542 
NATURE 
[SEPTEMBER 25, 1902 
6327 stars have been selected from the catalogue plates, and 
roughly reduced for observation with the Melbourne transit 
circle, to serve as standard stars for the reduction of the Mel- 
bourne regions, and of these 3944 have already been com- 
pletely observed with the meridian circle three times or more. 
There are now 760 meteorological stations in communication 
with the Observatory, and all the records for the last forty years 
are, at present, being completely rearranged and classified in 
convenient forms for easy reference. The terrestrial-magnetism 
work has been carried on as hitherto, and the special observa- 
tions in connection with the Antarctic expeditions are being 
made at the required intervals. In the reduction of the 
magnetograph curves forthe past thirty years, 21,877 curves had 
been measured up to March 31. 
New Minor PLANETS.—The following five minor planets, 
with their positions, are recorded by Prof. Max Wolf in No. 
3815 of the Astronomesche Nachrichten :— 
1902. Sept. 3d.12h. 55m. 8 (Heid). Sept. 7d. 10h. 38m. *9( Heid). 
a 5 a 6 Mag. 
1902 J.O. 23h. 54m.°7 —0°13’ 23h. 51m.°7 —0° 44’ 13 
1902 J.P. 23h. 56m.°7,_ +1° 14’ 23h. 54m.°5 +0° 47’ 12 
1902 J.Q. oh. 13m.°4 +1° 20’ oh. I1m.°3 +0 44’ 12°5 
1902 J.R. oh. 9om.'2 —1° 21’ oh. 6m.°6 —1° 36’ 12 
1902 J.S. oh. 1om.°3 —0°13' 13 
THE RETURN OF THE ARCTIC 
EXPEDITIONS. 
SINCE we went to press with our last issue, the Arctic expe- 
ditions of Lieut. Peary and Captain Sverdrup have returned, 
and accounts of their work, as well as of that of the Baldwin- 
Ziegler expedition, have appeared in the daily papers. The 
following brief account of the scientific results obtained by the 
three expeditions is obtained from telegrams received through 
Reuter’s Agency, and from the personal narrative of Captain 
Sverdrup which is to be found in the Z¢zes of Monday last. 
Lieut. Peary reached Payer Harbour on September 16, 1901, 
and within a week the Eskimos with the expedition began to 
sicken, and not one escaped illness. Of the number, six adults 
andachild died. Further sickness among the Eskimos occurred 
in the following January. 
An advance party, in charge of Hensen, started for Conger on 
March 3. On March 6, the main party started, leaving Peary in 
charge at Payer Harbour. Conger was reached in twelve 
marches, shortly after the advance party had arrived there. The 
Eskimos supporting the expedition went back on reaching 
Conger. Eight marches more took the expedition to Cape 
Hecla, at the north end of Robinson Channel, which was all open 
across to Greenland, while there were lakes of water extending 
northward as far as could be seen, from Black Cape to Cape 
Ransome. On April 1, Lieut. Peary started northward over the 
Polar Sea with Hensen, four Eskimos and six sledges, The 
old floes were covered deeply with snow and intersected by 
rubble ridges, and lanes of young ice were encountered. 
The travelling, except for the lanes of young ice, was similar 
in character to that experienced by the English expedition of 1876. 
After a number of difficult marches, which became more and more 
perilous, the pack, in latitude 84° 17’, to the north-west of Cape 
Hecla, became impracticable, and further efforts to aavance had 
to be abandoned. New leads and the pressure ridges, with fogs, 
made the return in some respects more trying than the advance. 
Cape Hecla was regained on April 29 and Cape Sabine on 
May 15. The ice broke up earlier than in 1901, and Payer 
Harbour was blockaded almost continuously. The Windward 
bored through, entered the harbour on August 8, and left the 
same afternoon. 
