The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-25 00:00:00

Royal Geographical Society•

The fifth meeting of the present session of this
society was held at Burlington-house, on Monday
evening, the 23d inst., Sir R. I. Murchison, presi-
dent, in the chair. The large hall was quite
crowded with members and their friends, assembled
to hear Captain Sherard Osborn's paper, on " A
Project of an Expedition to Reach the North Pole
and Examine the Polar Region."
Captain OSBORT commenced by saying that no
apology was needed for an attempt to show before
the Geographical Society the perfect practicability
of an exploration of the blank space around the
North Pole. He and his ,brother Arctic explorers
did not belong to the new " rest-and-be-thankful
school," and were no more prepared to turn their
backs on Arctic discovery because a Franklin had
lust his life off King William's Land than they would
be to do so to an enemy's fleet because Nelson fell
at Trafalgar. Besides, it was a superficial and false
view that Arctic exploration was especially dan-
gerous. During 36 years of glorious enterprise,
from 1818 to 1854, by ship, by boat, and by sledge,
England fairly lost only two ships and 128 men out
of 42 successive expeditions. 40,000 miles had been
traversed by foot parties in the search of Franklin
alone, and yet not one of these parties had been ever
lost. An equal amount of geographical discovery
had never been accomplished on the earth's surface
with so small an amount of human sacrifice. It was
also a very superficial view that Arctic exploration
had done nothing but add so many miles of unpro-
fitable coastline to our charts. The discoveries made
in the various physical sciences during these expe-
ditions were full of practical importance. It was in
the Arctic region that the clue was obtained of the
laws of those mysterous currents which flow through
the wastes of the ocean like two mighty rivers—the
Gulf Stream and the Ice Stream. It was in Boothia
that the two Bosses first reached the magnetic pole
—that central point round which revolves the ma-
riner's compass over one-half the Northern Hemi-
sphere ; and the mass of observations collected by
our explorers on all sides of that pole had added
greatly to our knowledge of the laws of magnetic
declination and clip. " Every voyage to the North
(in the words of Admiral Bee. chey) has tended to
remove that veil of obscurity which previously hung
over the geography and all the phenomena of the
Arctic regions. Before these voyages all beyond the
North Cape was a blank ; but since then each suc-
cessive voyage has swept away some gloomy super-
stition, has brought to light some new phenomenon,
and tended to the advancement of human know-
ledge." The risks and privations cannot be great,
or Arctic service would not be so popular with our

sailors. He (Captain Osborn) was frequently
asked by old shipmates—" Are we going up that way
again, Sir 2 Please don't forget lam a volunteer."
The fact was that more sailors had been thrown to
the sharks from diseases incident to service in China
and on the African coast than ever fell during 30
years of Arctic service, and our seamen and officers
knew it. There were two routes to be considered
in a project for reaching the North Pole ; the one
by Spitzbergen, and the other via North Greenland.
Hakluyt's Head in Spitzbergen is about 600 miles
from the Pole. Sailing ships have been in this direc-
tion within 500 miles of it, and Captain Parry on
the night of July 22, 1827, stood upon floating ice
exactly 435 geographical miles from the Pole. He
was constrained to give up the attempt, simply be-
cause the ice was being swept faster to the south than
his men could drag their boats to the north. It was
the height of the Arctic summer, and the experience
of the last 20 years had shown that instead of start-
ing on such a journey in June, Parry ought to have
wintered in Spitzbergen and started for the Pole in
February. The Spitzbergen route, however, has this
objection—that no northern land is known on its
meridian to give fixed points for the deposit of pro-
visions. Smith's Sound, in North Greenland, would
be a better starting point. It is 120 miles nearer
the Pole, and there is good ground for concluding
that there is a further extension of continent or
islands thence to the northward. The nature of
the ice drift tends to prove this, for it consists of
icebergs, which are creatures of the land and born

of glaciers. Icebergs abound in Smith's Sound,
which would not have been the case had the land
terminated abruptly near the Humboldt Glacier.
These tell us of great lands with lofty mountains
and deep valleys, retaining the moisture and snow
drift of ages, and promise that continuity of frozen
seaboard needed to enable our explorers to reach the
Pole. In the year 1853 the lamented Dr. Kane en-
tered Smith's Sound with his little brig the Advance.
