208 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[September 1, 1900. 



iaoticfs of Uoofes. 



■ ■■ ♦ — 



THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF DR. NANSEN'S 

 EXPEDITION. 



" The Nor\vkci.\n North Polar Expedition, 1893-1896. 

 Scientific Results." Edited by FridtjofNansen. Vol.1. (Longmans.) 

 A popular narrative of Dr. Nansen's famous expedition has been 

 published, as is well known, in many editions and in many 

 languages. Considering the great interest taken in the expedition 

 and its results all over the world it is no small compliment which 

 the explorer pays to the British nation in deciding to publish the 

 scientific results only in the English language. The volume under 

 review contains five memoirs, which are noticed below under their 

 separate titles. We are promised four or five moie volumes, 

 which will appear from time to time, the whole work being com- 

 pleted in about two years' time. In order to place the various 

 memoirs before the scientific world at the earliest possible date, 

 they are printed as they are finished, without regard to systematic 

 sequence. And as each memoir is paged separately and is given 

 a number, we cannot see that the plan will lead to any confusion. 

 In the preface to the present volume. Dr. Nansen pays a high tribute 

 to his companions on board the " Fram," and we would add that 

 Dr. Nansen and his companions are indeed deserving of the highest 

 praise in bringing home such abundant and valuable scientific 

 materials in the face of many obstacles. Not only had the 

 ordinary difficulties of Arctic travel to be contended with, but 

 owing to the necessarily small size of the " Fram " in proportion 

 to the amount of provisions, coal, and equipment she had to carry, 

 no room could be found for special laboratories, and, worse still, 

 the " crew " had to be reduced to a minimum, and thus a number 

 of observations of various kinds had to be imdertaken by each 

 man. 



Both the letterpress and plates of the volume are well printed, 

 but we do not admire the character of the type used. Only the 

 most trifling errors of spelling in technical terms mar the perfection 

 of the English. 



"The Fr.\m." By Colin Archer, pp. 16, with 3 Plates. It is 

 fitting in every way that the scientific results of the expedition 

 should commence with a description of the wonderful ship which 

 bore the expedition with such success. And what more fitting than 

 that the designer and builder of the " Fram " should describe how 

 she was built, how she was rigged and equipped, and, above all, 

 how she was made capable of resisting what no ship had ever before 

 successfully resisted, the overwhelming pressure of the polar ice. 

 The leading idea of the whole expedition was to get the " Fram " 

 frozen fast in the ice, ivhich, according to Nansen's famous theory, 

 drifted across the North Pole. To do this a boat had to be built 

 which would overcome that pressure M-hich was generally believed 

 to be irresistible. That such a boat could be built and has been 

 built all the world now knows. Although it is probably less we'l 

 known that notwithstanding the enormous ice pressure to which 

 the " Fram " was subjected — so graphically described in " Farthest 

 North "—on being carefully surveyed both outside and in the 

 hold after her return, the only sign of straining which could be 

 discovered in any part of the vessel was in one bolt which had 

 started ! No better testimony to the efficiency of Colin Archer's 

 design and system of construction could be adduced. The most 

 interesting and important points about the " Fram " are the 

 strength of the structure which resisted the pressure and blows of 

 the ice, and the design which enabled her to evade a pressure 

 which might have proved fatal even to her. Wood from many 

 trees and many countries go to make up the strength of the 

 " Fram." Her keel is of American elm, her double frames are of 

 well seasoned English oak, the main deck beams are of American 

 or German oak, while the inner lining, the keelston, the lower 

 deck and poop beams, and all the deck planking are of Norwegian 

 pine. The outside planking is double and all oak, the inner layer 

 being 3 inches and the outer 4 inches thick, wliile over this 

 again is an ice sheathing of greenheart, 6 inches thick at and above 

 the water-line, decreasing to 3 inches (hick at the keel. The 

 interstices between the frames are filled with a composition of 

 coal-tar, pitch, and sawdust, the ship's side thus forming one 

 compact mass varying in thickness from 28 to 32 inches. In liis 

 choice of model the builder was largely influenced by tlie idea that 

 tlie "Fram" should be lifted by the ice, and that'thus the force 

 of the "nip" should be broken and deprived of half its terrors, 

 " In order to utilise this princijJe," Mr. Archer writes, " it was 

 decided to depart entirely from the usual deep-bilged form of 

 section, and to adopt a shape which would afl'ord the ice no iioint 

 of attack normal to the ship's side, but would, as the horizontal 

 pressure increased, force the attacking floes to dive under the 

 ship's bottom, lifting her." How successfullv this end was realised 

 we know from Dr. Naasen's account in " Farthest North " Mr 



Colin Archer's description of the " Fram " is excellent, and with 

 the two plans accompanying it will form a very valuable aid to 

 future Arctic work. — H. P. W. 



" The Jurassic Fauna of Cape Flora, Franz Josef Land." 

