 had no .sympathy with an attempt to reach the Pole as a mere 

 athletic feat alone, but considered that geographical and other 

 scientific work should always be included in the plan. 



REPORT ON TECHNOLOGICAL 

 EXAMINA TIONS. 



'T^HE report on the work of the Examinations Department ol 

 the City and Guilds of London Institute for the session 

 1896-97 has just reached us, and is as usual a very business-like 

 and interesting publication. We make a few extracts from it. 



There has been a marked development in the work of the 

 Examinations Department of the Institute during the past 

 Session, as shown not only in the larger number of classes in 

 Technology registered by the Institute, but also in the increase 

 in the number of students in attendance at such classes, and of 

 candidates for examination. This development is due to the 

 further provision of facilities for technical instruction, and also 

 to the fuller recognition of its value and importance. 



The report before us shows that the Institute has endeavoured 

 in various ways to assist this forward movement 



Since the Technological Examinations were first undertaken 

 by the Institute, the organisation of technical instruction has 

 been greatly promoted by the Educational Committees of County 

 Councils, with which the Institute has established close relations ; 

 and many of the improvements, which have been introduced 

 into its schemes of instruction and examination, have been due 



