ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. V 



1856, had received Prof. Allman's monograph of the British Fresh- 

 water Polyzoa. Great praise was bestowed by the Council on the 

 author and artist of this work. This year the members are to have 

 for their subscription a work by Prof. Williamson on the British For- 

 aminifera. Prof. Huxley's work on the Oceanic Hydrozoa is promised 

 for 1858-9. 



Among the Geographical Expeditions now, or recently in progress, 

 we may mention the following : That of Lieuts. De Crespigny and 

 Forbes of the British Navy, in the interior of Borneo ; and that of 

 Major Burton, (the Pilgrim to Mecca.) and Capt. Speke, in Eastern 

 Africa ; the latter carry with them a portable iron boat, and hope to 

 reach the Lake Ngassi. 



The expedition fitted out in England for the purpose of exploring 

 both branches of the Niger, by the steam propeller Dayspring, in 

 charge of Dr. Baikie, R. N., left the Binue or Kowara river for the 

 Niger, on the tenth of July, and has since been heard from in the far 

 interior. The expedition is composed of fifty Kroomen, twenty-five 

 natives of the countries bordering on the Niger, and fourteen Euro- 

 peans, including a naturalist, botanist, and engineers. It is the inten- 

 tion to form trading posts on the banks of the river at the most eligible 

 situations for the collection of cotton, shea, outter and other productions 

 of the interior, provided the climate offers no insuperable obstacles. 



Another expedition is now exploring the Congo river. It is com- 

 manded by Ladislaus Magyar, of the Portuguese army, accompanied 

 by men of science. His orders are to make a full survey of that 

 stream. 



A scientific expedition for the exploration of the Colorado river of 

 the West, has been recently sent out by the U. S. Government, under 

 the charge of Lieut. Ives, commandant, and Dr. J. S. Newberry, Geol- 

 ogist. 



Sir R. I. Murcheson, in his annual address, for 1856, before the 

 Geographical Society, (G. B.) called attention to a region in British 

 North America, including at least 112,000 square miles, extending 

 from the head waters of the Assiniboine river to the foot of the Rocky 

 Mountains, and from the northern branch of the Saskatchewan to the 49th 

 parallel of latitude, which has remained almost completely unexplored. 



Since then, an expedition under the auspices of the British Govern- 

 ment, commanded by Mr. Palliser and Lieut. Beakston, R. A. has 

 been sent out to explore the above mentioned territory. The chief 

 objects of the expedition are, First: to survey the water parting be- 

 tween the basins of the Missouri and Saskatchewan ; also the course of 

 the south branch of Saskatchewan and its tributaries. Secondly : to 

 explore the Rocky Mountains, for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 mostsoutherly pass across to the Pacific within the British Territory. 



