Since the early nineteen-twenties whaling in the Antarctic has dominated the world's whaling industry. In recent years, however, there have been increasing signs that the Antarctic industry is approaching an important crisis. There is no doubt that too many whaling expeditions are pursuing too few whales. This article attempts to review the present position of the industry, first dealing very briefly with the biology of the commercially important whales and the history of whaling generally and then discussing the development of Antarctic whaling and the events which have led to the present situation.

Disease in the Canadian Arctic has, until quite recently, been of minor concern to the world. The Eskimo and northern Indian lived in a climate which was antagonistic to contact diseases and very little attention was paid to indigenous infections. During the past decade, more and more white men have gone to the Arctic to survey and mine its abundant natural resources, and to work on such projects as the DEW Line. This influx of personnel introduced bacteria and European viruses to a native population which had no resistance or immunity to the diseases of civilization, and consequently even such mild viruses as those producing colds have caused serious illnesses and mild epidemics; the introduction of tuberculosis has had tragic results.

The increasing use of electronic techniques in making measurements in all branches of science has been evident for many years in laboratories, and we must expect the same trend at scientific stations and in field operations in the polar regions. The aim of this and a later article is to provide information about polar conditions for those already familiar with electronic methods in the laboratory, and to call attention to the variation in properties and reliability of components for which allowance should be made in specification and design of electronic apparatus.