At that time he (Captain Osborn) (then serving
under Captain Richards) was in Wellington Chan-
nel with the expedition under Sir Edward Belcher ;
Kellett and M'Clintock were in Barrow's Straits ;
TlNl'Clure had just reached the waters of the Atlantic
from the side of the Pacific ; Collinson and Rae
were in Victoria Land, and Inglefieldhad just made
one of his summer trips to Beechy Island. There
were, therefore, at that time not less than 400 Bri-
tish subjects in the Arctic seas, all living in compa-
rative comfort, for the resources of a great navy had
been placed at their disposal. Dr. Kane's sufferings
arose from the insufficient supplies and imperfect
arrangements necessarily attendant on a purely pri-
vate enterprise ; but this was no reflection on those
warm-hearted Americans who had so nobly come
forward to aid in Artie enterprises. - The chivalrous
and enthusiastic Kane he (Capt. Osborn) well knew
never penned those touching episodes to frighten
men from these grand undertakings, but rather to
caution US to avoid his mistakes and to show us how
nobly the worst evils may be borne when the cause is
a good one. The brig Advance, by departingfrom
an Artic rule to keep to the western shore fell into a
bay 60 miles further than Smith's Sound, out of
which she never again sailed. The furthest point in
Greenland reached was beyond a stupendous tongue
of the great glacier, and named Cape Constitution
by Mr. Morton, the only man who reached it. He
could neither get round it nor scale it. What there
is, therefore; beyond Cape Constitution none of us
know. Kane thought it the termination of Green-
land ; but this was a hasty conclusion, for he (Cap-
tain Osborn) could not believe that such a glacier as
that of Humboldt was fed by other than some exten-
sive parent glacier, the existence of which requires a
vast area of land—a continuation of the Greenland
continent. In fact Mr. Morton scrambling up the face
of Cape Constitution, saw land rolling away to the
northward, with a fine range of mountains looming
in the interior. Accepting the lower of the two
latitudes estimated as that of Cape Constitution (80
and crediting Morton's vision with a
deg. 56 min.)
range of 60 miles, that would give to Cape parry a
distance of 484 miles from the Pole. This is the dis-
tance we have to deal with, and .Cape parry_a
fixed point more than a degree and a half nearer the
Pole than Hakluyt's Head in Spitzbergen—is the
best point of departure for an exploration of the 1
great unknown space before us. The distance from
Cape Parry to the Pole and back is 968 miles ; a dis-
tance which has been repeatedly exceeded by our
Arctic sledge and boat parties. Thus, whether we
believe in Kane's Polyna or open Polar Sea, which
there were good reasons for considering of small ex-
tent,
continuous ice, the journey was perfectlY
feasible:
Along this meridian the native race has
been found to extend to a higher latitude than in
savages
yother known direction. A fine tribe of Arctic
were first discovered by Sir John Ross, in
lat. 75 deg. 35 min., and named by him Arctic High-
landers. Subsequent Pe
ditions, besides whale
ships, have had intercourseex
have so far conciliated them these people, and
that,th instead of offering
to kill Europeans, as they threatened in 1818, w/e find
them in 1851 positively saving Kane and his fol-
lowers from starvation. The men
are square-built,
hearty fellows, deep-chested, bass-voiced, and merry-
hearted, and, though without boats or other weapons
than such as are made otbone, they attack and slay
the walrus and the Polar bear, the flesh of which
and
other animals constitute their only food. The ex.
istenee of so kindly-disposed and well-fed a tribe in
Smith's Sound is so far favourable to the proposed
expedition that it shows how succour may be ob.
tamed in case of accident, and how 'abundant animal
life in that latitude must be to support them so wel
in all seasons. Kane tells us that his Arctic friends
would not carry him beyond the Humboldt Glacier,
and seemed to have no knowledge of lands to the
' north. Moitou, however, found a fragment of an

Esquimaux sledge on the shores between that
glacier and Cape Constitution. May it not
be that other Esquimaux exist there, and
is not the question worthy the attempt at solu-
tion.—How far does human life extend towards the
Pole ? With regard to the mode in which an ex-
ploration should be carried out ; in the first place,
such expeditions should always be sent under naval
auspices and naval discipline. He (Captain Osborn)
had no faith in purely private expeditions on such a
service. Wooden ships of war were now rotting in
our arsenals. All the old ladies round our seaports
are cooking their tea with heart of oak from poor
chopped up gunboats. We don't want three-
deckers, although you might have them for the ask-
ing. But you can be more modest, and ask for
something smaller than wooden line-of-battle ships.
