Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Meteorology, Vol. 2: Comprising Daily Synchronous Charts, 1st October, 1901, to 31st March, 1904
The present volume completes the publication of all the Physical results of the National Antarctic Expedition of which the supervision was undertaken by the Royal Society. It comprises Part II. Of the Meteorology, of which Part I. Was issued in 1908. The delay in the appearance of the volume has arisen chie?y from the labour attending the preparation of the Charts, a task which has been carried through under the superintendence of Commander hepworth, C.D., Marine Superintendent on the staff of the Meteorological Ofiice, who has supplied the Introductory Text. It will be seen that the volume presents not only the detailed results of the daily observations of the Expedition, but combines also a large number of contemporary observations obtained by other Antarctic explorers, by observatories in various parts of the Southern Hemisphere, and by the Captains of vessels traversing the Antarctic seas. It thus offers a continuous daily picture of the changing meteorological conditions in the whole Antarctic region south of the 3oth parallel of latitude.
An opportunity is afforded here to refer to certain objections made by Captain scott to some of the statements contained in Part I. Of the Meteorology, which was issued in the summer of the year 1908. Shortly before this distinguished polar explorer was about to sail on the Antarctic Expedition which he is now conducting, in letters addressed to me, he called attention to these statements containing criticisms of the work of his Expedition of 1901 - 1904. Some of these criticisms, in his opinion, showed a want of appreciation of the practical difficulties of observation in high latitudes, while others involved errors of statement which he wished to correct.
As regards the latter, he maintained, in the first place, that the observations of the directions of wind taken on the land were true and not, as was suggested, magnetic. He pointed out that in a region like that around the Magnetic Pole, where the horizontal magnetic force is very slight and magnetic directions are constantly changing, and where, therefore, it is impracticable to travel by compass, it was necessary that constant attention should be given to keep the course true, and that this necessity was fully realised by himself and his staff. He therefore dissented from the suggestion (text, pp. 489, 490; Preface, p. Xii.) that the observations recorded in Lieutenant royds' important traverse across the ice barrier in the months of November and December, 1903, were probably made by compass. That suggestion oc'curs in connection with the contention that if a mean correction of 145� E., which is the deviation at the Winter Quarters, be applied to these observations, the winds recorded as coming from the sw. To the extent of 68 per cent. Are found to be from E. By N. And are thus brought into harmony with those registered at the Winter Quarters. While protesting against this introduction of a magnetic correction, Captain scott pointed out that the correction will not give the desired result, for it has been put in the wrong direction, viz., westerly instead of easterly, and that even when it is correctly applied, the direction of the 68 per cent. Of wind would be N. By E. And not E. By N., as stated in the Table on p. 490.
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