Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition Research Articles

Leaky Bodies: Syphilitic Incontinence on the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition

Leaky Bodies: Syphilitic Incontinence on the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition

Dr Reginald Koettlitz (1860–1916): Arctic and Antarctic explorer

Reginald Koettlitz was born in Ostend but moved to England as a child and qualified at Guy's Hospital. He was a general practitioner in County Durham for eight years before serving as doctor and geologist to the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition to Franz-Josef Land in 1894-97. Thereafter he made further expeditions to Somaliland, Abyssinia and the Amazon before joining Captain Scott's Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic in 1901-04 as surgeon and botanist. After the expedition he emigrated to South Africa, where he worked as a general practitioner, dying in 1916.

Legacies of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, 1894–1897

Frederick George Jackson, the leader of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition of 1894–1897, accomplished a great deal during his exploration of Franz Josef Land [Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa] although his achievements have never been fully acknowledged. Jackson's expedition itself has often been eclipsed by his famous meeting in 1896 with Fridtjof Nansen, absent for 3 years in the Arctic and it has been unfairly coloured by the view that Jackson was no more than an adventurer and sportsman. The research reported in this article evaluates Jackson's plan and management activities. The study developed a set of factors to evaluate his performance arising from a variety of expeditions contemporary with Jackson's. His strong personality and limited personnel managerial experience limited the full extent of what he might have achieved. Yet, Jackson developed a strong exploration model that was based on comprehensive planning, a significant concern for the health and welfare of his companions, the willingness to innovate in a number of activities including sledging, and a commitment to scientific discovery. Although the expedition did not find a route to the North Pole, Jackson confirmed that Franz Josef Land was an archipelago and he gave credence to the consumption of fresh meat as a means of preventing scurvy. One of Jackson's legacies to subsequent explorers was the use of ponies for haulage. He was unable to appreciate the weaknesses in their use and his influence on subsequent Antarctic expeditions often led to undesirable results. But, overall, Jackson was an innovator in a conservative exploration community.

Bryophyte Vegetation and Habitat Gradients in the Tikhaia Bay Region, Hooker Island, Franz Josef Land, Arctic Russia

A quantitative analysis of contemporary moss assemblages is presented for forty-seven bryophytes occurring in 31 sites in the Tikhaia Bay region of northwestern Hooker (Gukera) Island, Franz Josef Land Archipelago. Fifteen (31%) of these species were found in only one site and 7 (15%) species were found in only two sites. Two-way indicator species analysis, TWINSPAN, resulted in three major species groups. Canonical correspondence analysis, CCA, results showed species distribution patterns correlated with major environmental variables of moisture, slope, fertilized sites, and exposure. The three species groups are projected on the CCA ordination. Group 1 dominates steep, rocky, fertilized slopes with northern exposures while group 3 is at the other extreme of these variables. Group 2 is intermediate along these variables and spans the moist-dry habitat gradient. Bryophytes are an important component of the vegetated surfaces in the northernmost arctic islands. The large dome ice caps on the Franz Josef Land islands result in limited exposed terrestrial habitats. Most surfaces are covered by snow, ice, and glaciers. Only south-facing sites below active bird rookeries are dominated by vascular plant communities. The remaining vegetated surfaces in the exposed, ice-free sites are dominated by rich non-vascular plant communities. In contrast to only 57 vascular plants reported for the islands, a total of 102 mosses, 55 liverworts, and 115 lichens have been reported by Aleksandrova (1983). Her list of bryophytes for the archipelago was compiled using Fischer (1896), Hanssen and Lid (1932), Palibin (1903), Safronova (1983), Tikhomirov (1948), Tolmachev (1931), and Tolmachev and Shukhtina (1974). The first reports of bryophyte collections in the Archipelago were published as a result of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition in 1894-1897. Five bryophytes were identified (Fischer 1896). It was not until 30 years later that the Russian Sedow expedition of 1929 and 1930 explored the Archipelago. This more extensive study was published in Russian and summarized in French. It described 83 mosses and 7 liverworts (Savicz 1936). Simultaneously in 1930, the Norwegian sealer, Bratvaag, of Alesund explored Aleksandra and Prins Georga Islands. This expedition found a total of 25 taxa of bryophytes (Stormer 1940). This paper reports on results from the 1991 Norwegian-Russian-Polish expedition to the Tikhaia Bay region in Franz Josef Land. This was the first opportunity for a western botanist to enter the archipelago since 1930. The purpose of this study was, for the first time, to describe some of the environmental factors that influence bryophyte distributions in the extreme arctic habitats of Tikhaia Bay region in the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. To accomplish this goal all species of all the exposed major habitats were collected and seven environmental parameters were recorded. Further, the second purpose was to summarize the findings in the form of a multivariate analysis. The resulting species-environment relationships are inferred from community composition data and associated environmental scalar values.

Profile: Albert Borlase Armitage

Albert Armitage was the second in command of both the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition of 1884–1897 and R. F. Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–1904. He never led an expedition himself; as Frank Debenham wrote (1944), ‘For polar work his mind was perhaps not quite flexible enough or his aims were not sufficiently ambitious to make him lead an expedition of his own.’ Despite this he played a leading role in both expeditions, and contributed significantly to Arctic and Antarctic exploration.

