FfiBKUARY 1, 1896.J 



KNOWLEDGE 



31 



be despatching Antarctic expeditions. Is the British 

 nation not to be moved '? Are we, the maritime power of 

 the world, to stand by and look on while other nations 

 solve the problems of oceans '? Much can be done by 

 private enterprise, and such enterprise should be fostered ; 

 but if we have our old enthusiasm we can do something 

 more than send out a private expedition from our shores. 

 The scientific world is at present ringing with the praises 

 of the Challeivter expedition. Do we retrret having sent 

 out that expedition ? Has it not made Britain a greater 

 maritime nation than she ever was before ? Does Cook's 

 work from east to west, from north to south, count for 

 nothing ? Do we regret having the names of Weddell, 

 Ross, Franklin, and a hundred others added to our roll of 

 heroes ? Let us show that we are still the leading mari- 

 time power of the world, and that in peace our victories 

 are even greater and more lasting than in war I Let us 

 unite together again, 

 and add another chap- 

 ter manifold richer than 

 the chapter of the Clud- 

 lemjer, since by that 

 expedition we should 

 have learnt how to carry 

 on a similar piece of 

 work to even a more 

 successful conclusion. 



We do not in the least 

 advocate that such an 

 expedition should ever 

 attempt to reach the 

 South Pole. A rush to 

 the Pole is not what we 

 desire, but a systematic 

 survey of the whole 

 South Polar regions, 

 and a continuous series 

 of various observations 

 throughout at least two, 

 if not three, years. 

 There is no doubt that 

 such an expedition 

 would furnish incon- 

 ceivably valuable re- 

 sults, and that a new 

 gem would be added to 

 our nation's records. 

 Even greater would be 

 the glory and the final 

 results if the Antarctic 

 regions were to be ex- 

 plored by the co-opera- 

 tion of the great nations 

 of the world ; and it is 

 pleasing to record that the International Geographical 

 Congress has unanimously adopted the following resolution 

 recommended by a most distinguished committee, consisting 

 of Sir Joseph Hooker, Dr. John l\Iurray, Dr. Neumayer, 

 Professor Von den Steinen, and M. Bouquet De la Grise, 

 namely : — 



" The Sixth Geographical Congress, assembled at 

 London, 1895, records its opinion that the exploration 

 of the Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geo- 

 graphical exploration still to be undertaken ; and in 

 view of the addition to knowledge in almost every 

 branch of science which would result from an expedition 

 to the South Polar regions, Congress recommends the 

 several scientific societies throughout the world to urge, 

 in whatever way seems to them most eilective, that 



this work should be undertaken before the close of the 



century." 



Surely the unanimous resolution of so great an assembly 

 will have sufficient weight to move the most retrenching 

 Governments to tread onwards, and 



" To gr.iee this latter ao;e with noble deeds." 



IToTB. — The GroTcmments of Ifew South Wales and Tasmania 

 have recently agreed to raise funds for an Antarctic expedition if 

 the other Australian Colonies will also join the project. 



Notfcts of Boo&s. 



The Herscheh and ilodrrn Astronomy. By A^Ties ^l. 

 Gierke. (Cassell & Co.) 3s. Gd. The subject °of Miss 

 Gierke's latest work is not a new one to her, as she had 

 largely treated of the Herschels in her " History of 



Astronomy in the Nine- 

 teenth Century," and 

 had there shown how 

 strongly the subject had 

 excited her interest. 

 Vv'ith a writer of Miss 

 Gierke's force and 

 charm of expression, 

 and deep and thorough 

 sympathy in her subject, 

 the book before us could 

 not fail to be one to 

 commend itself to every 

 reader to whom astro- 

 nomy at all appeals, or 

 who can be attracted by 

 the narration of the 

 final success of genius. 

 The author teUs us 

 in the preface that 

 the gleanings about 

 William Herschel'a 

 scientific works, apart 

 from those taken 

 directly from Caroline's 

 " Journals and Recol- 

 lections, " have had to 

 be sought and studied 

 one by one in the 

 various volumes of the 

 Philosophical Tra nsuc- 

 tions. Very naturally 

 the subject divides itself 

 into three parts, which 

 tell in turn of William, 

 Caroline, and John 

 Herschel. The life of 

 William Herschel is still more an account of the birth and 

 first beginning of our present-day observational and physical 

 astronomy. When the elder Herschel tried fitting lenses 

 into pasteboard tubes, in 177'2, and obtained but poor 

 results, these sections of the divine science were non- 

 existent ; the idea of their possibility, even, had not 

 germinated in men's minds. In sentences that charm the 

 reader by their power and completeness, .Miss Gierke 

 narrates how the musician of Bath designed " to carry 

 improvements in telescopes ti their full extent " and 

 " leave no spot of the heavens unvisited," and how he 

 trained his senses of sight and touch to render possible the 

 accomplishment of his great design, .\fter tiro hundrrd 

 failures a tolerable retlccting telescope w;is produced, 

 about five inches in aperture anu of five and a-half feet 



Sir William Heeschel. From T/ie Hersiheli am! Modern Aslronumii. 



