Apri 11, 1912] 
WAL CIES, 
141 
‘ 
town fog, they state that ‘‘ without dust there 
is no mist, rain, or dew.’’ No one will deny the 
important part played by dust, but few will accept 
the statement that without it there would be no 
vain or dew. 
Most of us have probably seen such soot de- 
posits as is illustrated by the photograph (Fig. 2) 
of a soot fringe on Coniston Water, but only 
‘when a rain cloud formed over one of the large 
manufacturing towns has drifted and burst, de- 
positing its sooty cargo directly on the surface of 
the lake. 
The condition of the water in a rain gauge in 
the north of Scotland would soon convince the 
authors that it is not every drop that has a dust 
‘core, whilst as dew is formed by the deposition 
of condensing moisture on the rapidly cooling 
smaller forms of vegetation, which are playing 
the same part in condensation as the dust par- 
ticles, it seems unjust to put all the onus on the 
latter. It is an ungrateful task to have to point 
out these weaknesses in what is otherwise 
excellent a work. 
THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
HE arrival of the Terra Nova at Akaroa in | 
New Zealand with the reports from Captain 
Scott’s south polar expedition brings the last 
Antarctic news that can be expected this season. 
The despatches published by the Central News 
and referred to last week summarise the progress 
-of the south polar party until January 3, the work 
of the two expeditions in South Victoria Land of 
the geological party under Mr. Griffith Taylor, 
and of Lieut. Campbell’s party at Cape Adare. 
Captain Scott’s two despatches describe ‘the 
‘work of the expedition during the first winter in 
the establishment of depdts for the main journey 
to the south pole, and his advance to a point 
only 150 miles from the pole. The preliminary 
work on the Great Ice Barrier was greatly ham- 
pered by unfavourable weather. For two months 
‘there was a succession of heavy storms, and the 
wind is described as having been more than a 
gale during nineteen per cent. of that time. Three 
of the ponies were lost by the breaking. away of ° 
an ice floe, and the main start for the south pole 
was begun somewhat later than was intended in 
order to avoid exposing the others to the severe 
cold. Captain Scott with his party left the winter 
quarters on November 2. 
the motor sledges, which broke down, owing, in- 
appropriately, to the overheating of the engines, 
after a journey of sixty miles, and were aban- 
doned. Captain Scott appears confident that with 
the experience gained from this experiment, motor 
transport can be successfully adopted in the Ant- 
arctic. The weather during the march appears to 
have been very unfavourable; there were “pro- 
‘digious ” snow-falls and fierce gales of wind. The 
ponies were killed at successive stages and used 
to feed the dogs. No longitudes are given, so 
that the southward route cannot be followed in 
‘detail, but from the localities mentioned it was ap- 
parently in the main the same as that used by 
NO. 2215, VOL. 89| 
so |} 
Sir Ernest Shackleton. On January 3 the party 
was 150 miles from the pole, and as it had at- 
tained the plateau at the height of 9,800 feet, and 
had a month’s provisions, there can be little doubt 
that it soon attained its goal. 
The cables announce but little new geographical 
information, for Captain Scott at the time of the 
despatches had not reached “Shackleton’s 
Farthest,” the geological party had been work- 
ing mainly in an area already explored, Lieut. 
Campbell’s journey from Cape Adare was limited 
by unfavourable ice conditions to the known 
coast, and there is no news of his results from 
Terra Nova Bay. The last-mentioned expedition 
may secure results of great interest, for Lieut. 
Campbell started near the point whence David, 
Mawson, and Mackay reached the south mag- 
netic pole, but he was to use a more northerly 
route, between Mount Melbourne and Mount 
Nansen, and would thus explore new country 
which may yield especially instructive geological 
results. 
The western party under Mr. Griffith Taylor 
made two expeditions on the mainland to the 
west of McMurdo Sound. The first expedition, 
from January 27 to March 14, 1911, landed at 
Butter Point, ascended the Ferrar Glacier, and 
returned across the Barrier to the south of 
McMurdo Sound. The second expedition 
continued the exploration of this district to 
the north. The sledge party crossed to 
Granite Harbour, ascended the Mackay 
Glacier, and continued northward the survey of 
the district geologically mapped by Ferrar. Some 
coal was discovered which is believed to be inter- 
bedded in the Beacon Sandstone, a conclusion 
consistent with Shackleton’s discovery of coal and 
a fossil plant in the same formation on the Beard- 
more Glacier. Still more important was the dis- 
covery of ‘‘numerous well-preserved fossils,”’ 
apparently in the Beacon Sandstone. The de- 
termination of the age of that formation would 
be a most important contribution to the geology 
of South Victoria Land; but as so competent a 
geologist as Mr. Griffith Taylor describes the 
fossils as ‘* probably crustacea,’’ they are perhaps 
not sufficiently well preserved to give conclusive 
evidence as to their age. The fossils had to be 
left at Granite Harbour, and it is to be hoped 
| that they will be recovered by the Terra Nova 
| next season. 
They were preceded by | 
Mr. Griffith Taylor’s report upon the glacial 
features of this area will no doubt prove very 
instructive. 
Lieut. Campbell’s party from its station at 
Cape Adare sledged westward in order to explore 
part of the eastern coast of Wilkes Land; but 
owing to the breaking away of the ice from 
Robertson Bay the survey was not carried further 
west than Cape Barrow. Its field was limited in 
| the main to the area explored by the members 
of the Southern Cross Expedition. Lieut. 
| Campbell’s- party maintained continuous observa- 
tions at their station from February, 1911, till 
January, 1912. These records will doubtless add 
| greatly to the value of the simultaneous observa- 
