September 29, 192 1] 



NATURE 



159 



of the theory of descent they raise more ques- 

 tions than they solve. In this address I have 

 briefly touched on some of the most general and 

 most speculative problems in the hope of givinj^^ 

 an opening for discussion. It might have been 

 more profitable to deal in detail with definite facts 



of observation, but recent discoveries have 

 brought us face to face with the great questions 

 of descent among plants. However imperfect our 

 data may be, both as regards the method and the 

 course of evolution, the problems suggested, 

 nevertheless, make urgent claims on our attention. 



The Shackleton-Rowett Oceanographic and Antarctic Expedition. 

 Bv Dr. Hugh Robert Mill. 



THE Shackleton-Rowett expedition, the pre- 

 liminary plans of which were outlined in 

 Nature for July 7, p. 602, left St. Katherine's 

 Dock in the Quest on Saturday, September 17, 

 remained at Sheerness for a few days to complete 

 the fitting of the wireless telegraphy apparatus, 

 and sailed from Plymouth on Saturday last, 

 September 24, at 5 p.m. 



So much publicity has been given to the plans 

 and prospects of this expedition, and such stress 

 laid by headlines and large type on the minor 

 incidents of preparation and departure, that one 

 reader might be excused if he viewed it all as 

 what, for lack of a more ancient and decorous 

 term, he might be tempted to call a mere stunt ; 

 while another of a more generous disposition could 

 scarcely be blamed for looking on it as a great 

 oceanographical expedition. As a matter of fact, 

 it is designed to be neither the one nor the other. 

 The Quest is a very small vessel, and she has 

 started on a very big voyage, full of dangers and 

 risks that it is probable no committee of geo- 

 graphical or nautical experts would recommend 

 any selected leader to undertake ; but no such 

 committee was created or consulted, and Sir 

 Ernest Shackleton bears on his own broad 

 shoulders all the responsibility for the plan of 

 the expedition, the choice of his comrades, and 

 the fight with the very real difficulties of a great 

 and romantic adventure. Even if no scientific 

 results were aimed at, this revival of the old spirit 

 of maritime knight-errantry which has invigorated 

 our sea-history since Elizabethan days is a thing 

 to be proud of and grateful for in an age of dis- 

 illusion, low ideals, and love of ease. The 

 members of the expedition include the most ex- 

 perienced polar explorers and men who have been 

 trained in the almost incredible hardships of mine- 

 sweepers, submarines, and "Q "-ships. 



Sir Ernest Shackleton has, however, a very 

 clear and useful programme of scientific work, in 

 which he sought the advice and secured the help 

 of many authorities, including the Admiralty and 

 the .\ir Ministry. He has not tried to make the 

 Quest's voyage a second Challenger expedition, 

 or in any way to anticipate the renewal of the 

 large-scale oceanographical research ablv sketched 

 out by Prof. Herdman and wisely postponed to 

 a more convenient, and, we trust, not verv far 

 distant, season. The Quest is fitted with the 

 ! latest machines for deep-sea soundings, and if her 

 voyage is completed along the route projected 

 the results should be of great importance, espe- 

 XO. 2709, VOL. 108] 



cially in the Enderby quadrant of the Antarctic. 

 Some may be inclined to doubt the possibiht}- of 

 taking exact soundings from so small a vessel in 

 high seas, but in the early days of telegraph-cable 

 surveying with the crudest appliances excellent 

 results were obtained, in depths far more than a 

 thousand fathoms, from sailing vessels smaller 

 than the Quest. No surveying ship probably has 

 been better equipped for fixing accurate positions, 

 as it should be possible to rate the chronometers by 

 wireless time-signals during the greater part of 

 the cruise. Deep-sea temperature obser\-ations 

 and the collection of water-samples to be preser\'ed 

 for examination on shore should also be possible. 

 The size of the ship makes it hopeless to attempt 

 deep-sea dredging or trawhng, but shallow-water 

 dredging will no doubt be carried out when occa- 

 sion offers, and the collection of plankton will be 

 greatly facilitated by the low freeboard and com- 

 paratively slow speed of the ship. 



Much interest attaches to the meteorological 

 work to be done on board, and especially to the 

 upper-air investigations for which provision has 

 been made by the Meteorological Office. The 

 small seaplane carried by the Quest will be very 

 useful in piloting the vessel in ice and in the 

 search for doubtful islands if it can be put to- 

 gether successfully and transferred safely from 

 the ship to the sea and back again ; but this part 

 of the equipment must be viewed as an experi- 

 ment the success of which is not to be acclaimed 

 until it has been proved. Magnetic observations 

 will, it is hoped, be made a special feature of 

 the scientific work, and for the first time, we 

 believe, a gyroscopic compass will be carried into 

 high latitudes, where its indications should be of 

 extreme value, as the track should carry the 

 Quest across the region of maximum change of 

 variation where the magnetic needle is of least 

 value. Opportunities will doubtless occur for 

 magnetic work on ice-floes and perhaps also 

 on islands if local attraction is not too 

 strong. 



The personnel of the Expedition was announced 

 as follows : — 



■ Sir Ernest Shackleton, leader and captain; 

 Commander Frank Wild, second-in-command; 

 Commander Frank Worsley, hydrographer and 

 sailing-master; Lieut. -Commander D. G. Jeff rev 

 navigator; Major A. H. Mackhn, surgeon; Capt! 

 L. D. A. Hussey, meteorologist; Lieut. A. J. 

 Kerr,- chief engineer; Major R. Carr, airman; 

 Capt. G. V. Douglas, geologist; Capt. G. 



