THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1672, 12 February 1913, Page 8

THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS.

THE DISCOVERY OF COAL AT . GRANITE HARBOUR. ~ Tho subjoined'summary of ■ the scientific results ' of tho Scott-Expedition,' as gathered from the reports Mich-were brought back by tho Terra Nova in April last, appeared in "Nature";—' '' Summary of Scientific Results. Tho general; plan arranged for the .scientific work of tho expedition-has been carried out- so far almost in its entirety. The self-registering meteorological instruments have given a continuous record.of pressure and temperature and of wind velocity and direction. These have been checked by the dye every four hours. .The upper atmosphere has been investigated by means of, small balloons, which' have shown the direction of tho upper currents of the air to a height of six miles and have recorded temperatures to' a height of five miles. Absolute magnetic observations have been' made every week. Selfregistering magnetic instruments were installed in a rooin excavated in the side of a small glacier, this eliminating the changes of temperature which are' a serious causo of error in this class of work. All. through the winter the aurora was observed every hour, but very few. brilliant displays occurred. Atmospheric electricity has also been studied, and ico work and physiography have afforded much fieldwork.

Vexed problems regarding tho onVin of alpine topography when Europe and'other iomperate regions were undergoing on ice ago aro being studied in the examples orfcrpd by the retreating glaciers of Victoria Laud, where the ioo age still obtains. The mainland offers a rich field for petrology, with an abundance of mineralhearing quartz veins but none' of any economio value;

Specimens of coal of economic value and well-preserved fossils have been found nonr Granite narbour. An excellent-field OTnta at winter qnartors for ico work in miles of glacier, while in front of the hut stands a capo formed largely of massive moraine with lava flows from Erebus. Pendulum observations for tho value of gravity hav.i been carried out; a tide gauge has given a continuous record, and marine biological work has been done throughout tfio winter.at a hole kent open in the sea ico for nets, water samples, and soa temperatures.

The quantitative and qualitative observations of minute organisms at various seasons are giving interesting results. The parasitology of nil seals, wnguins. and other birds and fish available Ins already given good results. Some new protozoa jj'nrn been found. The above has fully occupied the time

of the scientific staff and indicates that there is an ample field for further research in every direction. Successful biological work has been carried out on board the ship. With seven trawls a large collection of the deep-sea fauna of tho Antnrctic has been obtained. A number of catches with the tow net have been secureil which show a vertical distribution in the transparent floating organisms of tho sea. Continuous meteorological observations have been taken in the ship/linking up Australasia with AntNatural history research has been greatly assisted by the use of the kincmatograph. Many thousands of feet of him have been used in securing permanent animated records of the interesting bird and animal life of these regions, and every phase of senl, penguin, and skua-gull life has been thus illustrated. Some remarkabl* kinematograph films have been secured showing for the. first time the ."Killer" whale, tho wolf of the seas, in its native clement. .

PREVIOUS POLAR DISASTERSLOST LEADERS AND EXPEDITIONS. The exploration of the Antarctic in the past has been remarkably free from disaster, and in no previous expedition has the leader or any number of the members perished. In the North Polar regions the loss of life has been much heavier, and tho following is a list of the expeditions, the leaders of which died in the Arctic:— 1553.—Sir Hugh Willoughby and the crews \ of his two ships perish off the Kola ' Peninsula, near the White Sea. • 1581.—Charles Jackman and the crew of his ship are lost in returning from Nova Zenibla'. . ' i , 1610—Henry Hudson, after discovering Hudson Bay, is set adrift by muti- • ncerson his shin in an) open boat with his little son and som? sick men, and is never heard of again., 1619—Sixty-one of tho 64 men of Jens Hunk's - Danish expedition in search of tho North-West Passage die while ' wintering near tho Churchill River, and Munk, ono other man, and a boy '■:' sail home in the smallest of tho ex-

pedition's-two ships. \ 1741.—Captain Vitus Bering is wrecked on the Aleutian and dies of

scurvy'with most'of his crew. 1817-B.—Sir John Franklin' and the monv

bers of his expedition, comprising 129 souls perish after three years in the Arctic in search of-the. North-West Passage. During the many subsequent searches for this expedition, up to ■ 1853, some 7000 miles of coast-line was discovered;' ■ " ■ 1881.—Lieut: de Long (United States) and all but threS members of hi"; expedition' perished near the mouth of tho Lena. '• ' • 1897.—The Swedish aeronaut S. A.. Andree, with two companions, - leaves ■ Rnifzbergen' in a balloon for the North PoV,'and:is never afterwards heard of. 1902.—Baron, Toll and his expedition in the Zarj'a. disappear after exploring -•the New Siberia Islands. . 1905—L'; Mylius-Erickscn, head ;of a Danish expedition.' with his com- , panions. Hngen and Broulundi ncrish in a sledgo journey 500 miles in Greenland.

