May 10, 1883] 



NATURE 



4i 



stay will be made for a few days, when the edge of the 

 ice in the west will be made for, which will be followed 

 southwards, but no attempt should then be made to 

 penetrate the pack. Only in case there should be found 

 an open lead, which is not expected, this will be entered. 

 The probability of this is, however, very small. After 

 having passed Cape Farewell, the vessel will call at I vigtuk, 

 where again it will be coaled from the depots which have 

 been laid up here for the use of the steamer. The course 

 will then be shaped for the west coast of Greenland, 

 probably calling at Egedesminde, to the Auleitsivik Fjord, 

 from the bottom of which the ice journey will be 

 commenced. 



This latter will occupy, it is estimated, thirty to forty 

 days, and should be finished thus by the middle of August 

 next. During this time the vessel will steam through the 

 Waigatt to Omenak, where the many deposits of fossil 

 plants will be visited. If the ice and coals should permit, 

 the vessel will steam northwards, if possible as far as Cape 

 York, whereby an excellent opportunity will be offered for 

 geological, mineralogical, botanical, and zoological studies. 

 In the middle of August the vessel will again be due in the 

 Auleitsivik Fjord, and taking the members of the ice- 

 expedition on board, will steam south to Ivigtuk, where 

 a few days' stay will be made for coaling, etc. From here 

 the vessel will steam round Cape Farewell, along the east 

 coast in the open channel, which I expect to find there at 

 that season ; and my intention is then, with due reference to 

 the old geographical descriptions of the Icelandic Sagas, 

 carefully to search the fjords which may be accessible. 



At the end of September the return journey will be com- 

 menced outside the belt of pack-ice to Reikiavik and home. 



The distances the vessel will cover are, in round figures, 

 these : — 



Gothenburg 



Thurso 



Reikiavik 



Ivigtuk 



Auleitsivik Fjord 

 Omenak 



~ Miles. 



to Thurso 500 



„ Reikiavik 700 



„ Ivigtuk 870 



„ Auleitsivik Fjord 540 



„ Omenak 330 



„ Cape York 400 



A. E. Nordenskiold 



NOTES 



The Fifty-third Annual Meeting of the British Association 

 will commence on Wednesday, September 19, 1883, at South- 

 port. The President Elect is Arthur Cayley, LL.D., F.R.S., 

 Sadlerian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cam- 

 bridge. The Vice-Pre>idents Elect are the Right Hon. the Earl 

 of Derby, the Right Hon. the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, 

 the Right Hon. the Earl of Lathom, Prof. J. G. Greenwood, 

 LED., Prof. H. E. Roscoe, LL.D., F.R.S. The General 

 Treasurer is Prof. A. W. Williamson, Ph.D., F.R.S. , University 

 College, London. The General Secretaries are Capt. Douglas 

 Gallon, C.B., F.R.S., and A. G. Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S. 

 The Secretary is Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. The Local 

 Secretaries are J. H. Ellis, Dr. Vernon, T. W. Willis ; and the 

 Local Treasurer the Mayor of Southport. The Sections are the 

 following : — A. — Mathematical and Physical Science. — Presi- 

 dent : Prof. Henrici, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents: Prof. Balfour 

 Stewart, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., F.R.A.S. ; Prof. Stokes, M.A., 

 D.C.L., LL.D., Sec.R.S. Secretaries : W. M. Hicks, M.A. ; 

 Prof. O. J. Lodge, D.Sc. ; D. McAlister, M.A., M.B., D.Sc. 

 (Recorder) ; Prof. Rowe, M.A., B.Sc. B. — Chemical Science. 

 —President : J. H. Gladstone, Ph.D., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents: 

 Hugo Muller, Ph.D., F.R.S., For. Sec. C.S. ; Prof. T. E. 

 Thorpe, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S. Secretaries : Prof. P. Phillips 

 Bedson, D.Sc, F.C.S. (Recorder); H. B. Dixon, M.A., 

 F.C.S. ; H. Foster Morley, M.A., B.Sc, F.C.S. C— Geology. 

 —President: Prof. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S. Vice-Presi- 



dents : Prof. VV. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S. ; 

 J. W. Hulke, F.R.S., Pres.G.S. Secretaries: R. Betley, 

 F.G.S. ; C. E. de Ranee, F.G.S. ; W. Topley, F.G.S. (Re- 

 corder); W. Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S. D.— Biology.— Presi- 

 dent : Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents : Prof. 

