September 29, 1892] 



NATURE 



525 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



As the result of recent explorations by Lieutenant Fromm in 

 the southern part of German East Africa, it appears probable 

 that the difficulties which beset navigation on the Rufiji and 

 Rovuma rivers are not so serious as has hitherto been supposed. 

 The resources of the country traversed by these rivers are 

 reported to consist mainly of india-rubber in the forests. An 

 examination of a coalfield reported by Arabs as existing on a 

 tributary of the Rovuma showed that the valuable coal-seams 

 were practically confined to the Portuguese side of the frontier. 



In a recent number of Petermann's Milteiliingen, Dr. Karl 

 Grissinger publishes an interesting investigation of the physical 

 conditions of the Weissensee in Carinthia. The paper is accom- 

 panied by a bathymetric chart, which shows that the lake belongs 

 to the same class as the long, narrow, deep lakes of Scotland, 

 and by a remarkable diagram of temperature changes. The 

 latter is constructed so as to show the diurnal change of tem- 

 perature at all depths from hour to hour for four consecutive 

 days, and is in a high degree interesting and instructive. Diurnal 

 change of temperature becomes imperceptible at a depth of 37 

 metres, and the hour of maximum temperature is retarded as 

 the depth increases. Thus the surface maximum occurs about 

 noon, while that at a depth of 25 metres is not attained until 

 8 a.m. of the following day. 



A RECENT official estimate of the coast line of the United 

 States, including islands, indentations, and estuaries, gave as the 

 total 90,900 miles. Of this the Atlantic Ocean accounted for 

 36,500 miles, the Gulf of Mexico for 19, 100, the Pacific Ocean for 

 8900, and Alaska for 26,400. Considering only the general 

 coast lines, neglecting estuaries, bays, and islands, the Atlantic 

 margin measured 2000 miles, the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific 

 Ocean i8oo each, and Alaska 4800, a total of 10,400 miles. 



M. J. Gaultier has elaborated a system of photograjihic 

 surveying, which is attracting considerable attention in France 

 in view of the approaching revision of the cadastral survey of 

 that country. By means of a specially mounted camera, a series 

 of twelve views are taken from one point, so as to comprise the 

 entire horizon. A set of signals, the position of which is care- 

 fully arranged, enable the various plates to be afterwards fitted 

 together. The map is subsequently traced out on waxed linen 

 by a sharp point, a faintly printed copy of the photograph serving 

 as a basis. 



The uncertainty of communication with the Upper Nile 

 valley makes it difficult to determine the precise weight to give 

 to reports of events happening there. But it appears highly 

 probable that an expedition from the Congo Free State has at 

 last succeeded in establishing a station at Wadelai, or some 

 other point within the British sphere of influence. The natural 

 outlet of the region is of course down the Nile, and it is scarcely 

 in accordance with the principles of geography that a prosperous 

 development can ensue with so difficult an outlet as that to the 

 Congo. The practicil aspects of the case are in their present 

 stage more political than physical, and in this stage they are 

 likely to remain for some time. 



On Tuesday the Times printed the following telegram, dated 

 September 26, from its Calcutta correspondent :^Mr. Con- 

 way's mountaineering party, which left Askoley on July 31, 

 reached the foot of the Baltoro Glacier after four days' march, 

 and proceeded up the glacier for four days. They then climbed 

 a peak north of it 20,000 feet high, which they named Crystal 

 Peak, and hoped to get a view of the great peak " K'-," but it 

 was hidden by a neighbouring peak. They then went another 

 day's march up the glacier and climbed a pass to the east of 

 Crystal Peak 18,000 feet high. From this they saw " K'-,'' but 

 discovered that the map v\ as altogether wrong in the representa- 

 tion of the neighbourhood of that peak. They also found the 

 Baltoro Glacier considerably longer than the map makes it. A 

 high peak not marked on the map stands at the very head of 

 the glacier. This Mr. Conway named the Golden Throne. 

