March 17, 1898J 



NATURE 



\i 6 



of Wijde Bay and Ice Kiord. For this second region Sir 

 Martin Conway has revived the old English whalers' name for 

 Spitsbergen as a whole — King James Land. 



Although the routes naturally did not extend over a very 

 large area, considering the comparatively short time available 

 for the exploration, Sir Martin Conway had a most interesting 

 story to tell of a fight against difficulties, such as are presented 

 to the explorer by few, even of the most remote regions of the 

 world. His graphic descriptions, reinforced by the unusually 

 fine representations of scenery supplied by Mr. Garwood's pho- 

 tographs, brought home to his hearers the chief characteristics of 

 the country in a way which could only be surpassed by an actual 

 visit to the scenes described. He also gave the meeting an in- 

 structive study of the problems in physical geography which he 

 thinks may be solved by his examination of the country. 

 Garwood Land was first visited, a landing being effected at the 

 foot of the Nordenskiold Glacier, near the head of Klaas Billen 

 Bay, one of the principal branches of Ice Fiord. The route led 

 a little east of north, progress being difficult at first on account 

 of the labyrinth of crevasses which intersect the glacier, and 

 afterwards by reason of dense fog, and violent snowstorms. Par- 

 ticularly forcible was the lecturer's description of the white 

 curtain of fog in which he and his companions were enwrapped 

 for days together, and which in time caused a dazed feeling as if 

 they had taken entire leave of the solid earth, and were floating 

 in some unsubstantial nebula. The steep snow slopes entailed 

 arduous labour in dragging the sledges, but after the fourth camp 

 had been left some high snow domes were reached, from the 

 summits of which views down broad valleys to the east and 

 north were obtained, displaying a succession of plateau -fronts or 

 bluffs of rock with n&ve both below and above them. The 

 scenery, as seen by the evening light, was described as superb, 

 the panorama being a glorious mass of colour. Returning to the 

 coast, the travellers next proceeded to King's Bay on the west 

 coast of the island in 79° N. , and thence penetrated inland into 

 an interesting region of peaks and glaciers, several of the former 

 being climbed. The principal mountain group is known as the 

 Crowns, and lies between the two main branches of the King's 

 (ilacier. The peaks of this region present striking characteristics, 

 well shown by the photographs displayed on the screen. The 

 weather during this expedition was the most perfect imaginable. 

 A week at Horn Sound, near the south end of the island, during 

 which Mount Hedgehog, one of the highest peaks of the Hom- 

 sunds Tinder, was climbed, concluded the expedition. Dense fog 

 was again encountered here, and the difficulties of the ascent were 

 altogether out of proportion to the comparatively small elevation 

 above sea-level, the extent of the actual climb (in the Alpinist's 

 sense of the word) far exceeding that in the case of many of the 

 more difficult summits of the Alps. 



The principal geographical result of his second visit to Spits- 

 bergen is. Sir Martin Conway considers, the discovery that 

 neither of the districts visited, nor, in fact, any large part of the 

 islands except New Friesland and North-East Land, is covered 

 by an ice-sheet. As long as a flowing body of ice is contained 

 within definite mountain ranges, it is a glacier , and the districts 

 visited were both merely glacial and mountain areas. The im- 

 portance of distinguishing clearly between the two types of ice- 

 bearing country was strongly insisted upon by the lecturer, on 

 account of the different natural processes to be seen at work in 

 the two. The insignificance of the excavating action of ice was 

 stated, perhaps, somewhat too uncompromisingly; but at any rate, 

 as was shown by Sir Martin Conway, the forces acting on the 

 land-surface beneath an ice-sheet are mainly conservative ; while 

 in a glacial region, the rock-faces which rise above the general 

 surface are exposed to rapid denudation, and great developments 

 of surface-form are going forward. The "eating-back" pro- 

 cesss, recognised as a powerful agent of denudation in the case 

 of rivers, was held to be equally effective in that of glaciers, 

 although, of course, the result is due to aerial denudation, not to 

 glacial erosion. The work of the glacier is to carry away the 

 debris, the accumulation of which would otherwise arrest the 

 process of denudation. Examples were given by the lecturer 

 from the Bernese Oberland and the Karakoram Himalayas, in 

 which the present surface features are, in his opinion, due to this 

 eating-back process, which has entirely modified the original 

 longitudinal drainage of the mountain masses. The great bluffs 

 of the Oberland — the Eiger, Mettenberg, and Wetterhorn — show 

 a striking resemblance to those of Spitsbergen's Sassendal. 



