500 



NATURE 



[September 24, 1903 



balloons is of great importance in meteorology, and 

 that the Council should take such steps as thej^ might 

 think fit to urge upon the Treasury the importance 

 of providing the Meteorological Council with the funds 

 necessary for the purpose. (2) That the Sectional 

 Committees be continued in existence until the ap- 

 pointment of the Sectional Committees for the succeed- 

 ing year, on being summoned by the president of the 

 committee or by the Council, and that they be author- 

 ised to bring to the notice of the Council in the 

 interval between the annual meetings any matter 

 which might be desired in the interest of the several, 

 sections. 



At the concluding meeting, held on the same day, 

 resolutions were proposed and unanimously carried 

 conveying thanks to the Mayor and Corporation, 

 Local Committee, and other bodies who had helped 

 to rnake the meeting a success by their personal 

 services and generous hospitality. Appreciation of 

 the handsome way in which the visitors were treated 

 was also expressed at a dinner which the Mayor of 

 Southport, Mr. T. T. L. Scarisbrick, gave on Wednes- 

 day evening, when a distinguished company was 

 entertained by him at Greaves Hall, Banks, to meet 

 Sir Norman Lockyer and Prof. E. Mascart, president 

 of the International Meteorological Committee. 



SECTION E. ,, . 



GEOGRAPHY. 



Opening Address by Captain Ettrick W. Creak, C.B., 

 R.N., F.R.S., President of the Section. 



Of the six distinguished naval officers who have previously 

 presided over this Section, four were Arctic explorers ; and 

 therefore, possessing personal experience in Arctic regions, 

 they naturally gave prominence to the deeply interesting sub- 

 ject of the past and future of Arctic discovery in their 

 addresses, whilst not forgetting other matters relating to the 

 geography of the sea. The remaining officers, from their 

 immediate connection with all that relates to the physical 

 condition of the ocean, in its widest sense, coupled with the 

 great importance of giving the fruits of their knowledge to 

 the world, took that subject as their principal theme. 



Valuable as are contributions to our knowledge of the 

 physics of, the ocean to the world in general, and especially 

 to the mariner and water-borne landsman, I propose to take 

 a different course, and bring to your notice the subject of 

 Terrestrial Magnetism in its relation to Geography. In 

 doing so, I shall endeavour to show that much may be done 

 by the traveller on land and the seaman at sea in helping to 

 fathom the mysteries connected with the behaviour of the 

 freely suspended magnetic needle, as it is carried about over 

 that great magnet, the Earth, by observations in different 

 regions, and even in limited areas. 



I would, however, pause a moment to call attention to the 

 presence of several distinguished meteorologists at this meet- 

 ing, who will surely attract many to the consideration of 

 matters connected with the important science of meteorology, 

 which already occupies considerable attention from travellers. 

 I feel sure, therefore, that geographers will be glad to accord 

 a hearty welcome to the members of the International 

 Meteorological Congress now assembled in this town, and 

 especially to the foreign visitors who honour us by their 

 presence. 



Someone may ask. What has Terrestrial Magnetism to do 

 with Geography ? 1 reply, excellent lectures on that sub- 

 ject of growing importance have been given under the 

 direct auspices of the Royal Geographical Society ; one in 

 1878 by the late Captain Sir Frederick Evans, and another in 

 1897 by Sir Arthur Riicker. And I would here quote the 

 opinion of Dr. Mill when defining geography, in my sup- 

 port : " Geography is the science which deals with the forms 

 of the Earth's crust, and with the influence which these 

 forms exercise on the distribution of other phenomena." 



We know now that the normal distribution of the Earth's 

 magnetism for any epoch is in many localities seriously 

 affected accordingly as the nature of the country surveyed be 

 mountainous, or generally a plain, in the form of islands (or 



NO. 1769, VOL. 68] 



mountains standing out of the sea), and from land under the 

 sea. There is also reason to suspect that the magnetism of 

 that portion of the earth covered by the oceans differs in in- 

 tensity from that of the dry land we inhabit. A connection 

 between the disturbances of the earth's crust in ea-'thquakes 

 and disturbances of the magnetic needle also seems to exist, 

 although the evidence on this point is not conclusive. 



