The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-03-02


EEE LECTURE SEASON.
>~~~~~>~~~N~<N>N~~rN~o,
DIR. Kanc's Second Lecture on tho Arctic
Regions.
The second and last loctare on the Arctic regions
was delivered last evening, at the Tabernacle, be.
fore crowded audience.
The Doctor briefly alluded to tho circumstances
in which the expedition was placed, mentioned in
his last lecture. The huge ice raft in which the
vessels embedded, gave him leisure to critcise
the apparent phenomena connected with the Arctic
zone. Their summer had been 81 > above Faren-
heit. Nature lad strange pow ers of compensation,
for when only fifty miles from the North Pole he
had gathered ranunouus The freezing mp of the
water c3sAs produced an inability to get water for
drinking purposes, and therefore they had to ma.
nufacture it from the icebergs Their ships be.
came frozen up in September; and when the Their
nometer became 800 below zero, all the easaoies
had also frozen Tito consolidated masses Tney
were obliged to cut butter with chisel and beef
with Ratchet When they walked out into the
open air, afeer an respiration tive, they became
conscious Of Q dry Gud braoing atmosphere; tas
hais of the ia 20 rcZe With ice; the tong Ie would
freeze TO the chin and the lips would freeze together
by means Of the moustache. BY walking briskly,
they could get into glow of .perspiration; but
when the wind rose, then q tingling of sharp ma
ture WAS felt over the body and oven the jschuife
in lbeir pocket would burn them. Extremes
met Tho effects of extreme heat and cold were
alike. Cold was the modifying eemen. of real
life, ard was hardly to be estimated except by
comparison with heat. The chill--thet sensation
ofcold SO well knosn at home--was unknown in
those regions. High wrought cold vas there expo
rien,ed, and it was only by its sudden attack
that they became conscious Of it II was impossible
always 10 escape without wounj, and many Of
them returned with scars and sores, though they
left no inbs behind When the mercury froze,
and alcohol fell " degrees below the freezing
point, an inspection Of the crow took place. a
whio spot on the nose was the signal for I'M
covering from an attack Of the lungs, had his ear
frost bitten, and it dropped Oft When they begln
to while away their time vita sheatrcals, and es-
pecially when they came out on Washington's birth
day, tho cold was felt % intense The lamps were
surrounded by prismatic appearances. One Thes-
plan iady-a tall lrishman-Tas handling Hat
iron, (with which she was ironing her good mans
hnen) without hoder--it burnt her hand Tho
most expressing feature was the darkness Of the
long night. IL was not until November tina. the
sun heo cease to rise. They were 81 days without
seeing the sun With the sailors there was but
again" "When shall we see the sun y He
cannot describe to the audience the Arctic light,
and even q Turner might hesitate to depict it.
The pole, although sixteen degrees from tho
zenith, seemed over their he ads He then ali AIDED
to the appearance Of the heavens during the long
night. To watch the continued I'll CRY OF them was
more than could be described Above all, the
great hosts of heaven shone oat in all their splen-
cor The aurors boreals visited them almost
nightly: the aurora borealis did not exhibit that
splendid display seen by us in more southern la,i-
tude; 1t was like con densod ne bulosity-it having
whitish appearance; he did not think that it
illumned tho darkness, AID it affected the mag.
netic needle. The halo that was observed Tessm-
bled the rainbow, as seen by US. The moon was
surrounded by Two concentric circles, and, at one
time, there appeared the phenomenon Of eight rep
ressntatons OF moons shining 10 the heavens.
Night, however, soon began to leave them. and
they became, agreeably awsre of the change
Describing the appearance Of the plain j; was
| notobed by dark jagged shadows. On board ship
changes had also been observed: tho bedding was
tinted with q dark pigment, and the men be anne
Of waxen complexion; they grew paler as the
sun approached. At this time the scurvy made
| great progress. After this came the sun, whose
benefit they highly appreciated 1t was interesting
TO watch the progression of the increasing
days. they saw the sun rise and fall at the
familiar east and west as at home. By the
10th Of April night had left them, and they
had entered upon the long Arctic day. From
the sun extended pencil column, aud lozen-
shaped representations Of the sun we're seen. The
mirage, with which phenomenon the audience were
familiar in q recent case of the Arctic steamship,
was also prevalent, and it was occasioned through
the diversion OF light passing through air of ditfe
rent densities Looking ut the polar horizons, they
became conscious of the fact that no two horizons
were alike. The snow on each eide appeared us
great inclined plane. In the midst Of sn area,
"hose centre was yourself, and surrounded by
q
only at tho height of the summer that this mirage
attaine d its fuil spendor. Broad bays and cities
glisened in the sun light; and even fleet of ocean
steamers was at one time seen sailing towards
Them They had striking reflections also, without the
presence OF sun light. The star Sirius was on one
occasion reflected similar to tho Arctic steamer.
They had thus driftcdfor more than one thousand
miles during period Of nine months. great
now, however, soon followed, and in less than the
space ct twenty minutes They were amongst the
loose leo, and soon afterwards they got into q
rough, open sea-. He Che lecturer) a. that time
exPressed his admiration at the resolve of their
valued commander to renew the search. In less
than q week they were again bufotting with the
floating ice, Greenland was an assemblage of
iflands eemented together by ice. The Doctor
next described tho construction of glaciers aud
ice oerge Nothing could be compared to an ice
berg its whiteness was opaque la sh ipe it was
varied; 1T commenced With great quadrauguar
batis, and they found every diversity of hills
on its surface, typical Of what was on laad
hiihops OF tons were sometimes contained in those
neIgs ana they travelled sometimes at tho rate os
thfee miles I'D hour. On enc occasion, while the
vesses were ice-bound in cove, tho ioebergs
kept on their procession towards the north: one
prectous wall Office hung over the ves es and shey
CD rot know but that it would enter tho cove where
they were The prosecution OF further search for Sir
J9hn ankhn seemed TO be quite in 20 sible, aud
also An escape 10 % open @ater After some period
however they fortunately Effected their escape by
means Of very narrow channel Notwi,hSt aadiog
all these disGppointments, the search could not DO
regarded as given Up. Science, which recognized
no other nationality than that Of the world which il
CT hghteEed-lhe philanthropy and the cbivalry of
the word-xould all reject the dishonor Of leaving
the gallant Franklin and his companions to perish
Cloud applause Resolutions were then submitted
70 the audience, expressing the necessity OF fur
Their search for Sir John Franklin; also vote of
thar ks to Mr.. Grinne for his exertions and like
wife vote Of thanks to DR.. Kane-all of which
were unanimously approved, and the audience
then retired
Spiritual Manifestations
ANOTHER EXTRAORDINARY NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ry. |
PERIMENTs-GREAT AMUSEMENT AMONG TuR AUDI |
FEcE AT THE uIfA,prfc