Of course you would not expect the Admiralty to
take the initiative in such matters. The immortal
Cook would never have made his voyages roundthe
world. The illustrious names of Franklin, Parry,
and Ross would not have been added to the rolls of
Fame, if you had waited for past Admiralties to
originate scientific research and geographical explo-
ration. There was no doubt that men of science,
and-men who think that the navy exists for nobler
purposes than fighting, will find the Duke of Somer-
set just as amenable to reason and healthy pressure
as former Lords of the Admiralty have been. The
Board, like other Boards, will, as good servants of
the public, do whatever the enlightened portion of
the public call upon them to do, and it is to the
action of public opinion, directed by men of science,
that he (Captain Osborn) hoped to see a Polar ex-
pedition sent forth in this generation under naval
auspices. The navy needs some action to wake it
up from the sloth of routine, and Arctic exploration
is more wholesome for it in a moral and sanitary
point of view than any more Ashantee and Japanese
wars. The navy of England knows well that there
are other achievements as glorious as victorious
battle, and a wise ruler and a wise people ought to
be careful to satisfy a craving which is the life-blood
of a profession. Would it be, therefore,.too much to
ask for a fraction of the vast sum yearly sunk in
naval expenditure for two small screw vessels and 120
officers and men out of the 50,000 men annually
placed at the disposal of the Admiralty? Let us suppose
it granted, and two vessels ready by the spring of
1866. They would sail for Baffin's Bay and reach
Cape York in August. One vessel would then be
secured in or about Cape Isabella, leaving only 25
persons in charge ; the other, with 95 men, would
be pressed up the western shore in the direction of
Cape Parry, taking care not to exceed a distance of
300 milesfrom her consort. During the same autumn
the southern ship would connect herself by depots
with the northern vessel, and the northern vessel
would place out depots towards the Pole ready for
spring operations. In the two following years-
-1867-B—sledge and boat operations should be
directed towards the Pole and over the unknown
polar area, and in 1869 the expeditionlwould retire,
thus spending only two winters and three summers
in the Arctic Zone. With respect to the distance to
be traversed in going to the Pole and back, we have
ample data to show that it has been frequently ex-
ceeded by our sailors over the most sterile lands yet
visited in the Arctic region. In 1853 Commander
M'Clintock's party made 1,220 miles in 105 days ;
Commander G. Richards 1,012 miles in 102 days;
Lieut. Mecham 1,203 miles ; and Captain Richards
and himself (Captain Osborn) 1093 miles ; Lieut.
Hamilton even accomplished 1,150 miles with a dog
sledge and one man. All these distances are in excess
of the 964 to be traversed in going from Cape Parry
to the Pole and back. Since 1853 still greater dis-
tances have been accomplished. Thus, Lieutenant
Mecham marched, in 1854, 1,157 miles in only 70
days, a gain of a month in time, equal to a distance
of 300 miles ; Lieut. Young achieved 1,150 miles ;
and in 1859 Captain M'Clintock actually accom-
plished 1,330 miles. The latter distinguished officer
(now Sir L. M'Clintock) agreed with Captain
Osborne in thinking that it was quite possible with
good management to extend a journey a distance of
1,500 miles, or upwards of 500 miles more than are
required for a sledge trip to the Pole and back. The
project had the hearty support of Sir L. M'Clintock,
who had thus written to the author of the paper :
" I am glad you are poking up the embers of the
Arctic discovery. I wish I was now preparing for
a trip to the North Pole. I regard it as being within
the reach of this generation ; for knowledge,
you know, in sledge travelling, is power." This
statement from an officer who had spent seven win-
ters and ten summers in Arctic seas was conclusive,
and of all men he was the best fitted to lead such an
expedition. In conclusion Captain Osborn pressed
warmly the advantages to the physical sciences which
would accrue from such an expedition. There was
an area of 1,131,000 square miles around the Pole at
present a blank on our maps, and it was of the highest
geographical interest to ascertain whether this space
was a silent frozen solitude, or, as some maintained
an area of land and water teeming with life. The
ethnological problems were no less:interesting, for it
was extremely probable that man would be found
existing much further north than was at present be-
lieved ; and his mode of existence in these regions
would be very similar to that of our remote ancestors
in Europe, who used flint weapons during the period
when an Arctic climate prevailed over Britain and a
great part of the Continent. There were also many
meteorological problems of the highest interest which
could only be solved by a series of accurate observa-
tions made by skilful persons in very high latitudes.
