■March 11, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



345 



aad Cytherea undoubtedly indicated the 

 former existence of a far milder climate in 

 "these Antarctic seas than now prevailed. 

 If a chance landing for a few hours on a 

 hare islet could give us these interesting 

 .glimpses into the geological past of the 

 .South Polar regions, what would not be 

 gained by a more leisurely and well-planned 

 expedition ? But perhaps the geological do- 

 main that would be most sure to gain largely 

 from such exploration would be that which 

 ■embraced the wide and fascinating field of 

 volcanic action. In the splendid harvest 

 of results brought home by Sir James Ross 

 one of the most thrilling features was the 

 discovery of a volcano rising amid the uni- 

 versal snows to a height of more than 

 12,000ft., and actively discharging 'flame 

 and smoke,' while other lofty cones near it 

 indicated that they, too, had once been in 

 vigorous eruption. Ross landed on one or 

 two islands near that coast, and brought 

 away some pieces of volcanic rocks. There 

 was other evidence of past and present vol- 

 -canic action on the Antarctic land. This 

 region was probably one of the most inter- 

 esting volcanic tracts on the face of the 

 globe. Yet we could hardly be said to 

 know more of it than its mere existence. 

 The deeply interesting problems which it 

 suggested could not be worked out by 

 transitory voyagers. They must be at- 

 tacked by observers stationed on the spot. 

 Koss thought that a winter station might 

 be established near the foot of Mount 

 Erebus, and that the interior could easily 

 •be traversed from there to the magnetic 

 pole. Another geological field where much 

 fresh and important information might be 

 obtained by Antarctic exploration was that 

 of ice and ice-action. Our northern hemi- 

 sphere was once enveloped in snow and ice, 

 ^nd though for more than half a century 

 -geologists had been studying the traces of 

 the operations of this ice-covering they 

 -were still far from having cleared up all the 



difficulties of the study. The Antarctic 

 ice- cap was the largest in the world. Its 

 behavior could probably be watched along 

 many parts of its margin, and this research 

 would doubtless afford great help in the 

 interpretation of the glaciation of the north- 

 ern hemisphere. To su*m up, geologists, 

 would hail the organization and dispatch 

 of an Antarctic expedition, in the confident 

 assurance that it could not fail greatly to 

 advance the interests of their science. 



Mr. P. Ij. Sclater, Secretary of the 

 Zoological Society, considered it highly de- 

 sirable to ascertain more exaetlj' what forms 

 of animal life were to be found on the Ant- 

 arctic continent and in the adjacent seas. 

 So far animal life in Antarctica has been 

 found to be rather poorly repi'esented. Most 

 of the Antarctic specimens of these animals 

 in our national collection had been obtained 

 during the voyage of the Erebus and Terror, 

 and were now antiquated. In his opinion 

 the special point of interest in the zoology of 

 Antarctica would be the further investiga- 

 tion of its extinct fauna. As in the ISTorth 

 Polar region, so in the South Polar conti- 

 nent, it was already positively certain that 

 animals of a character that could not under 

 present conditions possibly exist there were 

 formerly present. Further investigations 

 into this subject would be likely to lead to 

 most important results as regarded the cli- 

 mate of the Polar extremities of the earth 

 in former ages, and would perhaps give us 

 some ideas as to the date at which the ice- 

 caps that now covered them originated. It 

 was therefore of primary importance that 

 in future Antarctic exploration great atten- 

 tion should be paid to the extinct fauna of 

 the South Polar lands. 



Professor D'Arcy Thompson (of the 

 Behring Sea Commission) insisted upon the 

 abundance of sea-life at least in the Ant- 

 arctic, although we had only eight Antarc- 

 tic dredgings. He believed there was an 

 intimate connection between the Antarctic 



