. 
JUNE 30, 1923] 
NATURE 
897 

and its collections illustrating physical geology, — 
physiography and geography, mining, metallurgy, and 
construction, while to the south it is in direct con- 
nexion with the mineral and paleontological collec-_ 
tions of the Natural History Museum. The plan also 
shows in the related part of the Natural History 
Museum the position of a lecture room which the 
authorities. of that Museum contemplate for joint use 
in connexion with their own Museum and with the 
Museum of Practical Geology. 
There is no need to detail the many advantages of 
this scheme. They are obvious. It should be noted, 
however, that the limitations of space in the Jermyn 
Street building are no less harmful now than they 
were ten years ago. On the other hand, in the case 
of the geological section of the new buildings at 
South Kensington, financial considerations should 
not now present much difficulty, for the value of the 
Jermyn Street site would go far to balance the cost 
of providing the larger new building on the site 
designated for it. 
It is worth while to quote here the concluding 
section of the rorr Report of Sir Hugh Bell’s 
committee : 
“In other departments of knowledge, the British 

Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum have 
set a high standard for the national provision of 
Museum facilities. In the domain of Science the 
requirements of most of the branches of Natural 
History are already admirably provided for at South 
Kensington in the Natural History Museum. In no 
way overlapping or duplicating the functions of these 
great institutions, but representing aspects of human 
activity which lie outside their scope, not less ample 
provision is necessary for those departments of 
knowledge, invention and discovery, the needs of 
which have been brought so vividly before us in our 
inquiry ; and we are of opinion that no scheme for a 
national Science Museum can be regarded as satis- 
factory unless it provides the buildings necessary for 
affording to Science and the industries all the assist- 
ance a Museum can give. A Science Museum in 
which all branches of Physical Science, Pure and 
Applied, and the Scientific and Economic work of the 
Geological Survey shall be adequately illustrated in 
close proximity to the other great Museums at South 
Kensington will, we believe, be of incalculable benefit 
alike to intellectual progress and to industrial develop- 
ment, and will be recognised as an institution of 
which the country may well be proud.” 
Antarctic Geophysics. 
THE two reports referred to below’ are the records 
of the aurora observations and gravity deter- 
minations made during Capt. Scott’s last south polar 
expedition, r910-1913. They are both dated for tg2r, 
but it was only in February of this year that they 
reached us. 
The original plans for auroral observations on Capt. 
Scott’s Terra Nova expedition included photographic 
determinations of the height of aurore, using Prof. 
Stérmer’s method. This part of the programme un- 
fortunately proved impossible to execute, owing to 
the lack of the necessary special lenses and photo- 
graphic plates. The auroral spectrum also was not 
observed, so that the work accomplished consisted of 
visual observations, namely, sketches, brief descrip- 
tions, and times of occurrence of aurore. These 
data are now summarised and discussed by Mr. C. S. 
Wright, himself a member of the scientific party. 
The sketches and daily log are not reproduced, but 
the plan of observation and the resulting data are 
described in general terms, discussed statistically, and 
finally considered in their theoretical bearing. 
Observations were made at two stations, in what 
may be termed the Scott-Shackleton strip of the 
Antarctic coast. One was Cape Evans, 77:6° S., 
166° E., and the other was Cape Adare, 71-3° S., 
170° E. Both stations are thus within a few degrees 
of the south magnetic pole, but considerably farther 
from the pole of the earth’s magnetic axis, Cape 
Adare being at the greater distance. The two stations 
are about 700 kilometres apart, and a horizontal plane 
through one station would, in consequence of the 
earth’s curvature, pass over the other at a height of 
about 40 kilometres. Aurore occur at heights of 
about 90 kilometres and upwards above the earth’s 
surface, so that from either station, in clear weather, 
aurore above, or even a little beyond, the other, 
would be visible low down on the horizon. The hills 
and mountains in the neighbourhood of Cape Evans 
obscure the free horizon in some directions, though | 
the report does not indicate which these are, nor 
whether Cape Adare is similarly affected. This in- | 
1 British (Terra Nova) Antarctic Expedition, rg9to-1913. Observations 
on the Aurora, By C. S. Wright. (Published for the Committee of the 
Captain Scott Antarctic Fund.) Pp. viiit+48. (London: 
Sons, Ltd., 1921.) 75. 6d, net. 
NO. 2800, VOL. 111] 

Harrison and | 
formation, together with more detailed statistics as 
to the relative frequency of aurore at different alti- 
tudes, would have added to the value of the report. 
In many respects the auroral features at the two 
stations are strikingly dissimilar. Aurore are far 
more frequent at Cape Adare than at Cape Evans, 
and also more distinguished by brilliance, colour, and 
motion. Cape Adare is therefore nearer to the region 
or belt of maximum auroral frequency than Cape 
Evans is. Moreover, the majority of aurore visible 
from Cape Adare lie to the north, so that Cape Adare, 
and a fortiori Cape Evans, is situated within the belt. 
This has an interesting bearing on the size of the 
auroral belts; the Arctic auroral zone is generally 
supposed to have a radius of about 20°, and to be 
centred at the pole of the earth’s magnetic axis. 
There is no very recent determination of the position 
of the pole, but it can scarcely have moved more 
than a degree or two from its position in 1885, the 
epoch of Adams's investigation. Cape Adare is 27° 
distant from this point, and as this angle is a lower 
limit for the radius of the belt, this radius would 
seem to be greater than was to be expected. 
The aurore visible from Cape Adare, since they lie 
to the north, must for the most part be less than 3° 
above the horizon of Cape Evans. Consequently the 
aurore seen from the latter station must in the main 
be different from the former. They represent condi- 
tions some degrees within the belt, and they differ in 
number and brilliance from those near the belt. They 
appear most frequently in a direction slightly north 
of east, and least often in the west. Again, whereas 
the Cape Adare aurore trend predominantly east and 
west, or rather from a little north of west to a little 
south of east, the Cape Evans aurore show a marked 
avoidance of the east-west trend. In each case the 
trend is perpendicular to the direction in which aurore 
are least frequently seen. Brightly coloured and 
quickly moving aurore are rare at Cape Evans, but 
| fairly common at Cape Adare. 
Aurore were seen at Cape Evans on about one day 
out of three when seeing conditions were favourable, 
and about twice as often at Cape Adare. At either 
| station they usually appear first at a low altitude 
in the direction of maximum frequency, and move 
