March i8, 1875] 



NA TURE 



397 



sions as to the general magnetic conditions. Under these circum- 

 stances Lieut. Weyprecbt resolved to proceed very differently : 

 upon every third day he let observations be made every four 

 hours all the day long, and had the readings taken for every 

 minute during one whole liour at a time ; on each day different 

 hours were chosen for the readings. Besides this, in order to 

 get an idea as to the whole daily course, he made observations 

 every five minutes during twenty-four hours, twice a month. 

 With a view to make all observations as simultaneous as possible, 

 the readings were taken immediately after one another (generally 

 within eight to ten seconds), ihe telescopes of the three instru- 

 ments being all fixed upon the same axis. These observations 

 were continued from the beginning of January to the end of 

 April 1874, comprising altogether thirty-two days of observa- 

 tion ; Lieut. Weyprecht believes that when tabulated, their 

 results will give a true representation of the unceasing changes 

 with regard to direction and intensity of magnetic force in Arctic 

 regions. In order to confirm the connection between the aurorae 

 and the action of the net dies, a second obseivcr, independently of 

 the others, observed the changes and motion of the aurora;. 

 Absolute determinations of the three constants were made as 

 often as circumstances permitted, to control the variation-instru- 

 ments. 



Apart from the Swedish Expedition, whose observations are 

 not yet published, Lieut. Weyprecht points cut that his are the 

 first regular and simultaneous observations that were ever made 

 in the Arctic districts. Moreover, lie thinks that all former 

 observations were made with the ordinary heavy needles, and 

 that he was the first to use the light Lamont needles. For 

 observations, however, under huch conditions as the normal ones 

 near the pole prove to be, heavy needles are perfectly useless ; 

 even the comparatively light intensity-needle of Lament's theo- 

 dolite oscillated so violently, on account of its unproportionally 

 great moment of inertia, and even with moderate disturbances, 

 that the readings became quite illusory. Almost on each mag- 

 netic day some disturbances were so great that the image of the 

 scales could no longer be brought into the field of the telescopes 

 on account of deflection ; in order to ascertain even these 

 maximal phenomena, Lieut. Weyprecht constructed an appa- 

 ratus by which he could at least measure them approximately. 

 He owns that as a matter of course his observations could not 

 •possibly be as perfect as those made at home, but thinks that it 

 will be easy to modify Lament's instruments on the basis of his 

 experiences, so that with a future expedition, where there is a 

 greater staff ol observers, results could be obtained of any desired 

 exactness. Altogether Lieut. Weyprecht's party of observers, 

 consisting besides himself only of Lieut. Brosch and Ensign 

 Orel, have taken about 30,000 readings from their different 

 magnetic instruments, and the principal results are the fol- 

 lowing : — 



The magnetic disturbances in the district visited are of extra- 

 ordinary frequency and magnitude. They are closely connected 

 with the Aurora Borealis, the disturbances being the greater, the 

 quicker and the more convulsive the motion of the rays of 

 the aurora, and the more intense the prismatic colours. Quiet 

 and regular arcs, without motion of light or radiation, exercise 

 almost no influence upon the needles. With all disturbances the 

 declin ation needle moved towards the east, and the horizontal 

 intensity decreased, while the inclination increased. Move- 

 ments in an opposite sense, which were very rare, can only be 

 looked upon as movements of reaction. The ways and manner 

 of the magnetic disturbances are highly interesting. While all 

 other natural phenomena became apparent to our senses, be it to 

 the eye, ear, or touch, this colossal natural force only shows 

 itself by these scientific observations, and has something mys- 

 terious and fascinating on account of its effects and phenomena 

 being generally quite hidden from our direct perception. 



The instrument upon which Lieut. Weyprecht placed the 

 greatest expectations, namely, the earth-current galvanometer-, 

 gave no results at all, through the peculiar circumstances in 

 which the explorers were placed. He had expected to be able 

 to connect the aurora; with the galvanic earth-currents. But as 

 the ship was lying Iwo-and-a-h.alf German miles from land, he 

 could not put the collecting plates into the ground, but was 

 obliged to bury them in the ice. Now, as ice is no conductor, 

 the plates w'ere isolated, and the galvanometer needle was but 

 little affected. Prof. Lamont had supplied these excellent 

 instruments also ; the conducting wires were 400 feet long. 

 Later on, Lieut. Weyprechtjtried to obtain some results by con- 

 necting a collector for air- electricity with the multiplier of the 

 galvanometer, but failed, doubtless for the same reason. 



