April 14, 1892] 



NA rURE 



563 



Chimborazo ; but he proves, by his careful and elaborate 

 observations, that, though they became somewhat habitu- 

 ated to low barometric pressures, their bodily powers 

 were sensibly diminished. In his own case this ap- 

 peared to begin at a pressure of about 21 inches (roughly, 

 10,000 feet above the sea). He comes to the conclusion 

 that, after some habituation, life can be sustained, when 

 the body is at rest, at a height of 20,000 feet or more ; 

 but " when in motion it becomes diffi- ult to enlarge the 

 breathing capacity to the extent necessary to meet the 

 further demand for air which was the result of muscular 

 exertion "1 



During these laborious expeditions Mr. Whymper was 

 constantly occupied in carrying out the other objects of 

 his journey. The physical geography of the region was 

 studied, sketch maps were constructed, and many spe- 

 cimens of rocks and volcanic dust were collected, espe- 



Cydopium cyclopum\ which he does not believe to be 

 ejected from Cotopaxi. These have been examined by 

 various specialists, whose reports are summarized in the 

 work, and some of them are collected in a supplementary 

 volume, which will receive a separate notice. Mr. Whym- 

 per also made an interesting collection of stone imple- 

 ments and of ancient pottery, of which many specimens 

 are figured. In one of the appendices he discusses the 

 results of observations of mercurial and aneroid baro- 

 meters. These, though of much interest, we must pass 

 over. 



In the space at our disposal it has been impossible to 

 do justice to the varied topics of this volume. It must 

 suffice to remark that Mr. Whymper has more than 

 maintained the reputation which he won in his well- 



FlG. 3. -The contents ot a grave. 



cially from the higher points. The mountains (except 

 Sara-urcu, the rocks of which are crystalline schists and 

 gneisses) all consist of volcanic rocks, varieties of an- 

 desite. Cotopaxi and Sangai are still active ; in some of 

 the others, even the craters cannot be distinguished. 

 The glaciers were carefully obsen^ed, for Mr. Whymper 

 has proved that, contrary to the received statement, 

 glaciers are by no means rare in the Ecuadorian Andes. 

 Botanical and zoological collections were made, especially 

 from the higher localities. Lichens were found as high 

 as 18,400 feet, mosses to about 16,660 feet, grasses 

 nearly as high, with a few Phanerogamous plants ; the 

 \v\^&'s\. Lycopodiuvi found was at 15,871 feet. Coleoptera, 

 OriJioptcra^ Rltynchota^ and Lepidoptera were all found 

 at or a little above 1 6,000 feet, and Arachnida nearly as 

 high. Crustacea, Reptilia, and Batrachia are rare ; and 

 Mr. W^hymper could only obtain one fish (the noted 



Fig. 4. — "This is very old, Senor." 



known " Scrambles among the Alps." The present work 

 is admirably written, clear and terse in style, and often 

 enlivened with a spice of dry humour. Of the illustra- 

 tions it is almost needless to speak ; they are even better 

 than those in the former book. Some are delightful ren- 

 derings of comic incidents ; others represent stone im- 

 plements, pottery, insects, and various examples of the 

 Ecuadorian zoology ; others are pictures of the moun- 

 tain scenery, including the upper part of Chimborazo 

 and the summit crater of Cotopaxi. The book, in short, 

 is not only a record of pluck and endurance (for the 

 hardships, lightly as they are treated by Mr. Whymper, 

 were often great), but also a literary success, and a con- 

 tribution to science of no small value. 



T. G. BONNEY. 



SCIENCE AT THE ROYAL MILITARY 

 ACADEMY. 



■jVyr ANYof our readers will have seen that on Thursday 

 -'•'-'■ last Sir Henry Ro-coe asked the Secretary of ! 

 State for W^ar whether tiie military authorities were 

 aware that at present it is possible for a cadet at the j 

 Royal Military Academy to pass through the course of \ 

 work required of him successfully, and even to win j 

 admission to the Royal Engineers, without gaining a fair | 

 elementary knowledge of any branch of experimental ! 

 science, and whether Mr. Stanhope would investigate 

 and remedy this evil. ' 



iherwise in good health) from mr untain- 

 sicknc^s in the Alp>, but have <,ften observed that I got 



I have never suffered (when 



: of breath ' 

 more quickly in ascending peaks above io.ood or ii,oco feet. This 

 especially noticed in an ascent of the Matterhorn, when, owing to threaten 

 ing weather, 1 went as fast as possible up the last thousand feet or so. 



as 



We understand that this step has been taken by Sir 

 •Henry Roscoe because the disadvantageous position of 

 cadets who have entered the Royal Military Academy 

 with a knowledge of science as compared with the posi- 

 tion of those who have offered a second modern language 

 at the entrance competition,' makes it increasingly diffi- 

 cult to maintain science studies in the Army sides of 

 public schools. It may also be expected before long to 

 have the effect of seriously diminishing the proportion of 

 officers in the scientific branches of the Army who have 

 had the advantage of such a prolonged study of experi- 

 mental science as was admitted to be desirable when this 

 subject was discussed a few years ago. 



The answer made by Mr. Stanhope was partly of a 

 satisfactory character and partly not so. He undertook 

 to investigate the subject to which his attention was 



« Usually, we bilieve, the second selection is Germ.in. 



NO. 11/2, VOL. 45] 