But one of the most important services which such an
expedition could render to science would be the mea-
surement of an arc of the meridian in the Arctic
Zone, a desideratum that had recently engaged the
attention of the Royal Society in connexion with the
proposed Swedish expedition for that purpose to
Spitzbergen. General Sabine, the President of the
Royal Society, in his address of Nov. 30, 1863, stated
that he had urged the value and importance of this
measurement 40 years ago to the British public, and
had planned the means of executing of it, with the in-
tention of carrying out his plan personally. This great
service—a measurement of four degrees of the meri-
dian—could be well performed by a party from the ship
which was proposed to be left near C ape Isabella during
the summer season, while the northern exieditionwas
on itsroad to the Pole. Gen. Sabine, in his presiden-
tial address delivered in Nov., 1864, called attention
to other subjects which could only be investigated by
a new scientific expedition towards the Pole—one
was in connexion with the variation in the quantity
of saline ingredients in the sea, Professor Forch-
hammer having recently inferred by the decreasing
saltness at increasing depth the existence of under-
currents from the Pole, an inference which required
to be proved experimentally. Another was the direc-
tion of the Gulf Stream after rounding Spitzbergen.
Gen. Sabine added, in a recent letter to the author
of the paper, "To reach the Pole is the greatest geo-
graphical achievement which can be attempted, and I
own I should be grieved if it should be first accom-
plished by any other than an Englishman. It will be
which the crowning enterprise of those Arctic researches in
v
ooursbcooratry has hitherto had the pre - eminence;'
Capt.
concluded by an eloquent appeal to
Sir R. Murchison, as President of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, w give theenl projectghtene do fsuanppoertxpethdia-t
expedi-
tion to the Pole the same
such enterprises had ever received at his hands in
order that his long services to science might be
crowned by the addition of Polar discovery to the
domain of human knowledge.
The PRESIbENT said the subject so ably brought
forward by Capt. S. Osborn was one which deeply
interested all who cultivated geography and the
sciences allied to it. It was gratifying to learn that
that enlightened portion of the society—the naval
surveyors of Britain—had warmly encouraged the
views they had just heard propounded. Capt. Osborn
iad shown, not by guessing, but by an actual appeal
to facts, how himself and his associates had in the
Arctic circle accomplished in sledges and on foot far
longer distances on the ice than those which were
necessary to travel over in order to solve this great
geographical problem. He had successfully exposed
the erroneous opinions which had been entertained
with regard to the perils of Arctic travelling. In
the proposed x .
damn no such calamity as that
which befel tleiPe
almost
dreaded, for tiei late lamented Franklin need be
tw o ships asked for would be so
stationed as to insure the safe return of
the whole party.
As president of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, he
felt bound to express his

sense of the great importance of measuring an arc
of the meridian for the first time in these high
latitudes as tending to demonstrate the true figure of
the earth. It was not for that society to depart
from the dignity of their calling by endeavouring to
show that this enterprise would have results profit-
able to commerce ; it was enough that the scientific
objects to be obtained were of great value. He
ardently hoped that the British nation, whose bold
and skilful voyagers had done so much in the dis-
covery of Arctic lands, would complete their work
by an endeavour to hoist the Union Jack at the
North Pole itself. (Loud applause.)
