Januakv 2 I, 1909J 



NA TURE 



357 



peninsula going eastward to 12° \V. long., so that the 

 outlet between Greenland and Spitsbergen of the great 

 I'olar basin thus becomes rather narrow. In this con- 

 neciion 1 shall just mention that Dr. Nansen, on account 

 of his hydrographical observations in the Polar sea, sup- 

 posed the existence of a suboceanic ridge between Green- 

 land and Spitsbergen, and as the coast of Greenland here 

 is quite flat, the probability is that such a ridge really 

 exists. 



The frontier of the inland ice is in some places quite 

 steep, in other places you might have mounted the inland 

 .ce without knowing it. The glaciers are few and not 

 very productive ; still, the fjords are sometimes quite filled 

 up with icebergs stranded on barriers in the mouths of 

 the fjords. 



In the interior, about forty miles from the edge of the 

 inland ice, we found and mapped out some islands, nuna- 

 lands, quite surrounded by the inland ice. Strange though 

 it may sound, we here saw flowers and tracks of foxes ; 

 also in some places coal. During the winter the land 

 was covered with snow, with only here and there some 

 bare wind-swept spots. In the spring this snow partly 

 evaporated, even with a temperature of 20° F. Then the 

 water began to melt in the ravines, and, running under 

 the glaciers, it formed the most fantastic ice-grottoes, 

 where the light was broken into all colours through the 

 crystal-like icicles. 



The change into summer was quite sudden. Gradually 

 the temperature of the snow had risen to zero, and then 

 in one day it all melted. The rivers were rushing along, 

 flowers were budding forth, and in the air the butterflies 

 were fluttering. It was a lovely time, bringing hard work 

 for the botanist Lund.iger and the zoologists Manniche 

 and Johansen. The birds came nearly all on the same day, 

 most of them even at the same hour. One day we had 

 only had the ordinary ptarmigan and the raven ; the next 

 we had the sanderling, the ring-plover, the goose, the 

 eider duck, and many others. Young sanderlings, Icelandic 

 ring-plovers, and Sabine gulls were found by Mr. 

 Manniche, our indefatigable ornithologist, and fine speci- 

 mens were brought home. 



Of larger animals we found bears, musk-oxen, and 

 wolves ; foxes on land, and walruses and seals at sea. 

 Bears are rather plentiful ; we shot ninety in all, but musk- 

 oxen and wolves are scarce. The five wolves we got were, 

 1 believe, all that were there. They were very meagre, 

 and looked as if they had had nothing to eat for a long 

 time. The snow-hares, which we found in great numbers, 

 were very tame in April and May, and we could then go 

 quite close to them. In the sea, the lakes, and the rivers 

 animal life was not abundant. Some polar cod and 

 inferior anirfials were usually the results of our net-fishing. 

 In one of the lakes, however, salmon were plentiful. 



Especially in the autumn we had the most beautiful 

 Fata Morgana, with castles and ships high up in the clear 

 air, while also the outlines of the coast were quite changed. 

 The explanation of this is the groat difference in tempera- 

 ture between the air and that of the new ice, which has 

 still the temperature of the water. Our meteorologist, 

 Mr. Wegener, studied these phenomena with great skill, 

 and, moreover, took magnetic and electrical observations. 



In the beginning of November the sun left us for good, 

 the red colours of the southern sky grew fainter and 

 fainter, while from the north darkness spread all along 

 the sky. The temperature went down ; in February and 

 March it was as low as — .=;S° F., but at times it would 

 again rise to 32° and even to 34°. Mr. Wegener sent up 

 his kites and balloons throughout the whole winter, and 

 the instruments often registered a much higher tempera- 

 ture in the upper strata of the air. 



As a rule, the weather was calm and clear, but when 

 the barometer sank the temperature rose, and the sky 

 became overcast ; we all sought shelter, for then we knew 

 that a storm was coming, drifting the snow high above the 

 masthead, and generally lasting for two or three days. 



