826 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 804 



joined with those of his predecessors in this 

 region, will be a valuable contribution to Ant- 

 arctic climatology and meteorology, when dis- 

 cussed and published in detail. 



Barometrical observations are lacking, but 

 the comments of Murray are especially inter- 

 esting, and worthy of close scrutiny, that the 

 usually close relations between the wind and 

 barometric changes were absent, though there 

 was an evident connection between the wind 

 and changes of temperature. He adds that 

 violent blizzards were frequently experienced 

 while the barometric pressure was steady or 

 changing slightly, while rapid barometric 

 changes were often noted during fine and rela- 

 tively calm weather. 



Judging from the reproduced barometric 

 chart for May and June, 1908, the normal 

 variations are small, as they only ranged from 

 a maximum of 29.44 on May Y to a minimum 

 of 28.30 on June 17. 



Temperature Observations. — As they are 

 always of unusual interest in polar work, it is 

 unfortunate that the greater number of ob- 

 servations were of temperatures below zero 

 Fahrenheit. As the expedition had no mer- 

 curial thermometers scaled below zero, such 

 observations were necessarily made from spirit 

 thermometers, which usually tend to unduly 

 low records, owing in part to the instrumental 

 inaccuracies and in part to frequent derange- 

 ments and untrained manipulation of the 

 thermometers. 



As to the exceedingly low temperatures of 

 the great south polar plateau, with its eleva- 

 tion of more than eleven thousand feet, it 

 should be borne in mind that they were in 

 large measure due, to the extent of about fifty 

 degrees, to the normal cold of elevation; they 

 are therefore not strictly comparable with the 

 temperatures at Cape Eoyds. 



The annual mean temperature of Cape 

 Eoyds, approximating zero Fahrenheit, al- 

 though unusually low, is yet four degrees 

 higher than that experienced by the Lady 

 Franklin Bay expedition at Fort Conger, 

 81° 44' N., 1881-1884. The monthly means at 

 Cape Eoyds are approximately as follows 

 January, 25° F.; February, 13°; March, 4° 

 April, —12°; May, —11°; June, —13° 



July, — 16°; August, —16°; September, 

 — 12°; October, — 4°; November, 14°, and 

 December, 26°. "While the three coldest 

 months (June to August) are comparatively 

 warm with their aggregate mean of — 15°, the 

 three warmest months (November to January) 

 are extremely cold with their mean of 22°. 

 It is not surprising that only the very hardiest 

 forms of vegetable life are able to survive such 

 an unfavorable land environment. 



With reference to violent temperature inter- 

 ruptions, there are reproduced combined tem- 

 perature and wind records for May and June, 

 1908. These charts show regular and inti- 

 mate relations between wind and temperature 

 changes. In every case, seven in all, of high 

 winds rapid and great increments of tempera- 

 ture systematically followed. This intimate 

 relation. Professor David states, obtains only 

 in the winter season, practically disappearing 

 during the summer months. 



It appears that the high winds, sixty to 

 seventy miles an hour, always came as part of 

 the southerly blizzards, concerning which it 

 is said: 



The temperature invariably increased consid- 

 erably from the beginning of a blizzard towards 

 its end. This rise was very marked (from) per- 

 haps — 30° F. . . . after 24 or 30 hours ... to 

 plus 15° F. 



"While Professor David suggests as possibly 

 one of the important causes of this rise in 

 temperature the usual Fohn compression, the 

 reviewer considers it as practically the whole 

 cause. 



"When abnormal barometric gradients near 

 the south-polar plateau set up atmospheric 

 movements with even a slight northern tend- 

 ency, the intensely cold air of the polar plateau 

 naturally follows the path of least resistance. 

 This is through the valley of Beardmore gla- 

 cier, with its downward gradient of 6,000 feet 

 in sixty miles. The descent of such air- 

 masses from an elevation of 11,000 feet to the 

 sea-level must proceed with increasing velocity 

 for the wind, while the rise in temperature 

 must approximate sixty degrees from com- 

 pression, independent of the latent heat set 

 free by the accompanying snow-fall. 



WindSj Surface and High-level. — Surface 



