Aug. 22, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



157 



without food in their lives to enlarge most indignantly on 

 the suViject. Had they been for days, as I have, living, or, 

 rather, existing on the smallest scraps of skin and bones, 

 and enjoying the most disgusting-looking food as if it had 

 been the greatest delicacy ; had they but witnessed the 

 sufferings and cravings of some of my tine fellows during 

 these times of privation, they would have had some know- 

 ledge of what starvation meant." 



Charges of bad discipline are also brought, as helping to 

 account for the resort to cannibalism ; but such charges re- 

 quire only a moment's consideration to be contemptuously 

 hurled aside. Suffice it to say, that the members of the 

 crew were picked from one of the best disciplined bodies of 

 Mien in the States. 



We have occurring around ua almost daily, suicides and 

 perhaps murders, actuated only too frequently by want of 

 food, and yet we do not give vent to the same feeling of 

 horror that has found utterance against the supposed doings 

 of the unfortunate travellers, icebound and starving. 



It is po.ssible, ray more, it is highly probable, that many 

 a similar expedition has in bygone days resorted to similar 

 means to sustain vitality, but surely no pleasure or satis- 

 faction can accrue to a healthy-minded man in peering into 

 and scanning with microscopic eyes all the doings of men 

 when reduced to the greatest extremities to which humanity 

 is susceptible. Let us then rather close our eyes to such 

 pictures, regard the survivors with pity, and do what in us 

 lies to prevent a recurrenceof the dreadful episode. It is clear 

 that nothing further can be gained by Arctic exploration — 

 nothing that is which is likely to be of any use to mankind ; 

 and it behoves us therefore to discountenance any further 

 expeditions. But, perhaps the most fitting conclusion to 

 these few remarks is afforded by what Mr. Proctor said 

 last week in the Newcastle Chronicle. 



" The expedition has ended, as many feared that it must 

 end, in the loss of nearly a score of lives, and the probable 

 loss of health and strength on the part of the seven sur- 

 viving members of the ill-fated party. Per contra, some 

 little light has been thrown on the position of certain shores, 

 mountains, and so forth, which wUl never be visited for 

 any useful purpose by human beings, while the Noi-th Pole 

 has been approached nearer by some eighty miles than at 

 any previous Arctic expedition. In what respects such 

 expeditions as these differ from Captain Webb's attempt to 

 swim the Niagara rapids, except that many lives are risked 

 instead of one, it would be difficult indeed to say. The 

 members of the expedition were gallant and enduring men ; 

 but Webb was as brave and as resolute. They risked their 

 lives ; he risked his. It was certain beforehand that no 

 good could come from Webb's attempt ; it was no less 

 certain that no considerable advantage to the human race 

 -could accrue from any new Arctic expeditions. A certain 

 element of savagery in our most cultured races, by which 

 importance comes to be attached (goodness knows how) to 

 tiseless exploits, is exhibited in such attempts. That is all 

 we can say for them." 



A NEW VOLCANO. 



THE Secretary of the Treasury has received from Captain 

 M. A. Healy, of the United States revenue cutter, 

 Corimn, under date of Ounalaska, May 2S, two interesting 

 reports by otficers of the Corivin describing a visit to the 

 recently upheaved volcano in Behring Sea at the northern 

 end of Bogoslofl" Island, in latitude 53° 55' 18" N.; longi- 

 tude 168° 00' 21" W. 



This volcano, which is in a state of constant and intense 

 activity, was upheaved from the sea in the summer of 



1882, but was not seen by any civilised eye until Sept. 27, 



1883, when it was discovered by Captain Anderson, of the 

 schooner 2Iatthew Turner. A few days later it was also 

 seen by Captain Hague, of the steamer Dora, but no 

 landing upon it was made previous to that by the officers 

 of the Corwin last spring. 



Dr. Yemans describes it as a dull gray, irregular, cone- 

 shaped hUl, about 500 ft. in height, from the sides and 

 summit of which great volumes of vapour were arising 

 At a height of about two-thirds the distance from the base 

 to the apex of the cone, there issued a very regular series 

 of large steam-jets, which extended in a horizontal direction, 

 completely across the north-western face of the hill. 

 Around these steam-jets were seen upon nearer approach 

 deposits of sulphur of various hues, which at a distance had 

 looked like patches of vegetation. A landing was effected 

 without difficulty upon a narrow sand spit connecting the 

 new volcano with the old island of Bogosloff', and Dr. 

 Yemans and Lieut CantweU undertook the ascent of the 

 smoking cone. It was covered by a layer of ashes formed 

 into a crust by the action of rain, which was not strong 

 enough to sustain a man's weight, and at every step the 

 climbers' feet crushed through it, and they sank knee-deep 

 into a soft, almost impalpable dust which arose in clouds 

 and nearly suffocated them. 



As the summit was neared, the heat of the ashes became 

 almost unbearable. A thermometer buried in them halfway 

 up the ascent marked 196°, and in a crevice of the ram- 

 parts of the crater " the mercury rapidly expanded and 

 filled the tube, when the bulb burst, and shortly after- 

 wards the solder used in attaching the suspension ring to 

 the instrument was fused." The temperature was esti- 

 mated at 500° F. On all sides of the cone were per- 

 forations through which the steam escaped with more or 

 less energy, and in some cases at regular intervals like 

 the exhaust of a steam engine. The interior of the 

 crater could not be seen on account of the clouds of 

 smoke and vapour which filled it. 



" A curious fact to be noted," Lieut CantweU says, " in 

 regard to this volcano is the entire absence, apparently, of 

 lava and cinder. Nowhere could I find the slightest evi- 

 dence of either of these characteristics of other volcanoes 

 hitherto examined in the Aleutian Islands." Volcanic dust 

 or ash, however, is thrown out in considerable quantities, 

 and carried by the wind to places as distant as Ounalaska. 

 After carefully measuring the volcano, and photographing 

 it from various points of view, the exploring party returned, 

 without accident, to the ship. Captain Healy reports his 

 intention to visit the new volcano again on his return from 

 St. :Michaers and the Arctic. — Kamas City Review of Science 

 and Industry. 



THE WESTINGHOUSE BRAKE. 



By " Teetithick." 



A FEW weeks since I commented upon one or two 

 of the relative features pertaining to the various 

 brakes used in railway working. It has, of course, been 

 apparent from the time when the first train was started, 

 that an efficient brake would, sooner or later, be an essen- 

 tial feature in railway working, and Stephenson, having 

 this fact in view, patented fifty years ago a steam brake to 

 be applied to the engine by the driver. The increased 

 length of trains, their multiplicity and high speed, require 

 something more than this. Several brakes have been 

 introduced, which may be divided, as I have previously 

 indicated, into two classes, \-iz.. Local (that is, operative on 

 the individual vehicle only) and Continuous. The local 



