The Scientific Advantages of an Antarctic Expedition. 447 



" Active," from Joinville and Dundee Islands, which form the north- 

 eastern termination of Graham Land, there was one piece of red- 

 dish jasper which at once attracted my attention from its resem- 

 blance to the " radiolarian cherts " now found to be so widely 

 distributed among the older Palaeozoic rocks, both in the Old World 

 and in the New. On closer examination, this first impression was 

 confirmed; and a subsequent microscopic study of thin slices of the 

 stone by Dr. Hinde proved the undoubted presence of abundant 

 radiolaria. The specimen was a loose pebble picked up on the beach 

 of Joinville Island. We have no means of telling where it came 

 from or what is its geological age. But its close resemblance to the 

 radiolarian cherts, so persistent in the Lower Silurian formations of 

 the United Kingdom, raises the question whether there are not 

 present in the Antarctic regions rocks of older Palaeozoic age. 



It would be of the utmost interest to discover such rocks in situ, 

 and to ascertain how far their fossils agree with those found in 

 deposits of similar antiquity in lower latitudes ; or w T hether, as far 

 back as early Palaeozoic time, any difference in climate had begun to 

 show itself between the polar and other regions of the earth's surface. 



Among the specimens brought home by Dr. Donald and Captain 

 Larsen from Seymour Island in the same district are a few contain- 

 ing some half dozen species of fossil shells, which have been named 

 and described by Messrs. Sharman and Newton, who suggest that 

 they point to the existence of Lower Tertiary rocks, one of the 

 organisms resembling a form found in the older Tertiary formations 

 of Patagonia. Large, well-developed shells of Cucidlcea and Cytherea 

 undoubtedly indicate the former existence of a far milder climate in 

 these Antarctic seas than now prevails. 



If a chance landing for a few hours on a bare islet could give us 

 these interesting glimpses into the geological past of the south polar 

 regions, what would not be gained by a more leisurely and well 

 planned expedition ? 



But, perhaps, the geological domain that would be most sure to 

 gain largely from such exploration would be that which embraces 

 the wide and fascinating field of volcanic action. In the splendid 

 harvest of results brought home by Sir James Ross, one of the most 

 thrilling features was the discovery of a volcano rising amid the 

 universal snows to a height of more than 12,000 feet, and actively 

 discharging "flame and smoke," while other lofty cones near it 

 indicated that they too had once been in vigorous eruption. Ross 

 landed on one or two islands near that coast and brought away some 

 pieces of volcanic rocks.* 



If we glance at a terrestrial globe we can readily see that the 



* His collections are in the British Museum, but they hare never been petro- 

 grapbically studied. 



