POLAR EXPLORATION.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVI, Issue 47, 23 November 1909, Page 7

POLAR EXPLORATION.

Mr Alfred H. Harrison makes an tamest plea, in the •Aineteentu Century ana After,' for the despatch of a British Arctic expedition, aud shows taat though Great iiritain used to be pre-eminent in that held of gmgiaphical discovery, she lias doiie iiotiui'g suice the return of the i\a:-cs expedition in 18io, while tlie LuA-(i states-., Denmark, Siyeden, aud iiu'. fc all sunt forward notable expeditions, end Germany is now arranging a national a:rsnip expedition, tiro uujeot of which is the scientific exploration of the Polar Sea. The author combats the assertion often made by so-called practical men that nothing is to be got out of Polar exploration. He says that if there is land at the Pole or in the

hitherto unexplored parts of the Polar Sea its rocks may reveal geological secrets of the highest scientitic interest and general benefit. If its unknown area is covered with water its depths may furnish a clue to the law of the contraction of the earth's crust. The Aurora Borealis, when studied with minute care, may reveal its connection with the earth's magnetism. Mr Harrison expresses the view that

though Cook or Peary, or both of them, may have got to the North Pole, they have not gathered the scientific data that awaits collection Irr the industrious .scientist. Mr Harrison is a wellknown Arctic traveller. His plea is partly patriotic arid partly scientific, but also wholly sincere.