48o 



NATURE 



[September 17, 1908 



Sea probably is seldom navigable, the passage 

 through Paiander or Markham Straits, though 

 intricate, is possible; three fathoms was the shoalest 

 water found. 



Except for the work in Victoria Strait and 

 M'Clintock Channel, the voyage can scarcely be 

 called one of exploration. The greater part of the 

 route was relatively well known and charted. The 

 expedition was never absolutely out of touch with the 

 civilised world. Even at King William Land they got 

 a mail by Esquimaux from Cape Fullerton, Hudson 

 Bay, while at King Point they were in the company 

 of whalers, missionaries, and policemen. During 

 that winter Amundsen made a journey to Eagle City 

 to get into cable ronmiunication with Europe. The 

 main scientific wo.-k, magnetism, was successfully 

 carried out, and a good series of meteorological ob- 

 servations were taken, at least in winter quarters. 



Amundsen tells his story in a lucid, interesting 

 style, and, though the book would not lose by con- 

 densation in places, it is singularly free from the 

 trivialities with which such volumes are often loaded. 

 But an appendix of scientific results would have given 

 more permanent value to these volumes. 



One rather serious error on p. 59 should be men- 

 tioned. The author speaks of passing through Bello! 

 Strait when he evidently only passed by the end of it. 



A very full and accurate index is provided. 



THE REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION 



ON THE CARE AND CONTROL OF THE 



FEEBLE-MINDED. 



O whatever criticisms this report may be sub- 

 jected it cannot truthfully be characterised as 

 either pusillanimous or incomplete. It is to the credit 



JC 



-A Eskimo Camp in Winter Time. (Photograph taken at midnight.) From '' The North-West Passage. 



Lindstrom, the cook, was an enthusiastic collector of 1 

 plants and animals, but, though one of the party was 

 a geologist, we do not gather that geological ob- 

 servations and collections were made, except a few 

 fossils at Boothia Feli.x and King William Land. 

 That is a pity in view of the many opportunities that , 

 must have occurred during a voyage practically always 

 within touch of land. Nor do we gather that any 

 soundings were taken other than those essential for 

 the navigation of the Gjoa; certainly none are indi- 

 cated on the outline maps which accompany the 

 volume. However, with regard to the Esquimaux 

 encountered, very full information is given. The first 

 two winters were passed in the company of the little- 

 known Nechilli tribe. They appear to be one of the 

 few tribes of Esquimaux who fortunately have had 

 little or no contact with white men, though it was 

 from members of this tribe that Rae got the news of 

 Franklin's fate. 



NO. 2029, VOL. 78] 



of the members of the commission that they have 

 searched so thoroughly for their data and so fearlessly 

 faced the numerous difficulties which the evidence pre- 

 sented to them. As a whole the report is broad- 

 minded, eminently practical in its adjustment to the 

 necessities of the situation, and conceived at once in 

 a humanitarian and utilitarian spirit. Whether it is 

 in advance of national ideas remains to be seen by 

 the manner in which the legislature is prepared to 

 deal with it. 



The report necessarily opens up matter of great 

 scientific interest; but the commissioners, perhaps 

 wisely, have contented themselves with deducing from 

 a mass of scientific evidence only such conclusions as 

 bear upon the practical issues under their considera- 

 tion. On the momentous question of the origin of 

 mental defect, they remark somewhat plaintively 

 (vol. viii., p. 179), " we found it practically impossible, 

 and deemed it undesirable, to exclude from coniidera- 



