May 1 6, 1889] 



NATURE 



65 



I 

 I 



most of the fjords in an E. i S. direction, as compared with the 

 south-west direction of the fjords on the west coast. 



The new number of the MitUilungen also contains a map of 

 the flora of Schleswig-Holstein, with accompanying text by Dr. 

 Ernest Krause, and an accounc of a journey to the sources of 

 *.he Tigris by Prof. Wimsch. 



The paper read at Monday's meeting of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society was by Mr. J. R. Werner, on his journeys up 

 the Ngala and Aruwimi tributaries of the Congo. The Ngala 

 enters the Congo a little south of 2° N. lat., coming from a 

 generally north-east direction. A little above its junction with 

 the Congo is a channel through which the waters of the latter 

 flow into the Ngala. For a considerable distance the banks of 

 the river are low, swampy, and forest-clad. Gradually hills ap- 

 pear, and latterly bluffs, between which the channel narrows 

 considerably. In May of last year, Mr. Werner accompanied 

 the steamer to the Aruwimi, which was taking the men to 

 Major Barttelot's camp at Yambuya. He was surprised at the 

 number of sand-banks on the lower river, and the difficulties of 

 navigation. After passing the town of Mokulu, the whole 

 character of the country seemed to change, the islands stood 

 higher out of the water and were covered with forest, which was 

 crowded with palms, the crowns of which looked very pretty 

 above the trees. The high banks on either side were lined with 

 villages, or rather the sites of former villages, for the Arabs had 

 been raiding here, and the natives were now living under roughly 

 put-up sheds of leaves and sticks ; the conical huts described by 

 Stanley had almost entirely disappeared, and during the time 

 Mr. Werner was on this river he only saw s^ix, four of which were 

 inside Major Barttelot's camp at Yambuya, and the other two 

 in the village of Irungu. On the high bluff on which Stanley 

 had found the large town of Yambumba, there was not a single 

 hut on the vast clearing where the town had been, while on The 

 opposite bank of the river such of the natives as had not been 

 killed or carried into slavery were living under sheds and awn- 

 ings of sticks and palm-leaves. On this side of the river the 

 baiik was quite low, and offered a strange contrast to the pre- 

 cipitous bluff on which the town had formerly stood. Above 

 Yambumba the Aruwimi runs between two ridges of low hills, 

 which are covered with magnificent timber. There are no more 

 villages on its banks until Yambuya is reached. 



A.FTER the reading of Mr. Werner's paper at the Geographical 

 Society, there was a discussion on the letter from Mr. Stanley 

 which was read at the previous meeting. In this discussion Sir 

 F. De Winton, Sir Samuel Baker, Colonel Grant, Rev. Horace 

 Waller, and others took part. Sir Samuel Baker's statement 

 was of considerable geographical interest. Against Mr. Stanley's 

 doubts, Sir Samuel maintained the accuracy of his original ob- 

 servations as to the southward extension of Lake Albert Nyanza. 

 He pointed out that Mr. Stanley himself refers to the very 

 marked decrease in the size of the lake in the last few years, a 

 decrease quite analogous to that \\ hich has taken place in Lakes 

 Tanganyika and Nyassa. This decrease has no doubt tended to 

 diminish the southern extension of the lake, and bring to light 

 the vast extent of Ambatch or Sud which Gessi and others 

 refer to. Sir Samuel maintains, moreover, that it will most 

 probably be found that the two lakes (Albert Nyanza and Muia 

 Nzige) are really one, and are known among the natives by one 

 name. The region which lies between them on our maps has 

 never been visited by any European explorer. Sir Samuel 

 pointed out the vast importance to Egypt of a precise know- 

 ledge of the laws which govern the increase or decrease of water 

 in the Albert Nyanza, which is really one of the great sources 

 of supply for the regions on the lower river. 



In the May number of the Scottish Geographical Magazine 

 will be found a very complete account of Samoa and its people 

 by Dr. G. A. Turner, who has lived many years on the islands. 



The town Kara-kol, on Lake Issyk-kul, has received the official 

 name of " Frjevalsk " in commemoration of the explorer of 

 Central Asia. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL expedition, under the two brothers Grum- 

 Grzimailo, has lately started for the exploration of the Eastern 

 Tian-Shan. On April 19 it had reached Tchardjui, on the 

 Trans-Caspian Railway. Its aim is to connect the explorations 

 of M. Potanin in North- Western Mongolia with those of 



Prjevalsky. One of the two brothers is already well known for 

 his explorations of the Pamir. 



