88 



NA TURE 



[November 22. 1900 



change of direction. At Rowmari, for instance, besides 

 the fissures parallel to the bank of the Brahmaputra, 

 which here runs nearly north-east and south-west, a large 

 fissure runs to the south-east at right angles to the river 

 bank for a distance of at least 500 yards, where it becomes 

 lost in a jheel, and is said to be traceable for a distance of 

 nine miles. Sand and mud were ejected from the 

 fissure to a depth of at least four feet. Other fissures 



■* Fig. 3. — Fissure at Rowmari. 



branch off from this. Subsequent to the ejection of the 

 sand, the surface sank down to a depth proportional to 

 the amount of material ejected, and several crater-like 

 hollows were formed as the water drained back into the 

 fissure. Illustrations of this and many other effects are 

 given by Mr. Oldham, and his complete report upon the 

 Indian earthquake, in all its scientific aspects, is a memoir 

 which will take its place among classical papers on 

 seismology. 



INVESTIGATIONS OF THE HABITS AND 

 FOLK LORE OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 



EARLY in the summer a memorial was submitted to 

 the Governments of South Australia and Victoria 

 praying that facilities might be granted to Mr. Gillen, one 

 of the inspectors of aborigines, and Prof. Baldwin Spencer 

 for the continuance of their investigations into the habits 

 and folk-lore of the natives of Central Australia and the 

 Northern Territory. The memorial, which was signed 

 by all British anthropologists and many prominent repre- 

 sentatives of other sciences, has met with a prompt and 

 generous response. The Government of South Australia 

 has granted a year's leave of absence to Mr. Gillen, and 

 the Government of Victoria has provided a substitute for 

 Prof. Spencer during his absence from Melbourne. Mr. 

 Syme, the proprietor of the Melbourne Age, has con- 

 tributed 1000/. towards the ordinary expenses of the 

 expedition. The Government of South Australia has 

 also allowed the expedition to make use of the depots 

 and staff of the Transaustralian telegraph for the forward- 



NO. 162 1, VOL. 63] 



ing and storage of supplies. The explorers start in 

 February, and it may be confidently anticipated that, if 

 the winter rains make conditions favourable for travelling, 

 they will be rewarded with the same conspicuous success 

 which attended their expedition of three years ago ; 

 although the task before them requires even greater tact, 

 since the natives of the Northern Territory are more 

 difficult to deal with than the aborigines of the centre, 

 who know Mr Gillen and regard him with the utmost 

 confidence. The tribes of the MacDonnefl Ranges will 

 be studied even more minutely than before, and after- 

 wards the explorers will go towards the Gulf of Car- 

 pentaria, along the Roper River, and, time permitting, 

 proceed down the Daly and Victoria Rivers. 



To quote from the Adelaide Advertiser of October 4, 

 " It scarcely needs a scientific mind to appreciate the 

 value of the task which Messrs. Gillen and Spencer are 

 about to renew, and possibly complete. The mystery 

 their labours will contribute to unveil may wellcaptivate 

 the fancy of the most unlearned ' man in the street.' . . . 

 The breath of the white man has scorched out of exis- 

 tence so many aboriginal races and tribes that civilisation 

 may be thankful that there are still untutored savages 

 left to throw light on its own beginnings." 



NOTES. 

 Sir Joseph Hooker has been elected a Foreign Associate of 

 the Paris Academy of Sciences. 



The death is announced of Pr )f. G. F. Armstrong, Regius 

 professor of engineering at Edinburgh University since 1885. 



The death is announced of the Rev. Father Armand David, 

 Correspondant of the Paris Academy of Sciences, ii> the Section 

 of Geography and Navigation. 



We learn from the Athenaeum that the Amsterdam Society for 

 the Advancement of Medical and Natural Science has conferred 

 its Swammerdam Medal upon Prof. Carl Gegenbauer, of 

 Heidelberg. 



Dr. Herman S. DAVts, recently expert computer of the 

 U. S. Coast Survey, has been appointed observer at the Inter- 

 national Latitude Observatory at Gaithersburg, Maryland, one 

 of the six stations established by the Centralbureau der Inter- 

 nationalen Erdmessung for an investigation of variations of 

 latitude. 



We are asked to announce that the Thomson Foundation 

 Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia will be 

 awarded to the author of the best original paper on each of the 

 following subjects: — (i) The commercial development, expan- 

 sion and potentialities of Australia — or, briefly put, the com- 

 merce of Australia. To be sent in not later than October 15, 

 1901. (2) The pastoral industry of Australia, past, present and 

 probable future. To be sent in not later than June 15, 1902. 



The College of Physicians of Philadelphia announces that 

 the next award of the Alvarengi Prize, being the income for one 

 year of the bequest of the late Senor Alvarenga, amounting to 

 about 180 dollars (36/.), will be made on July 14, 1901, provided 

 that an essay deemed by the Committee to be worthy of the 

 prize shall have been offered. Essays intended for competition 

 may be upon any subject in medicine, but must be unpublished. 

 They must be received by the secretary of the college on or 

 before May i, 1901. The Alvarenga Prize for 1900 has been 

 awarded to Dr. David de Beck, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for his 

 essay entitled " Malarial Diseases of the Eye." 



