It was first discovered in 1869 by Rayet, and has since been named "f" by Lorenzoni, who, ignorant of the previous work of several other observers, has claimed its discovery.

272 and 273. These lines were both reversed (by a narrow bright stripe running down the centre of the hroad hazy band) as constantly, whenever the seeing was good, as hor C itself. The observation was difficult, however, and required the most scrupulous exclusion of foreign light, and a careful adjustment of the slit in the plane of the solar image formed by these particular They were also found to be regularly reversed upon the body of the sun itself, in the penumbra and immediate neighbourhood of every important spot.

rays.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES

CAMBRIDGE

Vice

Philosophical Society, Oct. 18.-The following were elected officers of the Society :-President: Prof. Humphry. Presidents: Prof. Cayley, Prof. Adams, Prof. Liveing. Treasurer: Dr. Campion. Secretaries, Messrs. Bonney, J. W. Clark, and Trotter. New Members of Council: Prof. Babington, Prof. Stokes, Mr. Hort, Dr. M. Foster. The following communica tions were made to the Society :-" On the form suggested by M. Tresca, and adopted by the Commission Internationale du système métrique, for the Mètres Internationaux," by Prof. Miller, F.R.S. "A Method for Drawing in Perspective;" and "A Method for Levelling" (communicated), by Mr. J. C. W. Ellis. The nature of these papers does not admit of a brief abstract.

PARIS

Academy of Sciences, October 21.-M. Faye, president. In opening the meeting the President announced the death on that morning of M. Babinet, Member of the Academy, Physical Section.-M. Yvon Villarceau then read a note relative to a letter from M. Magnac on the use of chronometers at sea which he presented to the Academy. The note and letter related to the compensation and rating of chronometers, and in conclusion drew attention to the great and continuous care which ought to be devoted to this subject by the Transit of Venus Expedition of 1874.-M. Pasteur then read an answer to M. Fremy's two notes read at the meeting of the 7th October. M. Pasteur's observations were in support of his theory of the wine ferment coming from the husk of the grape. He concluded his observation as follows:-"I declare both the theory of the transformation of albuminous matters into ferment cells by contact with atmospheric oxygen, and that of hemcorganism, or the generation of ferment cells from fruit cells, to be erroneous. ."-Next came a vigorous reply from M. Chevreul to certain "allegations contained in a report, by M. A. Gruyer, on the International Exhibition of London, 1871." At the conclusion of the reply MM. E. Bequerel and Milne-Edwards made some remarks on the subject, when the matter dropped. -A note from M. R. Clausius, on the mechanical equation from which the 'viriel' theorem results was then read, and was followed by a note from M. A. de Caligny on the theory of the several systems of navigation locks, a long paper relating to various kinds of locks, sluices, floodgates, &c..-This was followed by the continuation of M. P. A. Favre and C. A. Valson's paper on crystalline dissoci ation. The authors find that potassium and ammonium alum are partially dissociated when rendered anhydrous, and that chromium-potassium alum, when rendered anhydrous and then washed, loses potassic sulphate. They also attribute the change from violet to green of solutions of chrome alum, when heated, to this cause, and state that there is nothing to prove that this is not the case with all alums.-M. C. Sédillot then presented a note on the phenomena of fermentation and their connection with pathological physiology. The note related to certain recent studies on zymology by M. F. Monoyer.-M. Tresca then asked the Academy to open a sealed packet deposited by him with it on September 9, 1870, and which contained the particulars of the secret place where he and General Morin had deposited the standard metre and kilogramme during the events of that time. He wished the Academy to open the depositary, and to place the standards in the hands of the Government.-M. Ed. Bureau then read a note on the value of characteristics deduced from the structure of the stem for the classification of the Bignoniacea. The concluding portion of M. Max Marie's paper on the extension of the method of Cauchy to the study of double integrals, &c., followed. —A note from Ed. Jannettaz on the coloured

