THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 13 February 1913, Page 5

THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS

THE DISCOVERY OF COAL AT GRANITE HARBOUR. The subjoined summary of the scientific results of the Scott Expedition, as gathered from the reports which were brought bade by the Terra Nova in April last, appeared in "-Nature" :

SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC RF SULTS.

The general plan arranged for the scientific work of the expedition has been carried out so far almost in its entirety. Tho self-registering meteorological instruments have given a continuous record of pressure and temperature and of wind velocity and direction. Thes» have been checked by the e}-e every four hours. The upper atmosphere has been investigated by means of small balloons, which have shown the direction of theupper- currents of the air to a height of six miles and have leccrded tempera-

tures to a height of five miles: Absolute riiagnetic observations-, have b'eeft made every week. Self-registering mag netic instruments we-ie installed in a room excavated in the side of a small glacier, _this eliminating the changes of temperature which are a serious cause of error in this class of work. All through the winter the aurora was ob served every hour, but very few brilliant displays occurred. Atmospheric electricity has also been studied, and ice work and physiography lnivo afforded much field work.

Vexed problem.--, regarding the origin of alpine topography when. Europe and other temperate regions were undergoing an ice age are being studied in the examples offered by the retreating glaciers of Victoria Land, where the ice age still obtains. The mainland offers a rich field for perology, with an abundance of mineral-bearing quartz veins but none of anv economic value.

Specimens of coal of economic v:>hte and well-preserved fossils have been found near Granite Harbour. An excellent field exisi-s at winter quarters for ice work in miles' of glacier, while iii front of the hut stands a cape formed largely of massive moraine with lava flows from Erebus. Pendulum observations for the value of gravity have been carried out; a tide gauge has given a continuous record, and marine biological work, has been done throughout the winter at a hole kept open in the sea ice for nets, water samples, and sea temperatures.

The quantitative and qualitative observations of minute organisms at various seasons are.giving interesting results. The parasitology of ail seals, penguins, and other birds and available has already given good results. Some new protozoa have 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 the Antarctic ha 3 been obtained. A number of catches with the tow net have been secured which show a vertical distribution m the transparent floating organisms of the sea. Continuous meteorological observations have been taken in the ship, linking up Australasia with Antarctica.

Natural history re?earch has been greatly assisted by the use of the kinematograph. Many thousands of feet of film have been used in sec urine; permanent animated records of the interesting bird and animal life of these regions, and every phase 01 seal, penguin, and skua-gull life has been thus < illustrated. Some remarkable kinematograpli films have been secured showing l for the first time the "Killer" whale, the wolf of the se-as, in its native element.