General SABINE, President of the Royal Society,
most heartily concurred in the scheme proposed by
Captain Sherard Osborn. He agreed with that
gallant officer that it was of great importance to
give to naval officers opportunities of enterprise in
times of peace, and he knew of no better field than
that offered by Arctic exploration. Many of our
most distinguished naval men had been trained in
that school. There was no period at which the ex-
pedition could be so efficiently carried out as the
present, when so many officers trained in Arctic ex-
ploration were still among us, and willing to join in
the enterprise ; among whom was Leopold M'Clin-
tock, who, he understood, was ready to give up, the
command of one of the finest frigates in the service
to conduct this expedition. On the part of the
Royal Society he might say there was no lack of
objects of the highest importance to science which
they could suggest as requiring investigation by such
an expedition, and he was sure that that society
would join most heartily in any application to
Government for assistance.

Admiral Sir EDWARD BELCHER said he should be
glad to see the proposed expedition carried out.
The only difficulty he saw as likely to occur would
be that the floe to the north might be found in a
moving condition, just as Parry had found it to the
north of Spitzbergen. The ice to the north was in
motion much earlier than it was in Baffin's bay.
With respect to temperature, it was a curious fact
that in the whole of the Arctic region examined by
navigators the mean cold for 176 days never varied
more than a decimal point between 9 degrees and
10 degrees below zero. If this problem is to be
solved, it should be solved by England. It should
not be agitated here and the Americans allowed to
get the start, as they did in Japan. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. LUBBOCK, President of the Ethnological
Society, spoke of the ethnological questions upon
which new light might be thrown, now that the re-
cent discoveries of traces of an early population
living under Arctic conditions in our latitude, had
shown on what points new inquiries into the habits
of the Esquimaux should be directed.
Capt. Hamilton, R.N., Mr. C. R. Markham, Lord
Dufferin, Dr. Donnet, Capt. Inglefleld, R.N., Mr.
J. Crawfurd, and Capt. Richards, R.N., Hydro-
grapher to the Admiralty, all spoke at greater or
less length in favour of the proposed expedition,
after which the meeting separated.

Sanitary Condition of the City.
Yesterday Dr. Letheby submitted to the Commissioners
of Sewers at their meeting at Guildhall his report on the
sanitary condition of the city for the last 12 months. Dur-
ing the year, he said, there had been 2,780 births, 2,900
deaths, and 1,575 marriages in the city. For the first time
in the last 16 years, or as far back as his records extended,
the number of deaths had this year exceeded the number of
births ; and all the numbers were greatly below the average
for that time. ' In fact, the mean annual proportion of births
for the last 10 years had been 3,295, the deaths 2,955, and
the marriages 1,698. And with respect to the marriages it
was remarkable . that while the number in the eastern
division of the city had declined from an average of 549 in
the year to 510, and that in the western from 554 to 421,
the proportion in the city proper had advanced from 595
to 644.. The explanation of this was not apparent, but it
might be said ,that the number of marriages in the city
during the year had been in the proportion of 12.3 per 1,000
of the population of the first-named district, 15.7 in the
second, and 13:9 in the third—making a general average of
13.8 for the whole city. This was but little below the com-
mon proportion (14) for the last 10 years, but it was a good
deal below the proportion (16.6) for the whole of. England,
although it should not be, considering the large excess of
marriageable persons in the city population. The birth-rate
also had declined from a general average of 27 per 1,000
of population to 24.3, the numbers of the several districts
of the city being 28.3 for the Eastern Union, instead of
32.8 ; 27.8 for the Western, instead of 284 ; and 18.6 for
the Central or City Union, instead of 2F2. In the rest of
London the birth-rate was about 34 per 1,000 of the popu-
lation, and in all England it was nearly 35 per 1,000. The
birth-rate in the city therefore, during the last year had
not only been far below the normal proportion for the
country generally, but it had also been below its own pro-
portion. The distribution of the 2,900 deaths for the year
had been as follows :-1,094 were in the eastern district,
795 in the western, and 1,011 in the central. These were
in the proportion of 26.5 per 1,000 on the population of the
first-named district, 29.7 of the second, and 21.7 of the third
—making together a mean proportion of 25.3 for the whole
city. In the preceding ten years the average mortality in
the city had been only 24.2 per 1,000, and in the several
unions it had ranged from 20 per 1,000 to nearly 28. In all
England the proportion was but 221 per 1,000 of the popu-
lation, and in the districts of the chief towns it was 24.3.
