1896. NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 141 



geological results. The ice in this neighbourhood is very heavy this year, and it is 

 thought that the "Windward" may be frozen up in Barents Sea before she can 

 reach Franz Josef Land with her supplies for the Harmsworth-Jackson Expedition. 

 This will affect most of the other expeditions now around the North Pole, except 

 Andree's balloon expedition. An interesting account of the balloon and its arrange- 

 ment, by G. Tomel, is given in Popular Science News for July, 1896. 



Professor Agassiz and party have returned to America from their expedition 

 to the barrier reef of Australia. The ss. " Croydon " was chartered in Brisbane 

 from the A. U.S.N. Co., and the reef worked from south to north. We learned from 

 the party as they passed through London that the results were not so good as had 

 been expected. Owing to the unfavourable weather the vessel had to lie to for 

 considerable periods at Cooktown, Pitcairn, and elsewhere, so that only about a 

 week of working days was found. Deep dredging became out of the question, but 

 some captures were made with surface nets, and several photographs were taken. 

 Professor Agassiz expressed himself as enchanted with the indescribable beauty of 

 the corals, which surpassed that of any reefs he had previously seen. 



Mr. C. Hedley has joined the coral-reef boring expedition to Funifuti as 

 zoologist. 



Mr. E. a. Fitzgerald, the climber of the New Zealand Alps, leaves England 

 in September for Chili, where he will explore the summit of Aconcagua, 23,200 feet. 

 Among those accompanying him is Mr. Philip Gosse, and it is stated that the 

 scientific side of the expedition will be as perfect as it can be made, nearly ^4,000 

 being spent in completing the preparations. 



Dr. M. Raciborski, of Munich, has been sent to the Buitenzorg Botanical 

 Gardens. 



Professor V. F. Brotherus, of Helsingfors, has gone to Central Asia to work 

 out the bryological mountain flora of Issikul. 



The Japanese Parliament has voted a sum of 5,383 yen (about ^'675) for the 

 scientific exploration of Formosa by members of Tokyo University. 



A State Entomological Experiment Station, for which the money has been 

 voted by both Chambers, is to be built near Stockholm. 



Some important deposits of brown coal have recently been discovered in South- 

 west Russia, near the Fastov Railway, and a company is being formed in St. Peters- 

 burg to work the same ; true coal has also been found in many parts of Western 

 Siberia, in the Governments of Yeniseisk and Irkutsk, in the provinces of Yakoutsk, 

 Trans-Baikal, the Amour, in the Maritime Province, and in Kamschatka. The 

 most important deposits are those in the Maritime Province, which is the only one 

 in which mining operations are carried on. Seams of good coal have been found 

 near Spickholzerteide, in South Limburg, Holland, and will be worked by a Dutch- 

 Belgian company. For some time a company known as the Budapest Regional 

 Coalmining Industry Company has been boring for coal at Vorosvar, Hungary. It 

 is now reported that a thick seam of coal has been cut through at a depth of about 

 273 yards. 



Must not palaeontology in the United States be in rather a bad way if it is 

 necessary for Professor G. D. Harris, the editor of the Bulletins of American 

 Palaontology, to offer a prize of I50 for a monograph suitable for publication, to be 

 presented before May i, 1897 ? Whatever be the reason for this move, the energy 

 of Mr. Harris deserves commendation. 



