392 NATURAL SCIENCE. May. 1893. 



Mount Suckling ; on Meteorology, by Mr. Clement Wragge, Govern- 

 ment Meteorologist of Queensland, and a long and valuable report on 

 the Geology of the Possession by Mr. Gibb Maitland, of the Queens- 

 land Geological Survey. 



Meteorological observations are taken at four stations in the 

 Possession, at the capital, at xMekeo, and at the headquarters of 

 the Eastern and Western districts. " Unfortunately, complete 

 records can hardly be procured, except at Port Moresby, owing 

 to the fact that officers at other stations are often necessarily 

 absent from their headquarters on other duties." At Port Moresby 

 the mean atmospheric pressure for the year 1891, at g a.m., 

 was 29-919 inches. The grand mean temperature was 83-0 F. — 

 the highest shade (and February) 96-2^ the lowest (27th August) 

 72°. The rainfall for the year was 72 inches, of which 53 inches fell 

 in the first five months of the year. It rained on 95 days. At 

 Samarai (in China Straits), from April, 1891, to March, 1892, 126-5 

 inches fell on 174 days. During the three months of July, August, and 

 September a fall of 59 inches was recorded there, while only 15 inches 

 fell at Port Moresby. Dufaure Island is the meeting place of the 

 Port Moresby and Samarai climates. Sir W. Macgregor contributes, 

 as an appendix, a vocabulary of the Kiriwina dialect in the Trobriand 

 Islands, with observations on its grammar, and the Rev. W. Bromilow 

 one on the aboriginal vocabulary of Dobu. 



In concluding his Report, which, we repeat, is of great 

 scientific value, the Administrator remarks: "The results of native 

 administration appear, on the whole, fairly satisfactory for the year. 

 In not a few districts natives are settling down to more systematic 

 work in preparing exports for the trader. ... In some of the districts, 

 where native murders were fearfully common two or three years ago, 

 this crime has completely disappeared, or become very rare. No 

 doubt what in these days may be called ' much time ' is required to 

 acquaint the Papuan tribes with the working of the Government, and 

 the impartial and beneficial action of law. But they possess an 

 aptitude for such tuition which cannot but appear to be extraordinary 

 to any person acquainted with the history of civilisation among the 

 present existing cultured races of our globe. If the Papuans are 

 allowed anything like reasonable time — a time which compared to 

 that required for such a purpose by other races would be a very short 

 period — there can be no doubt that they will become a very con- 

 siderable, if not an important, unit in the Australasian dominions of 

 the Queen." These observations strikingly confirm the opinion of 

 the natives formed by Mr. H. O. Forbes during his intercourse with 

 them, even before Government supervision had begun to take effect, 

 and expressed m Blcichwood's Magazine for July, 1892. 



The English Catalogue of Books for 1892 has just appeared 

 (Sampson Low, five shillings). We are glad to see that the plan of 

 arrangement adopted last year is adhered to ; there is no system 

 more convenient for a reference book than the purely alphabetical. 

 We would suggest, however, one improvement, which is that all the 

 miscellaneous collection at present under " Transactions " should fall 

 into their proper alphabetical position in the next issue. " Trans- 

 actions " is clearly wrong, "Serials" or "Academies" if you will, 

 but not "Transactions." 



