0( TOBER 3, 1895] 



NA TURE 



O^j 



in rabbits and some other rodents. The following papers : 

 On the development of the teeth in certain Insectivora, by M. 

 I'. Woodward ; on the poison apparatus of certain snakes, by 

 C;. S. West ; on the vahie of myology in the classification of 

 animals, by V. G. Parsons ; and on ultimate vital units, by 

 Miss Nina Layard, concluded the ordinary sittings of the 

 Section. 



A notable feature of the meeting was the very successful 

 dredging expeditions organised for the Zoological Section by the 

 Local Committee, with the help of the President of the Section 

 and Dr. II. C. .Sorliy. On Saturday a large steamer was 

 chartere<l from the Railway Company for dredging outside 

 Harwich. Many hauls of the dredge, and of various forms of 

 tow-net, both surface and bottom, were made off the Naze and in 

 the neighbourhood of the Gunfleet bank. Large quantities of 

 material were obtained, including representatives of most groups 

 of the Invertebrala. The specimens picked out were arranged 

 in a number of large glass jars, and on the return journey 

 Prof. Ilerdman gave a demonstration on the most interesting 

 forms obtained. On Wednesday, the iSth, the second zoological 

 excursion took place, to Wyvenhoe to inspect the Colne Oyster 

 Fishery, by invitation of the Mayor and Corporation of 

 Colchester. The party were taken on board the new steam 

 oyster dredger of the I'ishery Board, and hauls of the dredges 

 were obtained at various points in the estuary of the Colne in order 

 to show the condition of the oyster ground. Large quantities 

 of the Polyzoon Akyonidium gelaiiitositiii and of common 

 Ascidians, especially Ascidiella virgiiiea, were found associated 

 with the oysters. The steamer then proceeded to tne Pyefleet 

 creek, where three millions of the famous Colchester " natives" 

 are now fattening ; here the party landed and inspected the 

 packing sheds, where they were entertained to an oyster 

 luncheon. On returning to the steamer, dredging was again 

 carried on further down the estuar)", so as to see as much as 

 possible of the ground, and the difierent ages and conditions of 

 the oyster. Every facility was given to the party for examining 

 this important fishery, and a most favourable impression was 

 received of the healthiness of the ground, the purity of the 

 water, and the excellent condition of the stock. 



GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



""PllE brilliant International Geographical Congress, #ecent ly 

 held in London, seems to have afforded sufficient intellectual 

 dissipation for most British geographers this year, and many 

 familiar faces were absent from Section E. Comparatively few 

 jjapcrs were presented for reading, and several of these were 

 read by the .Secretaries, as the authors could not attend. It is 

 dr)ubtllil whether papers presented in this way should be brought 

 before the Association, for fair discussion is impossible unless 

 the author is present to support his arguments and answer 

 questions. 



If Section E retained its usual popularity this year — and the 

 large lecture hall was occasionally crowded — it was not because 

 of the sensational character of the communications made ; there 

 was not even a lady-traveller to read a paper. A characteristic 

 of the meeting was the exceptional scientific value of the papers, 

 which dealt less with exploration than with research. 



During recent years the President of Section E has almost 

 always been a practical geographer with a commanding know- 

 ledge of one branch of his subject, and this year the succession 

 was worthily upheld by Mr. H. J. Mackinder, the Reader in 

 (Jeography at CJxford, whose experience of higher education in 

 geography enabled him to formulate a scheme for restoring that 

 .science to its proper place in a rational university system. The 

 older universities have not responded as was expected to the 

 proposals of the Royal Geographical Society as to the institution 

 of Chairs of Geography, and the time seems to have come for 

 the .Society to take a fresh departure, either independently or in 

 conjunction with a new university not blind to the value of the 

 ex]ieriment which has been tried and found satisfactorj- in 

 Germany. A Conmiittee of the British Association has been 

 appointed, without a grant, to investigate the teaching of 

 geography in this country, Mr. Mackinder being chairman and 

 Mr. Ilerbertson secretary. 



The President's contention that geogra]ihy is not " the science 

 of all things," but a correlating study dealing with the results of 



NO. 1353, VOL. 52] 



all sciences relating to the earth from a special standpoint, was 

 driven home by many of the papers presented to the meeting. 



