March 6, 18S5.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



187 



I visited this place, and descendod by the uarrow passage, 

 carrying with me an egg in a little basket. On reaching 

 the steaming subteiTanean pool, I immersed the egg in tlie 

 water, and waited until it was cooked rather hard, then 

 returned without sutlering any serious inconvenience, and 

 ate the egg. Was drenched by the steam and perspiration 

 combined, and greeted on emerging with roars of laughter 

 by my eompanious, who had refused to descend, and by^ 

 the peasants assembled. The guide (purposely) preceded 

 tue with a llaming torch, which burned in the vapour 

 with a lurid, sooty flame, and deposited so much of its 

 superfluous carbon on my face that, in wiping it, I painted 

 myself as black as an Ethopiao. Tliis wetting, blackening, 

 and a sense of sutVocation, due to want of air to breathe 

 rather than the heat, was all the inconvenience I suflered, 

 and no trace of evil remained. My diary shows that I 

 visited all the intensely interesting sights both under and 

 above ground on and about the beautiful bay and pro- 

 montory of Bai;e, on the same day, walking not less than 

 twenty miles in doing so, and in returning to Naples vid 

 Posilipo. 



In the stoke-holes of the passenger ships in the Red 

 Sea, the tempei-ature rises to 14.")", and the stokers not 

 only remain there in a vapour-saturated atmosphere, but 

 work very hard. 



At Milan I tried a Russian bath, and was shut in a 

 chamber like a sentry-box, into which steam was injected 

 at a considerable pressure. I had no thermometer here, 

 but have no doubt that the heat exceeded that of the 

 passage to the " Stufe di Nerone " above described. The 

 sufibcating effect of this atmosphere of vapour was only 

 rendered endurable by holding a sponge to the mouth and 

 breathing through it, but the superficial heat was by no 

 means insupportable. 



In all these cases and others that might be specified, the 

 mere superficial evaporation from the skin surface must be 

 but trivial, almost nil, the air around being already super- 

 saturated. In the Russian bath and in descending the 

 steam-filled passage to the stufe, the body, being cooler 

 than the surrounding vapour, was acting as a condenser. 

 The black water with which I washed my face was more 

 largely due to this than to my own perspiration. 



How, then, is the temperature of the body kept down in 

 such a super-saturated atmosphere, where death would soon 

 occur if the bodily temperature rose to that of its surround- 

 ings, or nearly to it ? I will endeavour to answer this in 

 my next. 



On page 159 of Knowledge, Feb. 20, "Hallyards" 

 states a number of facts concerning uncomfortable people 

 who have existed for a while without clothing in temperate 

 and cold climates. He seems to suppose that these cases 

 refute my statements concerning the necessity for clothing. 

 They merely show that the human body has great powers 

 ■of temporary endurance of evil. The above stated facts 

 ehow the same, but do not prove that we could live healthily 

 or long in Chantrey'.s oven or the vapour-baths of Xero. 

 Dr. Tanner is said to have fasted during forty days, but 

 that docs not prove that the rest of us could live on a 

 dietary of nine meals per annum. 



Ax Architects' and Building Trades Exhibition was opened at 

 the Floral Hall, Covent Garden, on Monday. The hall is small for 

 the purpose, but it is well filled with interesting exhibits. A con- 

 versazione was given on Monday evenin'? ; but it would have been 

 well had this part of the programme been either omitted or con- 

 siderably modified. It was truly pitiable to see crowds of ladies 

 and gentlemen in evening dress wandering about aimlessly, and 

 shivering -with cold, in a room opening directly into the street. 



FUTURE ARCTIC WORK.* 



By LiKUT. Greely. 

 (Continued from p. 150.) 



EVER since my attention was first drawn to Arctic 

 work, I have regarded the route viil I'Vhuz Josef 

 Land as the true route to the Pole. The voyage and ex- 

 perience of Leigh Smith in 1S80, 1881, and 1882, leave no 

 doubt that at some season of every year Franz Josef 

 Land may be reached by a well-fitted steamer. His ex- 

 periences at Eira Harbour in the winter of 1881-82 show 

 that the explorer can depend to a certain extent on the 

 game of the country as a means of sustenance. Lieut. 

 Payer's sledge trips of 1^71 indicate a much greater pro- 

 p )rtion of smooth ice tlian has been found in any other 

 route. In thirty days he made a round trip of about 

 three hundred and twenty-five miles, reaching, April 1, 

 1871, Cape Fledgely, 82" O-VN. 58° E. From that point 

 he observed " open water of no great extent along the 

 coast bordered l)y ice, reaching in a north and north- 

 westerly direction to masses of land, whose mean distance 

 from this highest point might be from sixty to seventy 

 miles." 



Cape Vienna, the most northerly point seen by Payer, is 

 laid down by him as situated on the 83rd parallel. The 

 extent of land beyond that point is, of course, problemati- 

 cal. The distance from the southern coast of Franz Josef 

 Land to the northernmost point of Nova Zembla is about 

 one hundred and eighty miles. In case of disaster, a 

 retreat by boats is practicable. Weyprecht, in 1871, after 

 the abandonment of the Tegetthof, and Leigh Smith re- 

 treating in 1882 in conEec|uence of the loss of the Eira, 

 made the journey successfully. 



This route, then, presents unusual chances of success with 

 the minimum of danger. It is more than possible that an 

 English expedition will enter these waters. Chief Engineer 

 ilelville, U.S.N., has in view an expedition by this route, 

 and his varied Arctic experiences and indefatigable energy 

 mark him as a man peculiarly fitted for this work. It is 

 therefore to be hoped that he will be given the desired 

 opportunity. Two ships, with about sixty men and officers, 

 would be needed. One vessel should winter in Eira 

 Harbour, or some secure point near by, while tue second 

 should be pushed as far northward as possible, preferably 

 by Austria and Rawlinson's Sounds ; but, if that is not 

 possible, along the west coast of Franz Josef Land beyond 

 Cape Ludlow. The vessels should be provisioned for three 

 years, and the crews should be quartered in temporary 

 houses to be erected on shore. Quarters on laud are 

 recommended as being freer from moisture than is po.ssibk' 

 on ship-board, a fact which, to my mind, hits an important 

 bearing on the question of health. A depot of supplies for 

 use in case of disaster might be established on the northern 

 coast of Nova Zembla. With two vessels, this would not 

 be indispensable, but none the less wise and prudent. 



Although not a seaman, I think the following view.s 

 fairly cover the essential jioints regarding vessels and navi- 

 gation. Small, easily-handled steam whalers of good speed 

 should be selected. I have nothing to say as to the best 

 method of strengthening them, but presume those adopted 

 ia regard to the vessels of the recent relief expedition leave 

 nothin" to be desired in that direction. It is essential that 

 each vessel have a steam whale-boat. It is universally 

 admitted that navigation is impossible through close pack 

 ice. In consequence the utmost care should be taken to 

 avoid besetment. Ross has truly said that patience and 

 caution are indispensable to an Arctic navigator, and to no 



* From the New York Tribtitic. 



