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Sir A. Geikie. 



easterly winds. It may, therefore, be concluded that both the 

 surface winds and the upper aerial currents are diametrically opposed 

 to the requirements of this theory. 



What is now urgently called for is a well -equipped Antarctic- 

 Expedition to make observations which will enable meteorologists to 

 settle definitely the distribution of atmospheric pressure and the 

 prevailing winds of this great region. Were this done, the position- 

 in the Southern Ocean of the great ring of lowest pressure that en- 

 circles the globe could be mapped out ; and since it is towards 

 such a low-pressure ring that the wind-driven surface currents of 

 the ocean flow, a contribution would thereby be made to ocean- 

 ography, of an importance that cannot be overestimated, particularly 

 as regards the great question of oceanic circulation. 



Remarks hy Sir A. Geikie. 



Hardly anything is yet known of the geology of the Antarctic- 

 regions. By far the most important contributions to our knowledge 

 of the subject were made by the expedition under Sir James Ross. 

 But as he was unable to winter with his ships in the higher latitudes, 

 and could only here and there with difficulty effect a landing on the 

 coast, most of the geological information brought home by him was- 

 gathered at a greater or less distance from the land with the aid of 

 the telescope. Within the last few years several sealing vessels 

 have brought home some additional scraps of intelligence which only 

 increase the desire for fuller knowledge. 



As regards the land, merely its edges have here and there been 

 seen. Whether it is one great continent, or a succession of islands 

 and archipelagos, may possibly never be ascertained. We know 

 that in Victoria Land it terminates in a magnificent mountain range 

 with peaks from 10,000 to 15,000 feet high ; but that elsewhere it is 

 probably comparatively low, shedding its ice-cap in one vast sheet 

 into the sea. 



The rocks that constitute the land are still practically unknown. 

 The dredgings of the " Challenger " Expedition brought up pieces 

 of granite, gneiss, and other continental rocks, and detritus of these 

 materials was observed to increase on the sea- floor southwards in the 

 direction of the Antarctic land. More recently several sealing 

 vessels have brought home from the islets of Graham Land, to the 

 south of the South Shetlands, pieces of different varieties of granite, 

 together with some volcanic rocks and fossiliferous limestones. So 

 far as these rocks have been studied, they do not appear to differ 

 from similar rocks all over the globe. The granites have been found 

 by Mr. Teall to be just such masses as might have come from any 

 old mountain-group in Europe or America. 



Among the specimens sent to me by Captain Robertson, of the 



