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THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1873 
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE ARCTIC 
EXPEDITION 
4 Bige Arctic Expedition is undoubtedly the question of 
the day ; or, seeing that the wheels of the gods have 
brought us to the commencement of another annual 
round, it may be really called the question of the year— 
that is, of the coming one. We may as well confess at 
once that we consider it quite worth all the attention it 
is likely to receive; either at the hands of Her Majesty’s 
Ministers or from the public at large. 
It is understood that the Government are at the present 
moment considering their decision, and it is because this 
is so that we venture to return to the subject, as there is 
an idea that the matter has not been put before the 
Government in the strong manner that it might have 
been ; and the idea is true to a certain extent. But the 
blame, if. any blame there be, attaches more to our 
scientific system, or rather our want of all system, than 
to any individuals. No doubt the Royal Society should 
have had a little more, and the Geographical Society a 
little less to say at the deputation that waited upon the 
Government, because we believe that the time has come 
when both Ministers and people will demand the widest 
possible basis of research for such an expedition ; and 
that the widest possible basis was not put forward has 
‘since been clearly shown by Prof. Balfour Stewart, who 
has written to the Zzes on the subject. His letter is so 
important that we give it almost 2 extenso. He writes :— 
“We have pursued terrestrial meteorology and mag- 
netism now for some time, but until lately we have 
been rewarded with little apparent success. We are at 
last, however, beginning to understand the great impor- 
tance of these studies, and to see the true path in which 
they ought to be pursued, 
“Proofs of an intimate and mysterious connection 
between the sun and the earth are rapidly accumulating 
from various quarters, and the latest instance is one 
which is surely well worth the attention ofall practical men. 
“ “T allude to the discovery by Mr. Charles Meldrum, of 
Mauritius, that the years when most spots are observed 
on the sun’s surface are also those of most cyclones in 
the Indian Ocean. Furthermore, a similar connection 
between the state of the sun’s surface and the magnetism 
of the earth was noticed twenty years ago by Sir Edward 
Sabine, the late president of the Royal Society. 
“Now, surely we ought to inquire into the nature of 
this mysterious connection, and, if necessary, we ought 
to spend both means and trouble in the pursuit of such an 
inquiry? ; 
“What, then, ought to be done? The line of action is 
surely that recently suggested by Mr. Norman Lockyer. 
We ought, in the first instance, to scrutinise the sun’s 
surface with all the appliances we can command, with 
the view of recording the meteorological changes which 
are there occurring; and in the next instance we ought 
f to do the same with regard to our own earth. To do 
a the first it will be necessary to establish a proper physical 
; observatory ; and to do the second z¢ zs essential that we 
should become better acquainted with the less frequented 
regions of our globe, which are in many respects the most 
important. We must especially greatly extend our 
knowledge of the northern regions, and not of those alone 
but of the less frequented oceanic regions also, 
| “ Now, these are objects which can only be accomplished 
by means at the disposal of Government ; for it will be in 
vain to expect whalers to supply us with the knowledge 
we desire of these northern regions, and it will be equally 
VoL, VI.—No, 166 
in vain to expect merchantmen to cruise about in the less 
frequented oceanic latitudes in order to increase our 
acquaintance with their meteorology. 
“We have before us the splendid possibility of 
predicting the nature of seasons ; but surely we cannot 
expect that Nature, who is usually so reticent, will dis- 
close her secrets to a nation or a race who will not take 
reasonable trouble to complete their knowledge of the 
physics of the earth?” 
Now there is no man of science who will gainsay these 
remarks coming from so distinguished an authority ; and it 
is quite obvious that if the promoters of the expedition had 
taken alittle more trouble and given a little more publicity 
to their action, the deputation might have been able to 
enforce its main arguments by this and other additional 
“reasons” given by other eminent men of science. 
Before it is too late, then, and another year is lost, it is 
to be hoped that the views so ably expressed by Dr. 
Stewart and held by all who have studied the subject in 
which he is such an acknowledged master, will be placed 
before the Government in the most forcible manner pos- 
sible. The sun cycle to which he refers and which we 
now know governs cyclones and rainfall in certain parts 
of the earth, may it not also have something to say to the 
very passage to the Pole itself? May not the rainy mild 
seasons, which in the northern temperate zone, have more 
than once, to say the least, followed the sun-spot maxi- 
mum, influence the dense masses of polar ice and make 
navigation more easy? If no one can answer this ques- 
tion, we have in this point alone a sufficient “ reason” for 
undertaking the expedition ; while the study of the whole 
phenomena including the spectrum of the aurora would 
furnish another, if the mere number of questions were to 
have weight ; and it is curious to notice, that while we re- 
main so ignorant of the nature of whole ranges of polarphe- 
nomena in the case of our own planet, the solar polar phe- 
nomena have recently been investigated by Prof. Respighi, 
with marvellous success, by means of the new method. 
Sooner or later the polar phenomena of the earth must 
be studied, and their variations laid down in curves. 
Modern science demands this, and every year now lost it 
may take ten to recover. The question is, is England to 
have a hand in thismatter? Itis nota question between 
A’s or B’s pet theory of getting to the Pole. Will the 
Government refuse the expedition, now that Admiral 
Richards, the distinguished Hydrographer of the Ad- 
miralty, an officer in whose hands we may with safety 
leave the claims of cosmical science, has volunteered 
to command it? In the centuries to come, it will be 
told how England, in 1870 and 1871, sent out expeditions 
to observe eclipses of the sun, how in 1872 she sent out 
the Challenger, how in 1874 she sent out expeditions to ob- 
serve the Transit of Venus. Why, then, should 1873 not be 
thus distinguished ? We firmly believe that the Government 
have obtained a firmer hold upon the best side of English- 
men by their aid to these scientific expeditions than by 
all their merely political measures ; and surely a universal 
approval, separated as far as possible from a party feel- 
ing, is the best thing Government can strive to obtain. 
We believe a statement that the Government has re- 
fused the expedition will be received with universal 
disappointment by every class of Englishmen, to whom 
the memories which dwell round the name of Captain 
Cook and a whole navy of Arctic explorers in the past are 
very dear and a source of pardonable pride. 
K 
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