At the close of the lecture Mr. E. J. Garwood gave some 



NO. 1 48 I, VOL. 57] 



mterestmg details regarding the geological features of the 

 country traversed, adding besides some graphic descriptions of 

 the marvellous effects of colour, which give to the scenery of 

 Spitsbergen such a unique character. Among the points 

 touched upon was the presence in Spitzbergen, contrary to the 

 formerly accepted idea, of a snow-line some 1200- 1500 feet above, 

 sea level. The contrast in the surface features above and below 

 this line is most marked, the lower slopes showing as well- 

 marked a denudation curve, with gullies due to flowing water, as 

 may be seen in our own islands, while the upper regions show 

 the abrupt rock-faces due to frost denudation. In the case of 

 the Crowns this has acted along the vertical joint-planes of the 

 carboniferous limestone rocks which form, as it were, a golden 

 crown above the purple Devonian shales of which the more 

 gradual, lower slopes are composed. Mr. Garwood also gave 

 an account of the en-glacial streams, which often flow in a 

 direction at right angles to that of the main valley, and which, 

 on the retreat of the glacier might leave behind deposits similar 

 to the kames and eskers which have so puzzled geologists in other 

 countries. The remarkable ice-tunnels observed may be due, he 

 thinks, to the arching up of ice-bridges over crevasses, when 

 these are closed up by the movement of the glacier, 



A short discussion . followed, devoted chiefly to the theory 

 propounded by- the;,lecturer with regard to the action of glaciers 

 in modifying the^'suifice" features of a country. 



Prof. Bonney,*^wliile*aUowing that the action supposed un^. 

 doubtedly makes itself felt'in*certain cases, doubted the admis-: 

 sibility of a comparison "between a plateau region like Spits-' 

 bergen and a region of narrow ridges like the Alps. The V- 

 shaped Alpine valleys as a rule follow the lines of dip and strike, 

 just as they do in unglaciated regions, while ever)•^vhere 

 evidences of pre-glacial structure are to be found. From what 

 we know of the climate of the Alps before the glacial epoch, 

 we may conclude that in more remote times practically no 

 glaciers existed. The characteristics noted by Sir M. Conway 

 are, he considered, rather to be accounted for by the two distinct 

 disturbances which have operated in the Bernese Oberland. 

 The phenomenon adduced is, therefore, probably not more than 

 a secondary cause in the moulding of the features of a country. 



Mr. J. E. Marr doubted whether the side-glacier, shown in 

 Sir ]\I. Conway's diagram as hanging like a tear-drop on the 

 mountain side, could be properly described as cutting back 

 through the mountain wall behind it. It was important to keep 

 clearly in view that the wearing-back process, even in the 

 case of glaciers, was really due to thejaction of the weather at 

 their head. 



Sir Erasmus Ommanney expressed his high appreciation of the 

 work done by Sir M. Conway and Mr. Garwood, and of the 

 manner in which the results had been presented. 



Dr. J. W. Gregory agreed in the main with Prof. Bonney, 

 holding that though the phenomenon alluded to was no doubt 

 a true cause, it was very uncertain whether it were a primary 

 one. 



Sir Henry Howorth considered that Sir M. Conway's theory 

 had at least this in its favour — that it was consistent both with the 

 laws of physics and of ice. He called attention to the change of 

 climate which Spitsbergen ^ has undergone in recent geological 

 times, and to the fact ofifits belonging to the area of land rismg 

 in level around the North" Pole. 



THE LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE REGION. 



A T the present time the conditions and prospects of American 

 ■^ competition in the iron trade call for very serious con- 

 sideration. The aggregate value of iron and steel exported from 

 the United States to Great Britain and the continent is now 

 considerable, the official figures for the first nine months of 1897 

 giving a value of 45,693,000 dollars, as compared with 34,549,000 

 dollars for the corresponding period of 1896. With this increase 

 in the exports, there was a decrease in the imports from 

 16,361,000 dollars in the first nine months of 1896 fco 10,032,000 

 dollars in the corresponding period of 1897. The rapidly in- 

 creasing intensity of American competition is thus apparent. 

 The exportation of iron and steel is not a result merely of 

 depressed conditions in the United States, but of lower cost of 

 production, brought about by enforced economy in labour, by 

 the great discoveries of cheaply worked ore, and by the increased 



