* * * * * PARADISE FOUND.—Could it once be proven that the Arctic terminus of the earth has always been the ice-bound region that it is, and which for thousands of years it has been, it would of course be useless to entertain for a moment the hypothesis that the cradle of the human race was there located. Probably the popular impression that from the beginning of the world the far North has been the region of unendurable cold has been one of the chief reasons why our hypothesis is so late in claiming attention. At the present time, however, so far as this difficulty is concerned, scientific studies have abundantly prepared the way for the new theory. That the earth is a slowly cooling body is a doctrine now all but universally accepted. In saying this we say nothing for or against the so-called nebular hypothesis of the origin of the world, for both friends and foes of this unproven hypothesis believe in what is termed the secular cooling or refrigeration of the earth. All authorities in this field hold and teach that the time was when the slowly solidifying planet was too hot to support any form of life, and that only in some particular time in the cooling process was there a temperature reached which was adapted to the necessities of living things. On what portion of the earth’s surface, now, would this temperature first be reached? Or would it everywhere be reached at the same time? … We asked the geologist this question: “Is the hypothesis of a primeval polar Eden admissible?” Looking at the slowly cooling earth alone, he replies: “Eden conditions have probably at one time or another been found everywhere upon the surface of the earth. Paradise may have been anywhere.” Looking at the cosmic environment, however, he adds: “But while Paradise may have been anywhere, the _first_ portions of the earth’s surface sufficiently cool to present the conditions of Eden life were assuredly at the Poles.”—_From Warren’s “Paradise Found.”_ * * * * * SEPARATION OF DE LONG AND MELVILLE.—De Long verbally directed both of us to keep, if possible, within hail, and reiterated his orders in case of separation: “Make the best of your way,” said he, “to Cape Barkin, which is eighty or ninety miles off, southwest true. Don’t wait for me, but get a pilot from the natives, and proceed up the river to a place of safety as quick as you can; and be sure that you and your parties are all right before you trouble yourselves about any one else. If you reach Cape Barkin you will be safe, for there are plenty of natives there winter and summer.” Then addressing me particularly, he continued: “Melville, you will have no trouble in keeping up with me, but if anything should happen to separate us, you can find your way in without any difficulty by the trend of the coast-line; and you know as much about the natives and their settlements as any one else.” This was our last conversation in a body.