May 20, 1875] 



NATURE 



49 



These fruits form the first consignment of a quantity 

 collected in Mauritius and Seychelles by Mr, Home 

 for transmission to Kew, as material for the Pan- 

 danecE in the forthcoming Mauritius Flora, and will 

 form a valuable addition to the Museum collection. 

 The fruit-heads of the Pandanea, like the cones of 

 the Piceas, are very difficult to preserve entire except 

 they be kept in fluid, and even then, if they are 

 gathered too ripe the single drupes are apt to separate 

 from the central axis. Those just to hand from Mr. 

 Home are the best set ever received at Kew, inasmuch 

 as they appear to have been carefully selected and 

 gathered before they were too ripe, wooden tallies with 

 numbers cut in them firmly fixed upon each specimen 

 with copper wire, and the whole sown up tightly in stout 

 sacking or canvas and placed at once in rum. In this 

 way the collection contained in five small barrels arrived 

 in perfect safety at Kew, where the specimens, after being 

 taken from the spirit and the canvas coverings cut away, 

 were securely enclosed either in a network of thin copper 

 wire or fine strong cord and gradually dried. We men- 

 tion these facts because travellers and collectors too fre- 

 quently send home specimens of Conifers, Cycad cones, 

 or others of a similar nature simply rolled in paper or 

 packed in sawdust ; in the one case they dry and fall to 

 pieces immediately upon opening, while in the other the 

 sawdust absorbs moisture, and the fruit or cone simply 

 rots and becomes quite worthless. Another advantage 

 in sending woody fruits like the Pandani in fluid in the 

 manner above described, is that they can be removed, 

 dried, and mounted on wooden stands, by which they are 

 more convenient for examination, and occupy much less 

 space, and are manifestly more economical both for public 

 and private collections than when preserved in large glass 

 jars in alcohol. The collection, numbering some twenty- 

 three heads of fruits, sufficiently illustrates the variety of 

 form and size in the different species, the largest being 

 some thirteen inches through, and the smallest not more 

 than two inches. Mr. Balfour, who accompanied the 

 Transit of Venus Expedition to Rodrigues, has also paid 

 special attention to the Pandanece, and his collections, 

 preserved, we believe in a similar manner, have recently 

 arrived in this country. 



Santal Vert.— Under the name of Santal Vert, 

 or false sandal-wood, a dark green, close-grained 

 wood, somewhat hke Lignum vita, may occasionally 

 be seen in wood collections. The origin of this wood 

 is not generally known, but it seems to be the pro- 

 duce of an Euphorbiaceous plant, probably a species 

 of CrotoH. The bulk is obtained from Madagascar, 

 and some from Zanzibar. It is generally supposed, 

 however, to be the produce of Zanzibar, probably on 

 account of that from Madagascar passing by way of 

 Zanzibar in course of transit to India, to whence it is 

 mostly shipped, chiefly, it is said, for the purpose of burn- 

 ing the bodies of Hindoos, as it fetches a much lower 

 price than the true sandal-wood. The wood of the 

 Santal Vert, though small, is sometimes used in Mozam- 

 bique for furniture. A species of Crotofi found by Dr. 

 Kirk on the Zambesi produces a similar wood ; indeed, it 

 may be identical. 



SOME RESULTS OF THE "POLARIS" 

 ARCTIC EXPEDITION 



IN a letter to the French Geographical Society, pub- 

 lished in the March Bulletin, Dr. Bessels, the principal 

 scientific member of the Polaris Arctic Expedition, rebuts 

 some of the statements published by Mr. Tyson, and 

 gives some of the scientific results which were obtained. 

 The position of the Observatory, obtained from many 

 varied observations, was 81° 38' N. lat., 61° 44' W. long., 

 and thirty-four feet above sea-level. Many careful obser- 

 vations were made on the tides, in meteorology, magnetism 



zoology, botany, geology, and with the pendulum, in order 

 to determine the force of gravity. Unfortunately, in the 

 catastrophe which happened to the ship, many of the 

 results of these observations were lost ; nevertheless, 

 enough was saved to afford a fair idea of the physical 

 geography, the geology, the fauna and flora of the region 

 visited. Dr. Bessels is preparing a detailed account of 

 the results obtained, and we believe has given much 

 valuable information for the use of our own Arctic Expe- 

 dition. 



The pendulum observations are specially precise and 

 valuable. The magnetic observations are more complete 

 than any hitherto made in the polar regions. The obser- 

 vations on declination were made every hour for five 

 months, and during three days in each month every six 

 minutes. The western declination was found to be 96°, 

 and the absolute declination 84° 23'. 



The observations on the tides were made with very 

 great care, generally every hour, and for three or four 

 weeks every ten minutes, in order to obtain the precise 

 moment of the flux and reflux. High water occurs about 

 every I2h. 13m. ; the highest flux observed was 8 feet ; 

 the lowest reflux, 2*5 feet ; mean of high and low tide, 3*8 ; 

 mean of spring tide, 5*47 ; mean of neap tide, i'83. Other 

 hydrographical observations comprehend soundings, tem- 

 peratures at various depths, and detailed observations on 

 the specific gravity of the water. 



After having entered Smith Sound, a current was ob- 

 served running southwards, the rate of which varied from 

 1*5 to 5 miles. This current carried with it much drift- 

 wood, all the specimens of which seen by Dr. Bessels 

 were coniferous, with very close ligneous layers, indicating 

 that the specimens came from a cold climate. 



The greater part of the meteorological registers were 

 saved, embracing observations on the temperature of the 

 air and on barometric oscillations, anemometric and 

 hygrometric results, observations on terrestrial and solar 

 radiation, on polar aurorae, and on ozone. 



The fauna and flora of Hall's Land are very rich, but 

 unfortunately nearly all the specimens collected were 

 lost. Eight species of mammals were observed, twenty- 

 three kinds of birds, fifteen species of insects, and seven- 

 teen species of plants. Of the mammals, Myodes, spr. 

 (Pallas) and Ovibts moschatus (Zimm.) were found in 

 West Greenland for the first time. The greater part of 

 the insects are Diptera, of which one species is new. 



Although the geological formation of Polaris Bay and 

 its neighbourhood presents only Silurian limestone, con- 

 taining few fossils, yet some very interesting observations 

 were made. At elevations of 1,800 feet, not only was drift- 

 wood found, but also shells of molluscs {Mya, &c.), of 

 species which still exist in the neighbouring seas. On 

 examining some of the small lakes which abound in the 

 region, marine crustaceans were found to be living in 

 these fresh waters. This is certain evidence of the 

 gradual elevation of the coast of this part of Greenland. 



Wherever the country is not too steep, large numbers of 

 erratic blocks are met with, of a kind quite different from 

 the rocks on which they rest. There are blocks of granite, 

 gneiss, &c., from South Greenland, and these blocks have 

 evidently been borne, not by glaciers, but by floating ice- 

 bergs ; a proof that at one time the current in Davis Strait 

 had a different direction, and passed from south to north. 

 Dr. Bessels believes that Greenland has been separated 

 from the American Continent in a direction from south 

 to north. 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF A STONE MASK 

 IN NEW JERSEY, U.S.A. 



THE occurrence of stone " masks," such as the speci- 

 men referred to, has been somewhat frequent, in and 

 about the "mounds" of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, 

 but not eastward of these localities. Somewhat more 



