NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 303 
harpoon was found buried in the blubber on its back; the socket 
of the dart was made of ivory, the blade being wrought-iron. Hans 
pronounced it to be a Greenland harpoon-head, and suggested that 
the animal had been struck in the Danish settlements. 
Although there is no risk of the speedy extinction of the Green- 
land Whale, Balena mysticetus, it is probable, says Capt. Feilden, 
that in a few years the fishing will no longer prove profitable to 
the fine fleet of whalers that now sail from our northern ports; 
and he sees no hope of Arctic discovery increasing our knowledge 
of the range of this animal. 
The account given of the Musk-ox (vol. ii., pp. 198 —202) should 
be read in extenso. Musk-oxen were obtained in considerable 
numbers near to the winter-quarters of the ‘ Discovery,’ over forty 
being shot; but in the extreme north of Grinnell Land, nearer to 
the winter-quarters of the ‘ Alert,’ they were much scarcer, only 
six having been obtained by the crew of that vessel. The cause of 
the disagreeable odour which frequently taints the flesh of these 
animals has received no elucidation from Capt. Feilden’s observa- 
tions. It does not appear to be confined to either sex, or to any 
particular season of the year; for a young unweaned animal killed 
at its mother’s side, and transferred within an hour to the pot, was 
rank and objectionable, whilst the flesh of some adult animals of 
both sexes was dark, tender, and well-flavoured. 
The extraordinary development of the claws on the fore-feet of 
the Lemming attracted some attention, and Capt. Feilden was 
enabled to determine that this development is seasonal, and 
analogous to what is observable in some of the Tetraonide. 
The birds met with by the Expedition are well-known Polar 
forms, and the chief interest lies in the record of their great 
northern extension in the western hemisphere. The extreme 
shyness of all the species observed was remarkable. Until nesting 
time, it was no easy matter to get within range. 
Those who, like Capt. Feilden, had been accustomed to find 
that delicate-looking summer visitor to the British Islands, the 
Arctic Tern, depositing its eggs on warm shingle under a June 
sun, must have been astonished to find it nesting in deep snow on 
a small islet off the north end of Bellot Island (lat. 81° 44’ N.). 
In one nest was found a newly-hatched Tern, which seemed quite 
well and lively in its snow cradle. The parent birds had evidently 
thrown the snow out of the nest as it fell; for.it was surrounded 
