i^6 



NATURE 



{June 7, 1888 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Pudu Deer (Pudu humilis o ) from Chili, 



presented by Mr. G. E. Pugh Cook ; two Squirrels 



(Sciurus ) from Demerara, presented by Mr. R. Forrester 



Daly ; a Blue and Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) from South 

 America, presented by Mrs. Alfred Palmer ; a Pallas's Sand 

 Grouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) from Berwick-on-Tweed, pre- 

 sented by Mr. H. Hewart Crane; two Australian . Waxbills 

 (Estrelda temporalis) ; seven Spotted-sided Finches {Amadina 

 lathami) from Australia, presented by Mr. David S. Hodge ; a 

 Nose-crested Iguana (Iguana rhinolopha) from St. Lucia, West 

 Indies, presented by Dr. T. Dennehy ; a Tent Tortoise (Testudo 

 tenloria), a Fisk's Tortoi- e ( Testudo fiski) from Cradock, Cape 

 Colony, a Dwarf Chameleon (Chamceleon pumihis), a Purplish 

 Gecko (Phyllodactylus porphyreus), a Hoary Snake (Coronella 

 cana), three Narrow-headed Toads (Bufo angusticeps), five 

 Gray's Frogs (Rana grayi) from South Africa, presented by the 

 Rev. G. H. R. Fisk ; two Tigers (Felis tigris) from India, two 

 Puff Adders ( Vipera arietans) from South Africa, deposited; a 

 Long-billed Butcher Crow (Barita destructor) from New Plolland, 

 received in exchange ; two North African Jackals (Canis anihus), 

 born in the Gardens. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1888 JUNE 10-16. 



/pj*OR 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 10 

 Sunrises, 3I1. 46m. ; souths, nh. 59m. 15 -5s. ; sets, 2oh. 13m. : 



right asc. on meridian, 5I1. 16 "3m. ; decl. 23° 4' N. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset, 13I1. 31m. 

 Moon (New on June 9, 1711.) rises, 4h. 35m. ; souths, 



I2h. 40m. ; sets, 2oh. 49m. : right asc. on meridian, 



5h. 57 '3m. ; decl. 20 45' N. 



Planet. 



Rises, 

 h. m. 



Mercury.. 5 



Venus 3 



Mars 14 



Jupiter..., 18 



Saturn .... 7 

 Uranus*.. 

 Neptune, 



13 5' 



2 53 



Souths. 



h. m. 



13 46 

 II 22 



19 34 

 22 29 



15 7 

 19 31 

 10 38 



Right asc. and declination 

 on meridian, 

 h. m. „ , 



June. 

 II 



■3 



Sets. 

 h. in. 

 22 7 

 19 26 



1 & 



2 51 



22 59 



I II 



18 23 



Indicates that the setting is that of the following morning 

 h. 



Mercury in conjunction with and 2° 29' north 



of the Moon. 

 Mercury at greatest elongation from the 



Sun 24 east. 

 Saturn in conjunction with and 0° 20' north 

 of the Moon. 



7 3'o 



4 39"5 

 12 52*2 



15 48-4 



8 24-9 

 12 49-5 



3 54'9 



24 o N. 



21 45 N. 



5 45S. 

 19 3S. 

 19 55 N. 



4 35S. 

 18 41 N. 



21 



Meteor- Showers. 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near a Vulpeculae 

 ,, o Cephei 

 ,, # Piscium .. 



286 

 316 



345 



24 N. 



60 N. 



1 N. 



Rather slow. 

 Swift, streaks. 

 June 11-13. Very 

 swift. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

 Major Hobday reports of the operations in Upper Burma 

 that during the season of 1887-88, the whole of the Yaw country 

 has been thoroughly surveyed by surveyors attached to the 

 various columns converging on Gangaw. On the north a con- 

 nection has been made with the work executed by Colonel 

 Woodthorpe's party last year in the Kubo Valley. A good deal 

 of the geography of the Schwele River and the Mohlaing dis- 

 trict has also been obtained. The extent of surveying that has 

 been done by the surveyors who accompanied the column from 

 Bhamo to Mogdung and thence by the Jade Mines and 

 Endawgyi Lake to Katha, on the Irrawaddy, is not yet known, 

 as reports have not yet been received. In the Southern Shan 

 States a party under Lieut. Jackson, R.E., has carried on survey 

 operations in continuation of last year's work from Fort Stedman 

 to Pekon, in the Saga Valley, thence via Maukme, and Mone to 

 Maing-pan and the Salween River, where the Siamese mission 

 under Mr. Archer was met. Returning to Mone, they carried 

 the survey through Legya and Bansan to Maing-ye. In the 

 Northern Shan States a sub-surveyor has carried our surveys 

 from Thibaw to Namsan, and across the Myit-nge or Namtu 

 River to Theinni, on the Salween, and thence via Maing-yaw to 

 Manse and Maing-ye, thus effecting a junction with Lieut. 

 Jackson's work. Major Hobday himself has extended the 

 triangulation from Kyan Nyat to Bhamo, of which the position 

 is thus determined, and a basis provided for the surveys in the 

 direction of Mogaung. It is hoped that the triangulation exe- 

 cuted by this party will be connected during this season with 

 that of the surveys in Lower Burma. In addition to the work 

 done by members of this department, many reconnaissances 

 have been executed by regimental and other military officers 

 and the results given to Major Hobday for incorporation in his 

 sheets. 



We are glad to notice that Signor Guido Cora's Cosmos now 

 appears more regularly and frequently than formerly. The 

 last number contains a detailed account of recent Danish expe- 

 ditions in Greenland. 



The whole of the new number of the Deutsche Geographische 

 Blatter is occupied with the narrative of J. G. Kohl's American 

 studies, the results of journeys made thirty years ago in North 

 America. 



The principal paper in the new part of the Zeitschrift of the 

 Berlin Geographical Society is an elaborate examination of Sir 

 John Mandeville's writings by Dr. A. Bovenschen, in which the 

 author comes to conclusions decidedly unfavourable to Sir John's 

 trustworthiness. Dr. G. Hellmann contributes an important paper 

 on the rainfall of the Iberian peninsula, In the Verhandlungen 

 of the same Society we find papers on the geography and 

 ethnography of Southern Mesopotamia, by Dr. B. Moritz, and 

 on the Isthmus of Corinth, by Dr. A. Philippson. 



It may be useful to state that in No. 1 of the third series of 

 the Btdletin of the Egyptian Geographical Society is a connected 

 account in French, by Dr. O. Lenz, of his last journey across 

 Africa. 



The June number of the Journal of the Royal Geographical 

 Society contains the first part of Mr. D. \V. Freshfield's paper 

 on the Caucasus ; it deals with Suanetia, and is illustrated with 

 maps and diagrams. The same number contains Mr. Wood- 

 ford's paper on his explorations in the Solomon Islands. 



Two Swedish colonists, MM. Valdau and Knutson, have 

 recently done some interesting geographical work in the 

 Cameroons territory. M. Valdau has explored the northern 

 slopes of the range, which are very thickly peopled by the 

 Bomboko tribe. The main chain of the mountains does not 

 extend as far as 4 30' N. lat., as the highest point attained by 

 the traveller, about 4 28' N. lat., only measured 2850 feet. M. 

 Knutson has explored the River Memeh, which, he ascertained, 

 empties itself into the sea a little to the south of Rumbi. The 

 river is navigable for thirty miles, to the Diiben falls, which are 

 100 feet in height. 