We spent two years in Greenland, and in these two years 

 the weather was quite different. (The winter of 1906-7 

 was cold and calm, that of 1007-8 milder and more 

 windy. The ice in the first winter grew 6 feet thick and 

 broke up very late, in the second it was onlv 4 feet thick.) 

 In the middle of February the sun came back, and May 



N'O. 2047. VOL. 70] 



and June were a period of fogs and faint sea breezes. 

 Otherwise, the wind was constantly from the north-west, 

 coming from the high pressure of air which is found over 

 the inland ice. 



We found no living Eskimo, but everywhere along the 

 coast up to the Danmark Fjord we found their tent stones, 

 Iheir meat caches, and in some places even winter dwell- 

 ings. From kayaks and umyaks they have hunted the 

 same animals which we found there, and besides whales 

 and reindeer, which we did not find. Our ethnologist, 

 Thostrup, made a very interesting collection of their various 

 tools, &c. 



Outside the coast the pack-ice was moving southward 

 with the polar current, and we have mapped out the border 

 of this pack-ice, which showed that the current is every- 

 where following the line of the outer islands and rocks, 

 while in the waters inside this line pack-ice is rarely found. 

 It was rather an interesting fact that we found great lanes 

 in the ice from 80° to 82° N. lat. At the Malemuk moun- 

 tain we found open water every time, in April, June, and 

 November, the cause of which may be the current. The 

 water in the fiords was mixed polar and gulf water, 

 the gulf water 'probably running in along the supposed 

 Greenland-Spitsbergen ridge and going southward with the 

 polar current. 



By making holes in the ice' investigations were carried 

 on even at a" temperature of -2° F. In a big fresh-water 

 lake salt water was found, giving an odour of sulphide of 

 hydrogen at the bottom. The lake must formerly have 

 been a fjord, but the land rose so that the fiord became 

 a lake. The geological conditions, as well as the fact 

 that we found '^the carcase of a big whale at the border 

 of this lake, seem to strengthen this theory. The tides 

 were not very strong; the ordinary difference between 

 high and Icrw water was 5 feet. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge.— The council of the Senate reports that it 

 has had under consideration the position of the study of 

 astrophysics in the University in connection with the offer 

 of the Royal Society to give to the University the equip- 

 ment of Sir William Huggins's observatory. It is of 

 opinion that the time is opportune for giving further recog- 

 nition in Cambridge to astrophysics. With the approval 

 of the general board of studies, the council recommends 

 to the Senate the establishment of a professorship of astro- 

 physics, without stipend and limited to the tenure of office 

 of the first professor. 



Mr H O. Jones, of Clare College, has been approved 

 as deputy for Sir James Dewar, the Jacksonian professor 

 of experimental philosophy, during the Lent term of iqot). 



\n examination for minor scholarships in natural science 

 and mathematics will be held in Downing College on 

 Tuesday, March 2, and subsequent days. The examina- 

 tion in natural science will consist of paper work and 

 practical work in (i) chemistry, (2) physics, (3) biology 

 (4) comparative anatomy, (5) botany. No candidate will 

 be examined in more than three of the above subjects, and 

 great weight will be given to proficiency in some one 

 subject. , . , . 



The qualifying examination for the mechanical sciences 

 tripos is now held in June and at the end of November. 

 The majoritv of the students take the examination in June, 

 and experience has shown that the November examination 

 is not much used. It is proposed to substitute for this 

 latter an examination in November at which the best 

 students— those who desire to take the tripos in two years- 

 may pass the examination immediately on coming into 

 residence. 



Mr. W. Morgan has been appointed professor of motor- 

 car engineering at the Merchant Venturers' Technical 

 College, Bristol. 



It is announced in Science that Mr. G. M. Laughlin, 

 of Pittsburg, has bequeathed 20,000/. to Washington and 

 Jefferson College. 



