June 27, 1907] 



NA TURE 



THE CRUISE OF THE "NEPTUNE."' 

 'T^HE cruise of the Neptune is the official narrative of 

 the voyage of tlie Uominion Government Expedition 

 to northern parts of Hudson Bay and the north-eastern 

 Arctic islands in 1903-4 in charge of Mr. A. P. Low. 



The Dominion Government in the spring of 1903 decided 

 to send a cruiser to patrol the waters of Hudson Bay and 

 those adjacent to the eastern Arctic islands, and to aid 

 in establishing on the adjoining shores permanent stations 

 for the collection of customs, the administration of justice, 

 and the enforcement of the law as in other parts of Canada. 

 Major J. D. Moodie, of the North-West Mounted Police, 

 was appointed acting commissioner of the unorganised 

 north-eastern territories. The expedition carried a scientific 

 staff. 



Dr. L. E. Borden, besides being the medical ollficer, 

 collected data relating to ethnology, botany, and zoology ; 

 Mr. Andrew Halkett, naturalist of the Department of 

 Marine and Fisheries ; Mr. C. F. King, who was attached 

 from the staff of the Geological Survey, took charge of 

 the topographical and meteorological work, assisted by 

 Mr. C. F. Caldwell (photographer) and Mr. Ross (purser). 



Mr. Low undertook the geological work. The latter 

 writes in the preface to the book : — " The greater part of 

 the credit for the complete and successful accomplishment 

 of all the instructions for the voyage is due to Captain 

 S. W. Bartlett, the officers and the crew of the Neptune." 

 The latter was the largest and most powerful ship of the 

 Newfoundland sealing fleet, 465 tons net register and 

 engines no nominal horse-power. 



Besides the narrative of the voyage during the seasons 

 1903-4, there is a short historical account of earlier explor- 

 ations and discoveries in north-eastern Arctic America, a 

 geographical sketch, and chapters dealing with the Eskimo 

 inhabitants and the geological formation of these north- 

 eastern territories, and a description of the important 

 whaling and sealing industries, and opinions as to the 

 possible navigation of Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay. 



In the form of appendices are the results of the meteor- 

 ological observations taken on the voyage, notes on the 

 thickness and growth of ice, and lists of the birds, plants, 

 and fossils collected in these northern regions. The full 

 results, especially with regard to the determination of 

 marine invertebrates, are promised in a future publication. 



The Neptune wintered in FuUerton Harbour, at the 

 entrance to Roes Welcome (latitude 64° N.). During the 

 winter various tribes of Eskimos congregated about the 

 ship and kept it supplied in fresh caribou meat. The 

 two long chapters on the Eskimos are fascinating read- 

 ing, and contain a mass of information for the anthro- 

 pologist. In the form of an appendix there are notes on 

 the physical condition of the Eskimos by the surgeon to 

 the Ne'plune, Dr. L. E. Borden. 



The excessive cold of the early spring practically rendered 

 impossible any surveying or other scientific work until the 

 month of April. The minimum temperature obser\'ed was 

 — 53° F., early in March. The really cold months were 

 January, February, and March, the mean temperatures 

 being respectively — 23°-o F., — 27°-o F., — 20°-6 F. The 

 thickness of the ice around the ship continued to increase 

 until .April 25, when it attained a maximum of 74 inches. 



The Neptune broke her way out of Fullerton Harbour 

 on July 18, after having been fast frozen for nine months, 

 and proceeded on her summer cruise to the Arctic islands. 

 Chapter x. contains a great deal of valuable information 

 concerning whales and whaling. Although the capture of 

 a right whale repays the expenditure incurred in outfitting 

 a sttam whaling ship, and if more than one is killed on 

 the voyage it means large dividends to the owners, the 

 chase is becoming more and more unprofitable owing to the 

 few whales remaining and to the frequent " empty 

 voyages made of late years. The future of the whaling 

 industry certainly appears to be very gloomy. 



The chapters on geology are perhaps the most valuable 

 portion of the book. Although they contain little that is 



1 Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to Hudson Bay and 

 " Ihe Arctic Islands on Board the D.G.S. Xcptiiiu, ioo-,-i904. By A. P. 

