August 30, 1883J 



NATURE 



42; 



tile steamships — given in the belief that much more is 

 sure to be gained as the ship inclines (within large limits) 

 — has resulted in the capsizing of many ships at sea, and 

 in grave danger to many that are still afloat, not in the 

 same manner, because not in the same condition as to 

 lightness as the Hammonia and Daphne, but from other 

 not less real deficiencies." Sad and serious as this state- 

 ment is, I repeat it here with perfect confidence in its 

 accuracy. 



Sometimes such vessels are brought into a condition of 

 apparent safety by the stowage of their own coal, but as 

 the coal is consumed their stability diminishes, they 

 capsize, disappear, and the word "missing " is recorded 

 against them in an official return. Xo means exists, 

 notwithstanding all our shipping legislation, for insuring 

 that the facts will be brought to light — indeed, at the 

 official inquiry which follows under the present condi- 

 tio! s, the question of stability may not even be mentioned. 

 As the stability of a ship is often an intricate matter 

 which can be effectually controlled only by close and 

 careful calculation, and as no Government department is 

 at present charged with the duties even of collecting, 

 recording, and making known those dimensions and 

 particulars of ships which determine their stabilitv, the 

 matter must be left to right itself. Maritime ships of 

 small stability incur dangers from, and are doubtless lost 

 by, the operation of causes which are but very imper- 

 fectly appreciated. 



It is under the urgent pressure of a very rapidly grow- 

 ing mercantile steam marine that the shipbuilding trade 

 has somewhat, I fear much, outrun the companionship 

 and regulation of science. It is only quite recently that 

 the necessity for developing their scientific staff and 

 appliances has been borne in upon the minds of ship- 

 builders. There never, even yet, has been so much as a 

 training school or college established by them for the 

 education of young naval architects and draughtsmen 

 throughout the country. But the Admiralty have had 

 their dockyard schools at work for nearly forty years ; 

 school after school of Government naval architecture has 

 been established ; the Institution of Naval Architects 

 has been formed, and done invaluable work, for more 

 than twenty years ; and some private shipbuilders have at 

 length entered with spirit and enterprise upon the labour 

 of developing the practice of scientific naval architec- 

 ture. No part of my duty in connection with the Daphne 

 inquiry has been so agreeable to me as that of bearing 

 witness to the admirable efforts of several Clyde firms in 

 this respect ; and there is no result that can follow from 

 the inquiry which I should esteem so highly as the emu- 

 lation of their efforts throughout our shipbuilding esta- 

 blishments generally— unless, indeed, it were that of a 

 general awakening of shipowners to their great and 

 enduring responsibilities in this matter. 



Edward J. Reed 



INTER A A TJONAL POLAR RESEARCHES 



A T the present moment, when every student of modern j 

 •'*■ science is anxiously awaiting the result of the j 

 labours of the international observation parties which 

 have for nearly a year been self-imprisoned around the 

 Pole, I venture to make the following suggestions relating 

 to international Polar researches. 



The state of the ice in the Arctic seas is, as is gene- 

 rally known, very changeable during various seasons. It 

 is thus impossible beforehand to draw conclusions as 

 to the probable state of the ice one summer by its state 

 the year before, and this circumstance has greatly im- 

 peded active researches in the Arctic regions. From 

 time to time valuable and expensive expeditions have 

 been despatched, but these have in most instances been 

 unfortunate enough to encounter the adverse seasons, and 

 the purely geographical gain has in consequence not been 



in proportion to the cost. At other seasons, on the other 

 hand, when the ice seems to have promised a far advance 

 northwards there has not been any expedition ready to 

 take advantage of the circumstance. Had there at cer- 

 tain times and seasons been expeditions prepared to use the 

 opportunities which have presented themselves, and in the 

 right locality, I have not the least doubt that a very far 

 advance into unknown Polar regions might have been 

 made at a very small cost. In spite of the, in many re- 

 respects, exceedingly valuable discoveries which have 

 resulted from these expeditions to geology, meteorology, 

 and other modern sciences, they seem certainly on the 

 whole as if they had been started under an unlucky star, 

 which is, in my opinion, caused by the circumstance 

 that the period and season selected have not been the proper 

 ones. What we have thus gained has generally been ob- 

 tained with great loss of time, money, and valuable live.-. 

 A most remarkable contrast to this is, however, the 

 voyage of the Vega, which from beginning to end seemed 

 to have been attended with success only, as the forced 

 wintering, when having practically accomplished its object, 

 only tends to heighten the charm of this venture. 



From the experience we have gained of the changes in 

 the ice, it is however evident that Polar researches have 

 hitherto, in one respect at all events, been effected in an 

 erroneous manner, and great loss of money and life 

 caused thereby. The geographical researches around the 

 Pole should in my opinion be conducted in a different 

 manner. Instead of, as has hitherto been the case, that 

 finely equipped expeditions are despatched at random 

 and at unconsidered periods, an arrangement should 

 be made between the various European nations to equip 

 a certain number of expeditions, which should be de- 

 spatched every summer to the same locality during a 

 period of ten to eleven years. During a period of th:s 

 length it is probable that the conditions of the ice, which 

 we may assume undergo periodical changes, have run 

 their cycle, and during certain years of such a period 

 opportunities would undoubtedly occur which would 

 enable a very far penetration into the Polar basin. 



The expenses attending such expeditions would, if 

 skilfully arranged, not exceed those of one of the costly 

 ones which have hitherto been despatched, while they 

 would not result in the great loss of life which seems 

 to attend the larger one or two years expeditions under 

 which ambition naturally leads the members to venture 

 on any undertaking which may give returns equivalent 

 to the expectations of the equippers. 



Hitherto the Dutch alone have arranged their expedi- 

 tions to the Polar regions in a systematic manner. They 

 have, as is generally known, for some years regularly 

 despatched an expedition every summer to the regions 

 around Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya ; but that they 

 have not, geographically, obtained any great results may 

 be ascribed to the circumstance that they have employed 

 sailing vessels instead of steamers. Neither have they 

 in all probability laid special stress on geographical 

 achievements in these parts; the expeditions hitherto 

 despatched may thus be considered as mere pioneering 

 ones. From next year it is, however, the intention of the 

 Dutch to employ a steamer instead of a sailing vessel, and 

 then their researches will, no doubt, be more fruitful. 



It is now admitted by every student that Polar re- 

 searches are of great importance in several respects, and 

 the establishment of the international circumpolar stations 

 is a proof of this, while the manner in which these have 

 been arranged seems to promise to be the first step to- 

 wards a series of researches in the Arctic regions, which 

 would, as the meteorological ones, be best carried out 

 through an international cooperation. In order to ad- 

 vance in the unknown Polar basin, it appears to me to be 

 essential to abandon the random expeditionary attempts 

 hitherto persevered with, and organise instead systematic 

 researches. And if these are carried out by international 



