AN EXPLORER'S BOTTLED TOE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14133, 7 August 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN EXPLORER'S BOTTLED TOE.

THE STORY OF HIS LOSS. Sir Philip Brocklehcrst, a member of the Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic, has returned from the Antarctic Regions minus a big toe. The severed member, preserved in a. bottle of spirits, is now going the rounds of the London hospitals, doctors examining it with professional interest to note the effect of frost bite on bone.

" I've not- got it," Sir Philip said with a smile when interviewed after the Savage Club: dinner. "I. wish I had it. ! I can't regain possession of my toe. The doctors want it for hospital purposes." It was during a week of hard climbing by the party who ascended Mount Erebus under the charge of Sir Philip that he suffered the frost bite which led ultimately to the amputation of the toe. ' ;" There were six of us in the party," he said, telling the story, " and the ascent and descent of the volcano took us just under a week. We started the climb on March 6, and were back at the camp again by the 11th. The height of Mount Erebus is 13,000 ft. Very soon after we started we had to abandon our tents and push forward, * carrying only our sleeping bags of reindeer skin ■ (which have the fur inside) , our food, cooking stove and utensils, and a gallon, of oil. Each man's load weighed about 401b. When we were Hearing the top a terrible snow blizzard came on. We could neither "go- forward nor retreat. All that was possible was to seek out the most sheltered spot that was available, and lie there encased in our sleeping bags. The blizzard lasted for 48 hours, and during all that time we were in 'our sleeping bags with the snow gradually piling up around us. until we were nearly buried. "When the downfall ceased we continued on our way, but the great drifts of snow rendered our passage very difficult of accomplishment. It was on the same day that we reached the summit that I found my ; toes frostbitten. The temperature at the time was- 30 Fahr. below zerothe equivalent of 62 degrees of frost. How intense was the cold may be gathered from the fact that it took half an hour to melt the enow, to water over a stove when we were preparing our food. We arrived at the crater in the afternoon, spent the night in the vicinity, and started the descent next-morning. It was not until s a month afterwards that my. toe was amputated. The surgeon was waiting for the flesh of the foot to heal sufficiently to hold out to him the hope that an operation would be ; successful. I was laid up for three months."