424 



Dr. J. Murray. 



" The Scientific Advantages of an Antarctic Expedition." By 

 John Murray, D.Sc, LL.D., Ph.D., F.R.S. Received 

 January 25— Read February 24, 1898. 



From a scientific point of view the advantages to be derived from 

 a well- equipped and well-directed expedition to the Antarctic would, 

 at the present time, be manifold. Every department of natural 

 knowledge would be enriched by systematic observations as to 

 the order in which phenomena coexist and follow each other in 

 regions of the earth's surface about which we know very little or 

 are wholly ignorant. It is one of the great objects of science to 

 collect observations of the kind here indicated, and it may be safely 

 said that without them we can never arrive at a right understanding 

 of the phenomena by which we are surrounded, even in the habitable 

 parts of the globe. 



Before considering the various orders of phenomena, concerning 

 which fuller information is urgently desired, it may be well to point 

 out a fundamental topographical difference between the Arctic and 

 Antarctic. In the northern hemisphere there is a polar sea almost 

 completely surrounded by continental land, and continental conditions 

 for the most part prevail. In the southern hemisphere, on the other 

 hand, there is almost certainly a continent at the South Pole, which 

 is completely surrounded by the ocean, and, in those latitudes, the 

 most simple and extended oceanic conditions on the surface of the 

 globe are encountered. 



The Atmosphere. 



One of the most remarkable features in the meteorology of the 

 globe is the low atmospheric pressure at all seasons in the southern 

 hemisphere south of latitude 45° S., with the accompanying strong 

 westerly and north-westerly winds, large rain- and snow-fall, all 

 round the South Polar regions. The mean pressure seems to be less 

 than 29 inches, which is much lower than in similar latitudes in the 

 northern hemisphere. Some meteorologists hold that this vast 

 cyclonic system and low-pressure area continues south as far as the 

 pole, the more southerly parts being traversed by secondary cyclones. 

 There are, however, many indications that the extreme South Polar 

 area is occupied by a vast anticyclone, out of which winds blow 

 towards the girdle of low pressure outside the ice-bound region. In 

 support of this view it is pointed out that Ross's barometric observa- 

 tions indicate a gradual rise in the pressure south of the latitude of 

 75° S., and all Antarctic voyagers agree that when near the ice the 