The leader of the expedition states that he has a deep-rooted 
conviction that it is possible to reach the North Pole. In all his 
attempts during the last four years, he points out, he has not 
had a suitable starting-point, but he believed that the Pole can 
be reached on sledges by any adequately equipped expedition 
which makes latitude 83 its winter quarters. If he had means 
of his own to continue the work, he would certainly not give it 
up, but he must now bow to circumstances. It has been 
demonstrated to his satisfaction, he declares, that there is no 
open ocean in the voyage to the Far North. On the other 
hand, there is no foundation for the idea that there is an 
eternally frozen sea, though the waters are practically always 
NO. 1717, VOL. 66] 
covered with ice. He has shown, he thinks, that Greeniand’s — 
shore is the most northerly land of the earth’s surface, and that 
all beyond it on the other side is ocean. 
Lieut. Peary made a close study of the Eskimos living on 
Whale Sound, the most northerly people in the world. Their 
complete isolation has differentiated them from every other race. 
They are a small tribe, not exceeding 200 in number, and are 
being rapidly destroyed by an unknown disease, apparently a 
malignant slow fever. He collected specimens of everything 
pertaining to their habits, knew every man, woman and child 
personally, learned their characters and capacities, and taught 
them to work. 
The first intimation of the return of Capt. Sverdrup in the ~ 
Fram came in the shape of the following telegram (dated 
Stavanger, September 19) from Captain Sverdrup to the secre- 
tary of the Royal Geographical Society :— 
“* Arrived here to-day with the Aram. Our exploring work 
consists in the southern and the western shores of Ellesmere 
Land and other unknown fields to the westward. Braskerud 
died autumn 1899, otherwise all well.” F 
The yam, it will be remembered, left Christiania in June, 
1898, its principal geographical object being to ascertain the 
extension of Greenland towards the north, to determine the yet 
unknown configuration of the mainland, and, if possible, to 
discover whether this great Arctic land finally breaks up into 
groups of islands in the north. It was also understood that, if 
circumstances were favourable, Captain Sverdrup, like Lieut. 
Peary, would make an attempt to reach the North Pole. 
The personal narrative of the leader of the expedition, already 
referred to, gives an interesting account of the work accom- 
plished and the way in which the great difficulties which 
presented themselves were overcome. As so much care and 
attention had been paid to the scientific equipment of the 
expedition, valuable scientific results may be expected to accrue 
from it, particulars of which will be eagerly awaited. The 
narrative, however, gives information as to some of the work done 
in the interests of science. Hayes Sound was completely mapped. 
The unknown west coast of Ellesmere Land was explored. 
Between Ellesmere and North Kent, a large bay was seen 
to extend eastward and to be about 100 miles broad. On 
the northern side of the same, some large, complicated fjords 
were found. The land extended about fifty miles westward from 
these, after which it ran in a north and north-westerly direction. 
Part of the land which was traversed was very hilly and inter- 
sected by large fjords, several of which were from fifteen to 
twenty miles broad at the mouth. 
Much other new land was explored and the numerous fjords 
investigated, All the members of the expedition appear to have 
worked heartily and harmoniously together, and returned safely 
to Stavanger on Friday last, with the exception of the surgeon, 
who was to have taken charge of the meteorological observations 
and who died in the course of the expedition. 
Mr. Baldwin, in the course of an interview, claimed to have 
accomplished, in the course of nearly a year and a half’s inces- 
sant work, more than the unfavourable conditions which sur- 
rounded his expedition really warranted, and to have brought 
back data which ought materially to assist subsequent explorers. 
For the first time in the history of North Polar exploration, a 
photographic record had been secured of the ice and snow 
conditions of the Arctic and of the animal life of those regions. 
The kinematograph had been for the first time successfully 
employed in the far North, and as a result there were more 
than 1000 perfect photographic representations of their work, 
and in addition more than 200 drawings and paintings had been 
made. 
The main object of the expedition was to plant the American 
flag at the North Pole, and the result being what it was, the 
explorer is naturally somewhat disappointed. He maintains, 
however, his belief that his objective can be reached in accord- 
ance with his original plan. He attributes his non-success to 
the condition of the ice in the Franz Josef Land Archipelago in 
the autumn of 1901, which prevented the navigation of the 
America far enough north to be of practical advantage in 
establishing headquarters so as to facilitate sledge-work in the 
winter and spring of the present year, and to the sickening and 
death of many of the dogs from internal parasites, which ulti- 
mitely proved fatal to more than half the pack. 
A hut was found by the party, and in it a small brass cylinder 
