The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1871-07-21
lA~ Use III Polar Expeditions.
Prom the New York Evening post.

Prom the New York Evening Post.
The plan Of Captain Hall ofthe steam
CT lolaris, to 90 In search Of the Noril
pvla, cxcites general curiosity, but thi'
curiosity seems, ia many cases, to be d.
rcctcl rather 10 the probable fate 0f thu
expedition than 10 ITS expected results
What is 10 be gained. some men ask, b.
expanding 50 much capital and iiskin,.
80 many lives. ia an effort 10 reach a
place where no IN IN can possibly stay.
mud where nothing worth bringing back
possibly be found And there are not
wanting voices 10 declare that the whole
scheme is piece OF toolharly advcn-
ture, born Of idle curiosity or vain emu
lation.
but The fact Is that the expedition IN
question Is as truly scientific move
Incnt. in the service Of truth, as any Sc
ries of experiments ever undertaken la
laboratory of Bunsen or Of Faraday.
The active research of the last few years
into the facts OF geo sraphy and meteor
oIOgy, has brought face to face with
science number OF important problems
which demand for their solution bctt, +
knowledge OF the region within the
polar circle. The exploration Of any
unknown land or sea is Of Immense val
Tie to botany and mineralogy. fan as
troiUmical station could be established.
even for a few months, at the pole, il
would possess great advantages, rs an
observatory, for many purposes. over
any on the globe. II any organic
remains could be discovered in the ex.
tre,ne north, or il the absence Of them
4ns, a L.
established, either fact would be OF the
highest Importance in its bearing upon
the past changes Of temperature OH the
globe.
Captain Hall may fairly be expected,
il he succeeds in nothing else, to bring
back to US some valuable information ms
to the extent and shape Of the land and
the ocean within the polar circle. But
one Of the most Interesting problems
now before physical gcographers de-
ponds upon precisely this information
for its solution. DR.. Carpenter has Just
put forth theory. which Sir John Her.
schel. before his death, adopted to cx-
plain the general circulation Of water in
the ocean.
1t has long been known that the rapid
evaporation Of water in the Mediterra-
mean constantly lowers the level Of that
sea, and produces 3 strong eastward
current through the straits of Gibraltar.
But evaporation takes off pure water
and leaves all the solid matter that is
suspc ided in the sea /: 80 that the water
OF the Mediterranean il left denscr and
heavier than that Of the Atlantic. II
has, therefore, been suspected that this
heavier water, sinking by its weight,
would cause by its pressure return cur
rent to the westward, at the bottom of
the straits, and this suspicion has recent
~ been made certainty.
Now DR.. Carpenter holds that the sea
in the neighborhood Of the equator aus
tains the Same relation 10 the Northern
and Southern oceans as the Mcditerrane-
an docs to the Atlantic but in q much
higher degree; that evaporation under
the sun produces general surface move-
,nent Of waters from the Polar seas to
the equator; that the condensation Of
the warmer waters there produces a
snb-current toward the poles. and that
these two general movements and Of the
sea bottom. and the revolution of the
earth, substantially accounts for all the
great currents Of the ocean. and ror the
varied temperature and consequent dis
tribution Of life in the depths. Captain
Halls examination Of the Polar sea d
Of its outlets is likely to have a great
Influence upon the future development
Of this theory.
1t is not necessary here to speak Of the
various questions Of human physiology
which are illustrated by life in tire ex-
IRENE north nor Of the other Incidental
matters Of profound interest on which
information may be gathered there. The
| ursnit Of knowledge is always noble,
and always enobling and its past histo-
ry Is full Of assurances that, when IL is
faithfully carried out, It il sure 10 bring
immeasQrable and unforeseen rewards.
We are assured, that the expedition now
ahout to state il provided with every
thing which experience and forethought
suggest as necessary to its efficiency and
safety. and the earnest wishes Of enligh-
tened men will he with the adventurous
explorers in all their perils. for their
triumphant return with n precious
freight OF additions to our knowledge
Of the world in which we live.