, 1881-01-15

The Italian Antarctic expedition which
i. announced to sail in March next, to be
followed by an English expedition under
Sir Allen Young revives the greatest
problem Of modern geography. Within
the Antarctic circle liss an area CT
about eight million squSrs miles, over
which the atmosphere is in state OF great
tenuity, and upon which the evaporation
Of the Southern Hemisphere, which Dove
c.lied ",he boiler Of the globe, Is under
soina c-sseless condensation. L" "un-
bar the gates Of tie South BY finding
gap in the great circumrclar iee barrier
of tav so-caliei Antarctic continent IS II
II cnterI rise tina. VIII always kIndle tie
FIRE of maritime aivcnturers. bu; .he Al
vance of modern science is terrestrial
physics, even since Sir James Riss' IN
ls4l sighted the burning volcano Erebus
within five hundred leagues Of the South
Pole; has raised up questions OF tie pro-
foundest Importance. The great Antartic
problem is whether the South polar basin
is region Of intense condensation of the
aqueous vapor of the southern seas, and
II So, is its aceanic surface III the latittdes
beyond the limits of Ross Sen and the
ice barrier generally climatic region OF
comparative mildness Mariners for
MANY years have found off Cape Horn
Zone If wonderfully low barometer, and
Antarctic explorers have determined that
this znne, wherein the mean pre2sare Is
scarcely 2920 inches. extends as far rs
they have penetrat ii towa-l the South
Pole The quantity ut air snpsrIncum-
.~nt on a square foot of tho earth sur
fac. her. averages about l:D pounds less
than that resting upon square loot IN
our attitudes, 50 tha. we must conceive
the South polar AREA as vast barometrlc
hollow into which along all the converS-
Ing maridians the Antartie winds are
esasslessly conveying the masses 81 ocean
ic vaper, there to be condensed. For
every sol;I foot Of snow condensed IN the
South polar sly heat enor5h is liberated
l., rise tens If thousands cubic feet at ar
from freezing to summer temperature, ana
VI. msy therefore infer that the climate
within the Antartic circle Is very much
miller than that in the Arctic area
No explorer has yet win'ered any dis
tance within the Ant lrttie s're'es but the
fact that the huge iccb ,r,s which HAT
thence toward the Cape uf Good dope are
Of fresh, not Of salt water, snsssses: that
they one their magnitude. not t. the rN-
treme cold of the south ? lar seas, but Ia
that of high mountainous eoas-s- When
to this circumstances We add that the must
majestic Of equatorial sea currents-that
which crosses the entire Pacific and In
dian Ocean under blazing sun, and
thence diverges alon: che East African
cast almost intc the heart Of the Anfarc-
tic basin-we would not be surprised
should the future explorer iiad channel
that would conduct his chip t" an ez-
tremely high southern latitude " My
Investigations, wrote Capt. Maury to
Lord Lyons in 1861, when urging Eng
I3uu to tahe part III al He" -h"'S'S
sedition, "lead III, to believe there Is no
great difference between the Antarctic
winter and Antarctic summer, and this
Conclusion WAS arrived at by mature
study of the birome1ic and other condi-
tions which prevail at :he antipodes.
Lieutenant Bove and Commentators
Nc,ri think it viii be poSslble for them
10 penetrate Ross Sea, and, perhaps, win
tor the first year at Adele, and they hope
that canals in the ice will be found through
which they n,ay attain very remote lati-
tu,les. The civilized world will follow
this n.~ southern e1ploration-the hrst
IN which steam has been invoked for the
conquest of the South pol with intense
interest.