March 12. 1896] 



NA TURE 



443 



record of travel in the Cordillera, even upon the beaten 

 tracks. 



A short general introduction gives some account of the 

 Andes as a whole, with remarks on the characteristic 

 scenery, on the roads, the methods of travelling, and a 

 few pages on the vegetation. Then follows the descrip- 

 tion of a series of four journeys through different parts 

 of highland Peru, with observations drawn from official 

 sources regarding some places not personally visited, 

 such as the .\mazon territories and the Bolivian coasts 

 of Lake Titicaca. The first journey led over the Cor- 

 dillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca in Central Peru 

 to Huanuco and the famous mining town of Cerro de 

 Pasco, 4350 metres in elevation, with great silver-mines 

 tunnelled into the mountains. The best room of the best 

 hotel in this loftiest town in the world was found in such 

 a condition that Dr. Middendorf could not say whether 

 its floor was of tiles, mud, or boards, and he hailed the 

 invitation of the Scotch engineer in charge of the mines 

 as a happy deliverance. 



The second journey was in the northern part of the 

 republic, from the seaport of Pacasmayo by Cajamarca 

 to the Maranon valley and Chachapoyas, returning 

 across the Cordillera by Huanachuco to Trujilla. A 

 short account of the Amazon province of Loreto is 

 added, and an historical narrative of the discovery and 

 exploration of the Amazon. 



The third journey was a visit to the great plateau-lake 

 of Titicaca, with many particulars regarding the ancient 

 ruins of the Inca time. The concluding section, on the 

 mountains of Southern Peru, describes the return journey 

 down the long valley to Cuzco, and thence over the 

 Cordillera past Ayacucho to Lima. 



Throughout the work there are happy descriptions of 

 the native peoples, the scenery, and the incidents of 

 the journey. Dr. Middendorf seems to have paid con- 

 siderable attention to linguistic studies, and also to the 

 architecture of the ancient ruins. He especially remarks 

 the contrast between the mud-huts, or dwellings built of 

 sun-dried bricks, which characterise the arid coast-strip, 

 and the megalithic masonry of the lofty plateaus and 

 high mountain valleys. 



The illustrations throughout are extremely well chosen, 

 really illustrative of the natural features of the great 

 Cordillera, and they are numerous enough to satisfy the 

 most exacting. An index to all three volumes completes 

 the work. 



SEKIYA SEIKEL 



ALL students of seismology and vulcanology will 

 learn with regret that Prof. Sekiya has passed 

 from amongst us. He was born towards the end of 

 1855, a year well remembered by the inhabitants of 

 Yedo as that of the great earthquake. In 1876, whilst 

 on a visit to England to complete his studies as a 

 mechanical engineer, he fell a victim to consumption, 

 the symptoms of which gradually grew more and more 

 severe until January 9 of this year, when they culminated 

 in his death. 



.\fter acting as assistant to Prof. J. A. Ewing, in 1886 

 he was appointed to the newly- created chair of Seismology 

 at the Imperial University of Japan. 



.\ lasting testimony to his ingenuity and perseverance, 

 which is to be seen in many museums, is a model illus- 

 trating the path followed by an earth particle at the time 

 of an earthquake. Although he wrote much in Japanese, 

 he contributed many valuable papers and memoirs in 

 English or French to the journal issued by his own 

 t oiiege, to the Transactions of the Seismological Society, 

 and to other periodicals. 



The impetus he gave to seismology by the enlarge- 

 ment of the University Laboratory, the establishment of 



NO. 1376, VOL. 53] 



instruments throughout Japan, and to the extension of 

 the seismic survey of that country, which now boasts of 

 q68 stations, is well known to his colleagues and acquaint- 

 ances. Sekiya was a kind and sincere friend, and his 

 honesty and unflinching straightforwardness of speech 

 were a by-word amongst all who knew him. J. M. 



NOTES. 

 Prok. J. J. Sylvester, F.R.S., has, with the approval of 

 his Majesty the King of Italy, been elected a Foreign Member 

 of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin. 



A NUMBER of admirers of Prof. Mittag-Leffler, the founder 

 of the Acta Mathetnatica, will shortly present him with a con- 

 gratulatory address, written in four languages — German, 

 French, Italian, and English — and expressing the appreciation of 

 mathematicians of the services he has rendered to their science. 

 It is proposed to present him at the same time with his jx)rtrait 

 in oils, and a subscription list has been opened to obtain funds 

 for that purpose. Prof. Appell, 6 rue Le Verrier, Paris, will 

 be glad to receive subscriptions. 



Sir J. Russell Rev.nolds has expressed his intention to 

 retire shortly from the Presidency of the Royal College of 

 Physicians. 



The Chairman of the Local Committee for the Toronto meet- 

 ing of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 

 is Dr. A. B. Macallum. 



At the ordinary meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society, 

 on Wednesday next, a lecture will be given by Mr. Frederic 

 Gaster, on " Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings, how they 

 are prepared and made known." 



A LIVE gorilla, said to be the largest ever imported into this 

 country, has just been received at the Zoological Gardens, 

 Regent's Park. The animal comes from near Ngove or Iquela, 

 on the French Congo, and is in excellent health. 



The De Morgan medal, which is given triennially by the 

 London Mathematical Society, will be awarded in June next, 

 and nominations may be made at either the March or April 

 meetings of the Society. Prof Klein, of Gottingen, editor of 

 the Mathematische Annalen, was the last recipient. 



The Paris correspondent of the Times states that a tablet 

 commemorating Franklin's residence at Passy, then a village 

 outside Paris, was unveiled on Sunday in the wall of the Christian 

 Brothers' School, Rue Raynouard. M. Faye, of the Academy 

 of Sciences, and >L Guillois, a local anti(]uary, delivered 

 addresses. 



Sir W. M. Conway proposes to take a jiarly to Spitzbergen 

 next summer, for the purpose of exploring the interior. He 

 expects to be accompanied by Mr. Trevor- Battye, and by four 

 others, all of them scientific experts in different branches, so 

 that the journey may result in valuable increase to scientific 

 knowledge. 



We regret to announce the deaths of Mr. James Abernethy, 

 past -President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Fellow 

 of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ; Dr. Alfred D. Kennedy, 

 a distinguished chemist and toxicologist, of Philadelphia ; Dr. 

 H. Ernest Goodman, Professor of Surgery in the Medico- 

 Chirurgical College, Philadelphia ; Dr. R. M. Hodges, Pro- 

 fessor of Surgery at Harvard ; and Christophe Negri, the 

 Italian economist and geographer. 



The second International Horticultural Exhibition will be 

 held at Dresden, from May 2 to 10 next, under the patronage of 



