SCIENCE. 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Progress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



Published at 

 229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

 P. O. Box 3838. 



SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1881. 



Lieutenant Schwatka still remains a prisoner in his 

 quarters on Governor's Island in New York harbor, 

 in consequence of his recent accident. Surrounded 

 by many of the trophies of his arctic experiences, he 

 relieves the monotony of his situation by preparing for 

 the press his forthcoming history of the expedition, 

 with which his name must be forever associated. 



Any reference to arctic expeditions at this moment 

 naturally recalls to mind the fact, that a brave Ameri- 

 can officer and his crew are now locked in the firm 

 embraces of the frozen solitudes of that desolate 

 region, heroically struggling to accomplish a service 

 to humanity. 



The gallant De Long may be safe in winter quart- 

 ers with the Jeannette, waiting for the moment when 

 a channel may be opened for his ship's return ; but 

 all past experiences in the polar regions suggest that 

 none but the over-sanguine should rely on such 

 a fortunate conclusion of the voyage, and the 

 common instincts of humanity demand that a relief 

 expedition be immediately organized, to sail at the 

 earliest possible moment to carry succor to De Long 

 and his party, and to report on his condition. 



There are other reasons for immediately sending 

 aid to the Jeannette ; the attempt to reach the North 

 Pole entails a colossal task, and it is perhaps vain to 

 expect any expedition to reach it by a sudden and un- 

 expected stroke of success ; probably nearly four 

 hundred miles of sleigh travelling over rugged and 

 almost impassable hummocks of ice will have to be 

 accomplished at an average speed of six to eight miles 

 a day ; this would occupy fifty consecutive days, and 

 then, if all went well, would come the return journey 

 with equal dangers and difficulties. Captain Nares 

 pronounced such travelling impossible. 



Lieutenant Schwatka has, however, shown that with 

 better organization and different methods, the dangers 



of a sleigh expedition can be much reduced. 

 Unfortunately, De Long has not the benefit of 

 " Schwatka's " experiences, and has probably, like 

 "Nares," harnessed his men to the sleigh and not de- 

 pended upon dogs to drag it over so many tedious miles 

 of dreary wastes. It would, therefore, appear obvious 

 that even should the Jeannette expedition be actually 

 safe and intact, the arrival of new supplies and general 

 aid at the side of DeLong would be most opportune, 

 and may even lead to accomplishing the great object 

 in view. 



Possibly some of our readers may consider that the 

 time for sending a relief expedition to the Jeannett e 

 has not arrived, and that it may be prudent to await 

 tidings of disaster before help is sent. We have some- 

 what anticipated such reasoning, but would add that 

 the consequences of such a course in the case of the 

 lost Franklin Expedition led to a final outlay of 

 $10,000,000 by the English nation withnegative results. 



We now know that had a relief expedition been 

 sent immediately to the rescue of Franklin, the brave 

 officers and crew might have been easily saved. 



Lieutenant Schwatka strongly urges the necessity 

 of sending immediate relief to the Jeannette expe- 

 dition, and at our request will state in our next issue 

 some of the reasons which lead him to that con- 

 clusion. No names have been so far mentioned to 

 take a part in this undertaking, but we trust the 

 services of Lieutenant Schwatka may be secured, as 

 his past experience and great success would give us 

 hope of the best results being accomplished. 



The excellent work accomplished by Lieutenant 

 Schwatka, an officer of the United States Army, in 

 arctic explorations, would appear to teach us one 

 lesson, that too great reliance on Naval men reaching 

 the North Pole unaided should not be entertained. 

 Sailors proverbially stick to their ships, are out of 

 their element on shore, and appear unable to cope 

 with difficulties when away from the base of their 

 supplies. Compare the sleigh expeditions of Nares 

 and Schwatka, and note how differently they were 

 managed, the former starting without necessary ma- 

 terial, making his men beasts of burden, and failing 

 miserably from the collapse of all his resources. 



Schwatka, on the contrary, so contrived that the 

 necessaries of life were always available. Forty dogs 

 merrily drew his sleigh, and with the instincts of 

 a military man he carefully husbanded his re- 

 sources, and accomplished sufficient to make his expe- 

 dition a memorable success. 



It seems on this account possible that the two 

 arms of the service may profitably combine in the 

 next effort to solve the great Polar problem, for the 

 best results may be anticipated by such united 

 action. 



