286 



NATURE 



[May 5, 1910 



" His average, from the time Bartlett left him, to the 

 Pole was 26 miles. His average on his return was 25-6 

 miles. 



" For comparison with the above figures, as showing 

 that these averages are not at all excessive, the following 

 facts can be taken from the narrative of the last expedition 

 and previous ones : — 



" Peary's last two marches on the return, from Cape 

 Columbia to the Roosevelt, were 45 miles each. On this 

 and previous expeditions the^ journey from Cape Hecla to 

 the Roosevelt, a distance of' 45 to 50 miles, was made in 

 one march. The distance from Cape Columbia to Hecla 

 was also made on other occasions in one march. The 

 march from the Roosevelt to Porter Bay, a distance of 

 35 miles, was repeatedly made in eight, ten, and twelve 

 hours. MacMillan and Borup, returning from Cape 

 Morris Jesup to the Roosevelt, made the distance of 250 

 miles or more in eight marches, an average of over 

 31 miles a march. Peary, in one of his earlier expedi- 

 tions, made the distance from Cape Wilkes to Cape 

 D'Urville, a distance of 65 to 70 miles, in one march. 

 He repeatedly made the march from Cape D'Urville to 

 Cape Fraser, a distance of 40 miles, in one march, and 

 in the winter of 1899— 1900 travelled from Etah to a point 

 in Robertson Bay, 60 miles distant, in less than twelve 

 hours. 



" On his return from Independence Bay to Bowdoin 

 Bay, Peary averaged 20 miles a day for twenty-five suc- 

 cessive marches; 210 miles in seven successive marches 

 (an average of 30 miles a day), making the last march 

 of 40 miles, all these with dogs not driven by Eskimo 

 drivers. 



" On more than one occasion in the fall of 1900 

 Peary's parties went from Lake Hazen to Fort Conger, 

 both' by the Bellows route and by the Black Vale route, 

 distances either way of 50 miles overland, in one march. 

 This after the sun had set for the winter. 



" In February, 1899, before the sun returned, Peary 

 (with both feet frozen six weeks before) sledged from 

 Conger to Cape D'Urville, a distance of over 200 miles, 

 in eleven marches, in an average temperature of 533° 

 below zero, an average of about 20 miles. In March of 

 .1902 he went from Cape Sabine to Fort Conger, a 

 distance of 250 miles to 300 miles, as tr-avelled, in twelve 

 marches, an average of 21 to 25 miles, and later covered 

 the same distance again in eleven marches, an average of 

 22 to 27 miles. 



"In the history of polar exploration no one has had 

 so much and such long-continued training in ice work 

 as Peary ; his speed is the result of long years of practice, 

 resulting in great physical endurance and skill in the use 

 of the sledge." 



NOTES. 



Elsewhere in this issue Prof. Bryan deals with some 

 aspects of the remarkable aeroplane flight from London to 

 Manchester accomplished by M. Paulhan on April 27-28, 

 thereby winning the prize of io,oooZ. offered by the Daily 

 Mail to the aviator who would make this cross-country 

 flight within twenty-four hours. M. Paulhan left London 

 (Hendon) at 5.22 p.m. on April 27, and descended at Lich- 

 field — 117 miles distant — at 8.10 p.m., that is, 2h. 48m. 

 later. He left Lichfield at 4.10 a.m. on the following day, 

 and arrived at Manchester at 5.30 a.m., the distance being 

 69 miles. The total distance covered with the one stop 

 was thus 186 miles. The prize was presented to M. 

 Paulhan at a luncheon given in his honour on Saturday, 

 and a loo-guinea cup was handed to Mr. Grahame-White 

 in recognition of his plucky endeavour to secure the prize 

 for England. At the banquet, the editor of the Daily 

 Mail, in expressing regret for the absence of Lord North- 

 cliffe on account of illness, reminded the assembly that it 

 was owing to Lord Northcliffe's personal initiative that the 

 substantial prize won by M. Paulhan was offered for com- 

 petition. He stated also that, in view of the great import- 

 ance of aviation to Great Britain, the Daily Mail will 



NO. 2 II 4, VOL. 83] 



immediately offer a further sum of 10,000/. for a flight of 

 which the conditions will be announced shortly. Mr. 

 Grahame-White, in acknowledging the toast of his health, 

 said that it is his intention to expend the proceeds of the 

 Royal Aero Club's testimonial to hirrtself upon the neces- 

 sary organisation for an aeroplane flight from London to 

 Paris " which I have made up my mind to attempt with 

 the least possible delay." Though we have no sympathy 

 with mere record-breaking, such flights as those accom- 

 plished across country by M. Paulhan and Mr. Grahame- 

 White, and others now contemplated, provide practical 

 demonstrations of aeroplane performances which will make 

 the British people realise more than anything else the possi- 

 bilities of aerial navigation. At present the man in the 

 machine counts for everything ; and an aeroplane which 

 Prof. Bryan considers to be laterally unstable is so' skil- 

 fully managed that it rises superior to its imperfections. 

 It is indeed a sign of progress in the management of aero- 

 planes that, without a trial flight, and about nine hours 

 after his machine arrived at Hendon, M. Paulhan should 

 make a flight of 117 miles across country without a stop. 

 No doubt much yet remains to be done before the best 

 type of construction of aeroplanes can be determined ; never- 

 theless, the flight last week will go down in history as a 

 notable achievement. 



It is announced that Mr. P. H. Cowell, F.R.S., chief 

 assistant in the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, has been 

 appointed superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, in 

 succession to Dr. -'\. M. W. Downing, who has retired. 



We have received with regret the announcement of the 

 death, on April 28, of Prof. E. J. L. M. van Beneden, 

 professor of zoology and comparative anatomy in the 

 University of Liege, at sixty-four years of age. 



A coNVERS.\ziONE, with short lectures and lantern 

 demonstrations, will be held by the Entomological Society 

 in the rooms of the Civil Service Commission, Burlington 

 Gardens, W., on the evening of Friday, May 27. Fellows 

 of the society and others interested requiring further par- 

 ticulars are invited to address all inquiries to the honorary 

 secretary, conversazione committee, 11 Chandos Street, 

 Cavendish Square, W. 



The valuable collections of native African art made by 

 Mr. E. Torday in the southern Belgian Congo are now 

 being classified and arranged by the authorities of the 

 British Museum. The most remarkable specimens in the 

 collection are the wooden portrait statues of past rulers, 

 which throw a new light on savage art in Africa. Next 

 in importance are a splendid carved throne of the para- 

 mount chiefs, wooden caskets and cups, and specimens of 

 remarkable textiles resembling velvet, made from the fibre 

 of the upper skin of the palm leaf (raphia). This collec- 

 tion was happily made before the almost complete dis- 

 appearance of native art work due to the importation of 

 cheap European productions. 



The council of the Institution of Civil Engineers has 

 made the following awards for papers during the session 

 1909-10 :— a Telford gold medal to Mr. C. M. Jacobs (New 

 York); a Watt gold medal to Mr. J. D. Watson (Birming- 

 ham) ; a George Stephenson gold medal to Mr. D. A. 

 Matheson (Glasgow) ; Telford premiums to Messrs. F. C. 

 Buscarlet (Sunderland), A. Hunter (Glasgow), I. C. Barling 

 (Tynemouth), J. Dalziel and J. Sayers (Derby), and J. 

 Shaw (Birkenhead) ; and the Manby premium to the late 

 Mr. C. W. Hodson (London). The thanks of the council 

 have been conveyed to their colleague, Dr. C. A. Harrison, 

 for the paper contributed by him. 