Magnetic Surveys. 



Previously to the year 1880 there were two periods of ex- 

 ceptional activity on the part of contributors to our know- 

 ledge of the earth's magnetism, during which the scientific 

 sailor in his ship on the trackless ocean combined with his 

 brethren on land in making a magnetic survey of the globe. 



The first period was that of 1843-49, during which not 

 only were fixed observatories established at Toronto, St. 

 Helena, Capetown, and Ilobart for hourly observations of the 

 movements of the magnetic needle, but, to use Sabine's 

 words, " that great national undertaking, the Magnetic Sur- 

 vey of the South Polar Regions of the Globe," the forerunner 

 of our present Antarctic Expedition, was accomplished by 

 Ross and his companions almost entirely at sea. 



This Antarctic survey was carried out during the years 

 1840-45, and the results given to the world as soon as pos- 

 sible by Sabine. The results afterwards formed a valuable 

 contribution when constructing his maps of equal lines of 

 Magnetic Declination, Inclination, and Intensity for the 

 whole world, a great work for the completion of which 

 Sabine employed every available observation made up to the 

 year 1870, whether on land or at sea. 



Readers of these contributions cannot fail to be struck with 

 the great number of observations made by such travellers 

 as Hansteen and Due, Erman and Wrangel, extending from 

 Western Europe to far into Siberia. 



The second period was that of 1870-80, during which not 

 only was there much activity amongst observers on land, but 

 that expedition so fruitful to science, the voyage of H.M.S. 

 Challenger, took place. During the years 1872-76 we find 

 the sailor in the Challenger doing most valuable work in 

 carrying out a magnetic survey of certain portions of the 

 great oceans, valuable not only for needful uses in making 

 charts for the seaman, but also as a contribution to mag- 

 netic science. 



Prior to this expedition very little was known from observ- 

 ation of the distribution of Terrestrial Magnetism in the 

 central regions of the North and South Pacific Oceans, 

 and Sabine's charts are consequently defective there. . 



Combining the Challenger magnetical results with those 

 of all available observations made by others of H.M. ships, 

 and by colonial and foreign Governments, I was enabled to 

 compile the charts of the magnetic elements for the epoch 

 1880, which were published in the report of the scientific 

 results of H.M.S. Challenger. I will venture to say that 

 these charts give a fairly accurate representation of the 

 normal distribution of the earth's magnetism between 

 parallels of 70° N. and 40° S. Beyond these limits, either 

 northward or southward, there is a degree of uncertainty 

 about the value of the lines of equal value, especially in the 

 Southern regions, an uncertainty which we have reason to 

 hope will be dissipated when we know the full results ob- 

 tained by Captain Scott and the gallant band he commands, 

 for as yet we have to be content with some eddies of the ful! 

 tide of his success. 



Until the Discovery was built, the Challenger was the last 

 vessel specially selected with the view of obtaining magnetic 

 observations at sea, so that for several years past results 

 obtained on land have been our mainstay. Thus, elaborate 

 magnetic surveys with fruitful results have been carried out 

 in recent years in the British Isles by Riicker and Thorpe. 

 France, Germany, Holland, and some smaller districts in 

 Europe have also been carefully surveyed, and British India 

 partially so, by Messrs. Schlagintweit in 1857-58. The 

 latter country is being again magnetically surveyed under 

 the auspices of the Indian Government. 



On the American continent the Coast and Geodetic survey 

 of the vast territories comprised in the United States, which 

 has been so many years in progress, has been accompanied 

 by an extended magnetic survey during the last fifty-two 

 years, which is now under the able direction of Dr. L. A. 

 Bauer. Resulting from this some excellent charts of the 

 magnetic declination in the United States have been pub- 



