THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION: ITS SCIENTIFIC AIMS. 
163 
work I refer the reader. For instance, a series of pendulum ob- 
servations at or near the Pole would be of service in determining 
the true figure of the earth. The nearest point to the Pole at 
which the pendulum has been swung for geodetical purposes 
is 600 miles from that point, and yet Sir Edward Sabine’s 
observations are those which we chiefly rely upon for our know- 
ledge of the earth’s figure towards its northern termination. 
Terrestrial magnetism, and the study of the aurora by spectrum 
analysis, will yield good results — perhaps entirely new. The 
meteorology, the temperature of the sea at different depths, the 
nature of the currents, are all important subjects, and may be 
advanced by the researches of the officers of this expedition. 
Finally, additions to our knowledge of the ethnology of the 
far North may be advanced by a study of the few remnants of 
the Eskimo now living in Smith’s Sound, by an investigation of 
their kjokkenmoddings, or refuse heaps and grave mounds,* 
their wanderings, &c. It may be found, though this is not 
probable, that detached tribes may be found still higher 
North than we yet know, and I think it is not improbable that 
the Eskimo of the east coast of Greenland doubled with the 
lemming and the musk of the northern extremity of the conti- 
nent, and then spread to the south. In this case it would be in- 
teresting to compare the remains, implements, &c., of Smith’s 
Sound with those of the east coast, brought home by the Ger- 
man expedition, or contained in the Ethnological Museum in 
Copenhagen. 
Elaborate instructions will no doubt be supplied to the 
naturalists regarding all of these questions.! It is to be hoped 
that they, like the commander, will not be hampered by too 
many instructions prepared by naturalists, who, however emi- 
nent, may be unaware of the difficulties which a naturalist has 
to meet with in his researches in such a region. If they are 
qualified — as doubtless they are — for the duties, then they may 
be safely left to do what they can. If they are not qualified, 
then for the credit of English science they had better be left 
at home. No one, however, who knows the stuff out of which 
the expedition is composed, will ever hesitate in believing that — 
though such an expedition is to a great extent at the beck of 
the ice, and a hundred other circumstances which those who 
have never sailed the ice-choked seas of the North can have 
little conception of — every man will do his best ; and the best 
will be very good indeed. 
* It has been found that the iron which faces the old bone knives found 
in the old Eskimo graves in Greenland is meteoric. 
t Arctic Committees of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical 
Society, at the suggestion of Mr. Markham, are now preparing manuals, 
giving a summary of our knowledge of Greenland. 