But last year was unusually unhealthy, for the mortality in
the whole of England rose from an average of 22 per 1,000
to 23.5 ; and in the winter quarter of the year it reached to
nearly 28 per I,ooo—that of the chief towns being 29.7,
and of the metropolis 30.9. " Seldom indeed," said the
Registrar-General, in his comments on this fact, "has the
winter been more fatal." Taking a retrospect of the past,
he found that in the case of the city there had been but three
occasions during the last ten years when the mortality had
been so high. The cause of that remarkable increase of the
death-rate was only to be found in the singularly dry con-
dition of the atmosphere during many months of the year ;
for not only had there been less rain than usual in the pro-
portion of 17.24 in. instead of 23.27 for the whole year, but
the average degree of atmospheric humidity had been but
74 instead of 80, and the number of wet days had been
only 47 instead• of 169. And besides this, the temperature
of the air had been fully a degree below the average. It
would seem, therelore, that frequent showers of rain were
beneficial in clearing the atmosphere of impurities, and in
keeping it in a normal state of humidity. As regarded the
ages at death 37 per cent. of all the deaths in the year had
been among children of less than five years of age, and of
these about half had died in the first year of infancy. In
other words, there had been 2,780 births in the city during
the year, and 517 deaths of children less than a year old ;
so that rather more thau 18 per cent., or about 1 in 76 of
all the children born, had died in the first year of their ex-
istence. The average proportion during the last 10 years
had been about 17 per cent., and in all England it was just
18 per cent., while in France it was rather more than 21
per cent. The infant mortality in the city, therefore,
although large, was not in excess of the common propor-
tion elsewhere, and it was much below the mortality in
France. Ono of the most striking facts in the table of
deaths, according to age, was the increase in the mortality
of persons at from 55 to 75 years of age. In the preceding
10 years, with nearly the same total mortality at all ages,
the number of deaths among persons at from 55 to 65 years
of age had been but 289, whereas in the last year it had in-
creased to 315 ; and at from 65 to 75 the number had ad-
vanced from 282 to 292. This increase had been almost
entirely among males ; and the mortality at the first ages
had been 57 per 1,000 of the living, and at the last 110.
In former years the mortality of males in the city at from '
55 to 65 years of age had been only 48 per 1,000, and at
from 65 to 75, 99 per 1,000. In all England the death-rate at
these ages was 32 per 1,000, and 66; and in France it was
but 22 and 65; so that the strain upon a city life was very
unmistakably manifested at the ages of from 55 to 75. It
would seem, too, from the gradual increase in the mortality
at these ages, that the strain was becoming more severe year
by year ; and it:was probably the result of that intensity of
mental labour which the growing activity of commerce de-
manded. Among the females at those ages the death-rate
was not remarkably excessive, for it ranged from 37 per 1,000
at the first period to 80 at the last; the averages for Eng-
land and France being about 28 and6o. With respect to the
causes of death, there had been a slight increase in the mor-
tality from phthisis, and a decrease in that from tabes and
hydrocephalus. Inflammatory affections of the lungs had
also declined from a general average. of 503 in the year to
452 ; and with regard to the zymotic class of disease,
although they had advanced from 612 to 624, yet some of
them,' as continued fever, whooping-cough, and the
diarrhoea of adults, had been less severe than usual,
while scarier fever, measles, and the diarrhoea of children
had been more than commonly fatal ; and here he
might remark that the chief increase in the mortality
from phthisis had been in the winter quarter,
that of measles in spring and summer, that of infantile
diarrhoea in summer, and that of scarlet fever in autumn.
Looking at the principal facts on record during the last 10
years, it would seem that these diseases were more preva-
lent and fatal at certain seasons of the year than at others.
Thus the largest mortality from phthisis and hydro-
cephalus was during the cold and changeable weather
of winter and spring; while the period for the greatest ac-
tivity of tabes and scrofula, the other members of the tuber-
cular class, was summer and autumn ; and so also of zymo-
tic diseases, there was the greatest difference in their ma-
nifestations of power at different seasons ; scarlatina, for
example, was more virulent in autumn and least so in win-
ter. The same was the case with continued fever, and with
measles, and with the diarrhoea of adults. But the diarrhcea,
of infants was most fatal in summer,—so much so, that of