The study of the insects of northern Canada has in the past depended mainly on a very small number of collections obtained by the early explorers, by a few individuals concerned with mapping and other scientific investigations, and by missionaries. The work of Kirby (1837), the reports of the Canadian Arctic Expedition (Hewitt, 1922) and the Fifth Thule Expedition (Henriksen, 1937), and a few short papers represent the main contributions of many years.

Organized entomological research in northern Canada began in 1947 as a joint project of the Defence Research Board of the Canada Department of National Defence, and the Divisions of Entomology, Botany and Plant Pathology of the Canada Department of Agriculture. The research programme was divided into three major phases:

About half a million square miles of Labrador and Quebec lie in the Arctic and sub-Arctic north of the closed-crown, boreal forest. Although the boundary between the unbroken coniferous forest and the open lichen woodlands has only recently been denned accurately, it has been known for many years to correspond roughly to the 51° 30′ N. parallel except for a northern extension in the east to Lake Melville. This forest zonal division also marked approximately the northern boundary of the province of Quebec until the district of Ungava was incorporated into the province in 1912; in addition it forms the northern limit of logging operations by the pulp industry, and coincides roughly with the southern edge of the lake plateau that dominates the interior of the peninsula. Until the last few years the vast region was inhabited by less that 6000 Eskimos and Indians, a few traders, and, on the Labrador coast, small numbers of fishermen and their families.

Iron ore in significant quantities has been found in only four areas in arctic Europe. No deposits are known in arctic Asia or in the arctic islands of the eastern hemisphere. The largest iron-bearing area is in Swedish Lapland of which the total known reserves, mainly magnetite and hematite, are estimated at 2413 million metric tons, with an average iron content of over 63 per cent, or a ferric weight of about 1532 million tons. The greater part of this ore requires no concentration before use. There is a deposit of about 1000 million tons in Sør-Varanger in north Norway, with a low iron content, while the deposit at Yena in Kol'skiy Poluostrov (Kola peninsula) is estimated at nearly 850 million tons of ore with an iron content of 23 to 48 per cent, and like the Varanger ore requires concentration. A deposit with an iron content of 30 to 40 per cent has been investigated recently at Kolari in north-west Finland, but it is not yet worked.

A geodetic survey by shoran trilateration, to approximately second-order accuracy, of the islands of the Canadian Arctic archipelago was completed in 1957. This was the culmination of a programme started in the south-central section of the country in 1949.

Shoran (short-range aid to navigation) was developed during World War II as a navigational aid for precise tactical bombing. It consists of two radar transponders at known points on the ground and another radar unit in an aircraft capable of measuring the time required for radio waves to travel from the aircraft to each ground station and to return. These times are converted to distances by an intricate electro-mechanical system and the distances are shown on counters, reading to 0·001 mile. For the military application the distance between transponders was known and the position of the aircraft could be plotted from the mileage-counter distances; for geodetic application the mileage-counter distances are used to measure the distance between the two transponders.

The Scott Polar Research Institute possesses a notable collection of manuscripts relating to the polar regions. An appeal through the Press in 1956 resulted in the acquisition of a number of interesting manuscripts which might otherwise have remained unnoticed in store, or been destroyed for want of storage space. The Institute is always anxious to. increase its collection, and is grateful for the gift, or notice of the whereabouts, of any journals, logbooks, letters and other material of polar interest. New accessions are listed in. the annual report of the Scott Polar Research Institute, published in the Polar Record and the Cambridge University Reporter, and are summarized in the Bulletin of the National Register of Archives (London).