he winter.

Dr Kane says: "At such temperatures chloric ether became solid, and
carefully prepared chloroform exhibited a granular pellicle on its
surface. Spirits of naphtha froze at 54 degrees below zero, and oil of
sassafras at 49 degrees. The oil of winter-green was in a flocculent
state at 56 degrees, and solid at 63 degrees.

"The exhalations from the surface of the body invested the exposed or
partially clad parts with a wreath of vapour. The air had a perceptible
pungency upon inspiration, but I could not perceive the painful
sensation which has been spoken of by some Siberian travellers. When
breathed for any length of time, it imparted a sensation of dryness to
the air-passages. I noticed that, as it were involuntarily, we all
breathed guardedly, with compressed lips."

Now, strange to say, this extremely low temperature does not affect the
ocean to any great depth. Just below the ice, in cold such as the
above, the sea was found to be 29 degrees _above_ zero. No doubt,
deeper down, the temperature was still warmer. We have heard it said,
that when men chance to fall into the water in cold regions, in the
depth of winter, it feels at first rather warm and agreeable! On
scrambling out again, however, their condition is not enviable; for in a
few minutes the keen frost causes their garments to become as hard as
boards.

Much light has been thrown on the fact of the existence of under and
upper currents in the sea, by the phenomena of the arctic regions, and
some of the questions to which these currents give rise are so
interesting that we shall treat of them in a new chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

QUESTION OF AN OPEN SEA ROUND THE POLES--UPPER AND UNDER CURRENTS OF THE
OCEAN--CAUSE THEREOF--HABITS OF THE WHALE AS BEARING ON THE QUESTION--
DR. KANE'S DISCOVERY OF AN OPEN SEA IN THE FAR NORTH--NOTES ON THE
EXPEDITION--A BEAR-HUNT.

It was long and very naturally supposed that the impenetrable ice of the
arctic regions extended to, and, as it were, sealed up the pole. But
from time to time philosophic observers of Nature's laws began to hint
their opinion that there is an open ocean around the pole; and of late
years this opinion has all but been converted into a firm belief.

Maury remarks, that like air--like the body--the ocean _must_ have a
system of circulation for its waters. And an attentive study of the
currents of the sea, and a close examination of the laws which govern
the movements