May s i > l888 ] 



NA TURE 



J '5 



well within asteroidal limits. Of the twenty comets, not only 

 have seven disappeared, but five, or, including Encke's and 

 Biela's, seven, have periods commensurable with that of Jupiter ; 

 all the twenty have direct motion ; all but one have smaller 

 inclination than Pallas ; and, as with the asteroids, there is a 

 tendency of the perihelia to concentrate in the 180 from 

 290° to 110°. 



New Minor Planet. — A new minor planet was discovered 

 by M. Borrelly on May 12 at Marseilles. This may possibly, 

 but not very probably, prove to be Xanthippe, No. 156. Should 

 it be really a fresh discovery, it will rank as No. 278, whilst the 

 one discovered by Herr Palisa on May 16 (see Nature, vol. 

 xxxviii. p. 89) will be numbered 279. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1888 JUNE 3-9. 



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

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



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on June 3 

 Sun rises, 3h. 49m.; souths, Iih. 57m. 57'6s. ; sets, 20h. 7m. : 



right asc. on meridian, 4h. 47 '4m. ; decl. 23 24' N. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset, I2h. 58m. 

 Moon (New on June 9, I7h.) rises, ih. 42m. ; souths, 



7I1. 30m.; sets, I3h. 29m.: right asc. on meridian, 



oh. 186m. ; decl. 2° 54' S. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



In the Report of the Survey of India for 1886-87, Colonel 

 Strahan gives an account of the survey and exploration of the 

 Nicobar Islands by himself and party. A very careful survey of 

 the whole group was made, and the coast-lines at last accurately 

 laid down. Owing to the dense vegetation, the party were unable 

 to penetrate any distance into the interior, and only a few heights 

 could be measured. The culminating point of the whole group, 

 2105 feet above sea-level, stands near the south-east corner or 



Great Nicobar, the area of which is 375 square miles, the total 

 area of the group being 678 square miles. The scenery, es- 

 pecially of Great and Little Nicobar, is of indescribable beauty.. 

 There are several rivers in the former island which are navigable 

 by boats for some miles, especially the Galatea, on the south 

 coast. Its course is very tortuous, the banks are fringed with 

 tree-ferns, canes, bamboos, and tropical vegetation of infinite 

 variety, through which occasional glimpses are obtained of 

 high mountains in the interior covered with dense forests to 

 their very summits, and generally cloud-capped. The country 

 through which the stream runs is almost uninhabited ; a few huts 

 appear here and there tenanted by an inland tribe of savages 

 called " Shorn Pen," of whom very little is known, except that 

 they are in such an utter state of barbarism as to be held in con- 

 tempt even by the Nicobarese inhabiting the coasts. On most 

 of the islands the forest grows luxuriantly down to the beach. 

 Mangroves, except in the island of Kamorta, are not very 

 plentiful, and in this respect these islands differ widely from 

 the neighbouring Andaman group, where the creeks are 

 fringed with mangroves mile after mile. The sea-beach con- 

 sists largely of coral. The climate is very equable day and night 

 all the year through, and most pleasant to one's feelings, but 

 unfortunately its character for unhealthiness is only two well 

 established. The rainfall, which averages about 100 inches, is 

 pretty evenly distributed throughout the year. The thermometer 

 stands very steadily between 8o° and 85 in the shade, and hardly 

 varies day or night. The inhabitants of these islands, Colonel 

 Strahan states, are allied to the Malays, and are a complete 

 contrast to their tiny, intensely black, woolly-haired neighbour - , 

 the Andamanese. The Nicobarese are very strong, thicklj- 

 built men, not much if at all inferior to Europeans in physique, 

 of a reddish-brown colour. They are unconquerably lazy, 

 having no inducement whatever to exertion. They have a 

 wonderful talent for learning languages. Fortunately, Mr Man, 

 the Settlement Officer at Kamorta, who has done so much for 

 Andaman anthropology, has been carefully studying the Nico- 

 barese, their habits and language, and is now engaged on a book 

 on the subject, which will shortly be published. 



Mr. C. M. Woodford, the successful naturalist explorer of 

 the Solomon Islands, is about to leave England on a third visit 

 to the group. After spending some time in various parts of the 

 islands not previously visited, he will investigate Santa Cruz, 

 Woodlark Island, and other islands lying to the south-east of 

 New Guinea. 



According to the new Survey Report, triangulation surveys 

 have already been effected over 15,000 square miles in Upper 

 Burma, and the out-turn of reconnaissance surveys amounts to- 

 11,000 square miles on the scale of 4 miles to an inch, in the 

 following States and districts : Northern Shan States and Ruby 

 Mines district, 3000 square miles ; Southern Shan States, 3000 ; 

 Yemethin and Mehtila district, 2000 ; Yaw country, 1000 ; 

 Mandalay and Kyaukse districts, 20CO. 



In the summary Report of the Geological Survey of Canada 

 for 1887, some of the results are given of the expedition under 

 Dr. G. M. Dawson last summer, of the exploration of British 

 Columbia. Mr. Ogilvie's instrumental survey to the intersection 

 of the Yukon with the 141st meridian will form a sufficiently 

 accurate base-line for future explorations in this region. In 

 addition to this the geographical results include the completion- 

 of an instrumental survey of the Sitkine to Telegraph Creek by 

 Mr. McConnell, which is connected with Dease Lake by a 

 carefully placed traverse by Mr. M'Evoy. Thence a detailed run- 

 ning survey was carried by the Dease, Liard, and Pelly Rivers, 

 connecting with Mr. Ogilvie's line at the mouth of the Lewis 

 River, a total distance of 900 mile-. Taken in conjunction with 

 Mr. Ogilvie's line, these surveys include an area of over 

 6000 square miles, the interior of which is still, with the 

 exception of reports received from a few prospectors and from 

 Indians, a terra incognita. The same remark may be applied to 

 the whole surrounding region outside the surveyed circuit, but 

 much general information has been obtained respecting the 

 entire district, which will facilitate further explorations. The 

 whole region is more or less mountainous, though intersected by 

 wide areas of flat or valley country. The country, though 

 generally mountainous in character, includes large tracts of flat 

 and slightly broken land, and, according to Dr. Dawson, may 

 eventually support a population as large as that found in . 

 corresponding latitudes in Europe. 