Mr. \V. B. Blaikic demonstrated by his greatly-improved 

 cosmosphere the astronomical relations of geography, the com- 

 bination of a terrestrial globe with a transparent celestial globe 

 on which the constellations are printed, forming a great advance 

 on the old armillary sphere ; while the ingenious device of re- 

 moving a celestial and terrestrial hemisphere allowed of the 

 working of plane problems on the section as readily as of 

 spherical problems on the surface of the outer sphere. 



Climatolog)- was discussed in the report of the Committee on 

 the climate of tropical Africa, which was presented by Mr. 

 Ravenstein, the chairman. It show s the results already obtained 

 from the six stations in tropical Africa equipped by the Associa- 

 tion. The Committee was reappointed with a small grant and 

 w ith a change of secretary, Mr. 1 1. X. Dickson taking the place 

 of Dr. H. R. Mill. 



Dr. John .Murray gave a sketch of the central problem of 

 oceanography — the circulation of the oceans ; and the Section 

 instructed the President to write a letter to Dr. Murray, con- 

 gratulating him on the completion of the Chalkiiger Reports, the 

 most nnportant contribution to physical geography of recent 

 years. 



Mr. H. N. Dickson summarised the result of the recent inter- 

 national observations on the North Atlantic, in which he took 

 part, and by the aid of lantern diagrams showed that the dis- 

 tribution of the temperature of the surface-water was intimately 

 associated with the distribution of mean atmospheric pressure 

 over the ocean, and that consequently the temperature of the 

 .\tlantic water was an important factor in determining the 

 w eather as well as the climate of Western Europe. 



Mr. A. Trevor Battye read an interesting paper on the 

 struggle for existence in Arctic regions, dealing with bio- 

 geographical problems, but unfortunately there was no time to 

 discuss it. A biological discussion which greatly pleased the 

 audience, but was perhaps somewhat inappropriate to the 

 Section, arose on Mr. Borchgrevink's paper describing his 

 recent experiences in the far South, and a proposed plan for a 

 private Antarctic expedition. Sir Joseph Hooker, the veteran of 

 Ross's Antarctic voyages, who was received with great enthusiasm, 

 referred to his adventures in the Antarctic seas, and while con- 

 gratulating Mr. Borchgrevink on his work in the Norwegian 

 whaling trip, expressed little hojie of great results following a 

 private expedition. Sir William Flower had the meeting with 

 him in declaring that no more attempts should be made to send 

 out ships on the pretext of looking for whales or seals, but with 

 the hojie of gaining scientific imormation. 



The return to Vardo of the IViiidward, after landing Mr. 

 Jackson in Franz-Josef Land, occurred during the meeting, and 

 Mr. Montefiore, Secretary of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedi- 

 tion, gave a brief account of the start of the land party. 



In the historical aspect of geography, Mr. J. L. Myres con- 

 tributed a discussion of the maps of Herodotus, which enabled 

 an interesting contrast to be drawn between the d//'Jff« methods 

 of the ancient world and the scientific inductions of to-day. 



The papers descriptive of exploration dealt with Africa and 

 .\sia. Captain Hinde's experiences in the Congo State, and Mr. 

 G. F. Scott-Elliot's admirable expedition for the scientific study 

 of the Ruwenzori region, have already been before the public in 

 other forms. Mr. H. S. Cowper's journey through Tarhuna 

 and Gharian in Tripoli was new, and the arch3K)logical features 

 which he observed seem to be deserving of further study. 



The Rev. W. Weston gave one of the most vahiable travel- 

 papers — an account of his explorations in the Japanese Alps. 

 This range occupies the centre of the largest island, with summits 

 rising to elevations of over 10,000 feet. The snowfall on the 

 western side is enormous on account of the moisture in the 

 prevailing wind, while the eastern side of the range remains 

 comparatively free of snow. Although the snow-line in summer 

 is as low as 7000 feet in places, there are no signs of glacial 

 action. The volcanic mountains abound in hot mineral springs 

 of high repute as baths, and ores of copper and silver are mined 

 in several places. The flora and fauna are both rich, and the 

 people retain their ancient politeness and hospitality, while many 

 curious customs and beliefs survive amongst them. 



Mr. John Dodd, who was not able to be present, sent an 



exhaustive memoir on Formosa, where he had resided from 1864 



to 1890. As a trader he had been much in contact with the 



aboriginal tribes of the interior, and he gave a graphic account of 



I 



