216 
SECOND REPORT -1832. 
(where t — mean temperature, / = latitude), it will be observed 
gives the temperature of the equator = 86°* * * § 55, and of the pole 
— 10°'53. The former is decidedly too great, and has been 
opposed by Baron Humboldt* himself and Dr. Brewster f. It 
is probable that the mean temperature of the equator does not 
exceed 81° # 5 or 82°. 
The temperature of the arctic regions has received the great¬ 
est elucidation by the recent labours of Scoresby, Parry, and 
Franklin. The two last enterprising travellers have established 
the existence of a degree of cold quite unsuspected in the 
northern part of America. From admirably conducted obser¬ 
vations, embracing a large portion of the year, the following 
mean temperatures have been established : 
Lat. 
Mean Temp. 
Observer. 
Melville Island . 
. 74f° . 
— 1 10 
. l £ . . 
Parry. 
Port Bow r en . 
. 784 • 
. + 4~ . . 
ditto. 
Igloolik . 
• 69^ . 
. + 7 . . 
ditto. 
Winter Island . 
. 66|4. . 
• + 94 . 
ditto. 
Fort Enterprise 
• 64j . 
. +15T . . 
Franklin 
To Captain Beechey also we owe some interesting meteorolo¬ 
gical results J. 
M. Arago had concluded § from the results of Scoresby, 
Parry, and Franklin, that the mean temperature of the pole is 
— 25° cent.,= — 13° F. This however is upon the idea that 
the cold is at a maximum at the pole, which is not probable: 
it cannot however be much short of that intense degree. The 
objection to such a result on account of the supposed increase 
of ice, which would constantly take place if the temperature 
were below r the freezing point of sea water, I have lately en¬ 
deavoured to combat, and to show 7 that observation presents no 
opposition to theory ||. 
A gradual accumulation of facts all over the globe is paving 
the way for a very accurate knowledge of the mean temperature 
of its surface ; and in a few years more our mass of observations 
w'ill probably be doubled. Great Britain has done most by her 
arctic expeditions ; and it is earnestly to be desired that w T ith the 
means she possesses of extending this branch of science like¬ 
wise in equatorial regions, in the vast continent of India, this 
great and interesting object will yet meet with some attention, 
* Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Septembre 1826. 
f Edinburgh Journal of Science, vi. 117. 
X Beechey’s Voyage to the Pacific, and Behring's Straits, 4to edit. vol. ii. 
§ Annuaire, 1825, p. 186. 
|| Edinburgh Journal of Science, N.S. v. 17; and Bibliotlieque Universelle, 
183 J. 
