THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7231, 18 October 1901, Page 1

THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

, 4» THKTR OBJECTS AND SPHERES OF WORK. THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS ANTICIPATED. Mr C. Coleiidge Fair, who is in charge of the magnetic observatory in Chnstchurcli, read a paper ait Ihe meeting of the Natives' Association, last evening, on " Antarctic Expeditions." Mr Fair's paper iviiv- a comprehensive one, dealing- with the first crossing of the Ant^ arctic Circta by Captain Conk, and s-.jb-.'equent exploiutions up to that., made by Borchgrevink quite recently. lint besides: giving an 'account of -what- had been done in the past, Mr Farr gave a brief sketch of the objectives kept in view by the fx"peditions which -are about to. enter t lie "unknown regions 7 ' from several different points. He said that what we did not know about that mysterious country smith of New Zealand was considerably more than what we did know, as only Rors and Borchgrevink had landed witiiin the Circle. It w.os with a view to increasing the general scientific knowledge' of those little known jwrt? of the earth's surface -tiha-t the. most determined effort ever made in the world's history to penetrate *;til.l further south would be commence at tie end of •th« present year, and would 1 be extended until 1903. The fact that Great Biilain was represented in these €xpsdi-tioi:-.3 was due to the absolute unanimity of British men of science, vivo believed that o thoroughly equipped expedition wax of the utmost importance to the progress of knowledge of terrcstia.l physios. The British Government, at the 'suggestion of those men, had promised Mte sum of £45.000 provided that a simihij- sum could be misfd by subscriptions. This was done, and the Antarctic Expedition Fund now amounted to about £100,000. AH the scientific equipment of the expedition, luwl, he believed, been supplied by the Admiralty. About th>d time the British Government was asked to assist the Discovery, the aged Neumej-c)', wdu> had l-endercxl invaJuahle services to the Southern Hemisphere in connection with magnetic surveys, strongly advocated, the sending of an expedition from Germany. The Emperor and men of science in Germany took the matter up, and a German ship, the Gouss, named after a famous Antarctic explorer, was equipped. Scotland and Sweden were also sending ships out to take part in the attack on the great southern continent . THE WORK OF THE EXPEDITIONS. The work of each expedition had, been fixed by an international ec.mfc)itteej and spheres of operation had been allotted. The British would have that part of tim.Antarctic best known, owing to the wof&.|of Ross and Borchgrevink, and lying immtoiiately south of New Zealand. Leaving Lyjftedton some time towards the end of next^M^n.th, the Discovery would sail for the tast xi&ast of Victoria Land.. It would winter soljij!where between Robertson Bay, near to.Hn Land, and M'Murdo Bay. •No vessel lad ever wintered there before j but tjie most promising haven of refuge for her, bo ju2".*&' -was known, w»s "Wood Bay, near tias foot vi Mount Melbourne. During tho navigable season the Dis.covery wculd explore along the ice barrier discovered ' by Ross, and landed upon by Borchgrevink. Somewhere on the coast of Victoria Land a secondary base Eta-tion ■would be established. It would b& identical in all respects with the base in Christchurch. The German expedition would operate near Enderby Land. ]t was not known, where it would winter, and there were ao known harbours in that portion of the Antarctic. The speaker had not been able to asctitain what parts had been allotted to the Scottish and Swedish expeditions, but a glance at the map would show that there was plenty of room: for all. THE OBJECTS. The expeditions «lid not set out to discover lands. The object was a scientific one. They would endeavour to tell people more about the wonderful woi-ld in whk';h they lived. Attention wou;d be devoted to the existence of the continuous" westerly winds south of latitude 45deg south — "the. Rearing Forties," as they wtre called. It was those winds that caused aJI ships from these parts to r^urope to go round Cape Horn instead of round the Cape of (rood Hope. Accompanying thc';e winds there was apparently y.n. area, of permanently l"«' barometric pressure. It was supposed that the region of low pressure did not extend to the Pole. Observations .setined to indicate that south of latitude 75 the condition <f affairs was altered, and the press-ure became higher. Meteorology would aUo be assisted by the expeditions. As regarded terrestrial magnetism, there was a consensus r.f opinion that tlitre was a great want in magnetic observation. Why did the magnetic condition of the world c'hange in such a remarkably complex manner'' Why wa-s* the earth/ a magnet at aW.' The cause <»f the earth's magnetic condition was still on© of the unsolved problems r.f science, and it was txpected that valuable information would be gained in this direction. Besides those considerations, there were others, such as geology of the Antarctic regions, the exp'aiMilien of the ice barrier, and the bird life of the south. ALL THI-; WORLD IX UNJHOX. In connection with the- ;-.cienti(ie arrangements, the whole world wuiild act in unison. Commencing en Jen. 1 iiext, "term days," as they were called, would be observed in regard to the magnetic observations i.u the Ist and the. 15th of each month, until March, IGO3. On those days all tho observatories ct t ho world would <Iu precisely the- s-iune things at preciwv/ t lie .'vmih; time. Those observations would lityiu at. Greenwich at noon on .Jan. 1, at 1 1. . 3»U a.m. here, at 10 a.m. at Melbourne, ana m.-. «'!l From that time until 11.30 a.m. iun 1 tue next day, and the corresponding niiitniii iu ether places, observations would lie t.kvii every iiotir, and thus scientists wntld kiM'.v what was taking place over tlu> wh -ie world, invluding the extreme- nwlh to tiia south, at evoiy hour of thosj days. ia addition, t'lie idrst hour of l>-ih thu n:.^'.and the iiiteentli day of each lUuiUh Wnii'.u be set apart fi:r sjiccial attention. During that hour cbservaiions wuu'.d bo taken over the whole world every untune. iYr i>m.' hour, therefore, the w:ttdicrs wouid ki;».iv the magnttio conditions <i" liio t-arlJi eve :y lniimte. Tils "term hour 11 would gradually move fi.'-nvjird wii-ii riic year. Fur in>i;MUi", •on Jan. 15 mxt- the lioiir wi.uki bt 1 h'-iii | 12.30 to 1.50 in>.tc;ul of 11.50 lo .12.30. . ; s j on Jan. 1, so tlmt tho re v.uuid Ito rccuiUs j for ail tinHs of tin: day and night. i The meteorclcsgical arraiigcnunr.- wouM be organised in the -yamc iuteriuitionat ma-i•-ner. At a stated tinie each night Ihte mt'teorologicai observations would lie taken, especially south ov lutitv.do 30 ;S., and ;-imilar wcrk'v.'OtUd hi done ir. Europe and <.ther i countries and in frozen Vii-toriu Lunl. Oii«crvs,tii'n.~ of armc- : phrric ckctticity w<.k;:.l also icceiv-j internatioii.il rUtcntioi), wi i seismi.-.jji'aphs inv recording thf' uniVit. tremor's to whioi tin whole, world is »uii-jet-Led would he distributed in » manm •,; nevi 1 " attempted before. The scientific imjiortaace of this was «liown by tho fact that ;> stud}* of these tremors was throwing n, good deal c.f light en the. condition of the earth's interior. Next year, Mr Farr said in conclusion, would be an epoch-making one in regard lo man's knowledge of the extreme suutlicrly regions of the earth.