FUTURE OF ANTARCTIC DISCOVERY. 279 



Greenland ; the former pointed out the necessity of 

 studying the nature of Antarctic ice, and the latter the 

 problem of the origin of organic life in those regions. 

 These appeals proved highly successful; the Geographical 

 Congress appointed a committee under the chairmanship 

 of G. Neumayer, instructing them " to consult on the 

 possibility of speedily despatching to the Antarctic 

 regions a German scientific expedition, and if the report 

 should be favourable to initiate the first steps for its 

 execution ". This committee in its turn elected a Board 

 consisting of a great number of eminent scientists and 

 students of geography, and presided over by Neumayer. 

 They elaborated a plan, determining the scientific and 

 practical direction of the enterprise. They pointed out 

 that its range should not be restricted to a mere ex- 

 tension of Antarctic topography, but that the study of 

 meteorology, of terrestrial magnetism, of the shape of 

 the globe, of zoology, botany and geology, and finally 

 of the investigation of Antarctic ice, urgently required 

 a winter sojourn in the Antarctic zone. This entailed 

 the necessity of settling on a suitable place for winter 

 quarters on land, and in order to keep up communication 

 with the rest of the world the expedition must have a 

 special ship at its disposal, in addition to another vessel 

 engaged in studying the local geography, the distribution 

 of land and water, and hydrography. If the operations 

 are to have a permanent scientific value, they must ex- 

 tend over a period of not less than three years, which 

 means a sojourn of two winters in those regions. 



With respect to the quarter whence the expedition is 

 to penetrate into the south polar regions, the Commission 

 selected the route advocated by G. Neumayer for nearly 

 fifty years, viz., the meridian of Kerguelen, or there- 

 abouts (yo° to 85° E.), as, with the exception of the flying 

 visit paid by the Challenger, this region has not yet been 

 searchingly examined, and new results cannot fail to 



