SCIENCE 
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1884. 
COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 
As it has now been determined that the 
Greely relief expedition of 1884 shall be placed 
in the hands of naval officers, and that suitable 
vessels shall be purchased for the purpose, it 
is perhaps advisable to remind those interested 
of certain essential features of the task before 
us. It is desirable, that, whatever plans be 
adopted, it be distinctly remembered that the 
object of the expedition is to relieve Greely and 
his men; that it is essential to success that 
training and brains should lead the expedition, 
and that a mere naval training is not a sufficient 
qualification without experience in ice-naviga- 
tion ; that the praiseworthy ambition common 
to the best naval officers does not fit them for 
such technical work, any more than it would to 
write an epic poem; and, lastly, that qualified 
men may be had, and should be engaged, even 
if not nominally in command, and their advice 
should have controlling weight. 
We pointed out some time since, that the re- 
sponsibility for failure would be laid where it 
belongs, by the public, regardless of official 
pride or red tape. ‘That brave men should 
perish because points of precedence cannot 
otherwise be comfortably settled, is unendura- 
ble. It is probably better that only one branch 
of the service should be concerned in the ex- 
pedition. That this was not the case in 1883 
is generally (whether rightly or not) supposed 
to haye some connection with the jiasco which 
is now a matter of history. Apart from that, 
there is little doubt that Capt. Pike felt his 
judgment of the propriety of pushing into the 
ice overruled by the officer in charge, whether 
that officer was conscious of his influence or 
not. In the present expedition not the small- 
est loophole should be left for any such pro- 
ceeding, or it is predestined to failure. 
No. 52.—1884. 
It is most unfortunate that at the present 
time we have probably not a single ranking 
officer in the navy of experience in the sort of 
navigation the expedition must necessarily en- 
counter. However, since it is the case, it 
should be recognized in the organization of the 
expedition; and, if any doubt exist as to the 
willingness of the naval authorities to provide 
for the deficiency by availing themselves of 
technical knowledge outside of the service, a 
mandatory clause to this effect might well be 
inserted in the act of Congress providing for 
the expedition. It may be thought that we 
reckon too lightly the effect of the grave re- 
sponsibility which will fall on the officers who 
may be selected; but the record of the two 
previous expeditions for the same purpose is 
a sufficient warranty for reasonable scepticism. 
In order to secure to the fullest extent the 
unusual advantage arising from the coincidence 
in the time of holding the proposed Inter- 
national electrical exhibition in Philadelphia, 
and of the meeting of the American associa- 
tion for the advancement of science in the 
same city, in connection with the anticipated 
visit of the members of the British association 
to that city, the Franklin institute has ap- 
pointed a special committee to confer with 
scientific men as to the best method to be 
adopted for securing, during the month of 
September, the assembling at Philadelphia of 
a conference of electricians. To defray the 
expenses of such a conference, a bill has been 
prepared, asking for a small appropriation from 
Congress. Scientific men interested in this 
measure are earnestly requested to give it all 
the aid in their power. Communications on 
the subject are respectfully requested by the 
committee, consisting of M. B. Snyder, Edwin 
J. Houston, William H. Wahl, W. P. Tatham. 
One cannot fail, while reading books of travel, 
to note the poverty of geographic terminology. 
