34° NEWS [ai'uil1899 



Baron von Richthofen had to be informed that England cannot co-operate with 

 Germany in this great work because the British Government decline to support 

 an expedition, and wealthy Englishmen are not public-spirited enough to 

 subscribe the few thousands necessary." 



We are glad to learn that the Millport Marine Station, one of the youngest 

 of British Marine Biological Stations, bids fair to attain the success which has 

 fallen to some of its older rivals. During the past year the station has been in 

 full working order, and the fact that the tables in the laboratory were occupied 

 by working naturalists for varying periods on thirty-eight different occasions, 

 shows that the station is both needed and appreciated. The committee must 

 also feel much gratified at the interest shown in the Robertson Museum, which 

 was visited by over 8000 persons last year. Many additions have been made to 

 the station during the past year, but the Committee appeal for more funds to 

 enable them to effect further improvements, and also for donations to the library 

 of books or papers on marine zoology. 



Prof. Carl Chun writes to Sir John Murray (Scot. Geogr. Magazine, 1899, xv. 

 p. 143) reporting on the course of the German Deep-Sea Expedition after 

 leaving Cape Town. They re-discovered Bouvet Island so often searched for in 

 vain — apparently a volcanic cone entirely covered with glacier ice. Especially 

 remarkable is the series of soundings taken on the edge of the pack from 

 Bouvet Island to the neighbourhood of Enderby Land. A depth of over 3000 

 fathoms was frequently sounded, showing that the Antarctic Sea is much deeper 

 than has hitherto been supposed. 



The Socotra Scientific Expedition, led by W. R. Ogilvie Grant and H. O. 

 Forbes, has returned to London after a very successful exploration of the 

 island. The collections made include several remarkable forms, especially some 

 beautiful butterflies. A wild donkey, said to be a species new to science, has 

 been secured for the Zoological Gardens. A great part of the interior of Socotra 

 has been surveyed, and correct geographical data obtained for a revised map. 



The expedition despatched by the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna 

 arrived at Socotra shortly before the departure of the British party. 



The Russian Geographical Society, with the aid of funds supplied by the 

 Tsar, has organised a new expedition for the exploration of Central Asia. It 

 will leave St. Petersburg this month under command of Lieutenant Koslow, and 

 will probably occupy two years. 



Mr. John S. Budgett, sent out to the Gambia by the Zoological Society of 

 London, is meeting with success in his collecting, among his captures being 

 large specimens of Polypterus. 



The Scientific American announces that S. H. Cavendish, explorer, and 

 Edward Dodson, the naturalist, "have gone to Patagonia to search for the 

 giant ground-sloth, or megatherium." 



A grant of £300 from the Works Travelling Scholars Fund, Cambridge, has 

 been made to Mr. Skeat in aid of his scientific expedition to the Malay Peninsula. 



Dr. K. Kishinouye, of the Imperial Japanese Fishery Bureau, arrived at 

 Tokio on March 15. Since leaving England in August 1898, his work has 

 taken him to France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Italy. 



In a Chicago school, in which at least a thousand children are taught, 

 experiments will be made with an " ergograph" for measuring mental endurance, 

 the object being to determine the "fatigue period" when school work should 

 not be pressed. We are not informed as to the nature of the ergograph, but it 

 is said to be "adapted for the purpose." 



The Association of American Anatomists has accepted the proposal of the 

 editors that the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology should be the official organ 

 of the Association, and Prof. G. S. Huntington, of Columbia University, has 

 been nominated American editor. 



