550 



NA TURE 



[October 4, 1S94 



petition, as described by Major Jephson. The most 

 important feature was undoubtedly the small collection 

 brought away '" for Emin Pasha to classify " by Lieut. 

 Stairs from " a high altitude on the slopes of Ruwenzori, 

 or the Mountains of the Moon."' 



Last year Mr. Scott Elliot, an accomplished botanist 

 and experienced African traveller, submitted to the 

 Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society a 

 scheme for an extended plan of botanical exploration in 

 Central Africa. On the advice of the Board for Botany, 

 Mr. Scott Elliot undertook the investigation of Ruwenzori, 

 and through the kind aid of Sir John Kirk, such official 

 facilities as were possible were obtained on his behalf. 



Mr. Scott Elliot, not without many difficulties, has now 

 reached his destination. The following letter, which is 

 communicated to N.\TfRE at his request, raises a high 

 e.xpectation that he will succeed in thoroughly investi- 

 gating the tlora of this interesting region. It is a matter 

 of sincere hope that his health will be spared for the 

 task. Unfortunately the time is far distant when, as 

 prophesied by Mr. Stanley, the " tender-hearted botanist ' 

 may be " conveyed from point to point without danger to 

 his valuable life.' The honour is all the greater to a man 

 of by no means robust physique, who in the pure interests 

 of science is willing to take his life in his hand in the 

 prosecution of such a task. 



W. T. Thiselton-Dykr. 



Royal Gardens, Kew, September 25. 



Ruwenzori, May 2, l S94. 



I arrived here on .April i, but have unfortunately 

 been able to do very little, as I have had severe 

 fever. 1 may not have another opportunity of writing 

 for a long time, so send this now. IVIy route has been 

 through Kavirondo, Usoga, and L'ganda to liuddu, 

 through Buddu to Karagwe, and thence diagonally 

 across .\nkobe to Toru. I find Uganda, Buddu, and Toru 

 to consist of a plateau apparently gneiss and granite, 

 about 4000-4500 feet high m most parts, but about this 

 part of Toru 50C0 or even 5300 feet. The whole of 

 this plateau is cut up into innumerable swampy rivers, 

 due to the comparative slow gradient of these rivers (the 

 Victorian Nyanza being only 3850 feet). In Karagwe 

 and Ankobe this plateau is covered by a series of folded 

 schists and shale which extend with one break from 

 Kitangule to within eight miles of the Albert Edward 

 Nyanza, where the granite plateau is reached again. 

 These schists are at So -ip dip, and strike usually 20' 

 30 east of north. A curious little chain of small volcanic 

 craters, running east and west nearly, appears in the 

 midst of the granite at \'ijongo (on Lugard s map), that 

 is, at the base of Ruwenzori, but I have not been able as 

 yet to see much of the geology of Ruwenzori itself The 

 flora over the whole of this country up to 6000 feet is 

 identical, and even at 6000 feet there are but few new 

 species. It seems probable to me that this tlora extends 

 right down to the Zambesi. 1 have been able to get a fair 

 number of species representing it, but in what condition 

 they will reach England remains to be seen. Of trees 

 there are very few. A tree Euphorbia and an F.rythrimi 

 are the commonest The most objectionable is a bamboo- 

 like grass, often twenty feet high, which makes travelling 

 most annoying. .Another conspicuous plant is an Acanth 

 with handsome red spikes of tlowers and very large 

 prickly leaves. There are two or three Melichrysums, 

 numerous Commelinas and twining Lcf^uminosit, and, 

 strangely enough, a Ruhus, a buttercup, and three Um- 

 hellifcriT. I find also the same beetles, butterflies, and 

 dragonflies everywhere. 



The country as a whole seems very fertile, and the popu- 

 lation is probably one-hundredth part of what it might 

 be. The swamp rivers alluded to are probably the most 

 extensive natural rice-fields in the world ; but rice has only 

 been grown in a very halfhearted manner. The banana 



NO. I 30 1. VOL. 50] 



supplies all the wants of the people. Tobacco could 

 also be grown anywhere, and, as far as one can judge 

 from the native plant, a very good kind could be pro- 

 duced. Coffee could also be grown, and cotton, and, in 

 fact, most of the common tropical plants. Kasamaga, 

 the king here, tells me he wants Europeans to settle here 

 and teach his people ; and a young fellow who is disposed 

 to rough it, and fond of sport, might do very well here at 

 Ruwenzori. He could support himself the first few years 

 by ivory (shooting and trading), and by the lime his 

 plantation came into bearing there ought surely to be 

 communication with the coast. A curious fact in natural 

 history has come about here. Kabbarega has eaten 

 up all the cattle in the country. There is scarcely a 

 fowl left, and in consequence lions and leopards have 

 taken wholesale to man-hunting. They have completely 

 changed their manner of hunting in accordance with 

 this. Usually speaking they are continually roaring on 

 the trail, but here neither ever utters a sound, and though 

 1 have had two men injured, and been within a hundred 

 yards of another man who was carried off, 1 heard 

 nothing. 



Mapping is very difficult here ; the compass shows the 

 most extraordinary variations, and the rivers are almost 

 impossible to trace, even from a great height, as where 1 

 am now. 



I have not been able yet to get at the higher tlora. 

 One curious fact is that the woods on Ruweniori very 

 closely follow the ordinary morning clouds and mists ; 

 these are usually at the same line every morning, and 

 mount to the top towards evening. This line of wood or 

 cloud is not, however, horizontal, but is highest at the 

 main mass, and slopes gradually as the mountain chain 

 sinks in height. 



(Signed) G. F. Scott Elliot. 



THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF THE 

 PA RA FFIN .\ITRI TES. ' 



THE valuable investigations described in this com- 

 munication to the Royal Society have been made 

 to determine more exactly the mode of action of parat'tinic 

 nitrites, and the part which the nitroxyl group NO., 

 plays in their physiological action, and also to throw light 

 on the ettect of variations in their molecular constitution. 

 For these objects a series of careful observations have 

 been made as to the action of ten of the fatty nitrites on 

 (1) blood pressure, (2) pulse frequency, (3) respiration, 

 (4) striated muscle tissue. 



The compounds selected for examination included the 

 nitrites of methyl and ethyl, the primary and secondary 

 propyl nitrites, the primary, secondary, and tertiary 

 butyl nitrites, and three amyl nitrites (d and t^isopriniary, 

 and tertiary amyl nitrite). By this selection it has been 

 possible to compare the action of a series of substances 

 containing an atom of No., united respectively to CI I,, 

 CoH.., C,H;, C,H,„ and C^.H,,, and thus to determine the 

 modifying influence which these radicals exert on the 

 action of the NO._, group. It has also been possible to 

 ascertain.the etTect produced by a modification of arrange- 

 ment of the molecules jn nitrites having the same com- 

 position as, c.i;. in primary and secondary propyl nitrite, 



CH,CH,,CH.,N0,,, and (CH;,\CHNO., 



It has long been known that the fatty nitrites lower 

 blood pressure, but opinions have ditTered as to their 

 mode of action, Filehne considering that this lowering is 

 caused by a paretic influence on the vasa motor centres, 

 whilst lirunton looks upon it as due to a direct effect on 

 the vessels themselves. Cash and Dunstan arc led by 

 their experiments to range themselves on the side of 



' /'*;V. Tram. vol. clzsxiv. (l8<>3), U, pp. yiyly). 

 Theodore Caih F.R.S.,and Prof. Wyndliam K. 



A paper l)y Dr. J. 

 Dunitan. 



