F. GEOGRAPHY. 225 



of these coins, according to Palladius, belong to a period 175 

 B.C. Froc. Geoff. Soc. >St. Fetershurg, November 1, 1872. 



DEIFT-WOOD IN NOVA ZEMBLA. 



A paper in Peterraann's Mittlieilungen upon the drift-wood 

 found in Nova Zembla has at present a special interest in 

 connection with the discovery of fragments of a similar char- 

 acter by the crew of the Folaris in Polaris and Newman 

 bays. The Nova Zembla specimens consisted mainly of 

 willow of various thicknesses. There w^ere also, however, 

 pieces of beech nearly a foot in diameter, several species of 

 pine, among these F. si/lvestris, an Abies, etc. It is thought 

 that a large portion of this material must have been derived 

 from the Petschora, Obi, and Yenesei rivers, and that none 

 of it could have been derived from the current of the Gulf 

 Stream. 17 C,Mai/,lSl3,189. 



BRITISH SURVEYS IN PALESTINE. 



A recent report on the part of the British surveys in Pal- 

 estine states that the country is divided naturally into four 

 parallel strips the coast plain, the hill country, the Jordan 

 Valley, and the eastern plateau. The hills are broad-backed, 

 without marked grandeur in their physical features ; but here 

 and there rounded summits rise above the general level of 

 the range. Of these, Hebron is 2840 feet above the sea; the 

 Mount of Olives, 2665 ; Mount Ebel, 3029 ; and Jebel Jermah, 

 4000. On the east the hills descend rapidly to the Jordan, 

 and are furrowed and cleft by deep, wide torrent beds. The 

 Jordan Valley runs nearly parallel to the coast from the base 

 of Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea, which occupies the deep- 

 est portion. The Jordan is the great river of the country, 

 which, from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, has a tortu- 

 ous course for sixty-six miles, wholly below the level of the 

 Mediterranean. A, July, 1873. 



ARCTIC COMMITTEE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



A committee has lately been appointed by the Royal So- 

 ciety to prepare a report upon the scientific objects of an 

 arctic expedition, consisting of George Busk, Esq., vice-presi- 

 dent of the Royal Society, Dr. Carpenter, president of the 

 British Association, Mr. Joseph Prestwitch, General R. Stra- 



K2 



