By a treaty signed in Paris on 9 February 1920, Norway was given the sovereignty of Svalbard, comprising all the islands situated between longs. 10° and 35° E. and lats. 74° and 81° N., thus including Spitsbergen, Bjørnøya (Bear Island), Hopen (Hope Island), Kong Karls Land, and Kvitøya (White Island). The treaty, which has since been recognized by a number of other states, was signed by the United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland, the Dominions of Canada and New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, India, and Sweden. The U.S.S.R. recognized Norway's sovereignty of Svalbard in 1924 but did not sign the treaty until 1935; Germany signed the treaty in 1925. On 14 August 1925, Norway formally took possession and the Norwegian flag was hoisted in Longyearbyen. Since then, twenty-five years have elapsed, and in honour of the occasion the anniversary was celebrated at Longyearbyen in 1950.

Between 1940 and 1945 the German navy undertook a series of expeditions to the arctic regions in order to obtain regular synoptic weather reports, the international exchange of which had practically ceased upon the outbreak of war in 1939. During these years the German naval meteorological service [Wetterdienst des Oberkommandos der Kriegsmarine] organized and dispatched some thirteen parties, whose task it was to provide the information required to meet the exigencies of modern naval warfare and to enable forecasts of the influence of the “polar front” on European weather to be made. Owing to the strategic situation these activities were confined to Svalbard, East Greenland and Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (Franz Josef Land). The German air force sent one expedition to Spitsbergen and two to Hopen (Hope Island) but on the whole the Luftwaffe preferred to employ aircraft flying from bases in northern Norway to obtain operational data, making special flights as and when required.

The northern limit of agriculture depends not on physiographical conditions but on economic considerations. This truism is frequently emphasized by Soviet writers, who point out that it is possible to provide the requisite conditions for plant life at any point on the earth's surface. What determines whether or not a crop is to be grown is the extent to which agriculturalists are willing to provide the plant with its appropriate environment. The latter very rarely coincides with the natural environment, and in some cases, as in the far north, may differ greatly from it. The following survey attempts to outline the extent to which Soviet agriculturalists have gone in providing plants with suitable growing conditions north of the arctic circle. The question whether the objective of arctic agriculture, food and fodder for the arctic zone, could not be realized more conveniently by transporting produce from a milder clime, will also be discussed.

The essential purpose of a lubricant is to reduce friction and to minimize wear. This object is achieved by preventing the physical contact of moving surfaces by maintaining between them a thin layer of a suitable fluid, the lubricant. The lubricant should adhere strongly to the boundary surfaces, so that when they are in relative motion, a film of lubricant is “dragged along” between them, forcing them apart and keeping them out of physical contact with each other.

The maintenance of this layer during actual movement of the surfaces depends on a property common to all fluids, namely, viscosity. Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of liquids to shearing forces; for instance, an oil which pours out of a spout slowly is usually termed a “thick oil”, while one which pours easily is described as “thin”. It is more correct to speak of these oils as having “high” and “low” viscosities respectively. In general, the higher the viscosity of the fluid used, the easier it is to maintain a film during movement of the bearing surfaces. But because a high viscosity means a high resistance to shearing forces on the lubricant itself, more power is needed to maintain the desired relative motion of the surfaces.