rings produced in gypsum by pressure, and their connection with the ellipsoid of thermal conduction and with cleavage, was referred to the physical section, and M. C. Dareste's studies on the osteological types of osseous fishes was sent to the section of zoology. The commission for the Montyon prize for medicine and surgery received a memoir on the three "psoric acariens" of the Horse by M. P. J. Mégnin.-A communication from MM. Chevallier on the manufacture of amorphous phosphorous matches was sent to the commission on the unhealthy arts.-A suggestion for the use of the tension of liquid ammonia as a source of motive power in aerial navigation by M. Pollard was submitted to the commission on aerostation; and the Phylloxera commission received a note rela tive to a remedy for that pest from M. Chatelain.-M. Yvon Villarceau then communicated a letter on the elements and co-ordinates of the planet No. 123 from M. Stephan, and also an extrad from a letter from M. de Magnac on the determination of longitude by chronometers.-M. Chasles presented a note from M. H. G. Zeuthen on quartic equations, of which one part is reduced to a direct double.-A letter from M. P. Volpicelli on the probable nature of the Saturnian rings, and on a meteor observed at Romero the 31st of August, was then read.-M. Th. du Moncel read a note on the accidental currents which arise in telegraphic wires one end of which remains isolated in the air, after which M. Pasteur presented a note, by M. Feltz, on the action of crystallisable sugar on Barreswil's cupro-tartaric reagent. The author's experiments tend to show that cane sugar acts on the reagent i the presence of an excess of alkali; hence he distrusts all dete: minations made where both sugars are present. This paper was followed by a note from MM. Béchamp and Estor on the role of the microzymes during embryonic development.-M. Tar then read a note on the aurora and magnetic storm of the 14th and 15th October.-M. E. Fournié demanded the opening of a sealed packet relating to cerebral physiology deposited by him on the 22nd of July, 1872, and after a note from M. G. Bandiera on a means of separating essence of citron from turpen tine had been submitted to M. Dumas, the session adjourned.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1872

EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTH POLAR REGIONS

IN

IN the various explorations which the last few years have seen, it must be admitted that the South Pole has been neglected, and its rival, the North Pole, has had it all its own way. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that Dr. Neumayer, with whom the Exploration of the South Polar regions has been a cherished project from his youth, and who for many years has lived in the hope of some day having the privilege granted him of taking part in an expedition on board a German ship that might have the honour of penetrating the South-Polar circle, and clearing up the mystery that lies beyond, will allow this state of things to continue without protest. Since this hope has been time after time frustrated, and because he fears that now it may never be realised, he is determined to do what he can to rouse an active interest in the subject among scientific men. By lectures in various parts of Germany, and otherwise, he endeavoured some little time ago to set afoot an exploring party, whose observations might have been of great use in connection with the now not very distant Transit of Venus, but in this, too, he failed; so that now there remains only the hope that, in connection with the scientific expeditions to the south for the observation of that momentous astronomical event, something may be done towards the realisation of the "darling scheme of his youth." Hence, to awaken a general interest in antarctic explorations, as well as to show what remains to be done, Dr. Neumayer has reprinted, in the form of a pamphlet, a long article of his from the "Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkünde," on the subject, referring to his numerous lectures and writings on the subject, and has given a brief sketch of the progress of discovery in the South Polar regions, and an admirable summary of the points to which any expedition should direct its attention-to which, anxious to second his efforts, we gladly draw attention.

Of maritime expeditions, those to the Polar regions have had a lasting interest for geographers, both as leading to the solution of important scientific problems, and as being of value from a more material point of view. The importance of scientific observation inside the Polar circle is evident, Dr. Neumayer declares, to all who have any knowledge of the phenomena on the surface of the globe. Without such observations there exists a void and a lamentable one-sidedness in our knowledge, offering a fertile field for numberless, and mostly worthless, hypotheses. What have been the results of efficient observation in the far north for the confirmation and correction of our knowledge in the departments of magnetism, climatology, the geographical distribution of plants and animals, the laws of ocean currents, is shown by a superficial glance at the history of the development of these departments of science. But Dr. Neumayer maintains that for the purpose of discovering those general laws which are necessary as guides and standards in the interpretation of phenomena in climatology and physical geography generally, the South Polar regions are much better adapted than those of the North. A glance at the globe, he maintains, shows that such results can be No. 159-VOL. VII.

obtained only by the expenditure of vast means and laborious research in the north, on account of the nature of the division of the land and water, which also throws difficulties in the way of a satisfactory study of the phenomena; whereas no such difficulties and disturbances are presented by the prevailing sea of the South Polar regions. These statements could be proved by many examples from physical geography, but it is only necessary to refer to the valuable additions which have been made by researches in high south latitudes to our knowledge of the laws of the relation between the distribution of the pressure of the air and of heat, and of the laws of winds. Moreover, Dr. Neumayer maintains that very valuable light would be thrown on the laws of the distribution of living organisms by explorations in this quarter, where there is scarcely any land but a few scattered islands.

