Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1874-03-14
THE POLARIS.
Scientific Result, OF DR.. Hall', last ~
petition.

The results Of the expedition may be
summed up briefly as follows:
/. The POlaris reached s. deg. n, a
higher latitude tAan has been attained
by any other ship,
, The navislbility of Kennard chan.
ne! has been proved beyond a dolb,.
+ Upward Of seven hundred miles
OF coast line have been discovered and
surveyed.
4 The insularily Of Greenland has
been proved and
). Numerous observations have
been made relating 70 astronomy. mag
netism, force Of gravity, ocean physics,
meteorolog7, zoology, etholgy, bot
any, and geology, the records Of which
were kept in accor ance with the IL
strucsious supplied by the national
academy, and some Of the results Of
which we propose briefly to enumerate,
Gre7. care was taken in determining
a reliable meridian at Thank.God har.
Dor. soon after entering winter quar-
tiers AZ observatory was erected on the
shore, 81 feet above mean sea Level, and
the transit instrum hts stationed there.
The longitude OF this station was deter
mined by the observation Of 300 lunar
distances /; a number Of moon culnlla-
ti1us : a great number Of star trnsi.s
a number OF star oculati0ns and s
great number Of attitudes Of the sun on
OF near the prime vertical. It's latitude
By the observation Of a great number Of
clrcum-eridiau attitudes OF the sun,
and number OF attitudes OF stars. All
81 these observations were lost, but q
number OF the results have been pre-
served which are sufficient to establish
the position Of this station. Besides
the aforementioned observations, 20
sets Of pendulum experiments were
made, which are saved, but the obser-
yati5as for time belonging to them are
lost.
The magnetic observations obtained
were more complete than any others
ever before made in the Arctic regions.
The instruments supplied were; One
uDidlar declinoneter one dip circle,
with Lloyi's needles: 4 theodoli.e,
and several ~prismatic compasses. The
obser7 tions on variation Of declina-
tiou were registered at Gottingen, and
were continued for five months. Rad.
ings were taken hourly, Besides that,
tlree-tern days we're observed every
month, according to the Gottingen reg
ulations, Il Of these term-days cores
bonding with the days accepted by all
the magnetic stations. Further, a mum
Der Of observations we're taken either
with the thee !olite or prismatic com
pass. Whenever possible, the dip was
observed, and several sets Of obserya.
tons on relative and absolute intensity
and Of the moment Of inertia were OBJ
tanned.
Unfortunately there was not much
opportunity for taking soundings.
About twelve were obtained along the
coast Of Grinnell Land, which prove
that the hundred fathom line follows
the east at a distance Of about fifteen
miles in Smith Sound. One Of these
s~ouudings go fathousJ proved highly
interesting, containing an organism Of
lower type than the BufhyJiu8 discov-
cred by the English dredging expedi-
ton. It was named ProtobdthyJips 70.
besoaji. A number of deep.sea ten.
peratures were taken with correspond,
ing observations on the density Of the
water, Following tie coast Of West
Greenland the limits Of the Gulf Stream
were ascertained. Specimens Of water
from different depths were preserved in
bottles, bu., unfortunately, lost.
After LaTing entered winter quarters
meteorological observations. which MP 70
this time hal been made three,hourly,
were made every hour, Washington
t4s. Tue register contained observa.
tons On the temperature Of the sir,
atmospheric pressure, psvchromctricsl
~Clsa-ga-.1-,, directions and force Of
Wind. appearance Of the SKY, state Of
weather. All both solar and terrestrial
radiation. Besides, all extraordinary
m-seo. gca. ~pAsI9usla were care
i1LYlo.ei.
SPECIAL attention vas devoted . the
aI-JEzycr=zl.., which occurred ire-
qgs1tly, b1t rarely showed brilliant
c.-s-, la7s. bEigh, enough to produce
O s-gc'y1- Whenever necessary, one
Observer was stationed at the magnet
C-.ta, a-1 tue other outdoors, the
former observing tie motions Of the
magnet, while the other was watching
the changes in the phenomenon and
taking sketches. Although an electro
scope and electrometer were set up, an !
the electrical condition Of the atmos.
piere frequently tested, in 10 instance
could the least amount OF electricity be
detected. The amount Of precipitation
was measured as carefully as the violent
gales would permit, by means Of a rain
gauge supplied with funnel. In T b.
rlary, as soon as the sun reappeared,
observations on solar radiation were
commenced and continued throughout
the entire summer.
The collections Of natural history arr
nearly entirely lost. With the excep
ton Of two small cases containing ami
mails, minerals, and one package Of
plants, nothing could be rescued. The
Character of The fauna is North Ameri.
can, as indicated by the occurrence oil
the lemming aud the musk-ox. Nine
species Of mammals were found, four OF
which are seals. The birds are repre-
sented by twenty. one species. The
number OF species of insects is about
fifteen, viz: One beetle, four butter
flies, six diptera, one bumble-bee and
several ~ichneumonV, parasites in cater
pillars. Further, two species of spi-
ders and several mites were found. The
animals of lower grade are not yet
reldy for examination.
The fora is richer than could be
expected, as not less than seventeen
phaneragamic plants we're collected,
besides three MOSES, three lichens, and
five fresh water alge.
Although the formation Of the upper
silurian limestone which seems to con
stitute the whole west coast north OF
Humboldt Glacier, is very uniform,
some highly interesting and important
observations have been made. It was
found hal the land is rising, as indi-
Gated, for instance, by the occurrence
OF marine animals in fresh water lakes
more than thirty feet above the sea.
level and far out of reach of the spring
ii les. Wherever the locality was favor.
able the land is covered by drift, some