 Gamgee, M.D., F.R.S. ; W. Pengelly, F.R.S , F.G.S. ; Prof. 

 Schafer, F.R.S. ; W. T. Thiselton Dyer, M.A., B.Sc, F.R.S., 

 F.L.S. Secretaries: G. J. Haslam, M.D. ; W. Heape ; Prof. 

 A. M. Marshall, M.A., M.D., D.Sc. ; Howard Saunders, 

 F.L.S., F.Z.S. (Recorder) ; G. A. Woods. Department of 

 Anthropology: W. Pengelly, F.R.S., F.G.S. (Vice-President), 

 will preside. Secretaries : G. W. Bloxani, M.A., F.L.S. 

 ( Recorder) ; Walter Hurst. E. — Geography. — President : Lieut. - 

 Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, F.R.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S. Vice- 

 Presidents : Sir Rawson W. Rawson, K.C.M.G., C.B., 

 F.R.G.S. ; The Rev. Canon Tristram, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., 

 F.L.S. Secretaries : John Coles, F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S. ; E. G. 

 Ravenstein, F.R.G.S.; E. C. Rye, F.Z.S. (Recorder). F.— 

 Economic Science and Statistics. — President : R. H. Inglis 

 Palgrave, F.R.S., F.S.S. Vice-Presidents : Prof. R. Adamson, 

 M.A., LED., ; J. Heywood, F.R.S., F.G.S., F.S.A., F.S.S. 

 Secretaries: Prof. H. S. Foxwell, M.A., F.S.S. ; J. N. Keynes, 

 M.A., B.Sc ; Constantine Molloy (Recorder). G. — Mechanical 

 Science.— President : James Brunlees, F.R.S. E., F.G.S., Pres. 

 I.C.E. Vice-Presidents: \V. H. Barlow, F.R.S., M.I.C.E. ; 

 Prof. Osborne Reynolds, M.A., F.RS. Secretaries: A. T. 

 Atchison, M.A., C.E. ; Edward Rigg, M.A. ; H. T. Wood, 

 B.A. (Recorder). The first general meeting will be held on 

 Wednesday, September 19, at 8 p.m., when Sir C. W. Siemens, 

 D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., F.C.S., M.I.C.E., will resign the 

 Chair, and Prof. Cayley, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., V.P.R.A.S., 

 President Elect, will assume the Presidency, and deliver an 

 address. On Thursday evening, September 20, at 8 p.m., there 

 will be a soiree; on Friday evening, September2l, at 8. 30 p.m., 

 a Discourse on Recent Researches on the Distance of the Sun, 

 by Prof. R. S. Ball, LL.D., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal for 

 Ireland ; on Monday evening, September 24, at S.30 p.m., a 

 Discourse on Galvani and Animal Electricity, by Prof. J. G. 

 McKeudrick, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. E., Professor of Physiology 

 in the University of Glasgow, and in the Royal Institution of 

 Great Britain ; on Tuesday evening, September 25, at 8 p.m., a 

 soiree ; on Wednesday, September 26, the concluding general 

 meeting will be held at 2.30 p.m. 



The number of members of the British Association who have 

 announced their intention of being present at the proposed meet- 

 ing at Montreal in 1884, continues to increase, and now exceeds 

 410. It b stated that Lord Rayleigh has accepted the presidency 

 for the Canadian meeting. 



Prof. Huxley has been elected a Foreign Member of the 

 U.S. National Academy. 



From a list of seven names proposed by the Incorporated 

 Societies throughout the colony, the following gentlemen have 

 been elected honorary members of the New Zealand Institute : — 

 Sir William Thomson, F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy, 

 University of Glasgow ; Dr. \V. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., C.B., of 

 London; and Mr. R. L. J. Ellery, F.R.S., Government Astro- 

 nomer at Melbourne. 



Prof. Tyndall has resigned his position as Scientific Ad- 

 viser to the Board of Trade and the Lighthouse Boards. 



We are glad to see the ample recognition of music during the 

 present week by the conferring of knighthood on Messrs. Sulli- 

 van, Grove, and Macfarren in connection with the New College 

 of Music. Let us hope that the science of music as well as the 

 art will receive due cultivation in the new institution ; with Sir 

 George Grove's well-known wide sympathies, however, this may 

 be taken for granted. 



