ANTICIPATED RESULTS.
It would be needless for me to attempt to illustrate
the value of such a centre for the purpose of scientific
inquiry. It was not alone the prospect of the satisfaction
to be achieved by completing our geographical
knowledge of that portion of the globe, nor that
of solving definitely the problem of an Open Polar
Sea, that encouraged me in the task which I had
undertaken. There were many questions of physical
science to be settled, and I hoped to take with me a
corps of well-instructed observers. The movements
of the currents of the air and water, the temperature
of these elements, the pressure of the former and the
tides of the latter, the variations of gravity, the direction
and intensity of the "magnetic force," the Aurora
Borealis, the formation and movement of the
glaciers, and many important features of Natural History
remained to be solved by observations about the
centre indicated. Years of profitable labor might indeed
be expended in that locality by an enterprising
force of skilled workers.
With these objects in view, I applied with great confidence to the scientific men of the world and to the enlightened public sentiment of my country-*men.
The response, although in the end highly gratifying, was more tardy in its coming than had been at first anticipated. There were indeed many circumstances of discouragement, not the least of which was an impression which then had possession of the public judgment, that any further efforts toward the North Pole must be fruitless, and must involve an unjustifiable loss of life. It was only after many endeavors that here and there the influences favorable to the design began to affect the community. The most im-
