XSXV1 



Mr. C. P. Sprent then read a paper on the suhject. He commenced 

 by referring to what had been done in the Arctic Seas, and British 

 enterprise and British adventure had been in the van, and to the 

 vast field for discovery that lay around the South Pole. Since the last 

 vovage to the Southern Polar regions, 43 years ago, science has made 

 great strides, yet, beyond a few facts regarding a portion of the coast 

 line, very little was known about those regions. But Baron Muller 

 had introduced the consideration of a new scientific voyage, and the 

 subject had been taken up, leading to the proposal the society was 

 now met to consider. As one of the few members of the Geographical 

 Society of Australasia, he had been requested to place those proposals 

 more fully before the Royal Society. Mr. Sprent then gave a rapid 

 resume of the earlier Antarctic voyages, pointing out the courses sailed 

 and the land discovered on a large chart prepared for the purpose. He 

 then gave an account of that English expedition of 1839-40, pointing 

 out that Ross had achieved the remarkable reputation of having dis- 

 covered the South as well as the North Magnetic Pole. Having given 

 account of what had been done, he prooeede i to point out that the 

 Antarctic regions presented the exactly opposite characteristics of the 

 Arctic regions. The Grsat Northern region was connected with the 

 continents of Asia and North America, but the great Southern region was 

 cut off from any communication. It was doubtful whetherthe Antarctic 

 region was a continent or a collection of islands joined together by ice. 

 The balance of testimony was in favour of the latter supposition. The 

 icebergs of the South were differe t from those of the North. Antarctic 

 summer was colJer than the Arctic There was a want of information 

 regarding the cold of the Antarctic region, but there was some evidence 

 that it was colder than the Arctic. The geology of the Antarctic land 

 was only known through scattered fragments, obtained, in some 

 instances, from such strange places as the stomachs of penguins. Wo 

 far as he was aware no fossils had been obtained, and very little stratified 

 rock has been seen. The rocks were chiefly volcanic, and the specimens 

 obtained included greenstone, granite, basalt, hornblende, slate, mica 

 slate, schists, etc. Seeing that no one had set foot in Antarctic land 

 there was no evidence as to whether any land animals existed there. 

 Whales, seals, and albatrosses were numerous, though the officers of 

 H.M.S. Challenger reported that the Americans were fast thinning off 

 the seals. In concluding an excellent re'sume of what is known 

 regarding the Antarctic regions, Mr. Sprent said: — " Io now remains 

 for me to answer the two questions that must inevitably be asked when 

 any proposals for further exploration in the Antarctic are put before the 

 people of these colonies : — 1. What is the good to be expected from 

 it? 2. Why not leave it to others to try? In answer to the first 

 question we may reply that, independently of any commercial advantage 

 that may result we must look to the scientific knowledge to be acquired, 

 and it is now generally conceded that the value of scientific investi- 

 gation is not to be measured by mere pecuniary results. There is a 

 numerous body of scientific men, whose business it is to acquire informa- 

 tion, to collect facts in various lines of enquiry, and to establish 

 principles. No one can tell what the ultimate results of any particular 

 scientific investigation may be, what practical advantages may accrue 

 from pursuits which at one time seem purely theoretical. The advan- 

 tages derived by the world at large from the application to every day 

 use of steam, electricity, magnetism, heat, sound, followed after long 

 investigation of principles. Surgery, medicine, chemistry, hygieny, 

 are all benefiting by the labours of men who were looked upon in their 

 day as enthusiastic theorists. Literature, art, and science are not 

 calculated solely for money profit. In this Society we have a zealous 

 band of workers energetically striving to increase our knowledge of 



