The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1869-04-15
. ..' From Chambers journal.
Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.

Il .
Among the nayigators and scientific
men Of former times, it was disputed
whether salt water was capable Of being
frozen. Experience-in many cases a
stern teacher-has set that question at
rest, proving that in the polar circles
the sea is, for hundreds of miles, COW
cred with masses of ice, which form
sullen, unyielding barrier to the poles.
Maury describes the agencies at work
in these terrible solitudes in a famous
passage: "There icebergs are framed
and glaciers launched; there the tides
have their cradle, the whales their
nursery; there the winds complete their
circuits, and the currents of the sea
their round in the wonderful system Of
oceanic circulation; there the aurora is
lighted up, and the trembling needle
brought to rest and there too, in the
mazes of that mystic circle, terrestrial
forces of occult power and of vast In
fuence upon the well being of man are
continually at play. Within the arctic
circle are the pole of the winds and the
poles of the cold; the pole of the earth
and of the magnet. 1t is a circle of
mysteries and the desire to enter it
to explore its untrodden wastes &nd Sc
cret chambers, and to study its physical
aspectsAbas grown into a longing"
Marine ice is whitish, opaque, and
rough on the surface, and consists Of
thin fakes of porous spongy texture.
From the quantity of strong brine en-
closed 10 its substance, it is very heavy
and dense, and projects or!y one-fifth
above water When sea. water begins
to freeze, it partially deposits its salt,
which thus set free, retards the process
of cohgelation below, Old foes are
almost fresh, but thaw renders them
brackish. The polar seas do not con.
geal until the temperature falls to 2Sl
degrees of Fahrenheit, which takel
place in September in the north, and
March in the south; though even ir
summer, slight increase of cold il
sufficient to form young ice severa
inches thick. The sun sets early il
November, and the severity of thu
arctic winter begins in December, con
tinuing to the end of January, during
which time The the thermometer range
to about 40 degrees below zero, A weel
or two of milder weather comes on
but the middle of February brings witt
it the sun, Immediately followed by tn
most intense cold of the whole winter
After that, the SUMS Influence begin
to be felt, and in July the ice breaks up
During the three summer months, tn
! sun never sets, but noon and midnigh
are equally illumed by brilliant sunshine
A few stars appear in September .Th
3 darkest part Of the winter is from th
It middle Of December to the middle {
January, when The aurora transform
the sky into a vault of fire, and par
aselen@ appear, surrounding the moo
with blazing crosses, circles, and mock
! moons scarcely surpassed by the won
e derful deceptions of the solar rays. TIL
I intense cold Of February is accompanie
it by considerable twilight; and in tn
latitude Of Banks Land, there is eve
at the end of January tolerable ligt
from 9.3OX. NJ to $50 P. NJ, so muc
= so, that at noon Arcturus is the sol
star unquench by the increasing day
light. The only navigable time is frol
s July to September within the northerl
: and January, February, and part
March within the southern circle. Du
'e ing the rest of the year the arctic re
gions are imnenetrably sealed by val
W fields of ice, both ''foe" and ''pack,
% covering every foot of water, from tn
n shallowest inlet to tie wide expanse I
{, Bafin's Bay or Melville sound.
q The interior of Greenland is occupie
y by vast glaciers which encroach on Il
= = coast, filing the deep dark 6ords vii
. frozen snow. AS summer advance
those portions of the glacier that pr,
iect into the sea are undermined by Il
waves. and fall with tremendous nois
rocking in the foaming water till the
gain equilibrium, when, perfect iceberg
they float here and there, inpelled |
winds and currents. Many are borI