438 



Dr. G. Neumayer. 



penetrated or evaded, all the commander's fortitude and skill and all 

 his crew's endurance. 



It may be expected that I should allude to those sections of Dr. 

 Murray's summary that refer to the Antarctic fauna and flora. They 

 are most important, for the South Polar Ocean swarms with animal 

 and vegetable life. Large collections of these, taken both by the 

 tow-net and by deep sea soundings, were made by Sir J. Ross, who 

 was an ardent naturalist, and threw away no opportunity of observ- 

 ing and preserving; but unfortunately, with the exception of the 

 Diabomacece (which were investigated by Ehrenberg), very few of the 

 results of his labour in this direction have been published. A better 

 fate, I trust, awaits the treasures that the hoped-for expedition will 

 bring back, for so prolific is that ocean that the naturalist need never 

 be idle, no, not even for one of the twenty-four hours of daylight 

 during a whole Antarctic summer, and I look to the results of a 

 comparison of the oceanic life of the Arctic and Antarctic regions as 

 the heralding of an epoch in the history of biology. 



liemarJcs hy Dr. G. Neumayer. 



With great pleasure I accepted the invitation to attend a discus- 

 sion meeting on the importance, for the advancement of every branch 

 of science, of a scientific exploration of the Antarctic region. Re- 

 gardless of the season and my advanced age, I hastened here to speak 

 in the presence of so high a forum as the Royal Society of London, 

 on the necessity of despatching as soon as possible an expedition 

 towards the South Pole — an expedition cannot be dispensed with if 

 we seriously desire the advancement of nearly every branch of human 

 knowledge. It is fifty-five years ago since one of the greatest Arctic 

 and Antarctic explorers ceased his work, so exceedingly well executed, 

 in the Antarctic regions, and. since that time, it has never been 

 taken up in any way comparable with that glorious scientific and 

 nautical spirit manifested by Sir James Clark Ross. It is in view 

 of this fact that we all look to the British nation as the one destined 

 to carry on the exploration of the South Polar regions, and to 

 assist this object as much as lay in my power, and to do homage 

 to the memory of Ross, I could not fail to appear at this meeting. 



It is indeed a matter of great interest to examine the reason why so- 

 long a time has been allowed to elapse since the first great successes 

 in the middle of this century. Undoubtedly political questions 

 have interfered in an unusual manner so to retard progress in Ant- 

 arctic inquiry, but it is not that alone ; the cause is mainly that the 

 thorough understanding of the importance of Antarctic research 

 requires an unusual amount of knowledge, and not in one branch 

 of science only, but in the whole complex of natural philosophy and 



