404 



NATURE 



[Mar. 26, 1874 



tion of a catalogue, begun in 1857, of stars which seem to 

 have appreciable motion. He also began, so early as 

 1836, systematically to observe and record the occurrence 

 of meteors and shooting-stars. These observations came 

 to be of great value thirty years later, when the true 

 nature of these bodies was satisfactorily established. 



The meteorological observations at this observatory 

 have been particularly full and valuable, embracing hourly 

 and bi-hourly observations, published annually 2// cxtt'iiso, 

 of atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity,rain, cloud, 

 &c. These have been exhaustively discussed by Quetelet 

 in " La miiteorologie de la Belgique comparce a celle du 

 globe," published in 1867. In this admirable treatise we 

 have what must still be regarded as the fullest and best 

 account of the meteorology of any single lociliLy on the 

 globe— the yearly, monthly, daily, and hourly march of 

 the various meteorological elements being given. In the 

 same volume are given n'sHincs of the observations made 

 at the other stations which began to be established at 

 Alost, Ghent, Liege, &c., in 1S35. 



He was elected perpetual secretary of the Academy of 

 Sciences and Belles-Lettres in November 1834, and was 

 chiefly instrumental in adding a section on the Fine Arts 

 in 1845 It is scarcely necessary to refer to the scientific 

 contributions he made to the Fine Arts, by his extensive 

 and minute investigations regarding the proportions of the 

 human body, the results of which are given in his " Anthro- 

 pomdtrie." In matters relatingto the higher education, to 

 the census, and other national questions, the Belgian 

 Government wisely availed itself repeatedly of his wide 

 knowledge and great experience. 



His first paper on the subject of statistics was published 

 in 1826; in 1835 appeared his "Physique sociale," and 

 ten years later his " Lettres sur la th^orie des probabi- 

 litds appliquees aux sciences morales et politiques." In 

 1 84 1 a Central Commission of Statistics was established 

 by royal decree, of which Quetelet was made president, 

 and of which he continued to be president to his death. 

 He originated the idea of convening an International 

 Congress of Statistics. The first was held in Brussels in 

 1853, and others have since been held at Paris, London, 

 Berlin, Florence, the Hague, and St Petersburg. It is in 

 the field of statistics that Quetelet appears as a great dis- 

 coverer, and his success in this department must be attri- 

 buted to the clearness with which he saw that statistics 

 occupy the ground in the development of the social and 

 political sciences which observational data do in tlie deve- 

 lopment of such sciences as astronomy and meteorology, 

 to the patient industry with which through long years he 

 gathered together his facts, and to the mathematical 

 skill he brought to bear on the discussion of the results. 

 He was truly, as expressed by the Academy of Berlin in 

 their congratulatory letter on the occasion of the centenary 

 of the Belgian Academy, " the founder of a new science 

 which proceeds from the firm basis of observation and 

 calculation to discover and unfold those immutable laws 

 which govern the phenomena, apparently the most acci- 

 dental, of the life of man, down even to his most trivial 

 actions." 



SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE ''POLARIS" 

 ARCTIC EXPEDITION 



WE have received advanced sheets of the Report of 

 the Secretary of the United States Navy, of the 

 examination of those of the crew of the Polaris who 

 were in the ship when she broke loose from the floe to 

 which she was anchored, on October 15, 1872, leaving 

 the nineteen persons on the sheet of ice which was their 

 floating home, until picked up about six months after off 

 the coast of Labrador (Nature, vol. viii., p. 217). This 

 report confirms the opinion we have already expressed 

 that no Arctic expedition can be adeqjuately conducted 

 unless carried out under naval discipline. It was only 



on accsunt of the good intentions and good nature of 

 the crew, especially after their noble and enthusiastic 

 captain's death, that things went on as smoothly as 

 they did. Captain Buddington seems to have had no 

 heart in the object of the expedition, and we cannot 

 help thinking that had he not been with it much more 

 would have been gained. It was in deference to his 

 opinion that Captain Hall refrained from trying to push 

 beyond his furthest point (82" 16' N.) with the ship ; all 

 the other officers, though they do not seem to have been 

 very well assorted, being of opinion that an attempt 

 should be made to get further north, or at least not to 

 lose ground by wintering further south. 



We have already (vol. viii., p. 435) given details as to the 

 rescue of those who were left in the Polaris, and of their 

 being landed in Scotland by the Arctic and Eric whalers. 

 The present report affords some ideaof thescientificresults 

 of the expedition, a detailed account of which will no 

 doubt by and by be published, although we regret to see 

 that many of the records of the scientific results were lost 

 in the confusion incident to the parting of the ship from 

 the floe. Still much that is vahiable has been brought 

 home, from which many additions to a scientific know- 

 ledge of that part of the Arctic region will be obtained. 

 Notwithstanding the want of perfect harmony among the 

 officers, the scientific work of the expedition seems to 

 have been diligently carried on, and the e^'idence of Dr. 

 Bessels especially contains a great deal of value to Science. 

 Geographers will be able to correct and extend their 

 maps of the regions visited, and we hope that very soon 

 the complete material for enabling them to do so will be in 

 their hands. Constant and careful tidal observations were 

 carried on, with the very valuable result of ascertaining 

 that the tide of Thank-God Harbour, Si° 38' N. is not 

 produced by the Atlantic but by tfie Pacific tidal wave. 

 "It was found," Dr. Bessels says, " that the co-tidal hour 

 is about 16'' 20'". Rensselaer Harbour, being the norther- 

 most station, has its co-tidal hour at 18'' 04'", consequently 

 the tide comes from the north, the rise and fall at spring- 

 tides amounting to about 5 ft. ; at neap tides 2/f,. Most 

 likely the two tidal waves meet somewhere in Smith 

 Sound, near Cape Frazier. Kane and Hayes have both 

 found a ridge of hummocks near Cape Frazier, and in 

 drifting down we experienced that during some time, being 

 abreast of Cape Frazier ; we hardly made any headway, 

 but we drifted both north and south." 



The results of the expedition may be summed up 

 briefly as follows : — (l) the Polaris reached 82° 16' N., a 

 higher latitude than has been attained by any otiier 

 ship ; (2) the navigability of Kennedy Channel has been 

 proved beyond a doubt ; (3) upwards of 700 miles of 

 coast-line have been discovered and surveyed ; (4) the 

 insularity of Cireenland has been proven ; and (5) nu- 

 merous observations have been made relating to astro- 

 nomy, magnetism, force of gravity, ocean physics, 

 meteorology, zoology, ethnology, botany, and geology, 

 the records of which were kept in accordance with the 

 instructions supplied by the National Academy, and some 

 of the results of which we propose briefly to enumerate. 



Astronomy. — Great care was taken in determining 

 a reliable meridian at Thank-God Harbour. Soon after 

 entering winter-quarters an observatory was erected on the 

 shore, thirty-four feet abo\e mean sea-level, and the 

 transit instrument stationed there. The longitude of this 

 station was determined by the observation of 300 lunar 

 distances ; a number of moon culminations ; a great 

 number of star transits ; a number of star occultations ; a 

 great number of altitudes of the sun on or near the prime 

 vertical. Its latitude, by the observation of a great 

 number of circummeridian altitudes of the sun, and a 

 number of altitudes of stars. All of these observations 

 were lost, but a number of the results have been pre- 

 served which are sufficient to establish tlie position of 

 his station. 



