84 THE VALUE OF POLAR EXPEDITIONS. 



"In order to estimate the value of the results of these expeditions we 

 should consider what would have been the state of our knowledge of the 

 physics of the globe if no such expeditions had been undertaken. There is 

 scarcely a problem relating to the physics of the globe which can be fully 

 understood without a knowledge of the phenomena within the polar regions. 

 Whatever phenomena we may wish to investigate, it is of special import- 

 ance to determine its maximum and minimum values, and in nearly all 

 questions of terrestial physics, one or other of these values is found in the 

 neighborhood of this pole. If, for example, we wish to determine the dis- 

 tribution of temperature upon the surface of the globe, it is especially im- 

 poi'tant to determine the extremes of temperature, one of which is to be 

 found near the equator an (^ the other near the poles. If we wish to investi- 

 gate the system of circulation of the winds, our investigation Avill be sadly 

 deficient without a knowledge of the phenomena in the polar regions. 



"If we wish to study the fluctuations in the pressure of the atmosphere, 

 whether periodical or accidental, we cannot be sure that we understand the 

 phenomena in the middle latitude unless we know what takes place in the 

 polar regions. If we wish to investigate the currents of the ocean, we find 

 indications of currents coming from the polar regions, and it is important 

 to be able to trace these currents to their source. If we wish to investigate 

 the laws of the tides we need observations from every ocean, and observa- 

 tions of the Arctic regions have a special value on account of their distance 

 from the place where the daily tidal wave takes its origin. If we wish to 

 study the phenomena of atmospheric electricity and of the auroral exhibi- 

 tions, no part of the world is more important than the polar regions. If 

 we wish to study the phenomena or terrestial magnetism, observations in 

 the polar regions have a special value, since it is here the dipping needle 

 assumes a vertical position, and the intensity of the earth's maguetism is 

 the greatest. If we wi|jj|tto determine the dimensions and figure of the 

 earth, we require to kij^ow the length of a degree of latitude where it is 

 greatest, and also where it is least. If we wish to determine how the force 

 of gravity varies in different parts of the world, we require observations of 

 the length of the second's pendulum, both where it is greatest and where it is 

 least. In short, there is no problem connected with the physics of the globe 

 which does not demand observations from the polar regions, and generally 

 the poles and the equator are more important as stations of observations 

 than any other portions of the earth's surface. If the information which 

 has been acquired upon the various subjects in the numerous polar expedi- 

 tions 9f the last half century were annihilated, it would leave an immense 

 chasm which would greatly impair the value of the researches which have 

 been made in other parts of the world. 



"The subjects to which I have here referred are scientific rather than 

 commercial, but many of them have an important bearing upon questions 

 which affect the commerce of the globe. In the attempts which are now 

 being made by the joint efforts of the principal nations of the globe to de- 



