88 



DISCOVERY 



animals arc deprived of vitaniincs, tiie progress of their 

 disorilir is very slow at first, with later acceleration, 

 and their recovery rapidly follows the administration 

 of the accessory food factors. 



On account of their infinitely small propoitions in 

 food, it is no matter for surprise that vitamincs have so 

 long eluded the vigilance of the chemist during re- 

 searches in connection with food. As a contrast to the 

 vast magnitudes forced upon our consideration during 

 the war, and since then — even painfull)^ — by the 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, Science has been teaching 

 the importance of the infinitely small ; and when one 

 considers the enormous injury that a few imperceptible 

 microbes can effect in the human system, it is but 

 reasonable to acknowledge that an equally smali or 

 slightly greater quantity of a substance may be not 

 only beneficial, but absolutelj' necessary to health. 



Note— It has been possible to give no more than a very brief 

 outHne of the subject here, but for those desirous of proceeding 

 further the Report on the Present State of Knowledge concerning 

 Accessory Food Factors {Vilantines) to the Medical Research 

 Committee, Special Report Series No. 38, published by H.M. 

 Stationery- Office, 1919, price 4s., can be thoroughly recom- 

 mended. The book — unlike most Government publications — 

 is quite understandable, since it is written in a lucid style, with 

 few technicalities. It also contains a long list of other impor- 

 tant publications on the subject which would prove invaluable 

 to the student. More recently a discussion of the subject was 

 published in the British Medical Journal for July 31, 1920, 

 price 6d.; and Dr. J. M. Hamil's Report to the Local Govern- 

 ment Board on the Nutritive Value of Bread made from Different 

 Varieties of Wheat Flour (H.M. Stationery Office, 191 1, price 

 3d.), although not dealing with accessory food factors, affords 

 useful information in connection therewith. 



The Undiscovered North 



By J. M. Wordie, M.A. 



SI. John's College, Cdnibridge 



The Arctic problem of most moment to mankind has 

 never been the actual reaching of the Pole itself. The 

 objective of the early explorers was a practical one — 

 the investigation of a North-\^'est Passage to China: 

 when that was found impracticable, scientificallj-- 

 directed exploration would have turned its attention 

 to the possibility of discovering new land in the unex- 

 plored Polar Basin. Both the " man in the street," 

 who supplied the weight of public opinion, and the 

 wealthy supporter, who has so often supplied the 

 necessary funds, which have respectively made public 

 and private exploration possible, have, however, had 

 their minds and imaginations filled rather with the idea 

 of planting a national flag at the summit of th e earth. 



It is through this fact that at the present day modern 

 geographers are disgraced by the continued existence of 

 a huge unexplored tract about the North Pole, which 

 may or may not contain notable land areas. 



The Pole itself, not quite in the centre of that basin, 

 has probably been reached — by Cook or by Peary, or by 

 both ; though the possibility still remains that neither 

 actually reached the goal. Whatever be the truth, the 

 results of these two expeditions are equally meagre and 

 valueless : it is quite clear that neither Pean,' nor Cook 

 were scientific observers either by instinct or by train- 

 ing. In this respect they compare most unfavourably, 

 for instance, with Captain Scott in the Antarctic and 

 the long list of British naval officers who explored 

 Arctic Canada in the fifties of last century. The bitter 

 controversy between Cook and Pear}', the natural 

 aversion thus engendered, and the poorness of their 

 results are in marked contrast to the popular applause 

 which greeted Shackleton back from the Antarctic 

 about the same time with results and observations 

 exceptional both in quantity and in quality. For these 

 and other reasons the public of to-day regards the 

 Antarctic rather than the Arctic as the explorers' 

 main field. In the last generation only one British 

 expedition, the Canadian Arctic Expedition under 

 Stefansson, has tried to penetrate the unknown Arctic, 

 whilst since 1900 hardly a year has gone by without 

 one or more parties wintering in the Antarctic. 



Yet in the Arctic, as much as in the Antarctic, a really- 

 big discovery may be made. There is still a possibility 

 of finding a new land, perhaps as big as Britain, in or 

 near that part of the Arctic Ocean called the Beaufort 

 Sea. Whoever is fortunate enough to find such a land- 

 mass will have made the last great Arctic discovery. 



The arguments for and against the occurrence of 

 land are many and evidence of many descriptions has 

 been cited on either side ; but, as has so often been the 

 case in other geographical problems, most of the 

 deductions put forward have little real weight. Appeal, 

 for instance, is made to legends of Alaskan Eskimo 

 about land to the north ; but who can tell whether 

 these stories have originated where the Eskimo now- 

 live or whether they were brought by their ancestors 

 from elsewhere ? Flights of birds are constantly seen 

 going north from the Alaskan coast, and these migra- 

 tions may have a little more value ; on the other hand, 

 it is quite possible that their objective is simply some 

 portion of the Parry Archipelago. Then there have 

 been from time to time definite statements made by 

 whalers and explorers to the effect that they have 

 actually seen land ; these, however, have not so far 

 survived further investigation : notable examples were 

 the so-called " Crocker Land," which MacMillan wiped 

 off the map in 1914, and " Keenan Land," dealt with in 

 similar fashion by Storkersen in 1918. 