The astronomical observations while the ship was still drifting 

 were confined to determinations of latitude and longitude, the 

 latter by chronometers and correction of clocks, by lunar dis- 

 tances, as often as opportunity served. In this only a sextant 

 and a prism circle with artificial horizon were used. When the 

 ship was lying still, a little "universal " instrument was erected, 

 and the determinations of time, latitude, and azimuth were made 

 with this. The longitude was calculated from the mean of as 

 many lunar distances as could be observed during the winter ; 

 they were 210 in number. The azimuth of a basis of 2,171 

 metres long, measured by Lie at. Weyprecht with a Stampfer 

 levelling instrument, was determined with the universal instru- 

 ment of the magnetic theodolite. All this work was done by 

 Ensign Orel, Lieut. Weyprecht only taking a share in measuring 

 lunar distances. The determinations of locality were made with- 

 out regard to temperatures ; if the mercury of the artificial horizon 

 was frozen, blackened oil of turpentine was used instead. 



Of the results of the meteorological observations, only some 

 general ideas can be given, as here figures alone decide. They 

 were begun on the day the explorers left Tromso, and were only 

 discontirrued when they left the ship ; thus they were made 

 during twenty two months. Readings were taken every two 

 hours, and also at 9 A.M. and 3 r. M., therefore fourteen times 

 daily. The observers were Lieut. Brosch, Ensign Orel. Capt. 

 Lusina, Capt. Carlsen, Engineer Krisch (from autumn 1872 till 

 spring 1873), and Dr. Kepes (during the last two months only). 

 The direction as well as force of winds were noted down without 

 instruments. Lieut. Weyprecht thinks this method by far the 

 best in Arctic regions, as errors are more or less eliminated, while 

 when using instruments the constant freezing, drifting snow, &c., 

 produce errors that cannot be determined nor controlled ; be- 

 sides, anyone who has been to sea for a short time will soon 

 acquire sufficient exactness in these observations. 



Until the autumn of 1873 winds were highly variable. In the 

 vicinity of Nowaja Semlja many S. E. and S.W. winds were 

 observed ; in the spring these veered more to N.E. A prevalent 

 direction of winds w.as only recognised when in the second 

 winter the expedition was near Franz-Joseph's Land. There all 

 snowstorms came from E. N.E., and constituted more than 50 

 percent, of all winds. They generally produced clouded skies, 

 and the clouds only dispersed when the wind turned to the north. 

 The explorers never met with those violent storms from the 

 north, from which the Gcrmania party had so much to suffer on 

 the east coast of Greenland, and v\hich seem to be the prevalent 

 winds in the Arctic zone. Altogether, they never observed 

 those extreme forces of wind which occur regularly in our seas 

 several times in every winter (for instance, the "Bora" in the 

 Adriatic). Every Arctic seaman knows that the ice itself has a 

 calming effect upon the winds ; very often white clouds are seen 

 passing with great rapidity, not particulary high overhead, while 

 there is an almost perfect calm below. 



One peculiarity must here be mentioned. Lieut. Weyprecht 

 made the remarkable discovery that the ice never drifted straight 

 in the direction of the wind, but that it always deviated to the 

 rii^lit, when looking from the centre of the compass ; with N.E. 

 wrnd it drifts due W. instead of S.W. ; with S.W. wind it drifts 

 due E. instead of N.E. ; in the same manner it drifts to the 

 north with S.E. wind, and to the south with N. W. wind. There 

 was no exception to this rule, which cannot be explained by 

 currents nor by the iirfiuence of the coasts, as with these causes 

 there would be opposite results with opposite winds. Another 

 interesting phenomenorr in both years was the struggle between 

 the cold northern winds and the warmer southern ones in 

 January, just before the beginning of the lasting and severe 

 cold ; the warm S. and S.W. winds always brought great 

 masses of snow and produced a rise in the temperature amount- 

 ing to 30-35° R. within a few hours. 



Little can at present be said on the result of the barometer 

 readings, without a minute comparison of the long tables of 

 figures, although very extreme readings occurred at times. The 

 explorers had three mercury and four aneroid barometers ; by 

 way of control. Ensign Orel took the readings from five of these 

 instruments every day at noon, while the intermediate observa- 

 tions were made with an aneroid. 



The thermometers were suspended about four feet from the 

 surface of the snow, in the operr air, and perfectly free on all 

 sides, about twenty-five yards from the vessel. Excepting the 

 maximum thermometers, they were all spirit thermometers, made 

 by Cappeller of Vienna. They were often compared with a very 

 exact normal thermometer of the same make. Readings from a 

 minimum thermometer were noted daily at noon ; during the 



