Sept. 27, 1883] 



NATURE 



53i 



kilometres eastwards over a continuat snow desert to a 

 height of 7000 feet. The conditions for a snow-free 

 interior consequently did not exist here; but this expe- 

 dition, during which men have reached for the first time 

 the interior of Greenland, has given important results as 

 to the nature of the interior of an ice-covered continent. 

 Over the whole inland there is ice. There occur misses 

 of fine dust, partly of cosmical origin, with the ice. The 

 rest of the expedition, under the command of Dr. 

 Nathorst, visited the north-western coast between Wai- 

 gattel (?) and Cape York. The Esquimaux told our 

 Esquimaux interpreter (Hans Christian, formerly of Capt. 

 Hall's expedition) that two members of the American 

 Polar Expedition had died, and the rest had returned to 

 Littleton Island (Sofia). On August 16 the expedition 

 sailed from Egedesmunde for the south, with rich collec- 

 tions, zoological, botanical, and geological. Short stays 

 were made at Iviktit, Julianshaab, and Frederiksdal. We 

 tried to proceed eastwards thrice through the sounds 

 north of Cape Farewell and once along the coast, but 

 were hindered by ice. We then went outside the ice field 

 to 66° latitude, remaining constantly in sight of land, 

 having twice in vain tried to find an ice-free shore more 

 to the south. The band of drift ice was forced south of 

 Cape Dm. On September 4 we anchored in a fjord which 

 had been newly visited by Esquimaux, and where we 

 found some remains from the Norse period. It was the 

 first time since the fifteenth centurv that a vessel had 

 succeeded in anchoring on the east coast of Greenland 

 south of the Polar Circle. We tried in vain to anchor in 

 another fjord more to the north, and returned. The 

 expedition arrived at Reikiavik (Iceknd) on September 

 9. Our observations on the temperature of the sea prove 

 that the cold current which packs the ice along the east 

 coast of Greenland is very insignificant ; that the glaciers 

 of the east coast are few and of no great size ; and that 

 the fjords are free from ice. Probably the coast may be 

 reached by suitable steamers in the autumn of most 

 years." 



It will thus be seen that for on:e Baron Nordenskjold 

 has failed to fulfil his predictions. But his expedition 

 must be regarded as in all respects successful. He has 

 succeeded in penetrating into the very heart of Green- 

 land, and the idea of taking Lapps with him to skate their 

 way over the rough ice-bound land was a happy one. 

 Greenland thus appears to be what has always been con- 

 jectured, a land everywhere covered with a thick ice- 

 sheet. We cannot gather from the telegram whether 

 Nordenskjold's theory as to the position of the old Norse 

 settlements has been confirmed, but he has, at all events, 

 succeeded in bringing back remains of the old colonies. 

 The analysis of the cosmical dust which has been col- 

 lected will be eagerly look-d for, and the detailed 

 account of the collections made in Northern Greenland. 



NOTES 

 Mr. J. Y. Buchanan has been invited to accompany the 

 expedition which sailed last week from the Thames to survey 

 the route and lay the cables connecting Cadiz and the Canary 

 Islands, and these islands with Senegal, on the west coast of 

 Africa. During the laying of the cable from Lisbon to Madeira, 

 over a route that had been carefully sounded, into what was 

 believed to be close on 2000 fathoms, it suddenly parted. 

 Soundings taken immediately revealed the existence of a bank 

 with no more than no fathoms of water on it, which had been 



missed while surveying the route. Again, quite recently 



indeed, during the last two weeks — the French exploring vessel 

 Tali' man, which has been investigating this part of the ocean 

 with a numerous scientific staff, under the direction of the 

 veteran Milne-Edwards, discovered another bank to the south- 

 ward of the "Seine Bank," with as little as 70 fathoms on it. 

 This bank was found to be about thirty miles long from east to 



west, an 1 six miles broad from north to south. Apart from the 

 special inve-tigation of the-e banks, the survey of the line o 

 route, which is carried out by two ships working in concert 

 along a zigzag course, sounding every seven miles, must neces- 

 sarily furnish much important i. .formation. Between Madeira 

 and the Canary Islands lies the small group of the Sdvage 

 Islands, which may be said to be almost unknown. It is 

 intended to carry the soundings round them, so as to determine 

 whether they are connected with any of the new I anks or with 

 known land. It is also intended to land on the islands, from 

 which interesting collections may be expected. In addition to 

 the instruments ordinarily carried in the ships, Mr. Buchanan 

 takes out a new sounding tube, constructed f.r use with the 

 ordinary wire sounding apparatus. With it it will be possible at 

 every staiion to secure a good sample of the mud and of the 

 water from the bottom without altering the routine work of the 

 ship. As the route crosses the mouth of the Mediterranean it 

 will thus be possible to determine the extent to which the dense 

 w arm water which leaves that sea as a bottom current affects the 

 density and temperature of the deep water of the North Atlantic 

 in its neighbourhood. The ships to be used are the Dacia and 

 the International, both belonging to the Telegraph Construction 

 and Maritime Company. 



In a communication to the Sonntags-Beiloge zur Norddcul- 

 schen AUgtnuinen Zeitung for September 16 Dr. Reichenow, the 

 well-known ornithologist of the Berlin Museum, describes a new 

 ostrich under the name of Struthio Molybdophants. A living 

 example is in the Zoological Gaidens at Berlin, an 1 others are 

 expected at Cologne and Paris. The habitat of this species is 

 s'ated to be the deserts of Somali Land and the Western Galla 

 country, extending on the east coast of Africa from io° N. lat. to 

 the Equator. 



The United States steamer Yaniic has, we regret to learn, 

 failed to reach and rescue Lieut. Greeley and his observing 

 party, who have been stationed at Lady Franklin Bay, in 

 Kennedy Channel, about 8l° N., since the summer of 1881. 

 Thi, at first sight looks as if there were Utile hope of the safety 

 of the party, as they had only two years' provisions with them. 

 But Sir George Nares, who knows the region intimately, writes 

 to the Times to show that there is no reason for despair. He 

 gives in detail his reasons for believing that Lieut. Greeley, 

 when the relief ship failed to reach him in 1SS2, would, like a 

 prudent leader, prepare for the worst and husband his provisions 

 to the utmost. Moreover, he would probably be able to add 

 considerably to his supply by hunting, and on the route south- 

 wards there are depots at various accessible points. So, even if 

 another year shonld have to be spent in the north, there is good 

 reason to hope for the ultimate safety of the party. 



According to the Izvestia of the Russian Geographical So- 

 ciety, the young Tashkend Observatory carries on very useful 

 scientific work. Col. Pomerantseff and his assistants are not 

 only engaged in the verification of those instruments which are 

 used every year for determinations of latitudes and longitudes in 

 Turkestan, and in the computation of the results; they also 

 pursue independent work, such as the observation of the small 

 planets Juno and Pallas ; the observation of the last solar eclipse 

 at Penjakent ; of the stars eclipsed by the moon, which are given 

 in the Nautical Almanac ; magnetical and meteorological obser- 

 vations. These last were made in 1882, at twenty stations, out 

 of which eight are first-rank stations, and that of Tashkend makes 

 observations every hour. 



The prize of 500 francs presented by Prof. A. P. de Candolle 

 for the best monograph on a genus or family of plants is an- 

 nounced as open for competition for 1884. Papers in Latin 

 French, German, English, or Italian should be sent to Prof. 

 Alph. de Candolle, Geneva, before October 1, 1884. 



