224 



NATURE 



[December 14, 191 



Tub third volume of results published by the Geological 

 and Natural History Survey of Connecticut contains three 

 bulletins, *' The Lithology of Connecticut," by Prof. Barrell 

 and Mr. G. F. LouRhlin ; " Catalogue of Flowering Plants 

 and Ferns of Connecticut Growing without Cultivation," 

 by the Committee of the Connecticut Botanical Society ; 

 and " Second Report on the Hymeniales of Connecticut,'* 

 by Prof. E. A. White. One object of the Survey's publica- 

 tions is to enlist the interest of the general community, in 

 which connection Prof. Barrell's " Introduction to I/ith- 

 ology " is noteworthy for its luminous thoroughness. The 

 oconomic value of all soils is carefully investigated by Mr. 

 Loughlin. On the same principle, the useful or deleterious 

 properties of flowering plants and fungi receive full notice. 

 Prof. White has made considerable experiments with 

 mushrooms, and the number of edible and wholesome 

 .\garicace;o is surprisingly large. His descriptions of fungi, 

 illustratt^l by some excellent photographs, are very complete. 

 The catalogue of flowering plants and ferns comprises 

 2228 species; nothing that has not been authenticated is 

 included. Distribution is uneven ; Connecticut soils, being 

 formed from trans|Kirted material, often differ from the 

 underlying rock. In the south-eastern portion of the State 

 there is a small group belonging to the flora of the Atlantic 

 coast plain of the middle and southern States, prob.'ibly a 

 remnant of a larger colony. Among interesting species are 

 the dwarf mistletoe, parasitic on the black spruce; and the 

 numerous representatives of Rhododendron and Cypripcdium. 

 In 1907 an Act of the General Assembly was put into force, 

 by which "The Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia, is 

 hereby made, constituted, and declared to be the State 

 Flower of the State of Connecticut." The prevailing diffi- 

 culties of nomenclature are well illustrated in this careful 

 list. It will, in connection with the full geological know- 

 ledge of the State, enable some investigations to be made 

 of considerable ecological interest. 



Heft 3 of the current volume of the Mitteilungen aus 

 den Deutschen Schutzgebieten is mainly devoted to the 

 final portion of an account of the Cameroon Mountains, by 

 Dr. K. Hassert. The hydrography is fully treated, and 

 the distribution of water, with its remarkable inequality, is 

 brought out. The coastal slopes have as high a rainfall 

 as any part of the earth's surface, while the south- 

 eastern, eastern, and northern regions are but imperfectly 

 supplied. The fauna and vegetation are shortly described, 

 and the inhabitants are discussed. A section on the 

 economic products of the region, and two appendices deal- 

 ing with the observations of altitude and the determina- 

 tion of geological specimens complete the article. 



Mk. \'. N. I KHEDEF investigated the hydrology of the 

 Kamchatka River in 1908-9, and has given a preliminary 

 account in the Izvestiya of the Russ. Geogr. Soc, Nos. 

 i.-v., 191 1, The river is a mighty stream, being more 

 voluminous in its lower course than the Dnieper, and dis- 

 charging when low fully 42,380 cubic feet of water per 

 second. A greater aggregate of low temperatures is re- 

 quired to bring it to the freezing point than any other 

 river of Sil>eria, probably owing to the high temperature 

 of the springs that feed it. It receives tribute also from 

 the melting of the snow and ice in the mountains, while 

 rain is of secondary importance. The lakes of eastern 

 Kamchatka are in summer not colder than similar lakes 

 in Europe, notwithstanding the great difference in climate, 

 while in winter they are even warmer, because thev are 

 frozen over earlier. The stream that drains the Nerpichye 

 Lake is, unlike most lake outlets, warmer than the air 

 soon after the thawing of the ice. A map of the delta of 

 NO. 2198, VOL. 88] 



the Kamchatka River with iu numerous islands, chai ' ;., 

 and creeks accompanies the article. 



Mr. I. Kark, who has studied the .Murgab River i'' 

 relation to a project foi storing the surplus water i: 

 spring to b<- used for irrigation in summer has publish"! 

 the results in the Izvestiya of the Russ. Geogr. Soi 

 Nos. viii.-x., 1910. At Tashkepri the minimum dischar^ 

 of the river in September is 1330 cubic feet a second, an 

 the maximum, in March, 5608 cubic feet, while the annual 

 flow of water is more than 694 thousand million cubic feet. 

 The solid matter carried down by the stream, which silt*i 

 up a reservoir constructed some years ago at Yolatan, i 

 derived principally from the sand and clay of the lo- 

 deposits below Takhtabazar. Below Sultanbent an 

 Yolatan, where the delta may be considered to begin, th- 

 load is deposited, and, raising the general level of th< 

 country, forces the river to seek a lower course we-! 

 wards. Hence it is that the town of Merv has moved i' 

 the same direction. Mr. Kark suggests that borinj.; 

 should be executed to ascertain the practicability of obtaii 

 ing water by artesian wells. These borings would al- 

 yield information regarding the depth of the solid rorl; 

 and their age. 



The meteorological chart of the North .Atlantic t>t<an 

 for December, issued by the Deutsche Seewarte, gives some 

 news received from the German .Antarctic Expedition. The^; 

 ship Deutscbland left Buenos Ayres on October 7 for a 

 position near latitude 48° S., longitude 30° W'., in order t. 

 determine by soundings whether a shoal exists there, .1 

 surmised by several shipmasters. The vessel would then 

 visit the South Sandwich Islands to explore the floor of 

 the ocean in their vicinity, and afterwards repair to South 

 Georgia to take in stores, &c., this month. From there 

 it would take a direct south-east course to the neighbour- 

 hood of Coats' Land, and make the eastern part of 

 Weddell Sea, where less pack-ice is likely to be found than 

 in the south-western corner. If land is reached a station 

 will be established, and the ship will endeavour to get 

 free of the ice by March next. In the southern summer 

 of 1912-13 it will return for the removal of the members 

 of the expedition. Particulars of successful landing on the 

 Antarctic shore may be looked for about April next. 



It is impossible to read the monthly issues of the Bulletin 

 of the American Mathematical Society without realising 

 that .American mathematicians are a much more powerful 

 and well-organised body than their fellow-workers in this 

 country. In an article on "American Mathematics" in 

 The Popular Science Afonthly, Prof. G. A. Miller shows 

 that much still remains to be done before America can 

 occupy a position of equality with the leading mathematical 

 centres of the world, and his remarks certainly appear to 

 apply with even greater force to England. It may perhaps 

 be rather doubted whether the imperfect definitions of such 

 words as " matrix " or " algebra " given in ordinary 

 dictionaries can be regarded as affording much conclusiy^ 

 evidence, since it is probable that similar defects might h 

 found in their treatment of other branches of science ; but 

 Prof. Miller is on firmer ground when he directs atten- 

 tion to the absence of any popular encyclopaedic works <•' 

 general reference in the English language dealing with tli 

 developments and history of higher mathematics. " .As tlv 

 result of this lack of intermediate mathematical literatur' 

 comparatively few of our people know what constiti; 

 mathematician of high order." 



The Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences for 

 November 19 contains a short account of the result* 

 obtained by Messrs. Rosa, Dorsey, and Miller in a deter- 



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