February 26, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



183 



stations observing in concert was more than forty. 

 Seven hundred men, in all, were exposed to the 

 dangers of arctic life ; but so skilful were the 

 arrangements that no man perished, with the un- 

 fortunate exception of some who were connected 

 with the Lady Franklin Bay expedition, and not 

 they until after their appointed duties had been 

 successfully completed. The results of all these 

 efforts are gradually becoming the possession of 

 the scientific world. It will take a long while to 

 reduce the observations and to publish them in 



Lady Franklin Bay expedition, Lieutenant Greely, 

 although not a seaman, had some unusual quali- 

 fications. He had entered the army at the age of 

 seventeen, and endured the privations and dangers 

 of the civil war. After peace was established, he 

 continued in the army as one of the officers of the 

 signal service, and thus became expert in the kind 

 of observations to be made at the north. His 

 physical, intellectual, and moral qualities, as the 

 sequel proved, were adequate to his great responsi- 

 bilities, and, although disaster has cast a gloom 



ARCTIC REGIONS, SHOWING LOCATION OF CIRCUMPOLAR STATIONS, 1881-83. 



[Reproduced through the courtesy of Charles Scribner's Sons.] 



proper form, and longer still to discover the laws 

 which are suggested by the recorded phenomena ; 

 but the work projected has been done, and well 

 done, and mankind will reap the benefits. Whether 

 the results are more or less, Lieutenant Greely is 

 right in saying that the work of the International 

 polar commission will live in history, if only as an 

 epoch in modern civilization, marked by the union 

 of eleven great nations in planning and execut- 

 ing for strictly scientific purposes so expensive and 

 dangerous a work. 

 For the services which were required in the 



over the close of his voyage, his conduct of the 

 work intrusted to him deserves the highest praise ; 

 and the modest record which he has now published 

 exhibits with great accuracy and comprehensive- 

 ness the various aspects of his expedition. His 

 pages bear the stamp of trustworthiness. There 

 is no boasting, no self -laudation, no concealment 

 of the embarrassments which beset the party. 

 There is a generous recognition of the parts which 

 were performed by all his brave associates. There 

 is a careful record of experiences which may be 

 useful to other navigators. There are preliminary 