 They determined to try the ascent, and went one march further 

 up the glacier and then were stopped by a snowstorm, during 

 which they sent the coolies down to collect firewood. They 

 reached the foot of the Golden Throne on August 18, and 

 then worked up behind the peak, climbing over 2000 feet 

 through a very broken icefall. It took four days to establish 

 and victual a camp above the ice-fall, at a height of i8,oco 



NO. II 96, VOL. 46] 



feet. They moved next day to a camp 19,000 feet, and the 

 day following to one about 20,000 feet high. Thence, on the 

 25th, they started for a real climb, and having reached a point 

 over 23,000 feet high, they found they were on a moun- 

 tain entirely cut off from the Golden Throne, which was still 

 2000 feet above them. The peak they ascended — which they 

 named the Pioneer Peak — commanded a magnificent view, 

 especially in the Hunza direction, where they could see to the 

 distance of at least 200 miles. They suffered from the great 

 altitude, but not severely, and they could have climbed at 

 least a thousand feet higher, and perhaps more. They slept 

 that night in their camp 20,000 feet above sea-level. They 

 were obliged to descend next day as their provisions were 

 exhausted. Bad weather commenced on the 27th, and con- 

 tinued, putting an end to climbing for the present season. Mr. 

 Conway has gone to Leh, for the purpose of comparing his 

 barometer with the standard there, and accurately reckoning 

 the height of the Pioneer Peak. He expects that the com- 

 parison will show that they attained a height at least a 

 thousand feet above Schlagintweit's 22,230 feet in Nepaul, 

 which is the highest climb hitherto authentically recorded. He 

 will then return to India. 



THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. 



HTHE autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was held 

 ■*■ last week in Liverpool, under the presidency of Sir 

 Frederick Abel. The meeting was fairly successful on the 

 whole, although the weather marred some of the excursions, and 

 the last day's sitting was simply wasted time. The follow- 

 ing is a list of the papers read : — " On the Manufacture of Iron 

 in its Relations with Agriculture," by Sir Lowthian Bell ; "On 

 an Apparatus for Autographically Recording the Temperature 

 of Furnaces," by Prof. W. C. Roberts- Austen ; "On the Alloys 

 of Iron and Chromium," by R. A. Hadfield (Sheffield) ; "On 

 the Liverpool Overhead Railway," by J. H. Greathead ; " On 

 the Engineering Laboratories in Liverpool," by Prof. H. S. 

 Hele-Shaw ; " On the Failures in the Necks of Chilled Rolls," 

 by Charles A. Winder (Sheffield) ; " On a New Process for the 

 Elimination of Sulphur," by E. Saniter (Wigan) ; "On the 

 Elimination of Sulphur from Iron," by J. E. Stead (Middles- 

 borough). A paper on the basic Siemens process, by Mr. 

 Kupelwieser, of Witkowitz, was also on the list, but was ad- 

 journed until the Spring Meeting of next year. 



Upon the members assembling in St. George's Hall, on 

 Tuesday, September 20, they were welcomed by the Mayor of 

 Liverpool, and the reception formalities being disposed of. Sir 

 Frederick Abel gave a short address, in the course of which tie 

 commented on the papers about to be read, and also stated that 

 Mr. E. Windsor Richards, of Low Moor, had been elected by 

 the Council to be President of the Institute, in succession to 

 himself, during the coming two years during which the presi- 

 dential term lasts. 



The first paper on the list was Sir Lowthian Bell's contri- 

 bution, which he read from MS., the paper not having been 

 prepared in time to be printed. Those who are accustomed to 

 attending meetings of this kind know how difficult it is to follow 

 the reading of a paper even when they have the help of a printed 

 copy, but when one has to depend upon one's hearing only, in 

 a large room and amidst many disturbances, the task is hopeless. 

 So far as we could gather, the author treated his subject ab ovo, 

 and much of the first part of the paper might be found in various 

 elementary text-books. The main point of interest was a de- 

 scription of an apparatus which has been devised for arresting 

 and securing certain products which are to be extracted from the 

 fumes of blast furnaces using raw coal. The chief of these by- 

 products is sulphate of ammonia, and the author pointed out how 

 necessary it was to the harmonic working of an economic 

 system that this sulphate of ammonia should be collected and 

 returned to the earth as a fertilizer. Of course, there is no gain- 

 saying this part of the argument, and, as it is perfectly possible 

 to collect the fumes and products of combustion, the question 

 resolves itself into one of profit and loss. Sir Lowthian quoted 

 figures which would, in these lean times, make the ironmaker's 

 mouth water, and almost convert the iron itself into a by-product,^ 

 but unfortunately, as it appeared afterwards during the dis- 

 cussion, the selling prices which the author bad taken were by 

 no means those of the present day. Mr. Snelus spoke of the 

 remarkable fertilizing properties of sulphate of ammonia and 