PERSONNEL OF EXPEDITION. ... COMPLETE LIST. The following is a 'complete list of the officers, staff, and < men of the expedition :- L Captain .11. F. Scott, C.V.0., R.N., commanding expedition, Western party; Lieutenant £. R. G..R. Evans, R.N., second' in command,.. Western party; Dr. E. A.. Wilson, chief of.scientific statf, zoologist, and artist, Western party; Lieutenant. .V. L. A. Campbell, K.N., leader of the Eastern • party; 1 Lieutenant M. L. L. Penriell, -R.N., magnetic and meteorological work on the Terra 1 Neva; Lieutenant H. E. do P. Keunick, E.N.,' Western party; Lieutenant H. R. Bowers (Royal Indian Marine), Terra Nova; Lieutenant W. Bruce, R.N.R., Terra Nova; Surgeon G. ,M. Levick, doctor, zoologist, etc!, .Eastern party; Surgeon E. L. Atkinson, R.N., doctor, bacteriologist and parasitologist; Mr. F. R. H. Drake, R.N., secretary, Terra .Nova; Mr. C. H. .Mcares,. in charge of the ponies'and 'dogs, Western party;- Captain L.E. G. Oates, Inniskillen Dragoons, in charges of ponies and dogs, Western party; Dr. G. C. Simpson, physicist, Western party; M. T. Gnfiith Taylor, geologist,- Western party; Mr. Georgo F. Wyatt, general, manager; Sir. E. W. Nelson, biologist, Western party; Mr. D. G. Lillie, biologist, Terra Nova; Mr. ■A. Cherry-Garrard, assistant ■ zoologist, Western party; Mr. H. G. Pontine, photographer, Western party; Mr. B, C. Day, motor engineer, Western party; Mr. J. Allan Thomson, geologist, Western party; Mr. C. S. Wright, chemist, Westernpai'ty; boatswain, R.N., Mr. T. Feather, charge of sledging outfit; boatswain, Mr. A. Chcetham, Terra Nova; chief engine-room artificer, R.N., Mr. W. Williams, second engineer Terra Nova; en-gine-room artificer, R.N., Mr. J. 11. Webb, third engineer, Terra Nova; chief stoker, H.N., Mr. W. Lashley, assistant fo motor engineer, Western , party; chief, steward, Mr.- W. Archer, Terra' Nova; petty.- officers, R.N.—E. Evans, R. Fdrde, T. Crean, 'J'.-S. Williamson, F. Parson, P. Kcohane, Arthur S. Bailey, G. P. Abboß; 0. V. Browning, J. H. Mather (all rating as seamen); able seamen—R.N.—H. Dickason; W. L. Hcald, J. Paton (seaman); sailrnaker, W. Smythe; shipwright, R.N., F.E. C. Davis (carpenter);.leading stokers, R:N. —N. Brissenden and E. A;: M'Kenzie, stoker, ,'R.N., W. Burton-. (rating as firemen); stewards—T. Clessold (cook), .F. Hooper, and'W. H.'Neall.

■r-■■ SCOTT & AMUNDSEN. ONLY FIVE WEEKS APART. It is interesting, in view of the data to hand, to note that Captain Scott was only beaten, for-the honour of'having gained the South Pole by five weeks. The .Norwegian explorer,: who was favoured with extraordinarily fine, weather conditions, attained the Pole on December U, 1911, and such wcro the meteorological conditions that he was able to spend tlir'eo days on the spot taking observations. According .to the cable message from London, Captain' Scott reached the Pole'on January 18, 1912, exactly'3s days aftpr-Amundsen,- and 33 days after the latter had started: on tho return journey to tho coast. ■ .It will bo remembered that a rumour was published in Captain Amundsen's return to tho effect that ho had cabled to London the news that Captain Scott had reached the Pole. This was subsequently denied by Amundsen, who could not understand how ai)oh a story originated. POLAR RESEARCH GRANTS. CAPTAIN SCOTT HEADS THE LIST. In a recent issue of the "Nineteenth Century," Mr. A. H. Harrison contributes an-article on the "Control of. British Polar Research." Incidentally he gives an. interesting table setting forth tho money, grants by the Royal Geographical Society to polar expeditions since the year 1882. The list is.as follows:— £ 6. d. 1882—Evia Relief Expedition ... 1000 0 0 1892—Dr. Nonsen's Arctic Expedition 300 0 0 189G—Sir Martin Conway (Spitzbcrgen) 800 0 0 1901—i National Antarctic Expedition (Scott) J. 5000 .0 0 1902—National Antarctic Expedition (Scott) :.:'. SOOO • 0 0 1903—Capt. Amundsen's Arctic . . Expedition • ■•■'■ 100 0 0 1906-E. Mikkelsen's Arctic .. Expedition 200 0 0 190S-E. ■'Mikklcssen's Arctic Expedition 46 0 0 1908—1). Mikkelsen's Arctic Expedition '. 12<3 0 0 1909—Amundsen's , Antarctic Expedition •••••• 100 0 0 1910-National Antarctio Expedition (Scott) ..; ..;•••- 500 0 0 1911—i National Antarctic Expedition (Scott) 1000 0 0 1912-Dr/ Mnwson's Antarctic Expedition 500, 0 0 The grants of money, therefore, had been mado as follows:— ' To Scolt's two Antarctic Ex- ' petitions : "500 0 0 To Britis-h Polar Explorers ... ISOO 0 0 To Foreign Polar Explorers ... 872 0 0

• The usual Pahautanui stock sale will bo held on Thursday, 'February IS, by Messrs. Abraham and Williams, llie salo begins at 1 IK 111 *