aaa sited ee 
JANUARY I, 1914] 
for fuel on oil, and not on coal. The advantage 
of this arrangement of being free from ballast 
need scarcely be expatiated upon; when the oil 
is used up, water can be pumped into its place. 
“Both ships will also be fitted with cages and 
tanks for bringing home live seals and penguins. 
Moreover, the Aurora will have a gyroscopic 
compass, which will therefore not be affected by 
magnetism in the ship. The expedition will be 
fitted with a wireless installation—one of about 
500 miles’ radius. But more useful still, two 
sledges driven by aéroplane propellers, with aéro- 
plane engines, and an aéroplane with clipped wings 
to glide over the ice, are being taken. The team 
of trained dogs numbers 200. The expedition 
will be equipped for two years, and is to be 
known as “The Imperial Antarctic Expedition.” 
The minimum cost is 50,o00l., and this amount 
has been provided by the generosity of a friend. 
In order to equip the expedition with full effici- 
ency, however, 60,000]. or 70,0001. would be re- 
quired. No public appeal is to be made for 
subscriptions to make up the additional amount, 
but contributions for this purpose will be welcomed 
-and will be of service. 
The following statement as to scientific work 
contemplated was made by Sir Ernest Shackleton 
on Monday :— 
No one knows whether the great plateau dips 
gradually from the pole towards the Weddell Sea, 
and no one knows whether the great Victoria chain of 
mountains, which has been traced to the pole, extends 
across the continent and links up with the Andes. 
The solving of -the problem is of intense interest to 
geographers all over the world, and the discovery of 
the great mountain range, which we assume is there, 
will be one of the biggest geographical triumphs of 
the time. 
The geological results will be of the greatest interest 
to the scientific world. The expedition will at its 
winter quarters make geological collections, also 
typical rocks will be taken on the journey if we come 
across exposed rocks when crossing the mountain 
ranges. One ship will land parties for the purpose 
of making geological collections on the west side of 
the Weddell Sea, and the ship will at the same time 
trace, if possible, the continuation of Graham Land 
southwards. 
The expedition will take continuous magnetic ob- 
servations from the Weddell Sea right across the 
pole, and the route’ followed will lead towards the 
magnetic pole and make an ideal method of deter- 
mining the general dip of the magnetic needle. This 
magnetic work has a direct bearing on economic 
conditions, in that an absolutely true knowledge of 
magnetic conditions is of use to ships in navigable 
waters. I also propose to set up a magnetic observa- 
tory at winter quarters and take continuous magnetic 
observations throughout the winter. On my last 
expedition we could only take field magnetic observa- 
tions, as, owing to lack of money in the first place, I 
could not afford to provide a large magnetic equip- 
ment, though we did important work, as one of the 
parties reached for the first time the south magnetic 
ole. 
4 The meteorological conditions would be carefully 
studied, and would help to elucidate some of the 
peculiar problems of weather that at present are only 
dimly recognised as existing. Continuous meteoro- 
logical observations, both at winter quarters and on 
NO. 2305, VOL. 92| 
NATURE 
597 
the journey across, are of extreme importance, and 
the results can be correlated with the observations of 
the last three expeditions in the Antarctic. 
Biological work will be thoroughly carried on, and 
the distribution of fauna and plant life will be studied. 
Both ships will be equipped for dredging and sound- 
ing. 
All branches of science will be most carefully 
attended to, and the net result scientifically ought to 
be a large increase to human knowledge, but, first 
and foremost, the crossing of the polar continent will 
be the main object of the expedition. 
NOTES. 
Tue Academy of Sciences of Bologna has elected 
Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson as a corresponding mem- 
ber in the class of physical science. 
Art the last meeting of the Academy of Sciences in 
St. Petersburg Sir William Ramsay was unanimously 
elected an honorary member of the academy; he was 
previously a corresponding member. 
Str Howarp Gruss, F.R.S., has been appointed 
scientific adviser to the Commissioners of Irish Lights, 
in succession to the late Sir Robert Ball, who held 
the position for the past twenty years. 
In a flight from the naval aérodrome at Fréjus, 
France, on December 27, M. Legagneux, succeeded 
in reaching a height of 20,300 ft., which is the 
greatest altitude yet attained with an aéroplane. 
THE next grants from the Elizabeth Thompson 
Science Fund will be made in February, 1914. Appli- 
cations should be sent to the secretary, Dr. Charles S. 
Minot, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., 
before February 1. 
WE regret to see the announcement of the death, 
on December 26, at fifty-three years of age, of Mr. W. 
Popplewell Bloxam, formerly professor of chemistry 
in Presidency College, Madras, and the author of a 
number of reports and papers on the production and 
chemistry of indigo. 
Mr. W. Lawrence BALts, botanist to the Egyptian 
Government, Department of Agriculture, has just left 
the service of the Government, his agreed term of 
years having expired, and is returning to Cambridge 
to work up unpublished data on cotton accumulated 
since his appointment to the staff of the Khediviai 
Agricultural Society as cryptogamic botanist jn 1904, 
and in the post he has now vacated. 
MEN who have been trained at the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew, occupy posts in botanic gardens in 
most parts of the world. The following new appoint- 
ments of members of the gardening staff at Kew are 
announced in the Kew Bulletin :—Mr. G. S. Crouch, 
to be assistant director of horticulture in the Egyptian 
Department of Agriculture; Mr. T. H. Parsons, to be 
curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, 
Ceylon, in succession to Mr. H. F. Macmillan, who 
has been appointed superintendent of horticulture in 
the department of agriculture, Ceylon; Mr. C. E. F. 
Allen, to be curator of the Botanic Garden, Port 
Darwin, Northern Territory, South Australia, in suc- 
cession to Mr. N. Holtze, deceased. 
