Notes

Abstract

ON Saturday last, September 10, the Discovery arrived at Portsmouth with the members of the British Antarctic Expedition. On Sunday Captain Scott received a telegram from the King offering His Majesty's congratulations on the success and safe return of the explorers. The King has directed that a new medal for service in the Polar regions shall be struck and granted to the officers and crew of the Discovery in recognition of the successful accomplishment of their enterprise. Commander Scott has been promoted to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy; and the nation's thanks are due to him, the officers, scientific staff, and crew of the Discovery for the successful way in which they have maintained the credit of our country in the records of geographical discovery. The first news of the expedition after the departure of the Discovery from New Zealand in December, 1901, was brought by the relief ship Morning, which arrived at Lyttelton in March, 1903. From the information then received, described in NATURE of April 2, 1903 (vol. lxvii. p. 516), it was evident that the expedition had already achieved great success, both in the way of exploration and of scientific observation. Further details of the first year's work of the expedition, especially with regard to the great southern ice barrier and the nature of the lands discovered, are contained in Captain Scott's official report communicated to the presidents of the Royal and the Royal Geographical Societies, summarised in these columns on July 30, 1903 (vol. Ixviii. p. 307). Upon the return of the Discovery to Lyttelton at the beginning of last April, accompanied by the relief ships Morning and Terra Nova, it became known that many specimens of great scientific interest had been collected, including fossil remains of dicotyledonous plants from an altitude of 8000 feet. The material thus accumulated, as well as the continuous magnetic records and other observations in terrestrial physics, will be of the greatest value to science, and the study of it will engage the attention of naturalists and physicists for some time to come. The specimens brought home include the emperor penguin and other rare Arctic birds and their eggs, geological and other specimens, a large number of photographs of Antarctic scenes, some of which were taken by moonlight; and a set of coloured drawings of parhelions observed when the sun rose.