240 



NATURE 



\7an. 29, 1874 



" If any man wishes for a simple proof of the in- 

 feriority of the endurance of his muscles as compared 

 with those of a woman, let him carry a child on his arm 

 for the same time that his wife or nurse can do (sic) with 

 ease, and he will find himself much fatigued." 



In this striking passage, for " a woman '' read " another 

 man ;" for " wife or nurse " read " coalheaver ; " for 

 "child" read "sack of coals ;" and for "arm" "back." 

 It is still obviously true ! Many other, perhaps even more 

 remarkable, forms of this statement will present them- 

 selves to the intelligent reader. 



We had marked for comment orquotation a great number 

 of passages, but considering the characteristic qualities 

 of the specimens we have given, we think the reader who 

 wishes more may safely be left to seek them in the work 

 itself. Perhaps the most curious point we have not yet 

 alluded to is the author's calculation of the force which 

 can be exerted by the abdominal muscles. In his first 

 publication of this astonishing result he adopted seriously 

 a quotation from Sterne which Duncan, writing on the 

 forces employed in parturition, had used (in its original 

 intention) as a mere joke ; and in the work before us, in 

 spite of all that has been done, especially by Duncan and 

 Schatz, since that first publication of his, Dr. Haughton 

 still gravely writes : — ■ 



" Thus, we see that, on an emergency, somewhat more 

 than a quarter of a ton pressure can be brought to bear 

 upon a refractory child that refuses to come into the 

 world in the usual manner." 



It is only necessary to explain that this is assigned not 

 as the whole pressure on the surface of the child, but 

 merely as the component in the direction of its motion ! 



POLAR EXPLORATION 

 The Gateway to the Polynia : A Voyage to Spitzbergen. 

 From the Journal of John C. Wells, R.N. With nume- 

 rous Illustrations. (London, 1873. 8vo, pp. 355.) 

 EVERY fresh book on the Arctic Regions helps to 

 awaken the donnant interest of the public in the 

 question of Polar Exploration, and from that point of 

 view this volume commands our attention. From no 

 other, however, can we recommend it. The " rapid 

 sketch of Arctic voyages " contained in the introductory 

 chapter is rapid indeed — we might also add vapid — and 

 it is followed by a disquisition on things in general in 

 which some of the statements are true and a few of them 

 new, though the new and the true do not seem to be 

 always successfully combined. Of course it was not to 

 be expected that the masterly summary of the progress 

 of northern discovery given by Richardson in his well- 

 known " Polar Regions " should be excelled or equalled, 

 but we had a right, we conceive, to look for a few more 

 details than we get of the American, German, and espe- 

 cially of the Swedish expeditions executed since Sir 

 John's work appeared. But even letting that pass, we 

 should have been contented with a plairi narrative of 

 Capt. Wells's own " Voyage," whereas we have nothing of 

 the sort. We arc told, it is true, that he sailed in the 

 yacht Sampson, that he left this country in May 1S72, 

 and, after reaching lat. 8oi°, returned in the follow- 

 ing September — facts which any of our readers may 

 find if they take the trouble of looking back into our 

 columns ; but of the incidents and results of the voyage 



we are afforded only the most vague outline, drawn in a 

 confused and book-making way. One remarkable and 

 suggestive fact is to be noticed. The name of the owner 

 of the yacht never appears in regard to this voyage ! 

 Little bits of what may once have been written in a 

 journal pieced together with stories more or less (and 

 rather less than more) connected with the subject, such 

 as that of the building of Scalloway Castle (imperfectly 

 told by the way) — yarns spun by old whalers and sailors 

 — scraps of zoology, botany, geography, and meteorology 

 (some of them incorrect) — long extracts from Parry's well- 

 known " Voyage " — the whole jumbled into one chaotic 

 mass, from which it is difficult to derive any clear know- 

 ledge of what belongs to the writer of the "Journal," and 

 what has been drawn from other authors. We are 

 treated to certain woodcuts, the like of which were the 

 wonder of our childhood, such as that of the Right 

 Whale (p. 64) ; but whether Captain Wells saw a Right 

 Whale, or knows one when he sees it, we don't profess to 

 say, and this particular portrait is simply named " Whale." 

 The cut representing " Whales' Food " (p. 82) is alto- 

 gether wrong ; whales would fare badly if they only swal- 

 lowed such nourishment as the Hydrozoa there figured, 

 and the author might have learnt better from old 

 Friderich Martens, two hundred years ago. Shetlanders 

 are said (p. 71) to be a "branch of the Celtic family." 

 The Reindeer figured (to face p. 223) were certainly not 

 drawn from Spitzbergen examples, and most parts of the 

 book indeed might almost just as well have been written 

 by a man who had never been to that country. 



But perhaps all this may be looked upon as trifling. 

 Capt. Wells's great object is to urge the claims of the 

 Spitzbergen over the Smith's Sound route for future Arctic 

 discovery. On this question much has been written and 

 spoken ; and though the opinion of experts is overwhelm- 

 ingly strong in favour of the latter, the former is not to be 

 dismissed in the off-hand way in which it frequently is. 

 Impossible as it may seem, we wish to reconcile the ad- 

 herents of either creed. Capt. Wells, we think, is not the 

 ablest of advocates. He omits putting the point as 

 strongly as it ought to be put, indeed his theory is utterly 

 opposed to it. In his map all the space encircled by the 

 85th parallel is marked " Polynia," and an arrow-head 

 obligingly informs us that " the gateway to the Pole " lies 

 in long. 10° E. To force this gateway by steamer would 

 seem to be his advice. Now we cannot agree with him 

 here, for the idea of a great extent of perpetually open 

 water, which is the essence of the notion of a Polynia, is 

 a mere assumption, against which much seems to militate. 

 Now there are two entirely different things for the Arctic 

 discoverer to do. If his object be merely to reach the Pole 

 by the cheapest and easiest means, our belief is that there is 

 no way better than the Spitzbergen route, but one cannot 

 expect to do it by water. The expedition should winter 

 in the north of Spitzbergen, or on one of the outlying 

 islets, and sledge-parties should be sent in early spring 

 over the ice to reach the goal, and return with all possible 

 speed. But if the object be to make a really satisfactory 

 exploration, then the almost perfect agreement of Arctic 

 authorities declares for Smith's Sound. It is possible 

 that the Spitzbergen route might be accomplished by 

 private enterprise, but for the other a Government expe- 

 dition is essential. On parting with Captain Wells, we are 



