August 20, 1896J 



NATURE 



375 



point attained was lat. 86' 14', which is nearly 200 miles 

 further north than had previously been reached. No land was 

 sighted north of 82°. Dr. Nansen and his companion then 

 went south to Kranz Josef Land, where they passed the winter, 

 subsisting on bears' flesh and whale blubber. Here they fell in 

 with the IViitekoard, of the Jackson- Harmsworth expedition, 

 which brought them to Vardii. It is expected that the Fram 

 will eventually arrive at Spitbergen. 



With most commendable enterprise, the Daily Chronicle 

 published on Saturday, August 15, Dr. Nansen's own narrative 

 nf his expedition, telegraphed from Vardii. The narrative is in 

 the highest degree interesting, as well as a .striking testimony 

 to the hardihood and indomitable spirit of Dr. Nansen and 

 Lieut. Johansen, who for seventeen months, cut off from 

 all means of retreat, travelled over nearly 700 miles and 

 carried on polar explorations. The telegram published in the 

 Daily Chroiiidc is abridged below ; and we are glad to express 

 our acknowledgments to that newspaper for the opportunity 

 afforded us of placing before the readers of Nature the salient 

 points in this account of Dr. Nansen's explorations of polar regions. 



The Fram left Jugor Strait August 4, 1S93. We had to force 

 our way through much ice along the Siberian coast. We 

 discovered an island in the Kara Sea, and a great number of 

 islands along the coast to Cape Cheljuskin. In several places 

 we found evidences of a glacial epoch, during which Northern 

 Siberia must have been covered by inland ice to a great extent. 



On September 15 we were off the mouth of Olenek River, 

 but thought it too late to go in there to fetch our dogs, as we 

 would not risk losing a year. We passed the New Siberian 

 Islands on .September iS. 



On September 22 we made fast to a floe in latitude 78° 50' 

 N., and longitude 133' 37' K., and allowed the ship to be closed 

 in by the ice. 



As anticipated, we were gradually drifted north and north- 

 westward. The .sea was up to ninety fathoms deep south of 

 19' N. , where the depth suddenly increased, and was from 

 1600 to 1900 fathoms north of that latitude. This will neces- 

 sarily upset all previous theories based on a shallow Polar Basin. 

 The sea-bottom was remarkably devoid of organic matter. 

 During the whole drift I had good opportunities to take a series 

 of scientific observations — meteorological, magnetic, astronom- 

 ical, biological soundings, deep-sea temperatures, examinations 

 for salinity of the sea-water, i!y;c. Under the stratum of cold 

 ice-water covering the surface of the Polar Basin, I soon dis- 

 covere<l the warmer and more saline water due to the Gulf 

 Stream, with temperatures from 31° to 33 \ We saw no land, 

 and no open water, except narrow cracks, in any direction. 



As .anticipated, our drift north-westward was most rapid 

 during the winter and spring, while northerly winds stopped or 

 drifted us backwards during the summer. On June 18, 1894, 

 we were on 81° 52' N. lat., but drifted then southward only. 

 On October 21 we passed 82°. On Christmas Eve, 1894, lati- 

 tude 83° N. svas reached, and a few days later 83° 24', the farthest 

 north latitude previously reached by man. 



As I anticipated that the Fram would soon reach her highest 

 latitude to the north of Franz Jo.sef Land, and that she could 

 not easily fail to carry out the programme of the expedition, viz. 

 to cross the unknown Polar Basin, I decided to leave the 

 ship in order to explore the sea north of her route. Lieut. 

 Johansen accompanied me. On March 3 we reached 84' 4' N. 

 Johansen and I left the Fram on March 14. 1895, *' 83° 59' N. 

 lat., and 102 27' longitude East of (Sreenvvich. Our purpose 

 was to explore the sea to the north, reach the highest latitude 

 possible, and then go to Spitzbergen via Franz Josef Land, where 

 we were certain to find a ship. 



On March 22 we were on 83° 10' N. lat. The ice now 

 became rougher, and the drift contrary. On April 3 we were 

 at 85° 50' N., constantly hoping to meet with smoother ice. On 

 April 4 we reached 86° 3' N., but the ice became rougher, until 

 on April 7 it got so bad that I considered it unwise to continue 

 our march in a northerly direction. We were then at lat. 86° 

 14' N. 



