Ant apodosis

[From Gr. antapodidomi, I return in exchange.] ( Pathol.) The succe ion and return of the febrile periods. Antarctic Sea, The. (Geog.) For a number of years scientific inquiry was rife towards and in the Antarctic Circle, discovery following discovery in quite rapid succe ion. The most brilliant period was that extending from 1838 to 1843, when three great national expeditions, under the command of Admiral D'Urville for France, Sir James Ro for England, and Captain Wilkes for the U. States, prosecuted their researches. It is hardly nece ary to attempt a summary of what was accomplished by these intrepid navigators, or to discu the question as to whether the lands discovered by Captain Wilkes were continental or insular. One discovery of great moment, by Sir James Ro , was that of active volcanoes in South Victoria Land having a height of 12,000 feet, acce to which was barred by a wall of solid ice 200 feet in height, along which he sailed for hundreds of miles without finding a favorable opportunity to penetrate farther into the interior. Of late years, renewed attention has been directed towards the Antarctic lands, largely in consequence of the publications of the Meteorological Institute of the Netherlands, in which it is shown that the current of warm water which comes from the Straits of Mozambique, and is known further S. as the Agulhas Stream, does not, as originally supposed, continue around the Cape of Good Hope, but at the southern point of Africa bends around towards the E., and unites with the waters that strike along the coast of Australia, and in the region of Kerguelen Land turns more and more to the S., having been traced in that direction as far as the fiftieth degree of S. Lat. How much further it goes has not yet been ascertained; but it is extremely probable, judging from the analogies of the currents of the northern hemisphere, that this may penetrate to quite a high latitude, and that it is along its path that researches are to be prosecuted which will lead more or le near to the heart of the mystery that now surrounds the south pole. The discoveries of Ro and Weddell are really due to their persistency in following the warm currents-the first from New Zealand, and the other to the S. of Cape Horn. There is the more hope of a satisfactory result in this experiment, as little special effort hitherto has been made in that direction. It is quite probable that one result of a succe ful exploration would be to limit very materially the supposed ma of land, as many of our best geog raphers maintain the existence of an archipelago, of islands firmly united by bands of ice, rather than a continent. In 1893 Larsen penetrated in the Graham Land region to lat. 68° 10', and on Seymour Island discovered a number of Tertiary fo ils and an abundance of fragments of coniferous wood, these being indicative of a former higher temperature and the presence of organic life in these regions. Two Norwegian explorers, Kritensen and Borchevink, following Ro 's path in the steamer Antarctic , reached lat. 74°, and saw open water still ahead, but were forced to return on account of deficiency in food supply. They landed on what was either the mainland or a main island, being thus the first to set foot on the supposed continental ma of the Antarctic land. The most important result of their journey was the finding of some shreds of lichen on Po e ion Island, being the first living organic material ever found within the Antarctic Zone. A strongly renewed interest in Antarctic research has been awakened by these results, and expeditions to that region by Borchevink, Dr. Cook, and others, have been projected, but as yet not carried out. In the coming years it is very probable that renewed efforts, under better auspices and with the advantage of the best methods employed in Arctic research, will be made to penetrate the mystery of this great unknown region, and there is every reason to expect important results. See ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.