— 87 — 



solaires, tombe, peu a peu, comme une sorte de raanno 

 dans les deserts sous-marins ou aucune plante ne peut 

 croitre. 



L'Ocean a deja beaucoup appris, mais il est loin 

 d'avoir revele tous ses secrets ; on a souleve un coin 

 du voile qui les cachait et ce que I'on a vu est de nature 

 a encourager de nouvelles explorations. 



V. DE ROBILLARD. 



ANNEXE D. 



(Voir seance du 19 Jiiillet 1883, page 57). 



Extracts from a 'paper read hy Mr F. G. Baker, F.R.S., 

 at a meeting of the British Association at York ; on 

 Madagascar, its Area, Physical Geography, Climate 

 and Zoology. 



Madagascar is the third largest Island in the 

 world, Australia and Borneo being the only two that 



surpass it in size, the latter but slightly. It extends 

 over about 15 "^ ' of Lat., its Southern extremity being 

 a little outside the Tropic of Capricorn, and the re- 

 mainder all included in the South tropical zone — It 

 is nearly a thousand miles long, with an average width 

 of 250, and an extreme width of 360 miles. Its area 

 is nearly a quarter of a million square miles, about 

 equal to that of Prance — and about four times that 

 of England and Wales ; and there is at the present 

 day a channel 240 miles broad between it and the 



