There is much of interest in the medical side of exploration that space forbids me to touch on, but there is one point which is likely to concern the surgeon of a polar expedition, whose department is an all-embracing one: the health and physical fitness of sledge dogs.[25] Many explorers have found dogs unsatisfactory as a means of transport. This is especially the case with British explorers. Scott found them a failure on his first expedition and put little trust in them on his last. Shackleton, in his own first expedition, as a result of his experience with Scott, used ponies in preference. Careful organization has been put into providing and preparing for various forms of mechanical transport before the expeditions concerned left England, yet Shackleton in getting ready for the _Endurance_ expedition is, so far as I know, the only British explorer who seriously organized and thoroughly prepared for an efficient service of dog transport prior to his start. Sledges, harness, traces and, last, not least, food and sledging rations were worked out in detail. Commander Wild, who associated with him in this work, is a strong advocate of their utility. During the expedition the dogs were rigidly disciplined and carefully “vetted,” and the results were splendid. We were unable to attempt the cross-country journey, yet the work of the dogs day by day was marvellous. There was no ice too rough for them, they crossed broad leads of water at high speed over nothing but rubble, wherever men could take a sledge they could take it faster, and sometimes go where men could not. They required no tents or sleeping-bags—only a _minimum_ of one pound of _good_ food per day. Dogs are living organisms, like men, and require treatment as such. Their characters must be studied and their health looked after. To begin with, like men, they must be physically fit, they must be kept fit, their coats brushed and combed, their skin and paws kept in good order, they must be freed from parasites, and their fighting wounds made to heal. Like men, they must be well disciplined and trained, and then they are fit to send out on a sledge journey. The sledging ration must be as carefully worked out as that of the men with a view to calorific value and _vitamin sufficiency_. Dogs are possessed of a high degree of intelligence, are hardy, and can look after themselves. As I have said, they can take a sledge anywhere that men can, therefore they are worth looking after. Yet one of the most pitiable things in the history of polar exploration is the way in which dogs have been neglected, left in miserable condition when probably all that was required was a dose of castor oil and a good vermifuge, made to work to the last ounce on a totally inadequate ration, and finally driven to death. Amongst the names of non-British explorers which stand out are those of Sverdrup, Amundsen and Peary. They looked after the _health_ of their dogs, and were amply repaid for the care expended.