 By J. F. Pompeckj. With a geological sketch of Cape Flora and 

 its neighbourhood, by Fridtjof Nansen. pp. 147, with 3 Plates. 

 This .section forms a continuation of the work done by Dr. 

 Kcettlitz, of the .Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition. It is to some 

 extent controversial, since Dr. Kccttlitz submitted his fossils to 

 Mr. E. T. Newton, f.r.s., while Dr. Nansen's collection has 

 been examined by Dr. Pompeckj, with results which difl'er in 

 certain details. The fact that the fossils rejiresent the most 

 northern Jurassic fauna known to us adds greatly to their interest ; 

 and the publication of this work in English gives it a special claim 

 on our gratitude and attention. The Jurassic clays of Cape Flora 

 underlie a gre^tt capping of jjlateau-basalt, which has protected 

 them in their adverse climatic position. Dr. Nansen remarks that 

 the constantly frozen condition of the clays has i^robably prevented 

 them from being pressed out and made to flow under the weight 

 of igneous rock above them. Considerable interest was aroused 

 when these strata were described before the Geological Society of 

 London by Krx-ttlitz. Newton, and Teall, in 1897 and 1898, owing 

 to the possibility that certain shales containing Jurassic plants 

 were contemporaneous with the outpouring of the basalts. Dr. 

 Nansen is now able to strengthen the view that " the greater part 

 of the basalt is also of Upper Jurassic or Lower Cretaceous age " 

 (p. 26)) ; Professor Nathorst has, moreover, come to the same 

 conclusion respecting the basalts wdiich he has investigated in 

 Kong Karl's Land. The occurrence of terrestrial and estuarine 

 strata of Jurassic age in these regions fits in with what we already 

 know of the northern Jurassic province, from the Inner Hebrides 

 to Brora, Andcj, and onwards. 



The result of Dr. Pompeckj 's examination of the fossils, and of 

 his comparison with the descriptions published by Mr. Newton, 

 are clearly given on pages 108—133. Cadoceras is the prevalent 

 ammonite, and the author concludes that no marine Jurassic strata 

 newer than the Callovian are present. The Callovian is well re- 

 presented. On the other hand (p. 127), Lower Bajocian marine 

 beds are indicated in the strata N.W. of Elmwood. The differences 

 between this correlation and that made by Mr. Newton are not of 

 a veiy momentous character ; but they affect to some extent our 

 views as to the broad physiographic features of the Jurassic 

 period (pp. 140 — 147). The alliance of the beds is shown to be witn 

 the Russian Jurassic, and even with the central European type 

 (p. 137), rather than with the Jurassic of East Greenland. — G.A.J.C. 

 " Fossil Plast.s from Franz Josef Land." By A. (i. 

 Nathorst. pp. 26, and 2 Plates. Cape Flora, the southern 

 extremity of the group of islands known as Franz Josef Land is 

 about 20 degrees from the Pole. How far northwards this Arctic 

 archipelago extends is one of the many unsolved problems of the 

 region of mysteries which lies within the Arctic circle. Franz Josef 

 Land was accidentally discovered by Weyjjrecht and Payer during 

 the search for the North-east passage in 1872-4. It was twice 

 visited by Leigh Smith between 1880 and 1882, and at Cape Flora 

 the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition was established in 1896, and 

 was joined by Nansen and Johansen then on their sledge journey 

 southwards. Duriug his short sojourn with the English expedition 

 Nansen studied the geology of the neighbouring country, and was 

 frequently accompanied in his excursions by Dr. Kcetlitz, doctor 

 and geologist to the expedition. Hearing of a " uunatak " (a sjjur 

 of rock projecting through the sheet of ice), upon which plant- 

 remains were to be found, Nansen's interest was aroused, and he 

 and Dr. Kcetlitz visited it. " The spur of rock consisted entirely 

 of basalt, at some points showing a marked columnar structure, 

 and projected in the middle of the glacier at a height which I 

 estimated at 600 or 700 feet above the sea. ... At two points 

 on the surface of the basalt there was a layer consisting of 

 innumerable fragments of sandstone. In almost every one of these 

 impressions were to be found, for the most part of the needles and 

 leaves of pine-trees, but also of small fern-leaves. We picked up 

 as many of these treasures as we could cany. . . . Some days 

 later Johansen also chanced unwittingly upon the same place and 

 gathered fossils which he brought to me."* Of these fossils 

 Professor Nathorst gave a preliminary account in " Farthest 

 North," and has now presented us with detailed descriptions and 

 figures in the memoir before us. 



The well-executed plates bear testimony to the exceedingly im- 

 perfect nature of the materials with which Professor Nathorst had 

 to work. In his preface the author states that " most of the 

 remains of the plants are very fragmentary, and as, moreover, 

 the leaves in themselves are small, and are not by any difl'erence 

 of colour distinguishable from the rock, the examination of the 

 material has been very arduous, having almost without exceptioa 



'FridtjofNansen. " Farthest North." Vol. II., pp. 483-4. 



