SCIENCE GOSSIP. 



3i 



A PATRON OF SCIENCE. 



'"PHERE died on June 6th last, in his seventy- 

 fourth year, at his estate, Almnas, near Hjo, 

 Lake Wetter, Sweden, Baron Oscar Dickson, the 

 well-known patron of scientific explorations. He 

 was best remembered by his great services in 

 assisting in the equipment of expeditions to the Arctic 

 regions, one of the most successful with which he 

 was associated being that of Professor, afterwards 

 Baron, Nordenskiold in the " Vega " in 1S7S-1SS0. 

 That expedition was initiated on the representation 

 of Professor Nordenskiold, in 1S76, when he placed 

 his plan before the King of Sweden and Norway. 

 The King warmly took up the proposal on account 

 of the great experience Nordenskiold had 

 gained in two former explorations of the 

 Northern Palaearctic coasts ; 

 first in a walrus hunting sloop, 

 the '• Proeven,"' and after- 

 wards in a steamer named the 

 " Vraer." On the invitation of 

 King Oscar, an important 

 dinner party took place in 

 January, 1S77, to discuss the 

 project. Among those invited 

 by the King to meet the 

 projector was Dr. Oscar 

 Dickson, a wealthy Gothen- 

 burg merchant, and the subject 

 of this notice. There were 

 also there Baron F. W. von 

 1 liter. the Minister of Marine, 

 a sailor who had gained expert. 

 in Arctic waters in 1868 

 and 1871. and others who had also been in like 

 expeditions. After dinner Nordenskiold's pro- 

 gramme was laid before the meeting, which 

 became lively with discussion on the probabilities 

 of success, by no means all the speakers being in 

 its favour In the end. His Majesty declared 

 himself convinced of the practicability of the 

 proposed voyage to discover a north-east passage 

 to the Pacific Ocean. Further, the King volun- 

 teered his official patronage and private financial 

 support l)r Ovcar Dickv.n alio offered financial 

 help, and became the banker of the " Vega " 

 expe.' ' 1I1': end iM.-ing borne equally 



by the Kin*. Dr. I »i- J on, and another patron of 

 exploration of the Arctic, M r . Sibirial 



Thi» was not the first assistat. 1 a like 



cauw by he whi 



1 • 



Baron Oscar Dickson 



Dickson. In 1S6S he helped an expedition to 

 Spitzbergen, also others in 1S70 and 1S76, to the 

 Yenisej. His energies and purse were directed to 

 the more practical side of these scientific voyages, 

 such as the opening of a trade route to the Siberian 

 rivers, Lena and Yenisej, which are numbered 

 among the greatest streams of the world. 



At a later period Baron Dickson found dis- 

 appointment awaiting his efforts to form an 

 Antarctic expedition. Though all his powerful 

 influence was used to bring about that voyage of 

 discovery, it failed for want of support and had to 

 be abandoned. The frequent visits to this country 

 of Baron Dickson caused him to be well-known 

 here, where he always found friends. Among his 

 recreations the subject of this 

 notice cultivated scientific 

 breeding of horses, the result 

 being that he much improved 

 the class of those animals 

 in the neighbourhood of his 

 own estate. He was a con- 

 siderable buyer of high-class 

 stud horses on his visits to 

 England. These were sent 

 to Sweden for the purpose of 

 raising the standard of breed 

 among horses in his own 

 country. 



Considering the number 

 of men in modern times 

 who have amassed great 

 riches, it is surprising that 

 more have not become patrons of science. It 

 is hardly necessary to remind those who can 

 well afford to do so, how many are the 

 objects connected with science which could be 

 benefited by their generosity; nor how splendid 

 may be the results for mankind. It would be 

 ungracious, however, not to feel grateful to such 

 men as Dickson, Lick, Monde, Harmsworth and 

 others, for their munificence. To them the world 

 of science is under deep obligations ; for if we 

 review the pasl and probable scientific result of 

 their rich gifts, much which is now common know- 

 ledge would have still been among the unknown. 



Could any can hi', itl faction be greater than to 

 fi .-I ih;. 1 one haa been able to help In the progress 

 ii 61 1, in, 1 id thus do a greal and 



follov creatun 1 



