July 19, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



95 



Museum, has beea appointed director of 

 the civilian staff of the British expedition, 

 to fill the vacancy caused by the resigna- 

 tion of Professor J. W. Gregory. Dr. 

 Murray will not, however, take part in the 

 expedition, except in so far as he will pro- 

 ceed with the ship to Melbourne. He 

 will edit the scientific results. A geologist 

 is to be appointed to do the work in this 

 direction that would have been carried 

 on by Professor Gregory. The other mem- 

 bers of the scientific staff are Dr. R. 

 Koettlitz, Mr. Hodgson, Mr. E. A. Wilson, 

 Mr. William Shackleton and Mr. R. Skel- 

 ton. Full instructions to the commander 

 and to the scientific director of the civilian 

 scientific staff have been drawn up and are 

 signed by Sir William Huggins, president 

 of the Eoyal Society, and Sir Clements 

 Markham, president of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society. They are as follows : 



INSTRUCTIONS TO THE COMMANDER. 



1. The Royal Society and the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society, with the assistance of 

 his Majesty's Government, have fitted out 

 an expedition for scientific discovery and 

 exploration in the Antarctic regions, and 

 have entrusted you with the command. 



2. The objects of the expedition are: (a) 

 to determine, as far as possible, the nature, 

 condition and extent of that portion of the 

 South Polar lands which is included in the 

 scope of your expedition ; and (h) to make 

 a magnetic survey in the southern regions 

 to the south of the 40i5h parallel, and to 

 carry on meteorological, oceanographic, 

 geological, biological and physical investi- 

 gations and researches. Neither of these 

 objects is to be sacrificed to the other. 



3. The scientific work of the executive 

 officers of the ship will be under your im- 

 mediate control, and will include magnetic 

 and meteorological observations, astronom- 

 ical observations, surveying and charting, 

 and sounding operations. 



4. Associated with you, but under your 

 command, there will be a civilian scientific 

 staff, with a director at their head. A copy 

 of his instructions accompanies these in- 

 structions to you. 



5. In all questions connected with the 

 scientific conduct of the expedition you 

 will, as a matter of course, consider the 

 director as your colleague, and on all these 

 matters you will observe such consideration 

 in respect to his wishes and suggestions as 

 may be consistent with a due regard to the 

 instructions under which you are acting, to 

 the safe navigation of the ship, and to the 

 comfort, health, discipline and efficiency of 

 all under your command. Those friendly 

 relations and unreserved communications 

 should be maintained between you which 

 will tend so materially to the success of an 

 expedition from which so many important 

 results are looked for. 



6. As the scientific objects of the expedi- 

 tion are manifold, some of them will come 

 under the immediate supervision of the 

 director and his staff ; others will depend 

 for their success on the joint cooperation of 

 the naval and civil elements ; while some 

 will demand the undivided attention of 

 yourself and your officers. Upon the 

 harmonious working and heart}^ coopera- 

 tion of all must depend the result of the 

 expedition as a whole. 



7. The expedition will be supplied with 

 a complete set of magnetic instruments, 

 both for observations at sea and on shore. 

 Instructioijs for their use have been drawn 

 up by Captain Creak, R.N., and yourself 

 and three of your officers have gone through 

 a course of instruction at Deptford with 

 Captain Creak and at Kew Observator3\ 

 The magnetic observatory on board the Dis- 

 covery has been carefully constructed with 

 a view to securing it from any proximity to 

 steel or iron, and this has involved con- 

 siderable expense and some sacrifice in 

 other respects. We, therefore, impress upon 