Errata

The statement that “Terra Nova had been to the Arctic with the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, 1894–97” is incorrect.After Seismology add Meteorology.For Turnball read Turnbull. For 2400 read 2500. line 40. For Ch Salversen read Chr Salvesen.For M. J. Holdgate read M. W. Holdgate.

Bryozoa from Franz-Josef Land, collected by the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, 1896-1897.*-Part II. Cyclostomata, Ctenostomata, and Endoprocta.

Bryozoa from Franz-Josef Land, collected by the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, 1896–1897.*—Part II. Cyclostomata, Ctenostomata, and Endoprocta Get access Arthur Wm. Waters, F.L.S Arthur Wm. Waters, F.L.S Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 29, Issue 190, November 1904, Pages 161–184, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1904.tb00433.x Published: 23 December 2008

Bryozoa from Franz-Josef Land, collected by the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, 1896-1897.

Journal Article Bryozoa from Franz-Josef Land, collected by the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, 1896–1897 Get access Arthur William Waters, F.L.S. Arthur William Waters, F.L.S. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 28, Issue 179, July 1900, Pages 43–105, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1900.tb01745.x Published: 23 December 2008

Report on the Marine and Freshwater Crustacea from Franz-Josef Land, collected by Mr. William S. Bruce, of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition.

Report on the Marine and Freshwater Crustacea from Franz-Josef Land, collected by Mr. William S. Bruce, of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition. Thomas Scott, F.L.S. Thomas Scott, F.L.S. 1Naturalist to the Fishery Board for Scotland. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 27, Issue 174, July 1899, Pages 60–126, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1899.tb01421.x Published: 23 December 2008

Additional Notes on Rocks and Fossils from Franz Josef Land

In our previous notes an account was given of the rocks and fossils which had been collected by Dr. Kœttlitz and sent home in 1896. Another large series was brought back by the same gentleman on the return of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition in 1897. These specimens have been examined, and it is satisfactory to have to report that they confirm our previous conclusions, necessitating no modification of our previous notes, except as regards some of the altitudes at which the specimens were obtained; these, however, do not alter the relative positions of the beds. At the same time, there are some additional facts which it is desirable to place on record. The corrected measurements of altitudes are given by Dr. Kœttlitz on a preceding page (p.636), and these, it will be seen, alter materially the position of the beds at Cape Gertrude as given in our section. There are two errors on p.503 of our previous paper which we desire to correct. On line 4 the 100 feet of basalt refers only to what is seen in the cliff-section, and on line 9 ‘highest’ should have been printed ‘lowest,’ which will be found to agree with the section and the measurement that we then had. I. Rocks. A very large number of rock-specimens have been examined, but as these belong, for the most part, to varieties already described in our former paper, it will be unnecessary to refer to them at any length in these general notes. The common type

Notes on a Collection of Rocks and Fossils from Franz Josef Land, made by the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition during 1894–1896

I. Introduction. The steamship <i>Windward</i>, which has now paid two visits to Franz Josef Land, brought back last year (1896) a series of rocks and fossils, collected by the Jackson-tIarmsworth Expedition. This collection, by far the most important which has reached this country from Franz Josef Land, was forwarded to the Geological Survey, and at the request of the Director-General, Sir Archibald Geikie, we have undertaken its examination. Although the full results of the geological observations recorded by Dr. Kcettlitz cannot be made known until the return of the expedition, it has been thought desirable that a preliminary account of the district , based on the specimens already received, should be published. II. Previous Work on the Geology of Franz Josef Land. The geological literature relating to Franz Josef Land, though small in amount, is sufficient to prove that those portions of the district which have as yet been visited possess a comparatively simple geological structure. Scattered observations have now been made over more than two degrees of latitude by Payer, Leigh Smith, Jackson, and Nansen, and everywhere the features observed appear to be essentially of the same character. It is a region of plateau-basalts comparable, not only in its main features, but also in many of its minor details, to portions of the western coast of Scotland. Vast flows of basaltic lava, associated in all probability with intrusive sills of the same type of rock, form the greater portion of the district. Sometimes the basalt descends to the level

Nansen's Polar Expedition

DR. NANSEN arrived at Vardö, Norway, on Thursday, August 13, after an absence of three years. A Reuter telegram says that he left the Fram with a companion on March 14, 1895, in lat. 84° N., in order to push further north into the Polar Sea than the Fram could penetrate. The expedition accomplished its object in traversing the Polar Sea to a point north of the New Siberia islands. The most northerly point attained was lat. 86° 14′, which is nearly 200 miles further north than had previously been reached. No land was sighted north of 82°. Dr. Nansen and his companion then went south to Franz Josef Land, where they passed the winter, subsisting on bears flesh and whale blubber. Here they fell in with the Windward, of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, which brought them to Vardö. It is expected that the Fram will eventually arrive at Spitbergen.