Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 28.djvu/439

Rh equilibrium somewhere; why not accept it at once? . Is not the earth one of the forms of Siva? As heat occurs naturally in the sun and fire, cold in the moon, fluidity in water, and hardness in the stone, so mobility exists in the air. Every object has its own properties, and the properties implanted in some objects are wonderful." Bhaskara believed that the earth, possessing an attractive force, drew to itself everything heavy in the atmosphere surrounding it, whence those bodies fall to it. "But," he said, "how could the earth fall into the ethereal space, since that space is equal on all sides?"

Opposing Views of Arctic Exploration.—Admiral Bedford Pim, in a recent lecture on "Arctic Exploration," related a conversation he had had with Secretary of War Lincoln, on the utility of the perilous adventures undertaken for that purpose. The Secretary asked him, "What is the good of the journeys to those regions, and how can you defend the fearful loss of life, unnecessarily, as I think, thrown away?" The admiral, in reply, recalled the biblical command to replenish the earth and subdue it, and asked: "How can we possibly do that if we are not even acquainted with its land and water? And then, with respect to the loss of life, more men have been slaughtered in one skirmish than have been lost in the polar expeditions for four hundred years; in point of fact, the percentage of loss of life in the polar regions is less than in any other sea employment. Then, some of the best examples of seamen, both morally and physically, have been men trained in all the hardships and dangers and difficulties of the polar regions. I can conceive of no better school. . . . The spirit of enterprise is strongly encouraged by these expeditions. And, depend upon it, if we men are such arrant cowards, and so forgetful of our duty, as to abandon research until somebody's flag is planted on the north pole, the ladies will do it." Lieutenant Danenhower opposes further attempts to penetrate the polar area for the present. While nothing useful is to be attained there in the way of geographical discovery, it is well to weigh the comparative importance of investigation in that branch in other parts of the world. British America has not been fully explored, though it possesses an area more than eight times that of the central polar region. Much work needs to be done in Central Africa, the Himalayas, New Guinea, and other parts of the world. For hydrographic research, it is not necessary to go to these regions, but the best field for operations lies below the eightieth parallel. As for the interests of meteorology, "there is no special reason for believing that the meteorological phenomena of the central polar regions differ essentially from those observed near the borders, and the possible advantages to be gained would not alone justify further exploration." Neither is any great advantage to be gained for magnetic and auroral observations. The magnetic poles are known, and arc in or near already explored regions, and the most brilliant auroral phenomena are observed near them. In short, we know nearly as much on all these subjects, or can study them as well in the regions we have already opened, as we could learn by going to the pole. But "the time may come in the progress of civilization and advanced knowledge when the exploration of all the present unknown parts of the torrid and temperate zones shall have been completed, and it will then be the occasion to explore the ice-locked regions of the north pole"; and, "after having served with one Arctic expedition, and having devoted seven years to the study of the subject, . . . I unhesitatingly record myself as opposed to further exploration of the central polar basin, with our present resources. The gradual extension of observatory stations in the interest of meteorology, magnetism, and other scientific branches, should be made, but national support should not be given to another polar expedition."

Meteorology of the Congo.—Mr. A. von Danckelmann, a German meteorologist, has been making observations at Vivi, in the country of the Congo, and reports some curious results. During about a year that ho stayed there the barometrical column did not vary more than ten millimetres; even the passage of tornadoes seemed to produce no greater effect upon it. The year is divided into rainy and dry seasons. During