Jink. 1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



]21 



ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE 



S€i£N€£41T£RATt}R£ AART^ 



Founded by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 



VoL.xxr^-.] LONDON: JUNE, 1901. [No. 188. 



CONTENTS. 



Antarctic Exploration. Bv WM. Shackt.f.tok, f.h.a.s. 



(IllusfrateJj 



On the Audibility of the Minute Guns fired at 

 Spithead on February 1. liy Chahiks PATir^oN, 

 sc.D., FO.s. (lllustrateilj . . 



Flowering Plants, as Illustrated by British Wild- 

 Flowers.— III. Flowers. By R. Li.oyu riiAKGER, b a. 

 flUiLitratedJ " 



Constellation Studies.— VI. The Swan and the Eagle. 

 Bt E. Walter MAfXDKU, t.H.A.s. (Jlliixtraln/J 



New Stars. By the Rev. .V. I,. C'ohtie, s.i. f.r.a.s. 



Photographs of the Spectra of Nova Persei and 



Procyon. (Plate.) 



Notes 



Letters : 



SiELiAB Pabaiiax. By W. W. Stbickland. 

 £. Walter Maindeb 



SrSSPOTS AND TeBBESTRIAL TEMPERATrKE. 



McKeszik Knight. Xote by Eds. ... 

 CLorns ON Mars. By E. Lloyd .Tones 

 CiorDS ON IIaks. By R. A. Geegoby ... 

 Notices of Books 



Standard Silver: Its History, Properties and Uses.— II. 



By Ernest A. Smith. A.s.soc,B.s.M.. F.c.s. .. 

 The White Nile— From Khartoum to Kawa.- II. The 

 River— Essential alike to Man, Beast and Bird, liy 



HaEKY F. WllHEKBT, F./..S., M.li.O.f. (lUllstratedJ 



British Ornithological Notes. Conchifted by Hahht F. 



WlTBERBY', F.Z.S., M.B.O.T. ... 



Microscopy. Conducted by M. I. Cross. 



Notes on Comets and Meteors. By W. F. Denning, 



F.B.A.S. , . 



The Face of the Sky for June. By X. Fowler, f.r.a.s. ... 

 Chess Column. By C. D.Locock, b.a 



Tkan 

 121 



124 



125 



128 



V.VZ 



i:u 



137 



l-i<> 

 141 



142 

 142 



143 



ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 



By W'ji. Shackletox, f.h.a..s. 

 (Phynciat and AKlronomer to- the National Arituvctic 



. . E.fpedlfion). 



Historical. 

 Not long ago a voiing reporter, evidently in search of 

 copy and the Commander of the National Antarctic 

 Expedition, was making vain enqiiiries for Captain Cook 

 at the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society. Were 

 that great navigator alive no doubt he would be the 

 first to withdraw the opinion expressed by him " that 

 no man will ever venture farther than I have done, and 



that the land to the south will never be explored " 



Cook reached the Tlst parallel of south latitude in 

 1774, and nearly half a century elapsed before this was 

 surpassed by Weddi'll. who reached 74' 15' south latitude 

 in 1823. A period of IS years brings us to the memorable 

 expedition under the command of Sir James Ross, who 

 in 1841 passed the highest point in southern latitudes 

 hitherto reached, and eventuallv attained the high 



latitude of 78° 4' S., and ovoii thou was greatly dis- 

 appoiatcd at not being able to reach the 80th parallel, 

 further progress southwards being rendered impossible 

 by the great ice barrier. 



Although Ross coasted along the great ice barrier for 

 450 miles in search of an opening to the southwards 

 none could be found, nor does it appear that it was 

 ever of such form as to permit a landing, being described 

 as "a perpendicular cliff of ice between Lot I to 200 feet 

 above the level of the sea, without any fissures or pro- 

 montories on its even seaward face." Upwards of 50 

 years have again elapsed before this has been penetrated 

 by the members of the recent expedition sent out in 

 the " Southern Cross " by Sir George Newiies, who found 

 the barrier somewliat changed in position from that re- 

 ported by Ross, and actually made a journey of 20 miles 

 to the southward ov(>r it, reacliiiig 78" 50' S. There 

 is no reason to suppose that Ross was mistaken in his 

 determinations of positions, the accuracy of his obser- 

 vations being beyond praise. Our knowledge of the 

 cycle of terrestrial changes in these regions is so meagre 

 that no one can predict the magnitude of the change 

 taking place half a century later. 



Field of Operations. 

 The two principal expeditions about to start, for the 

 Antarctic regions are under the auspices of the British 

 and German Governmonts, and by mutual agreement 

 they have decided to confine their attention to particular 

 localities. The British expedition has had that half of 

 the Antarctic area assigned tO it which Sir Clements 

 Markham has designated " the Ross and Victoria Quad- 

 rants." Iving to the south of the Pacific and Australasia, 

 between" the meridians of 90° \V. to 180° and 

 ISno to 900 E The German expedition will 



Map.— Antarctic Area, showing allotments of the two Expeditious. 



devote its attention to that half diametrically opposite, 

 that is to the Indian Ocean and Atlantic side. The 

 area comprised under this scheme is some 6 million 

 square miles, larger than the whole of Australia; 

 and so vast is the region that probably the two expedi- 

 tions will be nearly 20()() miles apart. 

 The Buitisii Ship. 

 The ship to convey the party from these shores is the 