Dr. Neumayer then proceeds to give a sketch of the history of discovery in the South Polar regions, dividing it into three periods. The first of these periods begins with the sixteenth century, and ends with the determination of the south point of America by Schoelten and Lemaine in 1616. The second period extends to the beginning of the present century, and the third from that

time onwards.

The voyages embraced in the first period were not Polar voyages in the strict sense, for no one stepped over the Polar circle, and their main object was to fix the route to India and the Spanish colonies on the west coast of South America. The expeditions which went south during the second period had for their purpose to discover and fix the limits of the great southern continent which theoretical geographers supposed must exist in those regions in order that the balance of land might be maintained. The expeditions which have gone out to this quarter during the present century have had for their purpose mainly the observation of phenomena for scientific purposes.

Of the great voyagers belonging to the first period, it can hardly be said that any made discoveries in what is generally considered the Antarctic region. Sebald de West, in January 1600, saw a group of islands in 50° 40' S. and 59° W., which were called Sebald's Islands, and which were possibly the same as the Falkland Islands, whose proper discovery falls to a later time. One of the minor voyagers of this period, Dick Gerritz, discovered an island group in 61° S. lat. and seems to have reached 64°. This ice-bound group was probably the same as that now called South Shetland, although it is possible Gerritz had seen Palmer's Land. During this period discoveries only reached the higher latitudes south of Cape Horn; in other circumpolar parts the 40th parallel had only been reached at the Cape of Good Hope; and in the Indian Ocean, on the way to Batavia, the islands of St. Paul and New Amsterdam were already known in the beginning of the 17th century.

The earliest of the discoveries of the second period were those of the famous Abel Tasman. The maps of Mercator in 1628 attach the north coast of New Holland to the great continent of Australasia, that spreads itself all over the South Polar region, and annexes the discoveries of Dick Gerritz to South America. The unrestrained fancy of the geographers of the time even leads them to

C

set down a continuation of the Cordilleras as running through the "great south continent." This delusion Tasman destroyed, when, in the year 1642, he sailed round the south of New Holland, and discovered Van Diemen's Land; he also discovered the west coast of New Zealand. La Roche, in 1675, discovered South Georgia; while the Malouins (1700-1712) place the Falkland Islands accurately on the maps. The voyages of Hay and Lozier Bonnet circumscribed considerably the extent of the south continent in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; but through the discovery of Cape Circumcision in about 52° S. lat. and 10° E. long., it was believed a new proof of its existence had been gained.

Dr. Neumayer pays a very high tribute to Cook for the restless energy with which he pursued his work, and the vast and valuable additions he made to the then scanty knowledge of these southern regions. The maps of 1762 have still the south continent prodigally displayed, reach. ing as far as 20° S. into the Pacific itself; the maps of 1775 show not a trace of it, although, even so late as 1773, Kerguelen believed he had seen it in lat. 49° S. and long. 70° E.; what he saw was Kerguelen Island. It was Cook who had the honour of proving that the "Great South Continent" was a mere chimera.

