New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-21
WHAT SOME DUST TAUGHT NANSEN.
IMPORTANT SUGGESTIONS OFFERED BY DIAToMs
FOUND OK THE ICE

DIR. W. F. Hume, in knowledge
For many years "A small but happily increasing,
group OF biologists and BIOLOGISTS mas miIhtHlIru
Tie n,portal ~ Of studying the microscopic forms
of life, belie..ug that. even apart from thef IN
aid to the solution Of many keenly discussed PROD
;ems. Recent events have tended greatly 10 JuItn?
This nositiOn and il VIII be prc5rH; ann 10 snow
how minute plants have been used as arguments
in connection with Polar exploration INN, g.
In 1897 Dr. Nansen, whose successful return 10
Europe has caused so great a sensation submi'teu
to the Royal Geosr5pSS"p oc ,oid i b reached If
the methods he proposed were carried out ne
ar { ~, between Greenland and SpitZbergen:
Whereas on the Siberian side constant current
AZ fresh water is running northward. turning north
Westward at the New-Sibcrian Islands, probably
crossing the Pole and. eventually, forming the
southward current previously mentioned. NAM; Many
f9cts were adduced in support Of his contention.
Thus Siberian larch and red spruce eVefy yeadI
reach the coast OF Greenland ana Supply inc Woo Woo,
Ised by the Esquimaus IN the construction OF lheIr
boats and sledges these relics being aS9 as -San
sen remarks. nd In the sea hoIIl OF oPi1HoS ~
among the ice-loes carried southwark from the
uKn9 own If his previous expeditions Ggecnland
Nansen collected many samples OF DUST from r tne
surface Of the snow on ihe lcc0 mon intCrested in
10 , Diatomace;c found I'm some OF these The DaI
topacee are minute uhceu a fP's ti coTnposed
being nclosed in small cas- oi ~ ste ~ t,1
of silceous material. This casing CONSISTS Vi -"
valves or plates one f ib Syo na,s Il pill
box The surfaces of these valves OIteh appc.ltf
beautifully ornamontcd. due to the preSeIace 81
d,rcseione wing in the interspaces OF an elevated
INFLAMMATION. The diameter of the plates Is usu5ily
Lose
they require the highest powers OF inc HlclosooPo
for their study. -, =, t,-ofossor
Cjevn of I-psala who. after ldentlI3 lHb siAt.,n
species and varieties. reported on theh as
The diaton fora OF this dust Is quite pecuIiai any
difrerent from that Of all the many tlousdI ~,
samples which have examined win lle cAt,ps,rtr
of one with which II shows the most , cotnd' ~
congruity viz. sample when was CoIcV ~ az AZ
Kiellman during the Vega expediiionl on o.. IT,
Zoe al Cane Wankarema. near ieNiiIlb. - 20,
INC snecics and the varieties are eAaCig VIZ
in boih samples II II quite retnai HaDIe nm VA
diatonl fora ce-tocs near BehilnS SCUM IT,,
on the east coast Of Greenland are so ~,
alike and so unlike. all others. IL lpugaEs u| sg
east OF Greenland and north OF Asia osr,dsr
we're also found al Cape Wankareina wv WV rro ~
nowhere else n the whole world and tnat t1 Id
The diatom fora OF the Kara Sea Franz JOSEF it
snitzbergen and Greenland has also oeeh P pa
eramined" All through his paper Nansen sno@'l
his keen appreciation Of little things me muir
In the dust also examined, no rss -,
twenty varieties being recognized by io, I'M To-
v'ho Sxclaims: can it be possible tnht tnr ~
restra portions of the dust originate rom .,i No
ern siberia? That ii is partly mud carrlei lhto
sea nv he great Siberian rivers! Inc gItht a. ~
81 minerals contained nv the aust seems ~ III "a
indicate that IL originates from az cx'ens.kI ~
reoion and thus II most natufa 10 l,in ,, -"
Northern Siberia" Again, much Pumice pe , is
IN a grouD of rocks known as the Ahuesi.s,..
been found OH the shores OF SpitzbefReh anu '