VI.

THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE
OF THE HOWGATE

EXPEDITION.

THE scientific work of this preliminary expedition was intrusted to the writer as meteorologist and to Mr. Ludwig Kumlien as naturalist. We were both young, of strong physique, and full of zeal for the work.

Professor Loomis, of Yale, and Professor Abbe, of Washington, prepared the meteorological instructions, and Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian, those for the naturalist. These instructions were followed as closely as the circumstances of the situation and the outfit permitted.

It is difficult for a single observer to carry on a system of hourly observations in meteorology day and night for a whole year, even in a comfortable observatory in lower latitudes, and very much more difficult within the Arctic and the restricted limits of a small schooner. The same difficulties attend the naturalist, whose observations on land are limited to a few weeks of summer, in which 55° Fahr. marks the maximum of heat (in June), and with an average temperature of not over 37° Fahr., and who does not see the surface of the earth free from snow for even those few weeks.

Mr. Kumlien's collections in entomology comprise four or five species of butterflies or moths, a few beetles, mosquitoes, and houseflies; and of birds perhaps forty species, chiefly aquatic. It was among the quadrupeds and marine vertebrata that he found his chief reward, and in this field he was greatly assisted by the remarkable sagacity of the native Esquimaux, whose senses, by long training, enable them to detect the spoors of animals and other

indications of their presence in those snow-clad regions, which the hunter from lower latitudes would disregard.

With better equipment and a more numerous staff, the exploration of Kennedy Lake-a large body of fresh water, near which the Florence wintered-might have been undertaken. This lake is almost wholly unknown to science, and there is no doubt that it will yield rich results to the future explorer.

On account of the limited space and equipment of the Florence, many physical phenomena were of necessity unobserved, such as the polarization of the atmosphere, the spectra of the aurora, the actinic force of the sun's rays during the long reign of the "midnight sun," etc., etc. All these and other problems, physical, chemical, vital, astronomical, and meteorological, must be considered and provided for in the complete outfit of the proposed Arctic colony on the shore of Lady Franklin's Bay. Many of these problems can never be so well solved as by a thoroughly equipped party resident for a sufficient time within the Arctic as contemplated in the colonization plan.

The following brief abstract will show what was accomplished by the meteorologist. The position of the observatory was determined by the averages of sextant observations made on April 12 and May 24, 1878, as being in latitude 66° 13′ 45′′ north, longitude 67° 18′ 39′′ west.

This is the position of Annanatook, the Esquimau name of a collection of small islands on the western coast of Cumberland Gulf, where the Florence wintered. This determination of position differs from that given on published maps. But those who are acquainted with the gulf-as the whalers, for example-say the map is incorrect. There is no record of any other observations for this station except those by the writer. On the northeast of these islands rises a range of high, snow-capped hills; the western horizon is bounded by a chain of low hills; southeast is open water; and northwest, as far as the eye can reach, are seen only small, rocky islands dotting the surface of the sea. The surface of the Annanatook Islands is naked rock, save only in the valleys and rocky crevices, where a little soil has gathered, and a few grasses, flowering plants, and mosses grow. Dwarf willows, resembling blackberry-vines, run along the ground, and diminutive beeches lie hidden, buried in the moss, while the rocks are covered with lichens.

The highest hill at Annanatook, by barometer, measured only

two hundred and ninety-nine feet in height, two others being one hundred and ninety-eight and eighty-four feet respectively. But on the eastern mainland one hill, by no means the highest, measured fourteen hundred and sixty-six feet, an elevation corresponding very closely to the snow-line in summer at this point. Patches of snow were observed at this elevation on other hills behind the one here measured rising to the estimated elevation of from two to three thousand feet.

Barometer.—The monthly averages of the barometer at Annanatook show a gradual increase of the atmospheric pressure from December, when it is at minimum, until May and June, when it is the greatest. It then falls pretty uniformly to its initial point in December and January, as will be seen by comparing the means in the following condensed table. The lowest pressure observed was 28.89 in December, and the highest recorded was 30-47 inches, a difference of 1.58 inch.

The mean hourly difference was only 005 inch; the greatest was June 9th, 025 inch.

Northwest winds accompanied the highest and southerly winds the lowest barometer.

Table of Barometric Means observed at Annanatook for the Several Months of 1878, corrected for Temperature.-O. T. SHERMAN, Observer.

Temperature. It is often remarked that it is the extremes of temperature rather than its averages which decide the character of a climate. It is undoubtedly true that extremes are the limiting conditions of distribution of species if not of life in both animals and plants, but especially in the latter. At Annanatook we were too far south to meet the extreme of Arctic cold, the lowest temVOL. CXXVIII.-NO. 267. 13

:

perature observed being 52.5° by the ship's thermometer, and 49.5° by the station thermometer on shore in January. But in the same month the temperature rose to 21.5° Fahr. Sudden changes of temperature occur in these high latitudes as well as in lower for example, on the 5th of May there was a rise in the thermometer of 11° F. in an hour, and encouraged perhaps by such a promise of warm weather a fly was found on the ice on the 8th of the same month, and by the 24th of May crowsfoot was in bud. Yet in May the temperature fell to 8° Fahr. How relative our notions of temperature are is evident from the fact that in Disco Bay the ladies of the Danish officers, resident there, find use for their parasols against the fervid heat when the thermometer reads. 35° to 40° Fahr.! On the day in January when we had the lowest temperature, coming on board the Florence I was met by the cabinboy, bareheaded on deck, rejoicing in the fine warm day, which he guessed might be about + 10°. It was by record 495! This confirms Dr. Kane's statement that they felt oppressed by heat when the temperature rose from 60° to zero. We print a condensed tabular statement of the highest, lowest, and mean temperatures observed at Annanatook:

Thus it appears that in seven months of the year the temperature fell below zero, and for four months the mean was under10°. In the three summer months alone is the mean above freezing, the maximum summer temperature (55.3°) being in June (August having no record).

A limited number of observations only were made with the black-bulbed thermometer showing the effect of absorption of solar radiation. The results are presented in the following table:

Table showing the Difference of Temperature due to Absorption of Solar Heat by a Thermometer-Bulb blackened with India Ink and protected from Wind, at Anna

The differences noted in these observations are remarkable, and render the multiplication of similar observations hereafter very desirable with an instrument properly constructed for the purpose.

Temperature of the Human Body.-A few observations appear to show that the normal temperature of the human body, 98.4° Fahr., is very slightly if at all changed by the climate. Thus, February 28th the temperature of two of the corps was respectively 98.2° and 98-4°. March 4th, a native was 98.4°. "This fellow has come this morning on a sledge-ride, and has been working in the snow, building a house, at a temperature of 25° Fahr." Three Esquimau children, March 8th, had a temperature of 98.4°, and a man 98.4°. It is desirable that these observations should be extended. The blood is known to become abnormally heated by intense summer weather, rising even to 99-7°, and by prolonged exposure to cold baths the human body has been cooled with safety to 88° Fahr., but not lower, showing an extreme range of observed temperature of 11-7° Fahr.*

Sea-Water Temperature.-The surface- water at Annanatook was in January, 28.2°; February, at surface, 29°; at 18 feet depth, 29.1°-29-3°; in May, 29° at surface, 29.5° at 18 feet depth; in June, 31-8° at surface, and 31.1° at 18 feet depth; in July, 38.2° at surface, and 22-4° at 18 feet depth; these are means.

* Dr. B. F. Craig, "Variations in the Temperature of the Human Body," "American Journal of Science" (3), ii., 330.