ON THE PROGRESS OP SCIENCE. IX 



though it is the largest river flowing into the Arctic seas from either 

 continent. A survey of the valley of the Maniteh and of the fishe- 

 ries of the Caspian Sea has been made by M. Baer. The river Man- 

 iteh is 315 miles in length, empties itself into the Don, and so finds its 

 way to the Sea of Azov. 



A geographical and scientific survey of the southern portion of 

 Eastern Siberia is now under way, under the supervision of M. Ous- 

 oltsefF. Geographical detail in relation to this region has hitherto been 

 little more than a blank. 



During the past year intelligence has been received of the murder 

 of Dr. Vogel, the successor of Dr. Barth, in his explorations in Cen- 

 tral Africa. The most authentic accounts relative to his fate, have 

 been obtained through the English Consul at Khartoum, Upper Nubia, 

 from an envoy of the King of Darfur to the Pacha of E^ypt. Accord- 

 ing to his statement, Dr. Vogel (Abdul Wahed) u had departed from 

 Bornu for Berghami, where he was well received, and after having vis- 

 ited all localities as he wished, he proceeded to Madagu, and from 

 thence passed to Borgu, that is to say, Waday, where he met the Viz- 

 ier of the Prince of Waday, named Simalek, who treated him well. 

 He afterwards entered the interior of that province to the capital city, 

 called Wara, where the Prince Seiaraf, so called Sultan of Waday, who 

 is now paralytic, resides ; but in the neighborhood of Wara there is a sa- 

 cred mountain, the ascent of which is prohibited to all persons. Abdul 

 Wahed (Dr. Vogel), whether informed of this or not, ascended this sa- 

 cred mountain, and when the prince learned it he ordered him to be 

 put to death, and so it was." 



The recent progress of Astronomical Science is thus sketched by 

 Dr. Lloyd, the last President of the British Association, in his inaugural 

 address. The career of planetary discovery, which began in the first 

 years of the present century, and was resumed in 1845, has since con- 

 tinued with unabated ardor; and since 1846 not a single year has 

 passed without some one or more additions to the number of the plan- 

 etoids. The known number of these bodies is now fifty. Their total 

 mass, however, is very small. The diameter of the largest is less than 

 forty miles, while that of the smallest (Atlanta) is little more than four. 



These discoveries have been facilitated by star-maps and star-cata- 

 logues, the formation of Avhich they have, on the other hand, stimu- 

 lated. Two very extensive works of this kind are now in progress 

 The Star-Catalogue, of M. Chacornac, made at the observatory of 

 Marseilles, in course of publication by the French Government ; and 

 that of Mr. Cooper, made at his observatory at Markree, in Ireland, 

 which is now being published by the Royal Society. It is a remarka- 

 ble result of the latter labor, that no fewer than seventy-seven stars, 

 previously catalogued, are now missing. This, no doubt, is to be as- 



