182 



E. DU FAUR, 



now an important question whether this is also the case in the 

 Antarctic regions. Is this withdrawal observed there, or is it 

 different from what has been observed in the North ? ... At 

 a spot visited by Ross there were exact observations taken, they 

 show that the ice-edge of Ross is now thirty miles further south 

 than it was in his day, and that the glaciers of Victoria Land have 

 gone far back. In Ross' time the glaciers reached the sea, but 

 they no longer do so. The German Antarctic Expedition dis- 

 covered traces of glacier recession on Gaussberg. It was necessaiy 

 in order to determine the rapidity of this recession, to decide the 

 present position of the ice by measurement, in order that future 

 observers may be able to ascertain changes that have taken place 

 in an interval of a few years. So far as we can judge, this retire- 

 ment of the ice-cap is of the highest importance for future gener- 

 ations. Still, at any moment, changes of an opposite character- 

 may take place ; and to recognise the changes certain lines are 

 necessary, such as were fixed at Gaussberg. . . . Far seeing 

 researches in recent years show that the changes in the distribution 

 of ice, and the changes in the currents of the sea round Greenland 

 have an important influence on the changes of climate in Germany. 

 The time does not seem to be far distant when it will be possible 

 to predict the character of the seasons months beforehand. This 

 is only the beginning of the practical use of these researches." 1 



So distinguished a scientist cannot, in his phrase — 4 a 

 general drying up ' have referred to any great cosmical 

 change, such as we know to have occurred in vast geological 

 periods. I am assured that astronomy points to nothing 

 of the sort in the comparatively trifling era over which its 

 accurate determinations extend. His subsequent remark 

 that 'at any moment, changes of an opposite character 

 may take place,' shows that he referred only to cyclical 

 changes, of unknown period — the see-saw between accu- 

 mulation and denudation of ice, the necessity for the 

 observation of which lie so strongly accentuates, in the 



1 The Greocrraphical Journal, January 7, 19U6. 



