December i, 1892] 



NATURE 



115 



asked is that descriptions, together with drawings or photo- 

 graphs not only of typical instruments but of the important parts 

 of them, should be sent. Technical drawings also are requested, 

 if obtainable, and these very probably could be obtained from 

 the makers of the instruments in question. Of course it is not 

 required that each observatory should send say a description, &c., 

 of the transit instrument there in use, but it is hoped that any 

 instrument of peculiar construction or special merit should be 

 referred to. It is needless to add that all drawings, &c., if re- 

 quested, will be returned with as little delay as possible, and the 

 undersigners of the circular thank in advance all those who 

 respond towards the completion of this undertaking. The address 

 to which the drawings, &c., may be sent is as follows: — Dr. L. 

 Ambronn, Gottingen, Kgl. Sternwarte. 



Motion of /8 Persei. — Astronomical Journal, No. 277, con- 

 tains a short note calling the attention of transit observers to 

 the importance of observation of this variable, to confirm the 

 irregularity in its proper motion. At the present time Algol 

 and his neighbouring stars are conveniently situated, and it is 

 hoped that the following list of stars will be added to working 

 lists generally where their observation is not inconsistent with 

 other work. The places are for the year 1875 : — 



R.A. Decl. 



Proper Motions. — M. Deslandres, in Comptes rendus of Nov- 

 ember 14, communicates the recent work he has been carrying out 

 with regard to the spectroscopic determinations of proper motions. 

 The first part contains a description of the apparatus employed, 

 showing how he has completely altered one instrument specially 

 for this work. During the ten months of the year he has obtained 

 several proofs of stars susceptible of furnishing radial velocity. 

 The following are among some of the important methods of 

 procedure : — (l) The luminous " faisceaux "of the star and of the 

 source of light have the same aperture, and are thus as identical 

 as possi'>ie, a condition necessary to the absolute mea-;ure of 

 displacements. (2) The displacements of spectra is measured 

 not only with the Hy line of hydrogen, but with all the hydrogen, 

 calcium, and iron lines. (3) The large surface of the mirror 

 renders the possibility of measuring the velocities of 250 stars. 

 Some of the results already obtained show that the work, when 

 finished, will be of a very reliable and accurate kind. For 

 instance, the velocity of Venus has been obtained instrumentally 

 as 15 kilometers, while that calculated amounted to 13-55 ^^'^• 

 The velocity of o Auriga on February 5, employing 30 lines of 

 comparison, came out as 43*5 k.m., and the velocities of the 

 components of j3 Auriga, a spectroscopic double, were obtained 

 on the same day as - 845 k.m. and -h 97 k.m. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The mea>;urement of an arc of the meridian between Dunkirk 

 and the Spanish frontier, which has recently been completed 

 with the highest precision by the French Government, 

 shows that the measurement by Delambre and Mechain in 

 determining the length of the metre was I46'6 feet, or ^Ts^rinr'h 

 too short. The new measurement accords very closely indeed 

 with the value as deduced from Clarke's ellipsoid. 



A NEW weekly paper devoted to African geography, 

 under the title of Kettler's Afrikanische Nachrichten, was 

 started at Weimar in July last, with the object of collecting and 

 publishing the most recent information on all matters con 

 nected with Africa and the Africans. An in«;enious feature is 

 that of giving a sketch map of parts of Africa, with a small 

 section of a map of some well-known part of Germany on the 



NO. 1205, VOL, 47] 



same scale below it, for the purpose of ready comparison of dis- 

 tances. 



Mr. AND Mrs. Theodore Bent have arranged to spend the 

 winter in Abyssinia studying the ancient monu.uents of Axum. 

 They will leave this country ab )Ut the miudle of December. 

 We understand that Mr, Bent would welcome a scientific man 

 who might wish to work at any of the natural conditions of 

 eastern Abyssinia, and take a'lvantage of the arrangements 

 which have been made for the safety and comfort of the party. It 

 would, of course, be necessary for such a companion to pay his 

 own expenses and provide his own outfit. 



