294 



NATURE 



{July 27, 1882 



INTERNATIONAL POLAR OBSERVATORIES 



ON August 1, it is hoped, that a ring of observing 

 stations will begin work all round the pole. By this 

 time all the expeditions that have been arranged for will 

 either be on the way or on the spot. The readers of 

 Nature are doubtless familiar with the inception and 

 progress of a scheme for Polar research which originated 

 in 1875 with the late Lieut. Weyprecht, and has been 

 gradually built up until it has assumed the proportions of 

 a great international effort to obtain accurate scientific 

 observations on the physical and biological conditions of 

 the polar area. Our Map of the Arctic Regions will en- 

 able the reader to note the localities of the various 

 stations, and the nationality of the observing parties in 

 each case. Meantime it may be useful to give a brief 

 history of the scheme, and a sketch of the programme 

 which it is proposed to carry out. This we are enabled 

 to do from the official documents issued by the Inter- 

 national Polar Commission. 



As we have already said, it was in 1875, at tne forty- 

 eighth meeting of the Association of German Naturalists 

 and Physicists at Gratz that Lieut. Carl Weyprecht ex- 

 plained his views as to the proper basis for Arctic explo- 

 rations. He showed that while the Polar regions un- 

 doubtedly offer one of the most important fields of 

 investigation for all branches of natural science, this is 

 especially the case with reference to inquiries into the 

 physical condition of the earth. The numerous and 

 costly expeditions which have hitherto been organised 

 have, however, yielded comparatively insignificant returns, 

 so that it may almost be said that they have merely 

 contributed to show more clearly how important it would 

 be for all branches of natural knowledge to have those 

 regions explored in a thoroughly scientific way. The 

 scientific results of Polar voyages hitherto have been very 

 scanty, and have borne no proportion to the expenditure 

 of money and labour involved in the expeditions. Wey- 

 precht ascribes this principally to the circumstance that 

 in these Polar voyages geographical discovery was always 

 made the chief object, while scientific investigations were 

 considered to be of secondary importance. He points out 

 also the isolated character of the individual voyages, and 

 consequently of the scientific observations taken during 

 their continuance. The observations are therefore de- 

 ficient in a qualification which is of great importance in 

 Polar regions, viz. the possibility of a comparison with 

 simultaneous observations at a number of other places. 

 Lieut. Weyprecht therefore proposed to deviate from the 

 principles which have hitherto ruled Polar explorations, 

 by abandoning geographical discovery and particularly 

 reaching the Pole, as the main object, and instead aiming 

 at scientific observations, especially those of a physical 

 character. He proposed that, instead of isolated voyages 

 in the Polar regions, expeditions should be sent out, 

 organised on a common plan, in order to take simul- 

 taneous physical observations, for a considerable space 

 of time, at several different points around the Pole. 



In conjunction with Count Wilczek, Lieut. Weyprecht 

 drew out a programme for Polar research of this type 

 which was submitted to the International Meteorological 

 Congress, held at Rome in the spring of 1879. The 

 Congress, when this programme was submitted to it, 

 recognised the great importance of Weyprecht's proposals, 

 and recommended it for adoption to all governments. 

 Owing, ho never, to the fact that all the individual dele- 

 gates to the Congress had not received definite instruc- 

 tions from their respective governments to deliberate upon 

 such a scheme and to make the necessary arrangements 

 for its execution, the International Meteorological Com- 

 mittee, appointed by the Congress, was instructed to 

 summon a special conference to discuss the subject at 

 Hamburg on October 1 next ensuing. 



This conference was attended by nine delegates from 



the following states : — Austria, Hungary, Denmark, 

 France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, 

 and Sweden. It commenced its operations by the prepa- 

 ration of a detailed programme for the enterprise, and 

 fixed as an indispensable condition of its success, that at 

 least eight points in the Arctic regions should be occu- 

 pied, and that the interval from the autumn of 188 1 to 

 the autumn of 1882 should be the period for the proposed 

 twelve months' observations. The International Polar 

 Conference finally, in order to ensure that due attention 

 should be paid to the necessary arrangement in the 

 different countries, constituted itself as a permanent 

 International Polar committee, with the right of electing 

 new members, and chose Dr. Neumayer as its president. 



The second International Polar Conference at Bern in 

 August, 1 880, was attended by eight delegates from the same 

 states as before, and in addition by a delegate from Italy, 

 and at its later meetings Prof. W r ild, the president of the 

 International Meteorological committee, was present as a 

 member. It appeared from the reports of the delegates 

 that at that time four states had definitely promised parti- 

 cipation in the scheme, by occupying stations in the 

 Arctic regions, viz. Austria (Count Wilczek), Denmark, 

 Norway and Russia. The Conference decided to post- 

 pone the commencement of operations for a year, i.e. 

 till the autumn of 18S2, in order to facilitate the timely 

 cooperation of other countries, and the consequent 

 fulfilment of the condition of the occupation of eight 

 stations, which had been fixed by the Hamburg meeting. 

 At this Conference Dr. Neumayer resigned the presidency 

 of the committee, and Prof. Wild was elected to fill the 

 vacancy. This Conference also published its protocols 

 and a condensed report of its proceedings. The Presi- 

 dent, in May, 188 1, announced that the carrying out of 

 the complete scheme, by a sufficient number of observers, 

 was secured by promises of the establishment of at least 

 eight stations in the Arctic regions, and he consequently- 

 invited them to the projected third International Polar 

 Conference at St. Petersburg, August 1, 1881. 



The third International Polar Conference at St. Peters- 

 burg was attended by ten delegates from the States of 

 Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, 

 and Sweden, of which, however, France and the Nether- 

 lands had not yet announced their definite participation 

 in the undertaking, while Russia and the United States 

 had promised to occupy two stations apiece. 



Accordingly the Conference finally fixed the epochs of 

 commencement and termination of the simultaneous 

 observations at all stations, and adopted a definite pro- 

 gramme for all stations, in as close accordance as possible 

 with the resolutions of the Hamburg Conference, in so 

 far as this appeared necessary for the comparability of 

 the observations. 



The Conference resolved to request the President and 

 the other members to endeavour to secure that during the 

 period of the Polar expeditions and their observations, 

 the meteorological and magnetical observations in other 

 zones, and the Royal and mercantile navies of each 

 nation should be invited to furnish the data required for 

 preliminary comparison, by more frequent observations, 

 and particularly by observing the variations of magnetic 

 instruments on the term days, and, moreover, that on 

 these days and at times of magnetic disturbances the 

 currents in the various telegraph lines should be specially 

 and carefully studied. 



The following is the programme which was adopted at 

 the Conference at St. Petersburg for the observations to 

 be made at the international Polar stations and for their 

 first preliminary discussion : — 



I. Necessary Observations 

 a. Beginning and Ending of the Observations 



I. The international Polar stations are to begin their observa- 

 tions as soon as possible after Aujju.t I, 1882, and end them as 

 ate as possible before September I, 1883. 



