Things not generally Knoivn. 



tor, Sir James Ross. His observations of the Northern Mag- 

 netic Pole were made during the second expedition of his uncle, 

 Sir John Ross (1829-1833) ; and of the Southern during the 

 Antarctic expedition under his own command (1839-1843). The 

 Northern Magnetic Pole, in 70 5' lat., 96 43' W. long., is 5 of 

 latitude farther from the ordinary pole of the earth than the 

 Southern Magnetic Pole, 75 35' lat., 154 10' E. long. ; whilst 

 it is also situated farther west from Greenwich than the North- 

 ern Magnetic Pole. The latter belongs to the great island of 

 Boothia Felix, which is situated very near the American conti- 

 nent, and is a portion of the district which Captain Parry had 

 previously named North Somerset. It is not far distant from 

 the western coast of Boothia Felix, near the promontory of Ade- 

 laide, which extends into King William's Sound and Victoria 

 Strait. 



The Southern Magnetic Pole has been directly reached in 

 the same manner as the Northern Pole. On 17th February 

 1841, the Erebus penetrated as far as 76 12' S. lat., and 164 

 E. long. As the inclination was here only 88 40', it was assumed 

 that the Southern Magnetic Pole was about 160 nautical miles 

 distant. Many accurate observations of declination, determin- 

 ing the intersection of the magnetic meridian, render it very 

 probable that the South Magnetic Pole is situated in the inte- 

 rior of the great Antarctic region of South Victoria Land, west 

 of the Prince Albert mountains, which approach the South Pole 

 and are connected with the active volcano of Erebus, which is 

 12,400 feet in height. Humboldt's Cosmos, vol. v. 



MAGNETIC STORMS. 



The mysterious course of the magnetic needle is equally af- 

 fected by time and space, by the sun's course^ and by changes 

 of place on the earth's surface. Between the tropics the hour 

 of the day may be known by the direction of the needle as well 

 as by the oscillations of the barometer. It is affected instantly, 

 but transiently, by the northern light. 



When the uniform horary motion of the needle is disturbed 

 by a magnetic storm, the perturbation manifests itself simulta* 

 neously, in the strictest sense of the word, over hundreds and 

 thousands of miles of sea and land, or propagates itself by de- 

 grees in short intervals every where over the earth's surface. 



Among numerous examples of perturbations occurring simul- 

 taneously and extending over wide portions of the earth's sur- 

 face, one of the most remarkable is that of September 25th, 1841, 

 which was observed at Toronto in Canada, at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, at Prague, and partially in Van JDiemen's Land. Sa- 

 bine adds, "The English Sunday, on which it is deemed sin- 

 ful, after midnight on Saturday, to register an observation, and 



