F. GEOGRAPHY. 155 



made one haul of the dredge off the Cuban coast, near Ha- 

 vana, in two hundred and fifty fathoms of water, and obtained 

 a superb specimen of the very rare Pentacrinus Caput Medu- 

 sce y the first ever obtained so near our coast, and perhaps 

 hardly represented as yet in any of our museums. 



After returning to Key West the doctor took charge of 

 the dredging on board the Coast Survey steamer Bache, but 

 ill health prevented his prosecuting this to any extent, and 

 soon after the return to the north he succumbed to the fatal 

 malady (consumption) which had fastened many years before 

 upon his system. 



SUBSIDENCE OF THE ANDES. 



A comparison made at different points of the Andes, ex- 

 tending over a period of more than a hundred years, is pub- 

 lished in Ausland for May 13, which shows that the chain has 

 measurably diminished, and that the reduction is progressing. 

 Thus Quito was found by La Condamine in 1745 to be 9596 

 feet above the sea, by Humboldt in 1803 to be 9570 feet, by 

 Boussingault in 1831 9567 feet, by Orton in 1867 9520 feet, 

 and by Reiss and Stiibel in 1870 9350 feet. Quito has thus 

 sunk 246 feet in 125 years, and Pichincha 218 feet in the same 

 period ; its crater has sunk 425 feet during the last 26 years, 

 and Antisana 165 feet in 64 years. 13 A, June 15, 1872, 

 232. 



NICARAGUA SHIP-CANAL. 



A correspondent of the New York Herald, under date of 

 the 16th of June, gives some account of the proceedings of 

 the United States Nicaragua Ship-canal Expedition. It will 

 be remembered that the officer originally in charge, Com- 

 mander Crossman, lost his life by drowning, in the West In- 

 dies, on the passage to Central America. The command then 

 devolved upon Captain Chester Hatfield; this officer has been 

 occupied since the 20th of April last in surveying the various 

 routes suggested for the canal. One of these routes is that 

 of Colonel Childs, in 1850, which continues to be considered 

 quite favorably. The second route, extending from Sopoa to 

 Salinas Bay, is thought impracticable. What is called the 

 Ochomogo route promises to be the best yet discovered. In- 

 deed, there are five practicable routes within the limits of this 