In March 1770, after the observation of the transit of Venus, he found New Zealand to be an island. On his second voyage he passed to the south of Kerguelen Island in February 1773, though he appears not to have seen it showing there was no hope for theoretical geographers in, this direction. In the previous month, January 17, he passed the South Polar circle in E. long. 39° 30'-the first time the feat had been performed by any explorer-sailing as far south as 67° 15'. In the (southern) summer of 1773-4 Cook explored the ocean from 175° to 98° W. long., and between 50 and 71° 10′ S. lat., thus clearly proving the non-existence of a great continent to the South Pacific. In December 1774 he sailed from New Zealand to Magellan's Straits, to convince himself that there was no sign of the supposed continent between 55° and 56° S. lat. There he re-discovered the island of St. Pierre, seen by Duclos Guyot in 1756, and a century earlier by La Roche, and named it South Georgia. On his return be discovered the Sandwich group, and narrowly missed the South Orkney and South Shetland Islands. Cook set out on his third great voyage of discovery in January 1777, intending to lay down the exact position of Prince Edward's and Kerguelen Islands, and make observations on the physical geography of the latter; but ere he could accomplish his aim "this greatest of all discoverers of the 18th century" met his sad death in February 1779.

A comparison of the maps of 1762 and 1785 will suffice to show how much was accomplished by Cook. The chief conclusion come to by the great navigator as the result of his extensive explorations was, that outside of the South Polar circle no stretch of land of any extent could be found, and that if any such existed inside the Antarctic zone, for all productive purposes, indeed even for the sustenance and development of organic life, it was useless. The labours of Cook gave thus a negative result; it remained to future voyagers to prove whether any continent existed within the Polar circle.

In the third period, that from the beginning of the present century, we have to do with expeditions, which,

inside or in the close neighbourhood of the South Pulir circle, have sailed through and explored great stretches of ocean, and examined the coasts and islands of the Polar zone. It is the explorers of this period who have contributed so largely to our knowledge of the physical geography of the Antarctic regions.

In October 1808 Captain Lindsay saw the Bonnet Group, and in February 1819 Smith re-discovered Gerritz or Gerrard's Islands, now known as the South Shetlands. We are indebted for much of our knowledge of the regions south of Cape Horn to the zeal of the American whale and seal fishers, Powell, Palmer, Pendelton, Fanning, and others. To these we owe the discovery of Palmer's Land and the South Orkneys. All agree in describing these lands as wholly bound in ice, almost always enveloped in dense fogs, and showing scarcely a sprig of vegetation. Here and there from out the mass of ice projects a black peak, which, even at a distance, by its showing no trace of the otherwise universal ice, proclaims itself of a volcanic nature. Numberless birds nestle on these islands, on which no quadrupeds have yet been found; and on the warm sides of the volcanic cones nothing is to be found but multitudes of living penguins, who use them as resting-places. In the surrounding sea is a rich vegetable life, on which the seals and fishes appear to thrive.

The re-discovery of the South Shetland Islands gave a new impulse to Antarctic exploration, in behalf of which an active interest now began to show itself in Europe. The Russian Empire took the lead, and in July 1819 sent out two ships, the Wostok and the Merny, under the command of Captains Bellinghausen and Lazaren, who dist nguished themselves by their pluck and circumspection. They sailed round and defined South Georgia, and Bellinghausen endeavoured, under the meridian of Greenwich, to get as near the Pole as possible. However, after working his way with great difficulty as far south as 69° 25' (1' n' W.), the impossibility of penetrating farther through the immense masses of ice compelled him to turn northwards. Another attempt under 18° E. long, was also in vain, and the advanced season compelled the ships to return to Port Jackson. The expedition set out again in November; and on January 22, 1821, in 92° 19′ W. long, reached 69° 33′ S. lat., not far from the ne plus ultra of Cook. On the same day, in 68° 27′ S. lat., 90° 45′ W. long., Bel linghausen saw an island 4,200 ft. high, which he named "Peter the Great Island;" and on the 29th, in 68° 43′ 20′′ S. lat., 73° 9′ 36′′ W. long., he saw land of great height. which appeared to him to be a cape belonging to a large continent. This he named "Alexander Land." The land was completely locked in ice, and in the sea itself all life appeared to be extinct. At the South Shetlands Belling. hausen fell in with Captain Palmer, who told him of his discovery of Palmer's Land.

The voyages of these Russian explorers, who returned home in the middle of the year 1821, were undoubtedly. as South Polar explorations, the most important which had hitherto been undertaken. They almost circumnavigated the Pole at an average distance of 30°, explored a larger tract inside the Polar circle than ever had been done before, and discovered the first Polar land. Moreover, they completed a series of valuable hydrographical researches, and it is to be lamented that these are sti