April 26, 1858.] LOCKHART ON THE YANG-TSE-KIANG, &c. 
201 
an opinion on the subject, from never having been in the Polar Sea. From 
the analogous cases I have mentioned, therefore, and numerous others which 
may he found in the records of Polar voyaging, we must, I think, arrive at the 
conclusion that the opinion advanced by the enterprising and lamented Kane 
is not supported by evidence sufficiently trustworthy or conclusive to establish 
the fact, and we must consequently ignore the existence of an open Polar Sea 
in the position indicated. 
The President, in concluding the discussion and in complimenting the 
gallant officers who had spoken on the ability they had shown, expressed the 
gratification he had experienced, in common, he was sure, with all present, in 
perceiving that nothing had been said which could in any way affect the noble 
character and high merits of Dr. Kane ; for it was chiefly the account given by 
Morton as to the extent of his rapid excursion northwards which had been 
called in question. Again, as respected the formation of the Greenland 
glaciers, Dr. Rink, who had studied them for several years in situ , had long 
ago published his views upon that subject. 
In answer to a question from the Chair — 
Sir George Back said — I hardly know how to answer that question, be- 
cause Dr. Rink, in speaking of the Humboldt Glacier, does not throw any doubt 
upon its formation, or the similarity of its formation to any of the glaciers 
in Omenak Bay. I think his idea is, that it does not extend 1200 miles, or as 
Dr. Kane supposed from where he saw it to Cape Farewell. He gives it as 
his opinion that the glaciers inside first fill up the valleys, gradually accumu- 
late until they cover the hilltops, and then form plateaus ; but with eight or 
nine years’ experience, it appears he was unable to ascertain their extent. 
Eleventh Meeting , Monday , April 2 6th, 1858 . 
Sir RODERICK I. MURCHISON, President, in the Chair. 
Presentations. — The Right Hon. John Wynne , m.p., and Dr. John 
Shea , r.n., were presented upon their election. 
Elections. — Major-General Duncan Alexander Cameron , c.B. ; the Hon . 
Henry Coke ; Captain J. Somerfield Hawkins , r.e. ; the Ven. Archdeacon , 
Hugh Willoughby Jerrnyn ; Dr. John Lister ; and J. N. Fazakerley ; 
John Robert Godley , Assistant Under-Secretary of the War- Office ; Thomas 
Guisford; and George Stoddart, H. M. Consul at Madeira , Esqrs ., were 
elected Fellows. 
Announcement. — I t was announced that Captain Irminger, of the 
Royal Danish Navy, had written to state that letters addressed to 
Captain M‘Clintock, and the officers and crew of the Arctic expedi- 
tion, might he forwarded to Greenland via, Copenhagen. 
The Paper read was : — 
On the Importance of opening the Navigation of the Yang-tse-Kiang, and 
the Changes that have lately taken place in the Bed of the Yellow River , fyc. 
By William Lockhart, Esq., f.r.g.s. 
Mr. Lockhart’s paper has been compiled from various sources, free 
use having been made of Biot’s description of the cities of China 