The Russian Geographical Society is sending out the fol- 

 lowing expeditions: — M. Vilkitzki, who has made pendulum- 

 observations on Novaya Zemlya, will continue the same measure- 

 ments in Central and South-Eastern Russia. M. Faussek is 

 sent out to the shores of the White Sea in order to make zoo 

 geographical explorations in the Kandalak Bay, as well as for 

 observations upon the secular rising of the coasts of the White 

 Sea. M. Andrusoff, whose interesting researches into the 

 geological history of the Caspian Sea have attracted a good deal 

 of attention, will continue the geological exploration of Daghestan 

 and Kuban ; and M, Kuznetsoff will continue in the Caucasus 

 hisywork upon the geography of plants. M. Antonoff is sent out 

 to the Transcaspian region for the study of the conditions of 

 animal and vegetable life in the desert ; and MM. A. P. Semenoff 

 and Yaschenko will visit the same region for zoological and 

 botanical researches. Of ethnographical expeditions that of M. 

 Katanoff to North- Western Mongolia is worth noting. The 

 investigation of the folk-lore of the White Russians (Byelorusses) 

 will be continued by MM. Romanoff and Dobrovolsky. 



The expedition to Tibet, the departure of which was delayed 

 by the death of Prjevalsky, is now at the town Prjevalsk 

 (formerly Kara-kol), and it will start in a few days, via the Bedel 

 Pass, to Kashgar. The original plan of reaching Lhassa has 

 been abandoned, and the expedition will limit its explorations to 

 Eastern Turkestan and North-Western Tibet. It is under the 

 leadership of Colonel Pyevtsoff, who accompanied Prjevalsky in 

 all his memorable journeys. It includes also two other travelling 

 companions of Prjevalsky— MM, Roborovsky and Kozloff — and 

 a geologist, M. Bogdanovitch, who is commissioned by the 

 Russian Geographical Society. 



THE ROYAL SOCIETY CONVERSAZIONE. 



'T'HE annual conversazione, held by the Royal Society on 

 May 8, was in every way brillianily successful. There was 

 a numerous attendance, and the programme had been arranged 

 with the greatest skill and care. We refer to some of the most 

 novel and important objects exhibited. In addition to these, the 

 results set forth in many recent papers to the Royal Society were 

 illustrated by experiments. 



Mr. C. V. Boys, F.R.S., exhibited :— (i) Portable Cavendish 

 apparatus for demonstrating the attraction of gravitation. This 

 apparatus differs only from the well-known apparatus of Caven- 

 dish in matters of detail. First, instead of the beam 6 feet long, 

 carrying heavy weights, used by Cavendish, or half a metre long, 

 used by Cornu, the beam consists of a piece of lead only i centi- 

 metre long, and this is inclosed in a round tube of metal, outside 

 which the attracting weights are placed. This reduction of size 

 has been rendered possible by the use of quartz threads, the 

 production of which was shown two years ago. The advantages 

 gained by the reduced dimensions are increased sensibility, and 

 almost perfect elimination of temperature disturbances. The 

 particular apparatus exhibited is designed to show the effect, and 

 that it is the same from time to time, rather than to determine 

 the constant of gravitation absolutely. By arranging the two 

 attracting weights and the two ends of the attracted body at 

 different levels, the deflection is nearly doubled. — (2) Experi- 

 ment showing the insulation of quartz. A pair of gold leaves 

 are supported by a short rod of quartz which has been melted 

 and drawn out about three-quarters of an inch. The atmosphere is 

 kept moist by a dish of water. Under these circumstances a glass 

 in^uIaling stem allows all the charge to escape in a second or 

 two. With tthe quartz but little change is observed in four or 

 five hours. The quartz may be dipped in water and put back in 

 its place with the water upon it. It insulates apparently as well 

 as btfore. — (3) Apparatus for testing the elasticity of fibres. One 

 of these pieces of apparatus consists of a microscope cathetometer 

 arranged vertically, and a gravity bob which is deflected by the 

 vertical pull of the fibre on a side arm. The lower end of the 

 fibre is made fast to a beam carried by the microscope. A scale, 

 to which the upper end of the fibre is fixed, is viewed by the 

 microscope, which thus shows the stretch of the thread ; the 

 pulling force is found by subtracting the stretch from the vertical 

 movement of the microscope and multiplying by a constant 

 previously found. The second piece of apparatus is used to 

 measure the fatigue of fibres after torsion. 



