PREFACE. 
In 1874 I suggested that instructions and memoirs on the various 
scientific subjects which were to occupy the attention of the officers 
of the Arctic Expedition should be prepared, so as to form a manual. 
The biology, botany, geology, mineralogy and physics formed one 
volume, edited by Professor Rupert Jones, and printed at the expense 
of the Government. Some of the papers it contained are reprinted 
here, viz., those by Lord Kelvin and Professor Judd. The geography 
and ethnology formed another volume, edited by myself, which was 
printed at the expense of the Royal Geographical Society. 
These Arctic manuals served their purpose, by giving easy access 
to information, otherwise inaccessible, which was required by the 
officers in their scientific investigations. Nor did their usefulness 
cease with the return of the expedition. They have been sought 
after and valued by subsequent Arctic explorers. Baron Norden- 
skjéld has told me that, during the voyage of the Vega, when the 
North-East Passage was discovered, the books most in request were 
the “blue book” and the “white book,” as they called the Arctic 
manuals. 
I was convinced that an ‘ Antarctic Manual’ for the Expedition of 
1901 would be even more useful, if prepared with the same object in 
view and on similar lines. 
In November 1900 I was so fortunate as to secure the services 
of Mr. George Murray, as editor of such a manual. Mr. Murray 
entered fully into the spirit of my plan, arranged the subjects that 
would require treatment, obtained the services of the eminent men 
of science who have contributed, and has edited the whole work. 
