April 24, 19 13] 



NATURE 



'95 



THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL 



GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS AT ROME. 

 'T' HE report of progress and the discussion regard- 

 ■*■ ing the international map of the world and 

 polar exploration were the two predominant subjects 

 at the International Geographical Congress just con- 

 cluded at Rome. The long postponement from Octo- 

 ber, 191 1, to April, KJI3, was sufficient to account for 

 the meagre attendance of British representatives, of 

 whom there were only ten, and indeed foreign mem- 

 bers as a whole. Polar exploration — both arctic 

 and antarctic — was, however, well represented. Of 

 the former, Admiral Peary, Admiral Cagni, Dr. 

 Bruce, Mr. Bridgeman, and Mr. Stefansson were 

 representative, whilst Dr. Bruce, Dr. Nordenskjold, 

 and Lieut. Lecointe represented antarctic exploration. 

 Then- were also many others specially interested in 

 polar research, as was testified by the presence 

 of thirty delegates at the Polar Commission, 

 which took the opportunity of meeting at the 

 same time and place as the Geographical Congress. 

 Although no striking results have accrued from this 

 rather anomalous body, yet it gives an excellent 

 opportunity for polar explorers and their supporters 

 to meet and discuss matters of common interest, 

 and, being in strong force, special interest was natur- 

 ally shown in their work, and several important com- 

 munications given. 



International Map. 



The most important result of the congress was the 

 discussion and agreements reached regarding the in- 

 ternational map of the world on a scale of i : 1,000,000. 

 The British representatives who took special part in 

 this section were Col. C. F. Close, Director-General 

 of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain; Col. W. C. 

 Headley, Mr. F. Grant Ogilvie, C.B., and Mr. G. G. 

 Chisholm. General Jules de Shokalsky, St. Peters- 

 burg; Prof. Albrecht Penck, Berlin; Engineer Charles 

 Lallemand, and Prof. Paul Helbronner, Paris; Lieut. 

 A. H. Bvstrom, Stockholm; Dr. H. von Harten- 

 thurn, Vienna, also took part in the discussion. Nine- 

 States had undertaken the production of sheets of the 

 international map in accordance with the resolutions 

 of the official conference held in London in November, 

 1909, namely Argentina, Chile, France, Great Britain, 

 Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United States, 

 and preparation work was also reported by the dele- 

 gates of Portugal and Sweden, and the thanks of the 

 congress were voted to those States. 



By direction of the president of the congress in 

 accordance with the resolution proposed by Prof. 

 Penck, and approved at the general meeting of the 

 congress, March 29, delegates of all countries in- 

 terested in the international map held a meeting on 

 March 31, 1913, and passed the following resolutions 

 unanimously, and the resolutions were submitted to 

 the 1 ongress : — 



(1) It is desirable that another official conference 

 should be held to consider questions affecting the in- 

 ternational map of the world on the scale of 

 1 . 1,000,000, in the capital of a State which has 

 already undertaken the preparation of sheets of the 

 map; and it is thought that it would be convenient 

 to all concerned if this capital were Paris. 



(2) In view of the fact that the general principles 

 governing the construction of the map are already 

 settled and adopted, the new conference should be 

 asked to consider questions of detail only, such as the 

 size of the lettering, character for railways, &c. 



(3) It is desirable that all civilised States should be 

 invited to send delegates to the proposed conference. 



NO. 2269, VOL. 91] 



(4) It would be convenient if the date of the pro- 

 posed conference were towards the end of the year. 



(5) London (Geographical Section of the General 

 Staff, War Office) remains the official centre of the 

 undertaking until the assembly of the proposed con- 

 ference, and communications of interest with regard 

 to the international map should be addressed to that 

 office. Also i it is desirable that a set of not fewer than 

 iili\ copies of a selected sheet already printed should 

 be sent by each country which has produced a sheet 

 or sheets to the above office, at an early date. These 

 sheets will be distributed to those Governments in- 

 vited to the new conference, and to recognised private 

 authorities. 



Polar Exploration. 



In arctic exploration special interest was also shown 

 in Mr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson 's plans of the Canadian 

 Arctic expedition, which leaves Vancouver about June 

 1 for a period of three and a half years. As a pre- 

 liminary to laying these plans before the congress, 

 Mr. Stefansson gave a detailed account in two sec- 

 tions of his six years' work on the Mackenzie River 

 and along the arctic shores of Canada and on the 

 islands to the north. During practically the whole of 

 that time he lived as an Esquimaux among Esquimaux, 

 learning their language and many of their customs, 

 and making himself dependent on the resources 

 of the country. By this account of his previous work 

 he showed that no one was better fitted to carry out 

 the plans of the new Canadian Arctic expedition, 

 which he himself had formulated. It was of special 

 interest to hear Mr. Stefansson emphasising not only 

 the importance, but the great accuracy of the work of 

 the late Dr. John Rae. 



Mr. Stefansson 's plan generally is to explore the 

 Beaufort Sea and to seek for new lands to the north- 

 west of those known islands lying to the north of 

 the mainland of Canada, and to carry on further 

 research, especially as regards his discovery of Esqui- 

 maux of a blonde type living to the north-west of 

 Victoria Land. Special interest attaches to the ex- 

 pedition, because the theory which Mr. Stefansson 

 and others have is that the tides indicate a consider- 

 able area of land lying in the Beaufort Sea to the 

 north-west of Victoria Land. 



Admiral Peary, in supporting the plans, pointed 

 out that the American Geographic Society and the 

 American Museum of Natural History had in the 

 first place come forward, each offering to pav half, 

 but that subsequently the Government of Canada 

 had desired to make the expedition a Canadian one, 

 seeing that it was for the exploration of Canadian 

 arctic regions, and had offered to pay the whole cost. 

 They in the United States appreciated the attitude of 

 Canada. They had followed Mr. Stefansson's past 

 and present work with the greatest interest, and 

 wished his expedition the success it deserved. Dr. 

 Bruce, in supporting the proposal, pointed out how, 

 whereas the Pacific side of the south polar regions 

 had received most attention from explorers, it had 

 been on the Atlantic side that the north polar regions 

 had been chiefly explored. This w-as due, he said, 

 to the fact that the Atlantic side of the arctic regions 

 was nearer the centres of civilisation. The regions 

 Mr. Stefansson intended to explore was particularlv 

 interesting from the oceanographical point of view, 

 because no oceanographical research had been carried 

 out on the Behring Straits side of the Arctic Ocean. 

 Mr. Stefansson was taking with him a considerable 

 oceanographical equipment and an excellent oceano- 

 grapher, in the person of Mr. James Murray, who had 

 done signal service with Sir John Murrav in the 

 Scottish Loch Survev, and with Sir Ernest Shackle- 



