344 EFFECT OF GREAT COLD ON SPIRITS. 



the 1 2th that the sky at noon, close to the southern 

 horizon, first " displayed a decided tint of green" * 

 although it was not till the 2gth of February that 

 they "saw the upper limb of the sun returning to 

 awaken Nature from its long repose," f and it was 

 only on the "4th of March, at 11.30 a.m., that the 

 sun was clearly seen above the southern hills" 

 after an absence of 138 days, or say four and a half 

 months. ** A number of curious circumstances which 

 accompanied the above intense cold are related by 

 Capt. Markham as the result of experiments tried by 

 exposing various substances to its influence. 



" Glycerine, upon which a temperature of 50 had little effect, 

 became at 70 perfectly solid and quite transparent. Rectified 

 spirits of wine became of the consistency of hair oil. Con- 

 centrated rum 40 degrees overproof, froze hard when exposed 

 in a shallow vessel, like a saucer, but in large quantities it 

 resembled honey, or molasses ; whisky froze hard, and bits of 

 it were actually broken off and eaten. Chloroform was the 

 only substance, on which the low temperature had no apparent 

 effect." ft 



It is therefore evident that in future it will be 

 prudent always to take highly concentrated spirits for the 

 use of ships proceeding to these northern regions. This 

 freezing constitutes a serious difficulty in the storage 

 of liquids which are apt to get lost by the bursting of 

 bottles, and the leakage of casks, in consequence of 

 their expansion under the influence of frost ; as soon as 



* See Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea, by Capt. Sir George 

 Nares, 1878, Vol. i., p. 220. 



f Ibid., Vol. i., p. 249. Ibid., Vol. i., p. 263. 



** At the winter quarters of H.M.S. Alert, in Lat. 82 27' N., Long. 

 61 18' "W., the sun sank October 14, 1875 and rose March 4, 1876. 



ff The Great Frozen Sea, by Captain A. H. Markham, R.N., 1880, 

 pp. 223, 224. 



