ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS 
433 
from the South Polar regions, Dr. Bruce took a series of 
soundings proving that the South Atlantic rise extended 
a thousand miles further south than was previously known. 
Now Dr. Bruce believes that this comparatively shallow 
water area extends westward to the Sandwich group (not 
to be confounded with the Sandwich islands in the Pacific 
Ocean), and eastward to Bouvet island. By demonstrating 
the presence of a long ridge of about three hundred miles 
in breadth between Madagascar and Bouvet island to the 
Sandwich group, with a forked connection towards the South 
Orkneys and the antarctic regions on the one hand, and the 
Falkland islands and Tierra del Fuego on the other, Dr. 
Bruce * has made a valuable addition to our knowledge of the 
zoogeographical affinities referred to. 
Professor Carpenter,f who described the Collembola brought 
back from the South Orkney islands by the Scottish antarctic 
Expedition, concludes that these minute insects support the 
view of the former existence of extensive land tracts south of 
the American continent. It may be mentioned incidentally 
that sedimentary rocks have now been discovered not only in 
the South Orkney islands by Dr. Pirie, but also in the island 
of South Georgia. 
A very important contribution to the subject of the 
antarctic problem is that by Dr. Enderlein. He deals with 
the geographical distribution in the South Polar regions 
of insects as a whole. Chile, Tierra del Fuego, the Falk¬ 
land islands and South Georgia all belong, according to him, 
to Dr. von Ihering’s “Archiplata” region, while the Auck¬ 
land isles, Campbell islands and the Macquarie islands are 
grouped as part of New Zealand. The former has a large num¬ 
ber of endemic genera of insects. Dr. Enderlein regards the 
family Thynnidae as one of the most valuable supports in 
favour of a former land connection between Archiplata and the 
whole Australian region, all the females of this family of 
Hymenoptera being wingless. ’These insects are confined to 
the Australian region and southern South America. Numbers 
of similar instances are cited. After quoting all the recorded 
* Bruce, W. S., “Survey of South Atlantic,” p. 10. 
f Carpenter, G. II., “ Collembola from South Orkneys,” p 479. 
L.A. F F 
