Farthest North, Vol. I: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896Nansen, Fridtjof
History
Farthest North, Vol. I: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896
Nansen, Fridtjof
"Fram" Expedition (1893-1896); Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration; Nansen, Fridtjof, 1861-1930 -- Travel -- Arctic regions
As I shall have frequent occasion later on to speak of other details
of our equipment, I shall content myself here with mentioning a few
of the most important.
Special attention was, of course, devoted to our commissariat with
a view to obviating the danger of scurvy and other ailments. The
principle on which I acted in the choice of provisions was to combine
variety with wholesomeness. Every single article of food was chemically
analyzed before being adopted, and great care was taken that it should
be properly packed. Such articles, even, as bread, dried vegetables,
etc., etc., were soldered down in tins as a protection against damp.
A good library was of great importance to an expedition like ours,
and thanks to publishers and friends, both in our own and in other
countries, we were very well supplied in this respect.
The instruments for taking scientific observations of course formed
an important part of our equipment, and special care was bestowed
upon them. In addition to the collection of instruments I had used on
my Greenland expedition, a great many new ones were provided, and no
pains were spared to get them as good and complete as possible. For
meteorological observations, in addition to the ordinary thermometers,
barometers, aneroids, psychrometers, hygrometers, anemometers, etc.,
etc., self-registering instruments were also taken. Of special
importance were a self-registering aneroid barometer (barograph)
and a pair of self-registering thermometers (thermographs). For
astronomical observations we had a large theodolite and two smaller
ones, intended for use on sledge expeditions, together with several
sextants of different sizes. We had, moreover, four ship's chronometers
and several pocket-chronometers. For magnetic observations, for taking
the declination, inclination, and intensity (both horizontal and total
intensity) we had a complete set of instruments. Among others may be
mentioned a spectroscope especially adapted for the northern lights,
an electroscope for determining the amount of electricity in the air,
photographic apparatuses, of which we had seven, large and small,
and a photographometer for making charts. I considered a pendulum
apparatus with its adjuncts to be of special importance to enable
us to make pendulum experiments in the far north. To do this,
however, land was necessary, and, as we did not find any, this
instrument unfortunately did not come into use. For hydrographic
observations we took a full equipment of water-samplers, deep-water
thermometers, etc. To ascertain the saltness of the water, we had,
in addition to the ordinary areometers, an electric apparatus
specially constructed by Mr. Thornöe. Altogether, our scientific
equipment was especially excellent, thanks in great measure to the
obliging assistance rendered me by many men of science. I would take
this opportunity of tendering my special thanks to Professor Mohn,
who, besides seeing to the meteorological instruments, helped me in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account