31 
V. 
ANTARCTIC CLIMATE. 
INTRODUCTION. 
THE meteorology of the Antarctic regions is practically unknown 
to science, inasmuch as only one expedition, that of the Belgian 
Government, in 1898-9, has been able to furnish observations for 
even one complete year. 
The other expeditions, of which there have been five (including 
that of Ross, 1841-3), have only been able to supply records covering 
a few months, at best; and those generally not from a fixed station, 
as they were taken on board a ship at sea. 
The Selgica was frozen up, and drifted more or less with the ice. 
Her movement covers eight degrees of longitude; but, as to lati- 
tude, which, as Dr. Supan justly observes, is most important, she only 
varied from 69° 50‘ to 71° 30', so that her observations are confined to 
a narrow belt. 
The observations of Ross’s expedition have already been discussed 
at the Meteorological Office—and published, in 1873, under the title 
‘Contributions to our Knowledge of the Meteorology of the Antarctic 
Regions ’—so that it has not seemed necessary to reproduce them in 
this Manual. 
As to the other information, the amount is so small that the best 
course appears to be to reproduce the several accounts in full, either 
as reprints from English journals or as translations from German 
sources. 
The first paper given is extracted from ‘ Klimatologie,’ by Hofrath 
Dr. Julius Hann, a work universally regarded as the most compen- 
dious and trustworthy in existence on the climates of the globe. 
This is followed by a paper by Dr. W. S. Bruce on his observa- 
tions in the whaler Balena in 1892-3. 
The next paper is a summary, by Dr. A. Supan, of the observa- 
tions from the Antarctic. This ship was a whaler belonging to 
Mr. Sven, Foyn of Tonsberg. It was under the command of Captain 
Kristensen, and Mr. Borchgrevink shipped as one of the crew. It 