A SPECIAL general meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 was held on Monday afternoon to consider souie alterations in 

 the rules, recently decided on by the Council. It was agreed 

 to raise the entrance fee to the Society from £t^ to £^, and 

 to augment the lile-couiposition accordingly, relief being, how- 

 ever, granted by a diminution of the commutation fee to mem- 

 bers of long standing. Other changes were made to bring the 

 laws into harmony with the present practice of the Society in 

 several minor matters. The meeting also passed a resolution 

 associating itself with the act of the Council in no longer 

 withholding the Fellowship of the Society from women. 



MR. JOSEPH THOMSON'S JOURNEY TO 

 LAKE BANGWEOLO. 

 A/TR. JOSEPH THOMSON read a paper on his expedition 

 ^^ to Lake Bangweoloin 1890-91 to the Royal Geographical 

 meeting on Monday night. 1 he paper was not oidy of a 

 thoroughly scientific character, but also a model of literary 

 grace, Mr. Thomson having the trained eye which enables him 

 to detect and throw into prominence the really important 

 features. The expedition went up the Zambesi by way of the 

 Kwakwa creek, encountering considerable hostility and ob- 

 struction from the Portuguese authorities on the way. Mr. 

 Thomson speaks warmly of the great work done by the Scottish 

 missionaries in the Blantyre and Njassa districts. Under the 

 kind but firm contiol ol the missionaries the warlike Angoni 

 tribes came in thousands to cultivate the fields, which formerly 

 they visited only tor plunder, and for the first time in all his 

 African travels Mr. Thomson found a spot where the advent 

 of the white man was an unmitigated blessing to the natives. 



Barometric observations made while waiting for i-orters on 

 the western coast of Lake Nyassa made the elevation of the lake 

 1430 feet, a somewhat lower result than was formerly arrived 

 at. On August 23, 1890, the expedition, comprising Mr. 

 Grant, Mr. Charles Wilson, and 153 porters, started from 

 Kotakota and struck westward through unmapped country, a 

 rough and sparsely wooded plat«-au with liille running water. 

 The route lay along a strip of debateable ground, inhafuted by 

 an excitable, warlike tribe, and raided equally by Mwasi's 

 people froLU the n 'rth and Mpeseni's from the south. Great 

 tact was required to avoid bloodshed, but the expedition passed 

 safely. Then crossing the fine fertile plain of the Loa^gwa 

 river, they passed over and climbed ihe steep Muchinga moun- 

 tains to the high plateau beyond. So far the rocks had been 

 metamorphic, with intruded masses of granite, overlaid 

 in the valley by sandstones, shales, and marls. At one place 

 great fos>il-tree trunks were found. The Loangwa-Kalue 

 plateau was magnificent country, glori 'US with the tints of 

 early spring on the stunted trees which formed a scraggy forest 

 over most of the surface. But no ^ign could be seen of the 

 Lokinga mountains, nor was any word heard from the natives 

 of that range so conspicuous on the maps ; but on the water- 

 shed of the plateau, 5000 feet above the sea, rose the Vimbe 

 hills in a series of isolated domes, perhaps rising 1000 feet 

 higher. A new lake, thirty square miles in area, was found in 

 a dip of the plateau, and named after the M. irs. Then 

 troubles began. Small-pox broke out amongst the porters, and 

 when Chitambo's was reathed no trace could be found of the 

 lake, on the margin of which it was supposed to stand. While 

 the white members of the expedition were attending to their 

 sick followers some of the healthy Swahilis marched to Old 

 Chitambo's (which is not in Ilala but Kalinde), now deserted, 

 and twenty miles di^tant from the present village, finding the 

 tree under which the heart of Livingstone was buried still 

 standing, and the inscription on it legible. In ihe dry season 

 the Chambeze does not enter Lake Bangweolo at all, but flows 

 direct across the marsh to the Luapula, but in the wet season 



