294 



NATURE 



[July 24, 1890 



enormous trunks of fossil trees were observed on the 

 shores of the lake. From Lake Colhue the Rio Singuer 

 which flows into it was ascended, until a point was 

 reached where this stream takes an abrupt bend to the 

 north-west. Thence the route lay for many days through 

 the unknown uplands of the interior, until the upper 

 waters of the Rio Chico de Santa Cruz were struck in 

 lat. 48^ 55' 15" S., on the last day of February. Descend- 

 ing the Rio Chico de Santa Cruz, the Expedition reached 

 Beagle Bluff at the mouth of the great Santa Cruz, on 

 March 9. Beagle Bluff, we may remind our readers, was 

 so named from H.ALS. Beagle, which visited the spot in 

 1834, and first explored the River Santa Cruz. Darwin, 

 who accompanied the boats of the Beagle in their survey 

 of this stream, came to the conclusion that the river-valley 

 of the Santa Cruz was formerly a strait dividing South 

 America right across at this point, like the Straits of 

 Magellan do now further south (see Darwin's "Naturalist's 

 Voyage," chap. ix,). 



The interior of Patagonia traversed by Sr. Burmeister's 

 Expedition appears to be almost deserted at the present 

 time. No natives seem to have been met with between 

 the Chubut and the Rio Chico de Santa Cruz until the 

 lower part of that river v^^as reached. 



From Port Santa Cruz the Expedition returned north- 

 wards along the Atlantic coast to Port Deseado in lat. 

 47° 56', and thence, ascending the river of the same name, 

 rejoined their former route on the Rio Singuer. 



Besides the accurate survey made during the expedi- 

 tion, a large number of photographic views were taken, 

 a selection of which will be published subsequently. 

 These will be of interest in connection with the question 

 of the origin of the singular " basaltic terraces " of this 

 country, of which Darwin gave us the first indication, 

 and which are frequently referred to by Seiior Burmeister. 

 Large collections were also made in natural history, most 

 of which await further examination. But articles on the 

 mammals and birds obtained during the expedition are 

 appended to the present Report. Most of these are re- 

 ferred to species already fairly well known, although an 

 exception must be made in favour of Canis griseus — the 

 smaller of the two native foxes of Patagonia, of which 

 little, if anything, has been recorded since its accurate 

 description by Dr. H. Burmeister was published some 

 years ago. The remaining collections still to be worked 

 out will probably be found to contain objects of greater 

 rarity ; but there can be no doubt that the Patagonian 

 fauna, though of great interest, is rather meagre. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



The Triumph of Philosophy. By James Gillespie 

 (Ealing ; West Middlesex Printing and Publishing Co . 

 1890.) 



The author has endeavoured to correct the Copernican 

 theory of astronomy, and propounds instead the Gillespian 

 or true system of the universe, which asserts that the 

 earth, as well as the sun, is fixed in space and all the 

 stars revolve round it in a year. 



One of the objections to the present arrangement reads 

 as follows : — 



" Can any man in his sober senses believe that the earth 

 could fly through space at the rate of 1000 miles a 

 minute. Would it not drive all the atmosphere either 



NO. 1082, VOL. 42] 



away from the earth or like the tail of a comet ? Could 

 the moon keep her constant path round the earth at 

 273,000 miles distant, if she (the earth) was flying at this 

 terrific speed .? " 



To understand this argument, it is necessary to believe 

 with Mr. Gillespie that gravitation has nothing to do with 

 the motions of any of the heavenly bodies. In his words : 



" I admit gravitation on the earth, but it only extends 

 a certain distance from the earth, and it is quite powerless 

 at the moon's distance, otherwise the moon— if she has 

 weight at all — would fall crash on to the earth.'' 



The greater portion of the work is taken up with obser- 

 vations of Mr. J. B. Dimbleby, of the British Astrono- 

 mical Society (.yzV). This gentleman, whose genius seems 

 shrouded in obscurity, is styled " Transit Medallist, Pro- 

 fessor of Chronology, first calculator of all echpses and 

 transits from Adam, and the discoverer of five lines of 

 astronomical time." We give a short extract, in which 

 some of his researches are referred to : — 



" He has proved, by a long and by a true calculation, that 

 the earth, the sun, the moon. Mercury, and Venus were 

 all in one direct line at creation, and it is almost hkely 

 that the other planets were in the same position, and 

 there they would stand like a team of racehorses till the 

 Divine signal was given, and off they went each on his 

 own course ; and it has been proved by eclipses and 

 transits, ancient and modern, that they have not varied a 

 single minute since that great day." 



It will be readily understood that to try to convince Mr. 

 Gillespie of the unsoundness of his arguments would be 

 the height of absurdity, since he has not even an ele- 

 mentary knowledge of physical laws. As in all similar 

 productions, strong words and hearty abuse are indulged 

 in to patch up weakness of argument ; no one is dis- 

 turbed by the tirade, however, and the Gillespian doc- 

 trine of the universe will doubtless pass away with Mr. 

 Dimbleby and its originator. 



Watch and Clock Making in 1889. By J. Trippling, 

 F.R.A.S., &c. (London : Crosby Lockwood and Son, 

 1890.) 



This little book consists of an account and comparison 

 of the exhibits in the horological section of the French 

 International Exhibition. 



In England there is very little literature on this subject, 

 but on the Continent, and in France especially, a great 

 many works on it have been published. The chief text- 

 book is that by M. Saunier, who has done much towards 

 the elevation of the social position of watchmakers, and 

 whose books are the standard works of reference on the 

 Continent. 



Twelve technical schools competed against one another 

 at the Exhibition ; great importance being attached to 

 the technical teaching of this class of subject abroad. 

 An excellent programme of the work which is done 

 during the student's course is given by the author, and 

 shows the method of teaching that is adopted. 



Chronograph makers are next dealt with ; of these 

 there were twenty representatives, four being English. For 

 performance, finish, and the number of instruments pro- 

 duced, England was awarded the palm. The tests which 

 instruments of this kind have to undergo are more severe in 

 England than in Switzerland, owing to the greater varia- 

 tion in temperature. For instance, one English chrono- 

 meter went for twenty-eight weeks with a variation never 

 exceeding 1*4 seconds ; while a Swiss chronometer, cited 

 as being an exceptionally good one, varied as much as 

 2'2 seconds in two weeks. 



The next section treats of the manufacture of watches, 

 and in this one hundred and fifty firms exhibited. This 

 number was divided into two classes—" factory system " 

 and "garret system" ; the former consisting of those who 

 manufactured them by using steam and hydraulic power 



