GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS IN 1890. 



351 



In the first of the preceding tables the puff- 

 ball was kept until the following morning before 

 examination, when it was found to have lost 5'93 

 per cent, by weight. A slice from the center 

 contained 92'18 per cent, of water. In the sec- 

 ond table, on page 345, No. 1 refers to the whole 

 puff-ball, which was larger and more mature than 

 No. 2, the broken one. 



The total nitrogen for one of the puff-balls 

 was about three times as great as the highest fig- 

 ures by Morner, and even with the large per- 

 centage of water it compares favorably in nutri- 

 tive value with meat. It would seem, from the 

 analyses made at the station, that Morner's spec- 

 imens must have been very poor, or else the 

 fungi in Germany are not so rich in albuminoids 

 as those growing wild in this country. This 

 delicacy can be easily spoiled by improper cook- 

 ing. A simple method which retains the purity 

 of flavor is to slice the mushrooms very thin 



(both stalk and cap), stew in a small quantity of 

 cream and butter for ten minutes, and season 

 with pepper and salt, being not too sparing of 

 pepper. Many prefer water to cream, as not 

 modifying the mushroom flavor. By no means 

 throw away the first water, as some mistaken 

 cook-books" advise, for it contains the major por- 

 tion of the spores in which the delicate aroma re- 

 sides. The outer skin of the cap can be readily 

 removed by skinning from the edge to the cen- 

 ter, leaving the thick white fleshy cap and pink 

 gills. Put a lump of butter with a little pepper 

 and salt in the center of inverted young and 

 tender mushrooms, and then place them in a hot 

 frying pan till the butter permeates them. Their 

 richness is, for many people, enhanced by the 

 addition of wines and spices for extra seasoning, 

 but nothing can exceed the satisfaction of an epi- 

 cure in the pure taste of the simply prepared 

 meadow mushroom. 



G- 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS IN 1890, 



Africa. Since the greater geographical features 

 of the Dark Continent have been one after anoth- 

 er revealed, interest is centering in the political 

 questions that arise as its territory is appropri- 

 ated with more or less appearance of justice by 

 the various nations of Europe. In an article on 

 the subject by J. Scott Keltie estimates are made 

 of the amount of territory directly or indirectly 

 under the influence of European nations, and 

 the area still unclaimed by any of them. He 

 says: "It is doubtful if there are more than 

 2,000,000 square miles open to disposal by inter- 

 national arrangement or otherwise that is, about 

 one sixth of the whole continent." This includes 

 Egypt, the Egyptian Soudan, Tripoli, Morocco, 

 and the Sahara to the south of these two states. 

 Of the territory appropriated, France holds the 

 greatest extent, amounting to about 2,500,000 

 square miles, or more than one fifth of the con- 

 tinent. But it must be noted that although this 

 includes Algiers and Tunis and Madagascar, it 

 also includes much desert land, requiring enor- 

 mous expenditure to reclaim and make profitable. 

 This is also the case with much of the German 

 area, about a million square miles in all, most of 

 which is in the tropics. The share of England, 

 estimated at about 2,000,000 square miles, in- 

 cludes a great part of the most promising re- 

 gions in South Africa and in the Great Lake 

 region and the upper Nile countries. Portugal 

 has about 500,000 square miles, and Italy about 

 340,000 miles. The Congo Free State contains 

 about 1,000,000 miles. 



Mr. Stanley is reported to have made a sensation 

 in England by censuring British slowness in this 

 respect, censure that seems highly ironical in 

 view of the facts and figures cited above. In a 

 speech in the London Guild Hall, he said : 



I remember in 1878, in 1882, and in 1884 the scores 

 of lectures I delivered endeavoring to rouse sympathy 

 in England for Africa. If they were not read or list- 

 ened to herej the Continent listened to them and act- 

 ed. You might have had the Congo, which by this 

 would have paid you 100 per cent.; but you shrugged 

 your shoulders and called me a dreamer. The Bel- 



gians took it, and now it is Belgium that is making 

 100 per cent. The English might have had East Af- 

 rica, but their journalists see as through an opaque 

 glass, and the Germans absorbed the lion's share, 

 and the latter can not fail to win in the long run. The 

 Germans have immense odds in their favor. They 

 have .a vigorous, wideawake monarch. Wissmann 

 never heard of such things as Quakerism, peace socie- 

 ties, protection combinations, anti-enterprise compa- 

 nies, and namby-pamby journalism the clogs of every 

 honest endeavor in this country. It would be impos- 

 sible for men like Raleigh and Drake to live in this 

 country nowadays, but in Germany there is ample 

 room for them. 



The treaty .defining the boundaries between the 

 spheres of influence of England and Germany 

 was made public in July. The line on the north 

 of the German sphere runs northwest from the 

 mouth of the River Umba to Lake Jipe. where it 

 curves, taking in the lake, and crossing the River 

 Lume passes between Taveita and Chagga and 

 around the northern base of the Kilimanjaro 

 range, thence it passes to the eastern shore of 

 Victoria Nyanza at the first parallel of south 

 latitude, and along that parallel to the Congo 

 State, but not including Mount Mfumbiro ; the 

 western line passes along the Congo State front- 

 ier and Lake Tanganyika. From the mouth of 

 the Kilambo it runs to where the Songwe enters 

 Lake Nyassa and around the northern and east- 

 ern shores of the lake to the Portuguese line 

 along the Ro vuma. The British protectorate over 

 the islands Zanzibar and Pemba is recognized. 

 In all those African territories equal rights of 

 settling or trading shall be conferred by the two 

 powers on their subjects. The details of the 

 frontier between Ngamiland and Damaraland 

 remain to be settled, but it is agreed in latitude 

 to take Ugami up as far as the eighteenth de- 

 gree south latitude. The German frontier shall 

 coincide with the twenty-first degree east longi- 

 tude. In Tongaland the frontier is rectified, se- 

 curing the mouth of the Volta to England and 

 giving Germany access to the Volta river at the 

 highest point of its course. 



Increased activity is apparent on the part of 

 the various nations in the way of opening up 



