May 5, 1910J 



NATURE 



283 



higher nutritive value than white bread, probably 

 partly on account of this conversion of the starch, 

 which is a process indispensable to its digestion if it 

 has not happened before it is eaten ; and, of course, 

 the whole-meal bread is richer in inorganic salts by 

 the retention of the husk. 



And it must not be supposed that rye bread is of 

 necessity "black"; a bread that is lighter in colour 

 than our brown bread can be made from rye flour, 

 the depth of colour being dependent upon the treat- 

 ment. 



So far, then, there is not the smallest reason to 

 suppose that black bread is inferior as a nutritive food 

 to white bread, but rather the contrarj-. 



Passing from the consideration of the nitrogenous 

 (vegetable fibrin) constituents, rye contains as much 

 or more starch and fatty matter as wheat. It con- 

 tains more lime, about the same amount of magnesia, 

 a good deal more silica, and slightly less phosphoric 

 acid. 



As the phosphates of lime and magnesia are needed 

 for the calcification of bones and teeth, there is little 

 to choose in this respect between a whole-meal 

 wheaten bread and rye bread, both being superior to 

 white bread. Formerly it was supposed that teeth 

 of poor quality were actually deficient in lime salts, 

 but this has been found not to be the case. Good 

 teeth, whatever may be their chemical difference, and 

 this has not been ascertained as yet, are unquestion- 

 ably associated with good general nutrition in the 

 growing person, and, of course, an adequate supply 

 of lime and magnesia is essential to their 

 formation. It should be added that the differences 

 between samples of the same cereals are considerable, 

 being apparently dependent upon the season, soil, 

 and other conditions, so that in many cases the 

 analyses show discrepant results. 



But a consideration of the chemistry of the different 

 breads gives no support to the idea that black bread 

 is an inferior article of diet, and the German peasant 

 is not to be pitied for having to use it. In texture it 

 is moister, a little more sticky and doughy, does not 

 get stale so soon, and it might not be wholly to the 

 taste of those accustomed to wheaten bread, at all 

 events at first. It is good food, nevertheless, and 

 those accustomed to it often actually prefer it. 



During the Crimean war the Russian prisoners in 

 the hands of the French did not thrive, but after, on 

 the ad\'ice of a Russian surgeon, they were given the 

 black bread to which they were accustomed they did 

 much better. 



The political orator is not too particular about his 

 facts so long as he thinks they will serve his turn, 

 and the allegations made about black bread have been, 

 to say the least, wanting in scientific accuracy, and 

 so may be classed with much else that is heard from 

 electioneering platforms as calculated, whether with 

 intent or from ignorance, to convey a perfectly false 

 impression. 



COUyiAlsDER VEARY'S EXPEDITION TO 

 THE NORTH POLE. 



NO geographical goal has been so long and 

 ardently desired as the North Pole. The 

 glamour of the Dark Continent, the mystery of the 

 South Polar lands, the lure of Potosi and Golconda, 

 have never touched the popular imagination like the 

 attraction of the North Pole. The whale and seal 

 hunters of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 

 developed the art of Arctic travel ; while the Eskimo, 

 the polar fauna, and the heroism of the knights of the 

 frozen seas, kept an undue share of popular geo- 

 graphical interest " North where the bergs careen." 



NO. 2 1 14, VOL. 83] 



The commercial hopes that led to the search for the 

 North-West Passage and the Franklin tragedy for a 

 while made the Arctic Archipelago the centre of 

 popular interest, but the North Pole, as a fixed spot, 

 as definite as the winning post of a race, has kept its 

 own as the goal most prized by sporting geographers. 



It has at length been won, and the lecture by 

 Commander Peary- to the Royal Geographical Society, 

 in the Albert Hall last night, told the story of the 

 winning. The quest has been Commander Peary's 

 one interest for twenty-four years ; he has led four 

 expeditions to reach the pole, after his remarkable 

 exploration of the North Greenland ice-cap had given 

 him the necessary- experience, and had yielded him 

 geographical results of jjerhaps greater scientific value 

 than those of his last and most famous journey. He 

 has carried through his work in an appropriately 

 serious spirit. He has not regarded his quest as a 

 mere matter of geographical athletics, but as a mission 

 so important that he has been tempted to regard the 

 Eskimo as placed by Providence in their inhospitable 

 home on purpose to help him to his goal. 



Commander Peary's lecture was a simple statement 

 of the narrative of the expedition, and it gave no 

 details as to the determination of the high latitudes, 

 wiiich geographers at this stage would have preferred 

 to the short appendices giving the soundings and pre- 

 liminary notes on the temperatures and tides. The 

 expedition was apparently successful because a large 

 force was able to start early in the season. Like 

 Russia, according to Czar Nicholas, the pole has been 

 protected by its ally, '"General February"; but on 

 this occasion the expedition began its journey from 

 winter quarters in the middle of Februar}'. The party 

 consisted of seven members, accompanied by seven- 

 teen Eskimos, 133 dogs, and nineteen sledges. With 

 so large a staff a light advance party could be used 

 to prepare the trail and successive divisions sent back 

 from different stages, so that the final dash for the 

 pole could be made by a party well equipped, and 

 comparatively fresh. 



Commander Peary says that he and his comrades 

 increased in fitness and training every day of the 

 northern march. At a camp determined bv Captain 

 Bartlett as at 87° 48' N., that gallant officer and the 

 last supporting part}- returned, leaving Peary, his 

 negro sen-ant Henson, and three Eskimo, with forty 

 of the best dogs and five sledges. On April i Peary 

 continued northward, hoping to reach the pole bv 

 five marches of twent}--five geographical miles each. 

 At the end of the fifth march a temporary- break in 

 the clouds at "approximately local noon, Columbia 

 meridian," enabled Peary- to determine the position as 

 89° 57'. A few hours later, with a light sledge carry- 

 ing only instruments, drawn by a double team of 

 dogs, he went on for another ten miles, and, as the 

 sky cleared, he took obser\-ations, which showed that 

 he had gone beyond the pole. After returning to 

 camp he went eastward for eight miles, and both then 

 and after his second return to camp he secured more 

 obser\'ations, which confirmed his faith that he had 

 reached and crossed the pole. Five miles from the 

 pole he found a crack, and through a hole in it bored 

 with a pickaxe he took a sounding of 1500 fathoms, 

 and found no bottom. The expedition returned south 

 by forced marches, and it reached Cape Columbia in 

 such fine trim that it crossed to Cape Hecla, and 

 thence to the ship, in two marches of forty-five miles 

 each. 



The only definite scientific contributions announced 

 are the soundings, which indicated a depth of only 

 310 fathoms at 85° 23'; the depth had increased to 

 more than 700 fathoms at ten miles further north, 

 while at 87^ 15' the result was 1260 fathoms, with no 



