November 17, 1892 



NATURE 



toZumbo, and thence for a distance of 300 miles up the Loangwe 

 river. 



A NOMINATION to the geographical studentship of ;^loo in 

 the University of Oxford will be made at the end of Hilary 

 term, 1893. Particulars of the appointment may be obtained 

 from Mr. Mackinder, the Reader in Geography. 



Two sudden deaths of men known in connection with 

 minor exploration and geographical writing are announced. 

 Mr. Theodore Child, author of " South American Republics" 

 and other works, died of cholera at Ispahan, and Lieutenant 

 Frederick Schwatka, who has travelled extensively in Alaska, 

 committed suicide in Portland, Oregon, 



Mr. Pratt, whose departure for the head-waters of the 

 Amazon was announced in this column at the time, has been 

 compelled to relinquish the expedition on account of ill-health, 

 and is now in this country. 



At the first meeting of the Royal Geographical Society the 

 certificates of 106 new members, including 15 ladies, were read. 

 This is the largest number seeking admission into the society 

 which has yet been proposed at one time. 



DR. HANSEN'S ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



D' 



|R. FRIDTJOF NANSEN opened the session of the Royal 

 Geogi aphical Society on Monday night by a description 

 of his plans for crossing the north polar region, and received a most 

 enthusiastic reception from a crowded audience. His scheme in- 

 volves two separate considerations : (l) the direction of the pre- 

 vailing polar currents, and (2) the means by which these currents 

 can be utilized lor transporting an expedition. All attempts to 

 reach the pole by Smith Sound, by the east coast of Greenland, 

 and by the north of Spitzbergen have been complicated l)y con- 

 trary currents ; the few expeditions by way of Bering Sea, 

 although equally unsuccessful, have had the currents in their 

 favour. 



Taking into account all the available data, it appears that the 

 polar current between Greenland and Spitzbergen carries south- 

 ward between 80 and 120 cubic miles of water every twenty-four 

 hours. The Gulf Stream drift may carry 60 or 70 cu'>ic miles 

 of water a duy into the polar basin north of Nova Zembla, about 

 ID or 14 cubic miles daily 1 robahly fl iw in through Bering Strait, 

 and possibly about one cubic mile a day of fresh water pours in 

 onthe average from the great Siberian rivers. This comparatively 

 small addition of fresh water must account for the saliiii'y of the 

 Greenland outflowing curent being somewhat less than .the 

 average salinity of the North Atlantic. Tneoretically there 

 would thus appear to be a current running from near the New 

 Siberian Islands towards the north of Greenland. 



The existence of sach a current is strongly indicated by the 

 drift of \.Yie Jeannetle from 71° 30' to 77° 15' N. after being caught 

 in the ice, this drift being norttiwestward from Bering Strait. 

 Again, articles lost on the sinking of the Jeannette in the latter 

 position off' the New Siberian Islands were found on an ice-floe 

 near Julianehaab, in the south of Greenland. A throwing-stick, 

 of a kind made only by the Eskimo of Alaska, was found a few 

 years ago near Godthaab, on the west of Greenland. Siberian 

 driftwood is stranded regularly on the c >asts of Greenland, and 

 even on the north coast of Spitzbergen. These facts can only 

 be accounted for by the theory of an ocean current across the 

 polar basin. The evidence of the relative thickness of ice in 

 different parts of the Arctic Sea, and of the occurrence of Sibe- 

 rian diatoms in the mud of ice-floes between Greenland and 

 Iceland is strongly confirmatory. 



Dr. Nansen intends to make the northwesterly current trans- 

 port him across the middle of the polar basin, and s ) give him an 

 opportunity for making scientific observations nearer the pole 

 than has ever previously been done. He will sail next June wm 

 the Kara Sea for the New Siberian Islands, thence work a way 

 as far north as possible ; when stopped, he will run into the ice, 

 and await the time when he will be drifted into the open sea 

 again between Greenland and Spitzbergen. He has had a ship 

 built in Norway expressly for the voyage. Her form is such as 

 to cause the ice, on closing round, to lift her out of the water, 

 and she will rest upright on itssurlace. This vessel, named the 

 Fram {i.e. Forward), is t)uilt of very long-seasoned timber, and 

 i'5 more strongly put together than any other vessel of her size. 

