Nov. 30, 1871J 



NATURE 



79 



Spitzbergen. They made four attempts to press through 

 the ice, and failed, as all their predecessors had failed. 

 But it is stated by German writers that this expedi- 

 tion attained the highest point ever reached by a 

 sailing vessel, namely, 81° 5' N. This is a mistake. Parry 

 reached 81° 5' N. in the Heda, and 81° 13' in his boats, 

 and Scoresby reached 81° 30' N. in 1806, on board 

 the Kcsolution of Whitby. In 1869 the second Ger- 

 man expedition sailed, also under command of Captain 

 Koldewcy, with instructions from Dr. Petermann to pene- 

 trate through the belt or girdle of ice which encircles the 

 open polar basin of his imagination, to winter at the pole, 

 and then to sail across it and explore the Siberian islands. 

 All very easy to write at Gotha ! But, as usual, Captain 

 Koldcwey was stopped, as all his predecessors had been, 

 by the closely-packed ice, and wintered on the east coast 

 of Greenland, at a part which was visited by Sabine and 

 Clavering in 1S23. The German explorers made careful 

 scientific observations, and partly examined a very in- 

 teresting navigable fiord running into the heart of Green- 

 land. The expedition returned to Bremen in September 

 1870, and the experience acquired by two seasons in the 

 ice has enabled its talented and energetic commander to 

 orm an authoritative opinion on the best route for north 

 polar exploration. Captain Koldewey, the first German 

 authority on Arctic navigation, fully concurs vi-ith Captain 

 Osborn that the way to explore the unknown region is by 

 sending an expedition up Smith Sound. 



The other Arctic voyages that have been made since 

 1865 are of minor importance. In 1869 Dr. Bessels 

 crossed the sea between Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlia, 

 and met with field ice between 76° and 77° N. in August. 

 Norwegian fishermen named Ulve, Carlsen, and Johan- 

 nesen, found the Sea of Kara comparatively free of ice in 

 1869 — 70, and the latter is said to have sailed round 

 Novaya ZemHa. In 1870 Count Zeil and von Henglin 

 made some useful observations on the east side of Spitz- 

 bergen during a yacht voyage, and obtained a sight of the 

 still more eastern Gillis Land. In the present year Lieut. 

 Payer, who served under Captain Koldewey, made a 

 voyage towards the Polar pack, between Spitzbergen and 

 Novaya Zemlia, and he reports having nearly reached the 

 79th parallel, between the 40th and 42nd meridians east 

 from Greenwich, and again in 60° E., finding open water. 

 But Mr. Smith, an English yachtsman, in the same sea- 

 son, was more lucky or more adventurous. He reached 

 the latitude of 81° 13' N., the highest that has ever been 

 ever observed on board a ship. Scoresby, indeed, reached 

 an estimated latitude of 81° 30' on May 24, 1806, but his 

 highest observed latitude was 81'' 12' 42" on the 23rd. 

 These voyages merely confirm the observations of Nor- 

 denskiold and earlier explorers, that, though the pack is 

 usually met with, east of Spitzbergen, between 75° and 

 'n° N., it may not be reached in exceptional years until 

 the 8 1 it, or even the 82nd parallel is attained. 



Such have been the results of Arctic exploration since 

 Sherard Osborn submitted his proposal in 1S65. They 

 fully confirm the correctness of his views; and the best 

 English and German Arctic authorities are now in com- 

 plete accord. There is, therefore, no longer any reason 

 for postponing the consideration of this question. Six 

 years have been wasted, and the men who were available 

 to lead an expedition in 1S65, may be unable to do so 



now. But the navy of England still abounds in the same 

 stuff that made a Parry, a James Ross, a McClintock, and 

 an Osborn in former years : and it must always be re- 

 membered that it is out of young Arctic explorers that 

 Nelsons are formed. The arguments for Osborn's scheme 

 of exploration by Smith Sound are now strengthened by 

 the experience of Nordenskiold and Koldewey. The same 

 evidence of the important scientific results to be obtained 

 by an Arctic expedition that was produced by the highest 

 authorities in 1865, is forthcoming now. The argument 

 that such enterprises in the pursuit of Science have an 

 excellent effect upon the naval service is as strong now as 

 it was then. We may, therefore, reasonably hope that 

 (the Duke of Somerset's reason for postponing the ques- 

 tion having been entirely removed) the Admiralty would 

 take the subject of Polar exploration into favourable con- 

 sideration, if the scientific societies once more submitted 

 it, with the same arguments as were used six years ago. 



C. R. Markham 



ORD\S NOTES ON COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 



Notes on Comparative Anatomy : a Syllabus of a Co-urse 

 of Lectures delivered at St. 77iomas's Hospital. By 

 W. M. Ord, M.B. (Churchill, 1871.) 



DR. ORD may be congratulated on having put together 

 this compact, lucid, and well-arranged Syllabus. 

 It is well adapted to serve as a framework, for lecturers 

 on Comparative Anatomy to fill up, and students may also 

 use it to refresh the memory when once stored with more 

 slowly acquired information. The abuse of it will be 

 for men to bolt this condensed extract of scientific food 

 in order to produce it again under examination. The 

 author seems to have foreseen this danger, and not only 

 warns against it, but has been careful to preserve the bald 

 and dry style which ought to repel those who do not know 

 how to use the book as he intends. S:ill, experience of 

 the way in which Prof Huxley's " Introduction to Classi- 

 fication" is misused by being literally learned by rote, 

 shows to what ill u-essuch compendia may be put. 



The Syllabus begins with a short summary of the dis- 

 tinctive characters of the organic and of the animal king- 

 doms, followed by a scheme of classification which follows 

 that of the introduction just referred to. The several 

 animal classes from Protozoa to Mammalia are then 

 treated, so that the arrangement is a zoological one. It 

 would perhaps have been better if the author had devoted 

 less space to the enumeration of the characters of orders 

 and classes, since these are found in other manuals, and if 

 anatomical points of difficulty had been more fully ex- 

 plained. For example, more detailed exposition of sub- 

 jects like the morphology of the compound Hydrozoa, 

 the development of Echinoderms, and the formation of 

 the placenta, would have been exceedingly valuable. For 

 such an object, however, diagrams are almost essential, and, 

 accepting Dr. Ord's plan, it must be admitted that he has 

 carried it out with a due regard to symmetry. The only 

 subject which the Syllabus appears comparatively to 

 neglect is the difficult but important one of Embryology. 

 The account given of the Annulata and Entozoa is parti- 

 cularly clear and excellent. The following extract is a fair 

 specimen of the author's style and method : — 



" Cl. Brachiopoda, — Sohtary bivalves, in which the 



