46 



NATURE 



[May 9, 1889 



Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Son have published a 

 ■second edition of M. Eissler's "Metallurgy of Gold." The 

 work has been enlarged by about 150 pages and 40 additional 

 illustration.s. 



We have received the seventh part of Cassell's "New 

 Popular Educator," which will be completed in forty-eight parts. 

 This part contains a lithograph presenting the constellations 

 visible in Britain. 



Messrs. C. Griffin and Co. have published the sixth annual 

 issue of the " Year-book of the Scientific and Learned Societies 

 of Great Britain and Ireland." The work, which is compiled 

 from official sources, comprises lists of the papers read during 

 1888 before Societies engaged in fourteen departments of 

 research. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include an Indian Wolf {Cams pallipes $ ) from 

 India, presented by Major C. S. Skipton, R.A. ; two Stone 

 Curlews {CEdiaiemus scolopax), British, presented by Mr. 

 Brunsden ; a Golden Eagle {Aquila chtysaettis) from Inverness- 

 shire, presented by Mr. Thomas G. Henderson ; a Cape Mole- 

 rat [Georychus capensis), a Geometric Tortoise {Testudo 

 geometrica), four Tuberculated Tortoises {Homopus femoralis), 

 six Narrow-headed Toads {Eh/o angusiiceps), thirty-four Gray's 

 Frogs [Rana grayi), a Spotted Slowworm {Acontias meleagris), 

 rom Cape Colony, South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. 

 Fi'R., C.M.Z. S. ; a Puff Adder {Vipera arietans) from the Cape 

 of Good Hope, presented by Mr. F. Streatfield ; six European 

 Tree Frogs {Hyla arborea), European, presented Mr. H. Bende- 

 lack Hewetson, F.Z. S. ; a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus $ ) 

 rom India, deposited ; two White-eyed Ducks {Nyroca Jerni- 

 ginea), European, two Black-necked Swans (C/^w^j nigricollis) 

 from Antarctic America, two Lineated Kaleege {Euplocamus 

 /i«^a^Mj) from Tenasserim, a Brazilian Tortoise {Testudo tabu- 

 lata) from South America, a Blackish Sternothere {Sternothcerus 

 subniger) from Madagascar, purchased ; a Persian Gazelle 

 {Gazella subgutterosa), two Chinchillas {Chinchilla lanigera), 

 four Long-fronted Gerbilles {Gerbillus longifj'ons), born in the 

 Gardens. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1889 MAY 12-18. 



/■pOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 _^ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greemvich on May 12 

 Sunrises, 4h. 15m. ; souths, iih, 56m. lo'is. ; daily decrease of 



southing, I •2s. ; sets, iph. 38m. : right asc. on meridian, 



3h. ly-gm. ; decl. 18' 15' N. Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



iih. im. 

 Moon (Full on May 15, 7h.) rises, I5h. 55m. ; souths, 



2ih. 57m.; sets, 3h. 4Sm.* : right asc. on meridian, 



•Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening and the 

 setting that of the following morning. 



h. 



Star. 



May. 

 i8 



Jupiter in conjunction with and 0° 15' south 

 of the Moon. 



Variable Stars. 



R.A. Decl. 



1. m. » / h. m. 



81 17 N. ... May 16, i 11 »x 



. 53 28 N. ... ,, 13, M 



14 18 N , 13, M 



60 6 N. ... ,, 15, m 



8 S S 13, 23 25 m 



I 20 N. ... ,, 17, o 10 m 



5 50 S , 13, M 



13 14 N 14, 22 30 M 



7 16 S. ... ,, 18, I o M 



14 36 S. ... „ 17, M 



35 II N. ... ,, 17, 2 DOT 



27 50 N , 13, I o M 



57 SI N. ... „ 15,21 oM 

 M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 

 Meteor-Showers. 



Near o Coronge 



,, 7j Aquilae 



From Delphinus 



R.A. 



232 

 295 

 313 



Decl. 



27° N. 

 o 

 15 N. 



Faint. Rather slow. 

 May 1 5. Very slow. 

 Swift. Streaks. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



Dr. H. Meyer, in a paper read before the Geographical 

 Society of Leipzig, deals with the snowfall on the summit of 

 Kilimanjaro. Having shown that the southern and south-eastern 

 slopes of the mountain are exposed during summer to the south- 

 eastern trade winds, while the summit rises in to the region of 

 che anti-trades, and that local winds, sometimes of considerable 

 force, ascend the mountain slope during the day, and descend 

 during the night, he explains how these winds p'-oduce rain and 

 snow. Dr. Meyer looks upon the wall of ice which stopped his 

 further progress as the edge of a cap of neve which covers the 

 summit, and which, owing to the combined influence of the wind 

 and radiation, has melted away on its northern side. On the 

 south, however, it seems to form a true glacier, which issues from 

 the ancient crater-trough of Kibo. 



Some of the conclusions come to by Dr. K. W. Schmidt, in 

 his paper on the soil and climate of German East Africa, in the 

 current number of Petermann! s Mitteilungen, are worth giving 

 in detail. The wooded and mountainous region of Usambara 

 and the western part of Bondei, in consequence of the favour- 

 able character of the soil, the copious rainfall, and extensive 

 irrigation, may be truly described as fertile, and in the opinion 

 of the author these countries have a great future before them. 

 West of Usambara extend vast steppes, utterly unfit for cultiva- 

 tion. The mountain mass of Kilimanjaro, composed of recent 

 volcanic, basaltic, andtrachytic rocks, and clothed with a wealth 

 of forests, should become of great importance. The physical 

 condition of the country between the Pangani and the 

 Wami are apparently not very favourable. Westwards the 

 country of Nguru, in its geological formation, its mag- 

 nificent forests, its numerous streams, and its meteorological 

 conditions, resembles Usambara. Southern Useguha, as far as 

 the Kingani and Gerengere, including the districts of Udoe and 

 Ukewere, is nothing but a vast waterless steppe. Ukami, in its 

 western part, abounds in lofty forest- clad mountains and rushing 

 streams, and its soil is well adapted for cultivation ; the soil of 

 the eastern part of Ukami is, on the other hand, composed 

 almost exclusively of quartz pebbles and gravel. Immediately 

 to the west of Ukami stretches the vast desolate M'Kata 

 steppe, beyond which rises the mountainous country of Usagara, 

 divided by the Mukondokwa River. The plain of Farhani, 

 traversed by the river, is fertile and well populated. The 

 mountainous district of Usagara itself suffers from a lack of 

 streams, and also from the sparsely wooded character of its 

 mountain slopes, at least in the eastern part. The country of 

 Khutu, in its various river valleys, might furnish soil suitable for 

 extensive cultivation. The general results of Dr. Schmidt's 

 observations is to show that there is a great difference in the 

 fertility and consequent value of the various countries comprised 

 within the German protectorate in East Equatorial Africa, and 

 that while there is a considerable extent of extremely fertile 

 territory, the greater part does not appear to be capable of 

 remunerative cultivation. 