I then made an excursion on ski further northward in order 

 to examine the possibility of further advance, but I could see 

 nothing but ice of the same description, hummock beyond 

 hummock to the horizon, looking like a sea of frozen breakers, 

 the whole time. We had had a low temperature during nearly 

 three weeks : it was in the neighbourhood of 40° below zero. 

 On April l it rose to 8° below, but soon sank again to 38^ The 



NO. 1 399, VOL. 54] 



minimum in March was 49° and the maximum 24". In April 

 the minimum was 38° and the maximum 20°. 



On April 8 we began our march towards Franz Tosef Land. 

 On April 12 our watches ran down, and we were after that date 

 uncertain of our longitude, but hoped that our dead reckoning 

 was fairly correct. We expected daily to find land in sight, but 

 we looked in vain. 



On May 31 we were in 82° 21' N. ; on June 4 in 82° 18' N. ; 

 but on June 15 we had been drifted north-west to 82° 26'. No 

 land was to be seen, although, according to Payer's map, we had 

 expected to meet with Petermann Land at 83° N. These 

 discrepancies became more and more puzzling as time went on. 



We did not reach land until August 6, at 81° 38' N. lat. and 

 about 63° E. long. This proved to be entirely ice-capped 

 islands. In our " kayaks" we made our way westward in open 

 water along these islands. 



On August 12 we discovered land extending from south-east 

 to north-west. The country became more and more puzzling, 

 as I could find no agreement with Payer's map. I thought we 

 were in a longitude east of Austria Sound ; but if this were 

 correct, we were now travelling straight across Wilczek Land 

 and Dove Glacier, without seeing any land near us. 



On August 26 we reached a spot in Si° 13' N. and 56° E., 

 where we wintered. The spring came with sunshine and much 

 open water to the south-west, and we hoped to have an easy 

 voyage to Spitzbergen over floe ice and open water. On 

 May 19 we were at last ready to start, and came to open 

 water on May 23, in 81° 5' N., but we were retarded by 

 storms until June 3. A Httle south of Si° we found land ex- 

 tending westward, and the open water reached west-north-west 

 along its north coast. But we preferred to travel southward 

 over ice through a broad Sound. We came on June 12 to the 

 south side of the islands, and found much open water, trending 

 westward. We sailed and paddled in this direction in order to 

 proceed across to Spitzbergen from the most western cape, but 

 Payer's map is misleading. 



We left Franz Josef Land in the Windward on August 7, 

 and had a short and very pleasant passage, thanks to the 

 masterly way in which Captain Brown brought his ship through 

 the ice, and thence in the open sea to Vardo. 



BACTERIA AND CARBONATED WATERS. 

 'T'HE new methods of bacteriological research were early 

 called into requisition to determine what hygienic import- 

 ance from a bacterial point of view could be ascribed to the 

 gaseous aeration of water. 



A large number of experiments have from time to time been 

 carried out, and various points of interest have been investigated, 

 but nevertheless considerable divergence of opinion exists as to 

 the precise hygienic value with which the carbonation of water 

 can be credited. 



Some authorities state that in such waters the number of 

 bacteria steadily declines, whilst others again have observed as 

 distinct a multiplication of the bacteria present. 



The possibility of these two contingencies is, however, quite 

 conceivable without necessarily impugning the accuracy of the 

 results obtained in either case. In the first place It must be 

 remembered that widely different types of water serve for the 

 manufacture of artificial aerated waters, the bacterial contents 

 of which are likewise widely divergent both qualitatively and 

 quantitatively. 



Here, then, in the first instance is a source of discrepancy, 

 for the behaviour of bacteria in carlionated waters, as also under 

 other conditions, primarily depends upon the particular varieties 

 of bacteria which have to be dealt with. 



It has been shown that whereas some bacteria rapidly disappear 

 in aerated waters, others again are endowed with fabulous powers 

 of multiplication and longevity. 



Thus in one instance a sample of carbonated water was found 

 to contain, one hour after its manufacture, 8350 microbes per 

 cubic centimetre ; these figures rose, however, after the lapse of 

 210 days, to the considerable number of 212,400 per c.c. ; later 

 on, however, at the end of 428 days, there were only 46 per c.c. 



Again, as regards the duration of vitality of ordinary w'ater 

 microbes under these circumstances, we read of as many as 91 

 being found per c.c. in a sample of water which was considerably 

 more than two years old. 



It is obvious, therefore, that as regards the bacterial contents 



