October 25, 1900I 



NATURE 



625 



The description of the various portions of land seen 

 by Antarctic explorers is well done, and the critical 

 remarks of the author appear to be judicious and likely 

 to be of service to subsequent expeditions. Then follow 

 accounts of the ice-conditions, on which Dr. Fricker has 



iceberg (300 feet high). (From Dr. Cook's " First Antarctic 

 Night.") 



made himself an authority, climate and life. The book 

 ends with a chapter on the future of Antarctic explora- 

 tion, excellent when it was written, but now happily out 

 of date. 



Mr. A. Sonnenschein has translated the book very well 

 indeed from the literary point of view. We 

 could scarcely have believed it possible 

 that a translation could be made so literal, 

 and yet so free from constraint, as this 

 one is. Still a scientific man cannot help 

 noticing some slips in the rendering of 

 technical expressions, and it may prove 

 useful to the general reader to correct 

 some of these. On p. 104, line 32, the 

 translator interpolates " Mount " before 

 " Erebus," not noticing that the author 

 refers to the temporary position of the 

 ship which was the mountain's god- 

 mother ; similarly, on p. 117, the objec- 

 tionable word "insects" is introduced after 

 " coral " without Dr. Fricker's authority. 

 On p. 120 "the lower parallel" scarcely 

 conveys the idea "a great-circle course" 

 which the author expressed. In several 

 places the geological dip of rocks is ren- 

 dered by slope, a totally different thing. 

 On p. 175 "layers of secondary forma- 

 tion " suggests Mesozoic rocks, but drift, 

 without regard to the geological character 

 of the stones, is the true meaning. On 

 p. 176 " precipitate rock" should be " sedi- 

 mentary rock." In several places the 

 word schciren is translated "dunes," but 

 it really refers to skerries or rocky islets 

 like those of the Skargard of Sweden. 

 The phrase "relative moisture" is used 

 instead of the familiar " relative humidity." 



displaced from English writings. On p. 261 the word 

 " Translator " has been inadvertently added to one of the 

 author's footnotes. 



The editorial note prefixed to the English edition is 

 not very satisfactory. It is gratifying news, which we 

 have not seen before, that 13elgium is 

 actively fitting out an expedition for Ant- 

 arctic exploration ; but the statement 

 that a Belgian expedition was sent out 

 in 1897 should have been supplemented 

 by the fact that it returned in 1899 with 

 rich results. The Valdivia expedition is 

 not noticed, although Mr. Borchgrevink's 

 return properly finds a place. It would 

 have been useful if the numerous recent 

 papers on Antarctic exploration in English 

 had been added to the bibliography, and 

 if the efforts of Sir Clements Markham 

 and the councils of the Royal Society and 

 the Royal Geographical Society in pro- 

 moting the British Antarctic Expedition 

 had been specifically referred to. 



Dr. Cook is the first of the staff of the 

 Delgica to place his experiences on record 

 in book form, and his description is in- 

 tended for the general rather than the 

 scientific reader. Its great value lies in 

 the frankness with which the subjective 

 side of exploration in the polar regions 

 is dealt with, and in the professional ob- 

 servations on the health of the explorers. 

 It will be remembered that the Belgica, 

 after surveying part of the coasts of the 

 channel which continues Bransfield Strait 

 to the south between 64° and 65° S , sailed west and 

 south, and wintered in the Antarctic pack, where 

 for thirteen months the ship was fast in the ice. 

 The claims as to geographical discovery, and the 

 results of the scientific observations, may be left for 



«<r 



throughout 



On p. 248 



the translator suggests the use of the German word 



fim in English ; but it seems to us that the French 



equivalent nevd has received too general currency to be 



NO. 161 7, VOL. 62] 



. — Making soundings. 



discussion when the oflficial report of the expedition 

 is published. Dr. Cook says very little about the 

 leader, M. de ("lerlache, whose resolution to push as 

 far as possible to the south does not seem to have met 

 with the approval of his subordinates, and it is notice- 



