December 28, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



639 



ing extra locomotives and coal, and causing 

 much confusion. Therefore, in my opinion it 

 behooves every patriotic and unselfish mem- 

 ber to consider very seriously whether he can 

 really serve his country by attending the 

 meeting, or whether he can not better serve 

 in this fateful time by staying at home, espe- 

 cially during a period of highly congested 

 travel, when many of our soldiers may wish 

 to take leave of their families before departing 

 for the front. I believe that only those persons 

 bringing really important contributions to 

 the problems of the war should attend such 

 meetings now. All others, in my opinion, 

 should conserve their money for Liberty 

 bonds and for those in distress, and should 

 save their strength for action in this time of 

 estraordinary crisis. For these reasons, with 

 great regret, I have decided not to attend the 

 meeting at Pittsburgh. 



So far as I have been able to ascertain, all 

 the responsible authorities at Washington 

 concerned with transportation agree with me 

 as to the importance of avoiding unnecessary 

 journeys in such a crisis. 



The very great usefulness of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 is not dependent upon the unbroken continuity 

 of its social meetings. 



Science is incalculably important, indeed 

 indispensable, in this world-wide cataclysm. 

 The excellent work of the association in the 

 past is now bearing fruit; but this moment 

 demands action rather than general discussion. 

 We must devote all our energies to winning 

 the war. Let us all make every endeavor to 

 apply our knowledge and strength in our 

 country's noble cause. 



Theodore W. Eicpiards 



CAMBRrooE, Mass., 

 December 15, 1917 



THE BEARING OF THE FACTS REVEALED BY 

 ANTARCTIC RESEARCH UPON THE PROB- 

 LEMS OF THE ICE AGEi 



Recent Antarctic explorations and re- 

 searches have yielded significant evidence re- 



1 This term as used by the writer refers to fhe 

 Great Ice Age of Pleistocene Time. He holds that 

 the occurrences of ice as a geologic agent of mag- 



garding the problems of the Ice Age, and, of 

 the similarity of the succession of geological 

 climates in polar with those in other lati- 

 tudes. - 



These researches have been prosecuted to 

 the ultimate limit of courage, devotion to duty 

 and endurance — the noble sacrifice of life — 

 as in the cases of Captain Scott, E.N., and 

 his devoted companions and members of the 

 expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton. 



The data secured by these expeditions are 

 alone sufficient to establish the following 

 premises : 



1. That Antarctic ice, although covering 

 areas several times larger than all other ice 

 covered areas, is slowly decreasing in extent 

 and depth. 



2. That the same succession of geological 

 climates have prevailed in Antarctic as in 

 other latitudes.^ 



So vital are these evidences of the retreat 

 of Antarctic ice that it may be well to briefly 

 quote or refer to the most prominent in- 

 stances : 



All these evidences and many others which 

 space wiU not aUow me to mention lead np to 

 one great fact — namely, that the glaciation of the 

 Antarctic regions is receding.-* 



The ice is everywhere retreating.^ 



The high level morains decrease in height above 

 the present surface of the ice, the debris being 

 two thousand feet np near the coast and only two 

 hundred feet above near the plateau. 



(Scott's lecture on the great ice barrier.^) 



nitude during eras preceding the Pleistocene were 

 not ' ' world wide ' ' nor as ' ' phenomenal, ' ' nor were 

 they preceded, accompanied nor followed by con- 

 ditions as significant as corresponding phenomena 

 of the Ice Age. (Compte Rendu du XI i&me Con- 

 gr&s GSologique International, p. 1105. Stock- 

 holm, 1910.) 



2 ' ' Scott 's Last Expedition, ' ' Vol. II., p. 206. 



3 This part of the evidence is not considered in 

 this paper except inferentially as bearing upon 

 the general subject. 



i Scott, ' ' The Voyage of the Discovery, ' ' Vol. 

 II., page 416. See also pp. 423-24-25, and sketch 

 map of ice distribution, p. 448. 



s Scott, "National Antarctic Expedition, 1900- 

 1904," Vol. I., p. 94. 



' ' Scott 's Last Expedition, ' ' Vol. II., p. 294. 



