370 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 89. 



of spiritualism is protected by the utter mystery 

 which screens certain mental and nervous con- 

 ditions from the light of explanation. As of 

 others, so the basis also of this superstition is, 

 in one word, ignorance. 



To those gifted with a clearer intelligence 

 and purer moral sense, there is a moral duty in 

 one aspect of the proposed studies. A hope 

 that psychical research may liberate us from a 

 baneful superstition is a stimulus to inaugurate 

 the work of the American society ; yet a scien- 

 tific man cannot calculate all the after-effects 

 of his labor, but must toil for the truth with 

 blind devotion. It will be the endeavor of 

 the new society to ascertain the truth in re- 

 gard to the alleged psychical phenomena, by 

 means of experiments of unquestionable ac- 

 curacy, conducted with unprejudiced inde- 

 pendence : it will try to steer safely between 

 the Scylla of scoffing and the Charybdis of 

 charlatan spiritualism. 



The names of the present leaders of the 

 movement in America are a sufficient guaranty 

 that the investigations will be thorough and 

 serious : we shall await their outcome with 

 great interest, and we hope, meanwhile, that the 

 society will receive liberal public support and 

 encouragement. 



THE INTERNATIONAL POLAR STA- 

 TIONS. 



Now that the result of the arctic sojourn of 

 the various parties is determined, so far as 

 concerns the safety of their personnel, and the 

 manner in which they were able to carry out 

 the programme of the international commission, 

 it may be interesting for the readers of Science 

 to briefl} r review the whole topic. Including 

 Finland, ten countries participated in the work ; 

 namely, German}', the United States, Den- 

 mark, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Russia, the 

 Netherlands, Russian Finland, and France. 

 Fifteen primary stations were contemplated, 

 of which two in the southern, and twelve in 

 the northern, hemisphere were successfully 

 established, all of which, it is believed, carried 

 out the observations prescribed by the com- 

 mission. The several stations were as fol- 

 lows : — 



1. Discovery Harbor, Lady Franklin Bay, 

 established by the United States. The party 



consisted of Lieut. A. W. Greely, U.S.A. T 

 assisted by Lieuts. Kislingbury and Lock wood ; 

 astronomer Edward Israel ; Octave Pavy, 

 M.D., surgeon; two Eskimo hunters; four 

 signal-corps observers, and fourteen petty 

 officers and enlisted men. This expedition 

 left St. John's, Newfoundland, July 7, 1881 ; 

 arrived at Disco, July 17, and at their station, 

 which was named Fort Conger, Aug. 12. The 

 position of the station is approximated latitude 

 81° 20', longitude 64° 58' west of Greenwich. 

 The Proteus, after landing the party and stores , 

 sailed on her return about Aug. 26. Efforts 

 were made to reach this station in 1882 by a, 

 party on the steamer Neptune, and in 1883 

 by one on the Proteus, but both failed in the 

 attempt ; nor was a suitably large supply of 

 provisions landed for the support of a retreat- 

 ing party when opportunity offered. Aug. 9, 

 1883, the observations having been carried on 

 successfully, the party in good condition re- 

 treated to the vicinity of Cape Sabine, find- 

 ing an insufficient supply of provisions and 

 no rescuing party. The melancholy result 

 need not be recapitulated. Lieut. Greely and 

 six men, one of whom afterward died, were 

 rescued June 22, 1884, by the relief expedition 

 under Capt. W. S. Schley, U.S.N. , in the ships 

 Thetis and Bear. The remainder perished 

 of want and exposure, except one man shot for 

 theft and mutiny, and one Eskimo accidentally 

 drowned. The exact state of the records of 

 this expedition has not been made public ; but 

 it is believed that the international programme 

 was carried out, while a large amount of valu- 

 able geographical knowledge was attained. 



2. Kingava Fiord, Cumberland Inlet, in lat- 

 itude 66° 36', longitude 67° 13' west of Green- 

 wich, established by the German government. 

 This expedition, commanded by Dr. W. 

 Giese, sailed from Hamburg, June 27, 1882, 

 and arrived at its destination, Aug. 12 ; the 

 vessel returning Sept. 8, the regular work of 

 the station having begun the previous day, and 

 all the observations in good running order by 

 Sept. 15. The expedition returned to Ger- 

 many in August, 1883, having carried out the 

 international programme, and obtained valu- 

 able ethnological information in regard to the 

 Eskimos, without mishap or serious illness of 

 any of the part}'. 



3. Nain, Labrador, in latitude 56° 30', lon- 

 gitude 62° 0' west of Greenwich, established 

 under direction of Dr. R. Koch by the German 

 government. The doctor left Hamburg, July 

 7, 1882, arriving in Labrador, Aug. 10. Five 

 auxiliary stations were established by the 

 co-operation of the Moravian missionaries, and 



