30 



NA TURE 



[Nov. 8, 1877 



The programme has now been extended and completed, 

 and was prepared for submission to the International 

 Meteorological Congress which was to have met at Rome 

 in September, but which has been adjourned to next year. 

 I have just received from my friend Weyprecht a copy, 

 and may summarise its contents as follows : — 



The enterprise proposed by Count Wilczek and Capt. 

 Weyprecht has for its aim strictly scientific exploration, 

 purely geographical discovery being a secondary matter. 

 It will be the first step towards a systematic scientific 

 investigation of the regions around the poles of the 

 earth and the minute observation of phenomena pecu- 

 liar to these regions — phenomena the earnest investi- 

 gation of which is of the highest importance in con- 

 nection with a great number of problems with regard 

 to the physics of the globe. The international expedi- 

 tion will have for its aim to make in the Arctic and 

 Antarctic regions, or in the neighbourhood of these 

 regions, and at as many stations as it is possible to 

 establish, synchronous observations according to a pro- 

 gramme mutually agreed upon ; for the purpose, on the 

 one hand, of deducing by comparison from observations 

 collected at different points, independently of the pecu- 

 liarities which characterise the years of different obser- 

 vations, the general laws of the phenomena investigated ; 

 and, on the other hand, of arriving by probable induc- 

 tions at a knowledge of the chances of penetrating 

 further into the interior of the unknown regions. For 

 this purpose each of the states participating in the work 

 will undertake to equip at its own expense, and send out 

 an expedition to one of the points designated. Each 

 state will of course be at liberty to authorise its ex- 

 pedition to carry on work outside of that mutually 

 agreed on. 



The investigations to be made in common bear only 

 on meteorological phenomena, those of terrestrial mag- 

 netism, aurora borealis, and on ice phenomena. At each 

 station the observations must be continued one year, 

 from September i to August 31. The meteorological 

 observations will be made in conformity with the resolu^ 

 tions of the permanent International Committee, and will 

 relate to atmospheric pressure, the temperature and 

 humidity of the air, the direction and force of the wind, 

 the state of the sky and its degree of clearness, and also 

 to phenomena of condensation. The programme then 

 gives detailed instructions as to methods and instruments 

 of observation, all being arranged to secure accuracy, 

 fulness, and uniformity. 



It is probable that each station will be near a coast, 

 and one of the chief objects of the expedition will be to 

 observe the connection between the movements of the ice 

 and the winds and currents, and if these are observed 

 regularly, important results will no doubt be obtained as 

 to the movements of the ice in the Arctic regions, and 

 therefore as to the routes most favourable for reaching 

 the pole. The best ice-observations will of course be at 

 those stations where local conditions have the least 

 influence. 



The magnetic observations are divided into absolute 

 determinations and determinations of the three elements. 

 Minute directions are given in the programme as to the 

 method to be followed in taking these observations, the 

 fixing of the positions of the various instruments, the 

 kinds of instruments to be used, the methods of verification 

 and testing, the construction of observatories, &c. These 

 directions, if faithfully carried out, would give the ob- 

 server plenty of work to do, but the result would be 

 of unprecedented value. In consequence of the per- 

 sistent perturbations which prevail in these regions, 

 isolated readings made only from hour to hour, even when 

 carried on for long periods, are not sufficient to give with 

 precision the hourly, daily, and monthly magnetic 

 character of the place of observation. It is necessary, 

 consequently, to multiply these observations. Ten obser- 



vations per hour for each of the three elements will be 

 sufficient, and to injure a rigorous synchronism it is 

 stipulated that the three instruments of variation be read 

 during ten minutes, from minute to minute, viz., at the 

 full minute (— h. 56m. os.) the declination, ten seconds 

 after (— h. 56m. los ) the horizontal intensity, and ten 

 seconds after that (— h. 56m. 20s.) the inclination. 

 Before and after each observation, viz., — h. 52m. 03., and 

 at — h. 69m. OS. the form and position of the auroras 

 should be noted. Immediately after the meteorological 

 observations should be proceeded with in the following 

 order : — Temperature, humidity, winds, clouds, atmo- 

 spheric pressure. (For magnetic observations it is 

 proposed to use Gottingen mean time.) Besides obser- 

 vations of the regular magnetic variations, it will be of 

 great importance to have made, by three observers, 

 rigidly synchronous readings of the three elements in 

 order to obtain precise data of the total intensity. For 

 this purpose there will be made, during one hour each 

 day, by these observers, from minute to minute, from 

 — h — m. OS., readings of the three instruments. The 

 hours of these observations should be advanced an hour 

 each day, so as to return to the point of departure at the 

 end of every twenty-four days. 



The aurorae should be observed as to their form, their 

 intensity, and their position. The programme then 

 names and describes the various forms assumed by 

 aurorae — arches, streamers, beams, corona borealis, haze, 

 waves, flashes — for the adequate and scientific observation 

 of which the programme gives directions. 



The most favourable time for this joint expedition will 

 be October and November, when the temperature is not 

 so low as to necessitate special preparations. 



As the absolute simultaneity of the observations is of 

 the utmost importance, each station must be furnished 

 with the means of obtaining the exact longitude ; good 

 chronometers will also be necessary. To carry out the 

 above observations to their fullest extent, four observers 

 will suffice for each station, if among the subordinates 

 there are men who can perform the purely mechanical 

 duty of reading the instruments. 



The programme concludes with three propositions, the 

 purpose of which is to insure the possibility of the exact 

 comparison of the magnetic observations. 



The following are the points proposed as most favour- 

 able for the various observations referred to above :— In 

 the northern hemisphere — The north coast of Spitz- 

 bergen ; north coast of Novaya Zemlya ; Finmark, near 

 the North Cape ; the mouth of the Lena, on the north 

 coast of Siberia ; New Siberia ; Point Barrow, on the 

 north-east of Behring Strait ; the west coast of Green- 

 land J the east coast of Greenland, about 1^ N. lat. In 

 the southern hemisphere — The neighbourhood of Cape 

 Horn ; the Kerguelen or Macdonald Islands ; one of the 

 groups south of the Auckland Islands. 



I wish that in the influential pages of Nature this 

 great international scientific subject could be agam urged. 

 I cannot help thinking that in the present Hydrographer 

 of the Navy we have an officer who would be at once 

 most able and willing to take part in giving, in the way 

 suggested, true scientific direction and scope to future 

 Arctic research. My confidence in the g'Cat value of 

 simultaneous observations in comparison with the meagre 

 results of isolated expeditions must be my apology for 

 thus writing, 



E. J. Reed 



THE NORWEGIAN DEEP-SEA 

 EXPEDITION 



FROM soundings taken by the second German Polar 

 Expedition, and kindly communicated by Capt. 

 Koldewey, of Hamburgh, I have been induced to alter 