 Lou- (officer in charge). Pp. xvii + 355 and map. (Ottawa: The Govern- 

 ing Bureau, 1006.) 



absolutely new, the results of former expeditions and work 

 of former geologists have been brought together in a 

 concise and interesting manner. 



The work is admirably written, and contains more real 

 information than such narratives usually do. The illus- 

 trations are fairly good, and the geological map compiled 

 by the Geological Survey of Canada to illustrate the cruise 

 of the Neptune (scale, 50 statute iniles to i inch) is prob- 

 ably the best of its kind published. L: C. B. 



N.iTUR.lL H/.srOi?r IN NORTHUilBRI.i.' 



'T'HE third and concluding part of the first voluine of the 

 ■'■ new series of the Transactions of the Natural History 

 Society of Northuirtberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne has just been issued, and it proves that the district 

 is able to maintain its reputation as a home of eager and 

 distinguished naturalists. In addition to the usual reports 

 on the field meetings and the short notes on local natural 

 history, which do not present any noteworthy features, 

 there are six papers of more general interest which may 

 be regarded as serious contributions to knowledge. 



Among these we notice a paper by Miss M. Lebour 

 on the larval treiratodes of the Northumberland coast. 

 Having chosen for her investigations a field of work 

 that has unfortunately been very inadequately explored, 

 this author is able to contribute more that is really 

 original than her companions. A list of thirteen common 

 littoral mollusca is given in which larval trematodes were 

 found, and of these Pahideslrina stagnalis was proved 

 to be the host of no less than six different species of 

 trematodes. Although no single complete life-history 

 was worked out, reasons are given for supposing that 

 the first host of Distonium {Echinostomum) lepto- 

 somum is Paludestrina stagnalis, and that encystment may 

 take place in the same species of mollusc or in Scrobi- 

 cularia tenuis, the final host being the dunlin. The 

 bucephalus larva of Gasterostomum, the well-known fluke 

 of the angler fish, was found in the cockle, this being 

 only the second time in which the larva has been recorded 

 in British waters. The paper is well illustrated by five 

 plates. 



In an interesting paper by Dr. Brady several species of 

 Crustacea new to the district are recorded from a pond 

 at Amble that has been formed by the filling up of an old 

 quarry from the adjacent sea. The occurrence in the pond 

 of a new ostracod for which a new genus (Proteocypris) 

 is instituted is of special interest, as, according to the 

 author, it is the only instance of a typically fresh-water 

 cyprid occurring in a truly marine habit. It is to be re- 

 gretted that Dr. Brady makes no statement of his opinion 

 as to the relations of this genus or of the family to which 

 it belongs. 



The longest paper in the part is one by Mr. -A. R. 

 Jackson on the spiders of the Tyne valley. This paper 

 will doubtless be of considerable value to arachnologists, 

 but apart from the description of five species new to 

 Britain, of which three species w'ere at the time of their 

 discovery new to science, it does not present any features 

 of genera! interest. 



In some interesting notes on rare local beetles, Mr. 

 Bagnall describes his experiences in proving that the female 

 Epuraea angustula enters the bores of different species, of 

 Trypodendron in order, as he believes, to deposit her eggs 

 on those of the borer, and suggests that the staphylinid 

 .icrulia inflata is similarly parasitic on Trypodendron. 



Geology is represented in the part by two papers — one. 

 on the result of the borings in the valley of the Tyne 

 Derwent, bv the Rev. .\. Watts, and the other by Dr. 

 Woolacott, on the recent landslip at Claxheugh. The 

 photographs that illustrate this last-named paper are of 

 permanent interest and value. 



In bringing the first volume of the new series to a con- 

 clusion, the "society may be congratulated on the evidence 

 it affords of the interest taken in natural history by its 

 members and of the valuable w-ork they are doing. 



1 "Tiansactions of the Natural History Society of Northumber'and, 

 Durham, and Newcastk-upon.Tyne. ' Vol. i., parts i.-iii. (1907). Price 



NO. 1965, VOL. 76] 



