Progress in Science . 
418 
1 July. 
stants of particular places are most important to the knowledge of the physical 
conditions of the earth, but they suffice no longer as soon as the question is — 
What are the laws which govern the changes to which they are subjedt? 
They can answer the how , but are rarely equal to the why. The accessibility 
of the Ardtic interior from different quarters is constantly discussed in all sci- 
entific circles. It has been common to draw conclusions from the favourable 
or unfavourable experiences of Ardtic voyagers by different routes and at 
different times, which conclusions have afterwards proved to be mistaken, be- 
cause the difference in the condition of the ice in different years has not been 
taken into account. In the years 1871 and 1874 the ice on the same meridian 
near Nowaja-Zemlja began at 78° lat., but in 1872 it reached 6° farther south. 
Now, it is probable that on the opposite side of the Ardtic basin — the American 
coast — the case during this period was precisely the reverse. But this we 
cannot decide with certainty, because we do not know whether the exceptional 
increase of ice on this one side is necessarily conjoined with a decrease on the 
other ; or whether perhaps the Ardtic basin does not contain totally different 
amounts of ice in different years. We need that general view of the entire 
mass of ice and its movements which can only be gained by simultaneous ob- 
servations at various points. One-sided judgments, formed at a single point, 
whose conditions depend on the accidents of the year, will never enable us to 
draw corredt conclusions as to the accessibility of the Ardtic interior. For 
the descriptive branches of science synchronism is of less importance : these 
demand continuous systematic study. “ Voyages have enlarged the cata- 
logues,” Prof. C. Vogt writes me, “ but only continued observations on the 
spot produce the deeper scientific results.” To this the unscientific man is 
inadequate, however industrious a colledtor he may be. If our objedt be 
genuine progress in Natural History, the aid of the man of science is abso- 
lutely necessary, which we have had in but few instances. In view of the 
ever-increasing interest in Ardtic research, and of the readiness with which 
governments and private individuals are continually furnishing the means for 
new Expeditions, it is desirable to establish the principles on which they 
should be sent out, so that their utility to science may be in proportion to the 
great sacrifices made, and they be relieved of that adventurous character which 
can only be prejudicial to science. The following points, the author considers, 
will meet the requirements set forth above : — 
1. Ardtic research is of the highest importance to the knowledge of Nature’s 
laws. 
2. Geographical discovery in those regions has a higher value in so far only 
as it opens the field to scientific research in the narrower sense of the 
term. 
3. Ardtic topography in detail is but of secondary importance. 
4. The. geographic pole has for science no greater significance than any other 
point in the higher latitudes. 
5. Stations of observation are — without regard to their latitude — the more 
favourable in proportion to the comparative intensity of the phenomena 
under investigation. 
6. Independent series of observations have but secondary value. 
It is not necessary to extend our sphere of observations into the very highest 
latitudes in order to secure scientific results of the greatest importance. For 
instance, stations at Nowaja-Zemlja (76°). Spitzbergen (8o°), East or West 
Greenland (76° — 78°), North-America east of Behring’s Strait (70°), Siberia at 
the mouth of the Lena (70°), would give us a zone of observation quite around 
the Ardtic regions. Greatly to be desired are stations near the centres of 
magnetic intensity. The observations there would be connedted with our own 
through the stations already established near the Polar circle, which only need 
to be strengthened. The means expended on any one of the more recent attempts 
to reach the highest latitude would be amply sufficient to sustain all these 
stations for a year. The objedt of these Expeditions would be, with instru- 
ments precisely alike, governed by precisely the same instrudtions, and for a 
period of one year at least, to record a series of the utmost possible synchro? 