 The frame timbers are of great thickness, and set close together, 



NO- 1203, VOL. 47] 



so that if all the planking were stripped off the vessel would 

 remain water tight. The planking is first a ceiling of pitch 

 pine, alternately 4 and 8 inches thick, then outside two layers 

 of oak, 3 and 4 inches thick respectively, and over all is an 

 " ice-sheathing " of from 3 to 6 inches of the hard and slippery 

 ^reenheart. The sides are thus Irom 28 to 32 inches thick of 

 solid wood. The decks are equally strong, and the cabins are 

 planned so as to be isolated by store rooms and coal-bunkers 

 from the sides, while non conducting materials such as cork, 

 felt, and reindeer hair are introduced between the walls or 

 decks and the rooms to guard the crew from cold. 



The vessel is sharp fore and aft, and both propeller and rudder 

 may be lifted in wells so as to avoid risk of fouling the ice. The 

 rudder is deeply immersed when in action, so that floating ice 

 will not touch it. Both stem and stern overhang greatly, and 

 are heavily plated with iron to crush and cut through thin 

 ice. The length of keel is 10 1 feet, and the length of deck over 

 all is 128, while the greatest beam (exclusive of ice sheathing) is 

 36 feet, and the depth 17 feet. These proportions are very un- 

 usual, but were adopted as the result of experience in other 

 ships. With light cargo she will draw 12 feet, and fully loaded 

 15^, the displacement being about 800 tons. She is rigged as 

 a three-masted schooner, with square sails on the foremast, and 

 has an engine of 160 indicated horse-power. The crow's nest 

 on the maintopmast is 105 feet above the water-line, so as to 

 give a wide horizon for the look-out. Two large decked boats 

 are carried, in either of which the whole crew of twelve men 

 could live if the ship were lost. Dogs, sledges, ski, several 

 small boats, canvas for building extra boats on an emergency, 

 and provisions for five or six years are taken. A pendulum 

 i apparatus U included in the scientific outfit, which is otherwise 

 I very complete. The ship is fitted with electric light ; the dynamo 

 j may be worked by a windmill when coal can no longer be spared, 

 or as a last resort it can be driven by a capstan arrangement 

 I adapted for four men, thus supplying healthy exercise and useful 

 I work to one-third of the crew, and abundant light to the re- 

 j maining two-thirds. 



I The duration of the voyage cinnot be estimated, as it will 

 i entirely depend on the rate of drifting, which must vary con- 

 I siderably from year to year, but judging from the movement of 

 [he /eanneite relics, two years ought to suffice. 



A REMARKABLE CASE OF GEOMETRICAL 

 ISOMERISM. 



AN exceptionally interesting memoir is contributed to the 

 current number of Liebig's Anna/en by Prof. Wislicenus 

 of Leipzig, who has latterly identified himself so earnestly with 

 the subject of molecular configuration. It has been suspected 

 for some years that there are two isomeric unsaturated acids of 

 the composition C4H7.COOH. One of thfse substances exists 

 in the Iree state in the roots of Angelica archangelica and has 

 therefore received the name of angelic acid. The other com- 

 pound is found along with angelic acid in Roman oil of cumin 

 and has been termed tiglic acid. These two acids, moreover, 

 behave so similarly in almost all their reactions with other sub- 

 stances that the conclusion has been rendered inevitable that 

 they must be represented not only by the above formula, but by 



/CH3 

 the same constitutional formula, CH3.CH : €<; . Thai 



\COOH 

 the two acids are not identical, however, was indicated by 

 certain slight differences of behaviour, and Prof. Wislicenus felt 

 convinced that the two were in fact geoaietrical- or stereo- 

 isomers, the difference consisting in a different arrangement of 

 their various radicle groups in space. He considers it probable 

 that the nature of the difference may be represented in one 

 plane by the following formulae : 



CH3-C— H H— C— CH3 



il '' 



CHg-C— COOH and CH3-C— COOH. 



Angelic acid. Tiglic acid. 



Judging from previous experience of the behaviour of other 

 geometrical isomers ol a similar nature, it appeared probable that 

 the halogen addition products of the two acids would exhibit 

 ' differences so marked as to determine definitively the separate 

 nature of the two acids. Unfler the direction of Prof. Wislicenus,. 

 therefore, one of his pupils, Herr Piickert, undertook the investi- 



