30 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[February 1, 1890. 



to one who haf? had the least practical acquaintance with 

 that part of the globe that more onthusiasin for tlioir 

 exploration has not been shown. Take, for instance, 

 meteorology. The only meteorological records we have of 

 the Antarctic regions are during the three or four summer 

 months ; and although wo may meet with many charts 

 which picture the meteorological conditions of these regions, 

 yet those, even for the summer, arc almost purely 

 theoretical. There are no records of any fixed station 

 south of the latitude of Cape Horn oven for the summer 

 months. Our practical knowledge of the terrestrial 

 magnetism of even moderately high southern latitudes is 

 really only gathered from Sir James Rosa's investigations, 

 which, excellent as they are, can hardly be said to give us 

 an accurate idea of the present maguetical conditions of 

 these latitudes and the sequence of changes that have 

 taken place during the last half-century. Now, apart from 

 all other investigations, it is of vital importance to us, as 

 the greatest seafaring nation, that our knowledge in these 

 two branches of science should be extended in the south, 

 for without doing so it is impossible to have any complete 

 summary and classification of the laws which govern 

 the meteorology and magnetism of the world. This 

 meteorological and maguetical work can only be done by 

 landing several parties, who shall set up fixed stations for 

 the whole year at difl'erent points on the islands and 

 mainland of Antarctica, and who shall thus be able to 

 carry on observations systematically, not only during the 

 summer, but also during the winter months. If possible, 

 these observations should be extended into a second and 

 even a third year, so as to note more completely the 

 regular sequence of events. Besides having these stations, 

 at various other points recording instruments should be 

 set up and the results noted summer after summer. 

 ^Yintering in the Antarctic has been much dreaded by 

 many, but perhaps the task would not be so trying as in 

 the north, provided, at least, that the wintering stations 

 were not far within the Antarctic continent. 



It must be remembered that thei-e is an entirely 

 different distribution of land and water in the south to 

 that which occurs in the north. In the north we 

 have a Polar basin — a Polar sea more or less dotted over 

 with islands — surrounded by the continental ring of 

 Europe, Asia, and America, broken only at two main 

 points by the Greenland Sea and Hehring Straits ; in the 

 south, probably a Polar continent, surrounded by the great 

 Southern Ocean. In the north, then, we have, even in the 

 highest latitudes, all the ameliorating conditions of a con- 

 tinental summer — bees humming their merry tune and 

 flowers decking green valleys where musk oxen graze ; 

 but we have also all the rigours of a continental winter, 

 enabling the Franklin expedition to register as much as 

 ninety degrees of frost, and others even greater degrees of 

 cold. In the South Polar lands (except, perchance, in the 

 heart of the great continent) we have to deal with an 

 oceanic climate, where the variations between winter and 

 summer are very greatly diminished ; and although during 

 the summer we may seldom, if ever, have the thermometer 

 rising above the freezing point, yet in the winter the 

 thermometer should not register such extraordinary degrees 

 of cold as in the north. But here, again, our statements 

 are based on theory ; the more important, therefore, is it 

 in the near future to make a clear statement of facts from 

 the result of observations. 



It is plain that in meteorology and terrestrial magnetism 

 we have two subjects not only of purely scientific interest, 

 but of vast importance for the more accurate navigation 

 and greater safety of our vast fleets throughout the world. 

 There is one other subject which combines scientific and 



commercial interest, and that is biology. How far is it 

 possible for us to prosecute seal and whale fisheries, and 

 what must be the conditions of administrative protection ? 

 The commercial expeditions of the last three years from 

 Norway and Scotland seem rather to indicate that these 

 fisheries cannot bo profitably prosecuted, but still we must 

 acknowledge that there has been hardly sufficient investiga- 

 tion to answer this question decisively. The discovery of 

 guano at Cape Adair by Mr. Borchgrevink also opens up 

 a new channel for commercial enterprise. But, apart from 

 the commercial aspect, a very rich biological field lies 

 waiting for us in the Antarctic. Sir James Boss gathered 

 many invertebrate treasures, but these, unfortunately, 

 mostly perished without ever being properly examined. 

 The ( 'liaUi'iii/rr was more successful, and Dr. Murray 

 has brought to light some very interesting relationships in 

 the similarity of the fauna of the South and the North 

 Polar seas. In order to carry on this interesting and 

 valuable research, it is necessary to equip an expedition 

 which shall dredge, trawl, and tow-net throughout the 

 breadth and depth of the great Southern Ocean. Unfor- 

 tunately, the Cliiilleni/rr was not an ice-protected vessel, 

 and it would have been unwise for her commanders to 

 have carried on further research than they did in such 

 high southern latitudes. Beyond the mammalian and 

 invertebrate fauna, there is also the vast host of birds and 

 fishes to be studied, about which we know next to nothing. 

 Botanically we cannot hope for much, except possibly 

 in marine algm. It is interesting to note, however, that 

 Mr. Borchgrevink, of the Antmrtir, found this year on 

 Possession Island a lichen. This is the only recorded 

 land plant found within the Antarctic Circle. 



Towards the bathymetrical survey of the Southern 

 Ocean both Ross and the ChaUemier contributed valuable 

 observations, and the Clialleni/er observations have been 

 lucidly expotmded by Dr. Murray, who has brought to 

 light many very interesting facts regarding the distri- 

 bution of oceanic deposits. P>ut only the borderland of 

 this new world has been touched, and there still remains a 

 vast field of most interesting and important scientific 

 research. As a result of these investigations Dr. Murray 

 has defined to us what must be more or less the outline 

 of Antarctica, and it is consequently of more interest than 

 ever that a practical survey of this coast-line should be 

 made. There has always been a theory of an Antarctic 

 continent, but Dr. Murray's theory dift'ers from all previous 

 ones, inasmuch as it is founded on fact. 



To Captain Larsen, of the Jason, who has recently 

 been awarded the Back Grant of the Royal Geographical 

 Society for his valuable Antarctic researches, do we owe 

 the first concrete addition to our knowledge of the geology 

 of the Antarctic. He has landed several times, being the 

 first who ever travelled over the Antarctic ice, and on one 

 or more of his landings secured a most interesting set of 

 fossils. Still, this is only a beginning in the geology and 

 paliEontology of the south, and the geologist is enthusias- 

 tically eager for fiurther research. Geodetic problems, 

 problems of the Great Ice Age, of oceanic temperature, 

 salinity, and circulation, and other branches of scientific 

 knowledge too numerous to be mentioned here, have to be 

 studied. Such, briefly, is the work of a modern Antarctic 

 expedition. 



Since the return in 1893 of the Norwegian and Scottish 

 whalers there has been an endeavour among scientific 

 men and societies to promote a British Antarctic expedi- 

 tion, but more than two years have elapsed and yet no 

 definite plans are on foot. But outside our islands 

 scientists have met with greater success. Dr. Cook leaves 

 New York next year, and possibly two other countries will 



