’ he 7 
D. 
- of e 
Dr. Neumayer quotes Bellinghausen’s valuable journal 
for March 12, 13, and 14, 1820, from which it appears 
that at least as far south as 61° S. lat., under the meridian 
of 73°5° E. long., the sea is free from ice. Besides, it 
appears from his description that both in the sea and in 
the sky exists an active animal life, and the coruscation 
of the sea was observed for the first time by him in 
high latitudes. The occurrence of this phenomenon 
proves the existence of a very large quantity of or- 
ganic remains which have been carried in this direction 
—a fact which, in conjunction with the other phenomena, 
Dr. Neumayer thinks has a positively demonstrative 
force. 
After the slight sketch of the general phenomena of ice 
and currents, and the distribution of the warm districts 
lying immediately to the north of the south polar regions, 
it will be of interest to take a glance at the results of the 
several expeditions, with especial reference to the various 
meridians. If we understand by these results, in the first 
place, the greatest latitudes reached, and then the greatest 
stretches navigated inside the polar circle, we shall find, 
in reference to the former, the following points :— 
“. 26, 1872] 
Cook came to 71°15’ S. lat. in 109° o' W. long. in Jan. 1774 
ivakes 4, 7o° oO Fp 103-0 ,, »» March 1839 
Bellinghausen 70 0 5 93 0}, ig Jani 1827 
Bellinghausen 69 30 3 WeLO 55 ae fans 1825 
Weddell ,, 74 15 ,, 34.17 5 4, Feb, 1823 
Morrell(?),, 71 oO ty Sat Ory 9, March 1823 
Ross ce ht STS, 53 tatsr’,, »» March 1843 
Ross pez eA) Fey ee toyed. 3, Feb, 1841 
Ross Som 7s UE Pe 16027 We >» Feb. 1842 
The first group of most southerly points refers to the 
regions west of Graham’s Land, which according to Dr. 
Neumayer’s theory, is rendered milder so far as climate is 
concerned, by one arm of the South American current ; 
the second group contains the results of attempts to the 
east of Graham’s Land, and the third, of the jour- 
neys of Ross to Victoria Land. Thus then, where the 
warm currents run towards the south, it is possible to 
penetrate farthest, and where also, in the regions around 
the polar circle the girdle of pack-ice is broken through, 
an open sea is seen in the high south, such as has been 
described by Ross and Weddell. 
With regard to the regions where it is possible to 
cruise through great stretches inside the polar circle, 
we find that the most considerable stretch has been 
navigated between the meridian 30° W. and 50° E. 
long., where Bellinghausen, Biscoe, and to some extent 
also Moore, have shown satisfactorily that the land could 
nowhere extend much farther north than 70° Also 
between 70° and 160° W. long. has a large part of the 
region inside the polar circle been sailed through, and it 
may with tolerable confidence be surmised that no land 
of any extent exists there, and that what land there is 
can extend northwards only a little beyond 70°. From 
the researches of Ross we learn that from 160° W. and 
160° E. long. to far beyond the 7oth parallel of latitude 
no land of any extent exists, while the Americans inform 
us of a great continent in the neighbourhood of the polar 
circle between 155° and 95° E. long. Whether this refers 
only to several island groups connected by ice, or to an 
actual coast of great extent, cannot, in the present con- 
dition of research, be decided. 
NATURE 
139 
The following figures show the mean latitudes reached 
on the several meridians :— 
, 
From 10° Ag long. to 50° E. long. 70° S. lat. has been reached, 
» 60 » 99 90 ” 63 ” 
” go 2 48 170 ” 66 ” 
” 17o 99 99 160 W. 78 ”? 
” 160 2 9, TIO ” 67 ” 
1, TIO ah Mp ee ” 7° ” 
” 50 2» 9 LO ” 74 95 
According to these numbers, the place where the least 
advance has been made towards the Pole, between 60° and 
go” E. long., is the very part where the condition of the cur- 
rent would prove favourable to a voyage southwards. The 
question now forces itself upon us, what may be the reason 
for this, and whether a determined attempt under the 
meridian of Kerguelen would not lead to the penetration 
of the polar circle? Leaving out of sight Morrell’s doubt- 
ful voyages, we see from the following the farthest distance 
reached at the place in question :— 
Bellinghausen’s highest S, lat. 63° ° in March 1820 
Biscoe’s 7 62°2 age OSE 
Kemp’s ” 63°5 1 1833-3 
Moore’s ” 64°3 o> 1845 
With the exception of Kemp, all these made their way 
into the region in question in the direction of the parallel 
of latitude. Other voyagers until late in the season have 
frequented that part of the Indian Ocean, some even to 
the end of March. It is therefore evident, from the 
natratives of these voyagers, that, according to Dr. 
Neumayer’s notion, no attempt has yet been made in the 
direction most highly favourable. 
It should be especially noted here that, south of the 
6oth parallel of latitude, in the Austral summer, easterly 
and south-easterly winds prevail, which, towards the end 
of the season, frequently blow severe storms. It is, there- 
fore, advisable to search the region to be explored from 
east to west, in order to find out the most direct possible 
course towards the south, in order to cut through in the 
shortest possible time the pack-ice, of the position of 
which in these regions we have got no idea. 
Interesting is the course (says Dr. Neumayer) of the 
two isothermal lines of 0° (the freezing point of the air) for 
January, February, and for July, August. The isothermal 
line for the Austral summer assumes the figure of an 
ellipse, whose smaller axis falls nearly in the direction of 
the meridian, passing through Graham Land and Sabrina 
Land from 60° W. to 130° E, long. ; the greater axis goes 
through 20° E., 160° W. long., in the latter case through 
Victoria Land, which stretches far towards the Pole, and, 
in the former through}a stretch of the Antarctic Sea, 
which is discovered as far as to 70°, and in which land 
has been conjectured to exist, but has not been seen, and 
according to Morrell, will not be found. Does not the 
bending towards the equator show the completely oceanie 
character of the greater axis? The limiting bend of this 
isothermal] for the extreme seasons in the direction of the 
greater axis, and also the greater bend near the small axis, 
are unfavourable to the assumption of great stretches of 
land between Enderby and Graham Lands. With this 
consideration is connected the further question, whether 
the fact that the bending towards the equator is consider- 
ably less in the Pacific than in the Atlantic Ocean is not 
to be explained by the existence of Victoria Land, to 
which there is no equivalent on the opposite side. The 
