1898] NEWS 4.39 



our quest for news of Andree since last April We have got our row-boat ready, 



and in this are now starting to cross from the Lena delta to the mouth of the 

 Olenek. If we arrive in safety we shall from thence proceed in sledges to 

 Chatauga, the Taimyr Peninsula, and the mouth of the Yenisei in our search. 

 The botanist who has accompanied us thus far is now returning via Irkutsk." 



Mr N. R. Harrington and Dr Reid Hunt have returned to New Fori from 

 an expedition to the Nile Yalley, where they went to obtain material for the study 

 of the life-history of Polypterus. The best fishing-ground was at Mansourah, 

 forty miles from the sea. The study of this was expected to throw light on the 

 relations of the Crossopterygian fishes to the Amphibia and the Dipnoi ; but 

 unfortunately no embryonic material was obtained. Excellent collections were, 

 however, made for other zoological purposes. 



Mr Cornelius Vanderbilt will provide funds for a botanical expedition to 

 Porto Rico, to be undertaken by the New York Botanical Garden, under the 

 direction of Dr N. L. Britton. The expedition left towards the end of October, 

 and will collect for six months. 



News comes from Argentina that Dr Santiago Roth, of the museum of La 

 Plata, has discovered a series of Mesozoic mammalian remains in the Territory of 

 Chubut. Palaeontologists will await with great interest his promised memoir on 

 the subject. 



The report of the progress of the Ordnance Survey up to March 31, 1898, has 

 been issued as a Parliamentary Blue-Book, which is thus summarised by The 

 Times. Dealing first with England and "Wales, the report states that the publica- 

 tion of the revision of the cadastral survey on the 1-2,500 scale is proceeding as 

 rapidly as possible, the total area published being 9,236 square miles, of which 

 5,217 square miles have been published during the year. The revision has now 

 been taken up of all the counties of England and Wales which were surveyed 

 more than twenty years ago. The publication of the revised maps on the 6in. scale 

 has been hitherto much retarded by the publication of the new maps on this 

 scale of London and the Tyneside towns. This latter work is, however, now 

 approaching completion, and more rapid progress is expected in future. The 

 total area on this scale published is 3,788 square miles, of which 3,609 square 

 miles have been published during the year. With regard to the revision of the 

 lin. map, which was sanctioned by the Treasury in 1893, the report states that 

 the field-work of the revision was begun in 1893, since when the whole of England 

 and Wales has been revised on the ground, with the exception of a few streets in 

 the midland counties and North Wales, which will be completed this year. Of a 

 total area of 58,527 square miles thus revised 14,643 have been revised during the 

 year. The revised maps of 28,305 square miles have been engraved and pub- 

 lished, 5,282 during the year. The general result to be obtained by the revision 

 is that in 1899 there will be available to the public for the first time a lin. out- 

 line map of the whole of the country, prepared on one uniform system, and with 

 its principal details nearly up to date. It is further stated that the revision of 

 the map in the scale of 4in. to the mile will follow on that of the lin. map, but 

 cannot proceed very rapidly until the latter has been completed. After giving 

 some details with regard to Scotland and Ireland, the report, in a summary and 

 tabular statement of progress for 1897-98, shows that, so far as the original surveys 

 of the United Kingdom are concerned, the town surveys for Great Britain and 

 Ireland, the 1-2,500 maps for Great Britain, the 6in. maps, and the lin. maps 

 for Great Britain and Ireland have all been completed, while the hill engraving 

 for the new series lin. map of England and Wales is proceeding, 4,262 square 

 miles out of a total of 27,569 published on March 31, 1898, having been published 

 in 1897-98. Considerable work has also been accomplished in the way of 

 resurveying. 



