September 16, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



369 



ing is given under Dr. Koch's superintendence, 

 and several medical men are already receiving 

 it. The colonial doctors will also be provided 

 with the scientific apparatus proposed by Dr. 

 Koch. Each of them will thus be enabled to 

 turn the special scientific training received by 

 him for his work in our protectorates to ac- 

 count, furnished with all the means of modern 

 science in exact accordance with Dr. Koch's 

 prescriptions and doctrines." 



The German Arctic expedition of Theodore 

 Lerner, which started in May last to search for 

 Andr6e and to carry on scientific investigation, 

 has returned to Hammerfest, Norway, in order 

 to enable the Helgoland, to refit prior to start- 

 ing on another voyage. Herr Lerner could 

 find no trace of Andr^e, but secured scientific 

 results of interest especially to geographers. A 

 special representative of the Berliner Lokalan- 

 zeiger, who accompanied the expedition, has 

 forwarded to that journal a long and detailed 

 account of the voyage, of which an abstract is 

 given in the London Times. Horn Sound was 

 reached after some difficulty ; owing to the un- 

 u.sual quantity of floe ice, which, breaking 

 off" from the glaciers, kept sweeping down with 

 terrific foi'ce, anchorage was rendered very 

 diflicult and dangerous. Towards the end of 

 July King Charles Islands were reached, where 

 a halt of a few days was made. From scientific 

 observations made they were able to define the 

 exact position of the islands, and they discovered 

 that the English and Norwegian maps were 

 slightly inaccurate. The group consists of three 

 big islands — namely, Swedish Foreland, Jena 

 Island, and a third lying between these two, 

 which they christened August Scherl Island in 

 honor of the promoter of the expedition. There 

 they came upon the breeding grounds of the 

 ivory gull (larus eburneus), very few specimens 

 of whose eggs have hitherto been discovered. 

 Two small islands in the southern bay of Jena 

 Island received the names of Tirpitz and Hel- 

 goland respectively. Captain Siidiger took 

 special observations of the exact position of 

 King Charles Islands. An attempt to push on 

 to Franz Josef Land failed owing to bad weather. 

 The Helgoland then was able to coast round the 

 island on the northeast and from the south, in 

 spite of the difficulties caused by fog and' ice, 



thereby proving that it is possible to go north- 

 wards notwithstanding the contrary Polar cur- 

 rents. The exact position of the island of 

 Storo is given as being 10' farther north than it 

 is at present indicated on maps. The most 

 northerly point reached was latitude 81° 32', 

 where the boundary of pack ice was deter- 

 mined. Much hitherto unknown ground was 

 fished with dragnets, especially round the east 

 point of King Charles Islands, and at the ex- 

 treme end of Spitzbergen in waters of over 1,000 

 meters deep. A good deal of interesting ma- 

 terial was found. No signs of the Andr6e ex- 

 pedition were discovered. Many seals and a 

 large number of reindeer were killed, as well 

 as forty-four exceedingly fine polar bears. Four 

 live cubs are being brought back to Germany. 

 Professor Richard Friese, the celebrated animal 

 painter, was able to make some excellent 

 sketches, and many photographs were taken of 

 the hitherto unexplored lands. Among other 

 interesting subjects for future investigation by 

 bacteriologists it is stated that the existence of 

 plankton was established at over 100 hauls of 

 the dragnets. The expedition will start on 

 another voyage of exploration as soon as the 

 ship has been refitted and the necessary stock 

 of victuals been taken on board. 



The program of the forthcoming meeting in 

 Sweden of the Iron and Steel Institute, says 

 the London Times, opens up a prospect of an 

 unusually important gathering, not so much 

 from the point of view of the papers to be read 

 — although they are of great interest — as from 

 that of the information which the members of 

 the trade are likely to obtain as to the suit- 

 ability of the iron-ore resources of that counti-y 

 to their urgent requirements in the near future. 

 The papers include one on the most prominent 

 and characteristic features of Swedish iron-ore 

 mining, by Professor Nordenstrom, and another 

 on the iron-ore deposits of Swedish Lapland, by 

 Mr. Lundbohm, of the Swedish Geological Sur- 

 vey. These papers, and the discussions on 

 them, will be supplemented by a special excur- 

 sion to the mines within the Arctic Circle. The 

 ore in that region is of the highest quality — 

 much higher in iron than any other similar de- 

 posits in Europe — and it is believed that, when 

 a new railway has been completed to connect 



