266 



NA TURE 



Jan. I J, 1884 



At that time some exceedingly interesting experiments 

 in horticulture were commenced. A small garden was 

 first formed by breaking up the layer of turf on the sur- 

 face, to enable the sun to thaw the frozen earth under- 

 neath, and in this manner sufficient mould was obtained 

 to lay out proper beds. In these were then planted seeds, 

 among others radishes brought from Sweden, while seve- 

 ral species of the Spitzbergen fauna were planted here. 

 Both flourished remarkably, as did also the rye and oats 

 which we planted here. The latter grew well, although 

 slowly, and were, at the end of July, six to eight centi- 

 metres long. Their growth was measured every fifth day, 

 while studies of the sun's chemical influence on the same 

 were simultaneously prosecuted. 



The migratory birds continued to arrive : thus on 

 June 2 the brent geese put in their appearance, and in 

 great flocks took possession of the innumerable lagoons. 

 They were, however, very shy, and comparatively few 

 were shot. Of wild reindeer several were shot, and one 

 Polar bear was seen, but escaped. 



At last on June 26, at 4 p.m., the first reminder of the 

 outside world appeared in the shape of a fishing smack, 

 but, although every effort was made to attract attention, 

 she passed northwards. On July 8 an expedition was 

 despatched to Cape Staratschin, the "general post-office" 

 of Spitzbergen, which brought back news, letters, and the 

 literature of the civilised world for a whole twelvemonth, 

 the period of our isolation. 



Shortly afterwards we had several calls of Norwegian 

 hunters, among whom may be mentioned the well 

 known Capt. Kjeldsen, of the Ishjiirnen, who participated 

 in the Payer- Weyprecht expedition of 1S72, and in the 

 Austrian to Jan-Mayen, 1882-83. He made the remark- 

 able report that he had found the sea at the Norse 

 Islands early in July this summer entirely free from ice, 

 not even seeing the '■ ice-blink," i.e. the light reflected 

 from new ice formed out of sight. This was in the exact 

 spot where the Swedish expedition was compelled to 

 return on account of enormous pack-ice, at the same 

 period in 1882. He was of the opinion that a steamer 

 would have been able to penetrate very far north of the 

 Seven Islands this summer. 



In the middle of August the relief boat Urd arrived, 

 and, after having cleared the houses, and nailed up the win- 

 dows and doors, we went on board, and steamed out of the Ice 

 Fjord on August 25, having for a period of exactly 400 days, 

 contributed our quota to International Polar research. 



THE WEIGHTS OF BRITISH NOBLEMEN 

 DURING THE LAST THREE GENERATIONS 



IT is of considerable interest to know in an exact way 

 the amount of change that may have occurred in our 

 race during recent generations. 1 therefore send the fol- 

 lowing results concerning the changes in weight, which 

 I have calculated from data obligingly furnished to me by 

 Messrs. Berry, of 3, St. James's Street, London. Messrs. 

 Berry are the heads of an old-established firm of wine 

 and cofiee merchants, who keep two huge beam scales 

 in their shop, one for their goods, and the other for the 

 use and amusement of their customers. Upwards of 

 20,000 persons have been weighed in them since the 

 middle of last century down to the present day, and the 

 results are recorded in well-indexed ledgers. Some of 

 those who had town houses have been weighed year after 

 year during the Parliamentary season for the whole period 

 of their adult lives. I examined two of the ledgers at my 

 own house, and was satisfied of their genuineness and 

 accuracy ; also that they could be accepted as weighings 

 in "ordinary indoor clothing" unless otherwise stated. 

 Much personal interest attaches itself to these unique 

 registers, for they contain a large proportion of the his- 

 torical names in our upper classes. 



I have ventured to discuss only a small and definite 



part of this mass of material, and I selected the nobility 

 for the purpose, because the dates of their births could 

 be easily learnt, which had to be done in order to con- 

 nect the years in which they were weighed with their 

 ages at the time. They formed a more homogeneous 

 group than one that included younger brothers and men 

 about town, who marry late and lead less regular lives. 

 I therefore begged Messrs. Berry to find a clerk for me 

 who should make the required extracts under their direc- 

 tion in an anonymous form for statistical purposes. I 

 also asked to be furnished with an alphabetical list of the 

 persons weighed, that I might know generally with whom 

 I was dealing, and that each schedule should bear a 

 reference to the folio whence it was extracted, so that, 

 whenever verification was needed, the original might be 

 referred to. All this was done, and I am in possession 

 of 139 schedules referring to as many different persons, 

 namely, 109 peers, 29 baronets (who were added as 

 makeweights), and i eldest son of a peer. They were 

 born at various times between 1740 and 1830, or there- 

 abouts. Each schedule gives the age and year of the 

 several weighings, the highest and lowest weights re- 

 corded in that year, and a copy of such remarks as were 

 entered at the time about the dress. An age-weight 

 trace similar to those in Figs, i and 2 was plotted on a 



Spi-cimens of the Age- U'cig/it Ci 



of Individuals 



Fig. 1 — One-fourth of the Series are more irregular than this SpeciiT 

 (The Upper Quartile.) 



Fig. 2. — One-fourth of the Series are less irregular than this Spedmen. 

 (The Lower Quartile.) 



large scale on each schedule. My best thanks are due to 

 Messrs. Berry for their careful oversight of the tedious 

 clerical work and for the intelligent assistance they gave 

 in having it satisfactorily accomplished. 



The age-weight traces differ widely and in many ways : 

 (i) in the annual range of weight, (2) in its fluctuations 

 from year to year, (3) in the age at which the weight 

 reaches its maximum, (4) in the bluntness of the cul- 

 minating point. 



The annual range is shown in Figs, i and 2 by the 

 short, V rtical lines that connect the upper and lower 

 contours. The top of each line corresponds to the 

 highest weight recorded in the year to which it refers, 

 and the bottom of the line to the lowest. I find the 

 average annual range in my whole series of cases to be 

 6 lbs., and that, in the successive decades extending over 

 ninety years, it has decreased prettily steadily from 7 lbs. 

 to 5 lbs. This points to an irregularity in the mode of 

 life that was greater two or three generations back than 

 now, and we shall shortly see that it is by no means a 

 solitary indication of this well known fact. It would 

 be interesting to learn how much annual irregularity in the 

 weight of an adult is consistent with perfect health. 



