920 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 887 



the external aspects of scientific activity. 

 Superficially it might seem that science has 

 lost something of its interest for the mass of 

 the nation by the disappearance of the rather 

 heated controversies in which men of science 

 took part a generation or tvpo ago. We have, 

 for example, no controversialist like Huxley 

 to arrest attention by a lively polemic con- 

 necting science with cherished beliefs in an- 

 other sphere. But that is really evidence that 

 science is better and more widely understood 

 by the mass of the nation than it was in his 

 . day, and perhaps also that men of science 

 themselves have advanced beyond a standpoint 

 from which such a polemic appeared useful. 

 It may even be noted that scientific thought is 

 less concerned than it was with abstract dis- 

 putation, and applies itself much more closely 

 to more positive and practical lines of inquiry. 

 The note of the present day is the enormous 

 extension of applied science, and the danger 

 is that the minute specialization such exten- 

 sion involves may militate against the appear- 

 ance of one of the commanding intellects that 

 from time to time have opened up a new 

 world. It seems to some observers that some 

 great step in advance is due for the whole 

 scientific army, as distinguished from the 

 mass of excellent detailed work now done upon 

 existing lines. We have as it were a great 

 scientific community working out the explora- 

 tion of a region long ago discovered and sur- 

 veyed, but there is room for some one who 

 shall climb to the top of Pisgah, and announce 

 to us a new land of promise which man may 

 enter and possess. As we can not feed upon 

 the crude elements that build up our bodies, 

 but must depend upon plants as intermedi- 

 aries, so in our manifold and voracious activi- 

 ties we are using up intermediate products of 

 natural forces, the store of which is not inex- 

 haustible, but we have not learned how to 

 harness the natural forces themselves for our 

 purposes — the energy of the sun, the power of 

 the tides, and the yet unpenetrated processes 

 by which nature, in the quietest manner, 

 achieves results only imitated in our labora- 

 tories by enormous expenditure of stored-up 

 energy. — London Times. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 The Voyage of the " Why Not? " in the Ant- 

 arctic. The Journal of the Second French 

 South Polar Expedition, 1908-10. By Dr. 

 Jean Charcot. English version by Philip 

 Walsh. Illustrated. 4to, pp. viii + 315. 

 New York, Hodder and Stoughton. 

 This expedition, the second made by Dr. 

 Charcot to the Antarctic, was not a south- 

 polar quest, but was for scientific exploration. 

 Fitted out by the French government at an 

 expense of $140,000, it was aided by various 

 subscriptions to the extent of $20,000 in 

 money. Additional gifts and loans from 

 learned institutions made " the scientific 

 arsenal one of the richest and completest ever 

 carried by a polar expedition." 



The exact object of the expedition was to study 

 in detail, and from all points of view, as wide a 

 stretch as possible of the Antarctic in this sector 

 of the circle, regardless of latitude. I knew that 

 I had chosen the region (south of Cape Horn) 

 where ice confronts the navigator as far north as 

 61°, and where the coastline is fringed with high 

 mountains, to all appearance insurmountable. 



One phase connected with the expedition 

 was unusual, illustrative as it was of that 

 generous spirit of cooperation in scientific in- 

 vestigations, which to-day causes all civilized 

 nations to interest themselves in ventures of 

 general welfare. It was natural that French 

 generosity should be manifest in donations 

 for an expedition of its own government, but 

 that other nationalities should tender mater- 

 ial and important aid was as gratifying as it 

 is unusual. Mr. Gordon Bennet with cus- 

 tomary generosity filled the bunkers of the 

 Why Not? at Madeira. The Prince of 

 Monaco gave a complete oceanographical out- 

 fit. The meteorological department of the 

 Argentine Republic loaned scientific instru- 

 ments. Chili contributed seventy tons of 

 coal. Brazil not only gave one hundred tons 

 of coal on the outward passage, but also fiUed 

 the bunkers on the return, both at Eio and at 

 Pernambuco. 



The admirable manner in which the ship 

 did her work was due to the care, foresight 

 and judgment exercised in planning and in 

 building the Why Not?. The general equip- 



