April 9, 1938] 



NA TURE 



545 



The results appear under six sections : — magnetic, pp. 

 1-360 ; auroral, pp. 361-8 ; meteorological, pp. 369-488 ; 

 tidal, pp. 489-590; astronomical, pp. 597-622; and map 

 construction and survey work, pp. 623-630. The pocket 

 at the end contains a map of the Polar regions down to 

 latitude 65°, indicating- the routes of the chief Polar ex- 

 peditions, and two charts of Franz Josef Land, one of the 

 whole archipelago and the other of the part surveyed by 

 the Ziegler expedition. 



The magnetic work consisted mainly of observations at 

 Camp Abruzri, Teplitz Bay (81° 47'-5 N. lat., 57° 59' E. 

 long.), from September 28, 1903, to July i, 1904, and at 

 Camp Ziegler, .-Mger Island (81° 2i'-5 N. lat., 56° 5' E. 

 long.), from June 26 to July 30, 1905. Miscellaneous 

 observations were also taken at Tromso, Archangel, 

 Barents Sea, and en route from Teplitz Bay to Cape 

 Flora. Teplitz Bay, in Rudolph Island, is in the extreme 

 north of the group of islands forming Franz Josef Land ; 

 it was the station occupied by the Duke of the Abruzzi's 

 Italian expedition in 1899-iqoo. .Alger Island is towards 

 the south of the group, while Cape Flora, in Northbrook 

 Island (the site of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition), is 

 in the extreme south. Fig. i (from p. 604) shows the 

 nature of the observatory at Teplitz Bay. Prefaced to the 

 magnetic observations is a condensed narrative relating 

 mainly to auroral appearances and 

 observational details, but occasionally 

 of more general interest, as the follow- 

 ing extract from the February, 1904, 

 record will show : — 



" 12 : 20 : 00 sky clear, no aurora ; 

 12 : 22 : 56 bear trying to break into 

 observatory ; 12 : 23 : 20 aurora in 

 south-oast ; 12 : 23 : 40 to 48 observer 

 investigating outside to see if bear is 

 gone." For some time after this in- i ' 

 cident the observer, following the 

 e.xample of the Nansen expedition, pro- 

 vided himself with a revolver, the 

 presence of which is conscientiously 

 recorded. Considering the absence of 

 self-recording instruments, the mag- 

 netic results obtained are, thanks to 

 Dr. Bauer's programme, remarkably 

 extensive. Eye readings of the declina- 

 tion magnet were carried out, so far 

 as the exigencies of the situation per- 

 mitted, on the following plan. On one 

 day each week readings were taken at 

 two-minute intervals throughout the 



whole twenty-four hours ; on a second 9 



day similar observations were made for ' 



eight hours, and on each of four other 

 days for four hours. The observations 

 on these last five days w-ere so 

 arranged as to cover all hours of 



(he day; thus results were obtained in each week answer- 

 ing to observations at two-minute intervals for two com- 

 plete days. Diurnal inequalities of declination were 

 formed for each four-week period at Teplitz Bay, each 

 hourly value being a mean from 4x2x30, or 240, read- 

 ings. These inequalities are analysed in Fourier series 

 and illustrated by curves. During the nine months at 

 Teplitz Bay, the range of the regular diurnal inequality 

 varied from i07'-i in June to 26'.3 in February-March. 

 The mean of the ranges from the two four-week periods 

 November 29 to December 26 and December 27 to 

 January 23 was 36'-7. The existence of so large a range 

 in the Arctic mid-winter is noteworthy. Throughout the 

 whole time the general character of the diurnal variation 

 was an easterly movement (,nf the north end of the magnet) 

 from about 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The return movement to 

 the west was fairly continuous and rapid in summer, but 

 in winter there was usually a secondary east and west 

 movement in the afternoon. The greater rapidity of the 

 movement during the day, so characteristic in temperate 

 latitudes, seems not to exist at Teplitz Bay except at mid- 

 summer. The corresponding analytical feature is the 

 relatively small amplitude of the twelve-hour Fourier 

 wave. The diurnal inequality of declination observed at 

 .Mger Island in June-July, 19.^5, had a somewhat smaller 



range, but was generally similar to that observed at 

 Teplitz Bay at the previous midsummer. A satisfactory 

 feature in connection with the declination observations is 

 the frequency and consistency of the determinations of the 

 true bearing of the distant marks employed. 



More than fifty absolute observations of horizontal force 

 and more than sixty observations of inclination (with two 

 needles) were made at Teplitz Bay ; at Alger Island there 

 were sixteen observations of horizontal force and eight of 

 inclination. 



In accordance with the experience of previous Arctic 

 observers, it was found that whilst magnetic storms and 

 aurora were generally associated together, this was not 

 always the case. Declination observations happened, 

 fortunately, to be taken on November i, 1903, during part 

 of the great magnetic storm then in progress. In the 

 course of ih. 48m. the declination changed by 17° 18', or 

 some thirty-two times the corresponding change at the 

 Cheltenham Observatory (where the horizontal force is 

 about three times that at Teplitz Bay). If the same pro- 

 portion existed throughout the rest of the storm, the 

 declination range at Teplitz Bay must have exceeded 50°. 



The auroral data are mainly descriptive, and there is 

 no attempt at trigonometrical observations or tabular 

 details. There are. however, nineteen handsome plates. 



-I***' 



*^ •" 



*^. 



Fu;. I.— Exterior of Objervatory at Teplitz Bay. 



based on chalk sketches made by Mr. Fiala, illustrating 

 a number of auroral types, especially the corona. Plates 

 VII. and VIII. show banded structures having in some 

 respects a somewhat striking resemblance to those pro- 

 duced artificially by \'iUard.* 



Of the meteorological observations, the longest series 

 consists of hourly records of wind velocities from a 

 Robinson cup anemometer at Teplitz Bay from September, 



1903, to May, 1905. Allowing for possible differences 

 between American and English estimates of wind velocity, 

 we may safely characterise Teplitz Bay as a windy place. 

 The average velocity for the whole period was 146 miles 

 per hour. Monthly means varied from 8-2 in August, 



1904, to 242 in February, 1905, and 246 in December, 

 1903. On four days the inean hourly velocity exceeded 

 sixty; on December 28, 1903, the mean velocity was no 

 less than 73-4 miles per hour. In winter, high gales were 

 associated with a low barometer and a high temperature. 

 Changes of temperature were notably large and rapid. 

 Eye readings were taken thrice a day, at 8 a.m., noon, 

 and 8 p.m., of barometric pressure, temperature (from 

 ordinary and from maximum and minimum thermometers). 

 precipitation, wind (velocity and direction), ani cloud 

 (amount, species, direction of motion). These observa- 



1 N.-ITUKE, vol. Ixxvi., p. 4B1. 



NO. 2006. VOL. 7^] 



