September 29, 1904] 



NA TURE 



541 



a sheet of paper, overlyingf two poles of a magnet, with 

 magnetic dust. He showed photographs of various 

 " fields " obtained by n combination of electromagnets, and 

 pointed out that all the cellular phenomena could be repro- 

 duced by the action of a polar or dual force such as statical 

 electricity or magnetism, and that the apparent anomalies 

 were due to the peculiar conditions of the protoplasm in 

 which the field was formed. He also showed some beautiful 

 sections of the embryos of Rhynchelmis, lent by Prof. 

 N'ejdowsky, of Prague, in which the dumb-bell-shaped 

 figure is of e.xceptional size. 



GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 A S the exploration of the higher mountain areas has been 

 "^ mainly the work of university men, it was very 

 appropriate that Mr. Douglas Freshfield, one of the pioneers 

 of .Alpine exploration, should be president of the geo- 

 graphical section at Cambridge. No one was better qualified 

 than he to deal with mountains and mankind, which 

 formed the subject of his address, which has already 

 appeared in N.MCRE (September i). 



Several other communications dealt with the " culmin- 

 ating area " of the globe, as Hermann Wagner calls it. 

 -Mr. Maurice de Dechy contributed a full account of the 

 glaciers of the Caucasus, which at one time were supposed 

 to be of very small dimensions. He gave statistics of the 

 altitude of the snow-level in different parts of the system, 

 showing how it rose towards the Caspian, and of the 

 dimensions of the principal glaciers, including the depth 

 to which their tongues descended below the snow-level. He 

 then surveyed the variations of ice movements during the 

 past half century, and pointed out how they corresponded 

 with those which have been observed in the Alps. Finally, 

 he referred to the evidences of the former great extension of 

 the glaciers. Mr. Charles Rabot, secretary of the Paris 

 Geographical Society and of the French Glacial Commission, 

 discussed the importance of glacier-bursts in shaping the 

 topography of glaciated areas. These bursts are due to the 

 creation and subsequent sudden discharge of a reservoir of 

 water, by a glacier dam due to the ice stopping the exit 

 from a valley and the consequent accumulation of water, or 

 to water gathering above, below, or in the glacier itself. 

 The violence of the outburst is proportional to the volume 

 of the water and the slope of the ground. In ,1878 the 

 Miirjelensee discharged 7,700,000 cubic metres in nine hours, 

 and the Gietroz outburst of 1818 attained a volume of 

 530,000,000 cubic feet. Twenty-five such outbursts are 

 known to have taken place in the Alps, and they have been 

 reported from all glaciated mountain areas. Their effects 

 are necessarily confined to modifying the contours of the 

 valley, by enormous erosion above, and by the deposition 

 of vast masses of waste below. In discussing glacial pheno- 

 mena, .sufficient importance has probably not been given to 

 these torrential outbursts, which must have been commoner 

 in Pleistocene times. Mr. A. W. Andrews showed a number 

 of excellent maps and views of passes of the .\lps in order 

 to prove that in teaching a well chosen set of lantern slides 

 could be used to bring out their characteristic natural 

 features, and to indicate their relation to routes, &c. 



There was no tale of startling adventure recounted, but 

 a number of excellent travel papers was read. Mr. Bruce's 

 account of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, while 

 barren in hair-breadth escapes, was one of steady scientific 

 investigation under very difficult conditions in perhaps the 

 most interesting area of the Antarctic. Notable though 

 the discovery of the northern Atlantic margin of Antarctica 

 and the depths of the ocean to the north are, the ocean- 

 ographic, biological, and more particularly the meteor- 

 ological work of the expedition are likely to yield results of 

 ■ the greatest value. It is a matter of congratulation that 

 Mr. Mossman, probably one of the best living meteorological 

 observers, remains in the south with the cooperation 

 of the .Argentine Government, for there the study of meteor- 

 ological conditions is more important than elsewhere in 

 high southern latitudes in view of the dangers attending 

 the rounding of Cape Horn, and the importance of an 

 investigation of the centres of atmospheric activity con- 

 trolling its iTieteoroIogy. 



The papers dealing with distant lands described the low- 



NO. 1822, VOL. 70] 



lying Malabar coasts, the sava^ia lands of northern Nigeria, 

 the fertile Cyrenaica, and the puna of the Andine plateau. 

 Mr. R. S. I:epper gave a comprehensive account of the 

 climate, pro.ducts, and peoples of the -Malabar, -coast, illus- 

 trated by excellent views. He pointed out the gr-eat progress 

 which had b-een made during tbe past half centui'y, and in- 

 sisted on the. economic value of the' region. -Major,]. A. 

 Burdon, Resident pf the Sokoto Province, described the 

 Fulani Emirates pf northern • Nigeria .in a communication 

 which it wojuld be difficult -to over-rate. The impressive con- 

 trasts between the condition^ in this laterite plateau dissected 

 by broad flat valleys, leaving moriotonous table-topped hills 

 covered with open brush, and the dense forests of southern 

 Nigeria were admirably shown, and the resulting effects 

 traced— Paganism and degenerate peoples in the forest belt, 

 Islam and a well developed social organisarion in the north. 

 The effects of the nomad Fulani conquest of the region were 

 traced, and form an interesting contribution of the evidence 

 which goes to prove that a definite type of social organ- 

 isation is connected with nomadic pastoral peoples all the 

 world over,- and that a fairly constant series of events 

 follows the thorough conquest of a settled people by such 

 nomadic tribes. The present British administration is 

 fortunately inspired -by the scientific spirit of constructive 

 action based on existing institutions. 



In 1903 Mr. Arthur Hill made a journey to Lake Titicaca. 

 The uniformity of the vegetation at altitudes from 12,500 

 to 16,500 feet w^as striking; the plants growing in rosettes 

 have long tap-roots by which they reach the warmer soil at 

 some distance below the surface, and their leaves are linear 

 and hairy, and suited to th^dry air subjected to temperature 

 variations of as much as 70° F. within a few hours. 



Mr. D. G. Hogarth spent nearly a week in Cyrenaica in 

 April, 1904, and was able to note certain geographical facts 

 which explain some of the peculiarities of Cyrenaic history. 

 He pointed out that changes of coastal level must have 

 taken place since ancient times. This point is of consider- 

 able importance, as Mr. R. S. Giinther showed bv a series 

 of maps and photographs of the Neapolitan region. -in—a 

 paper descriptive of these he summarised the results of his 

 investigations on the Bay of Naples,' where he found a 

 medieval land level 12 to 23 feet below the present one, 

 and a Gra;co-Roman land level some 16 feet above the exist- 

 ing level, and therefore in places 40 feet above the mediaeval 

 one. Round Genoa the coasts were also lower in the 

 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and the Nile delta- has 

 been shown to be higher in classical times. The old shore 

 lines are not horizontal, and Mr. Giinther considers that 

 land oscillations have been the cause of the changes of level. 

 In the discussion which followed Messrs. R. D. Oldham 

 and J. Y. Buchanan both pointed out other changes which 

 had been observed in the level of the Mediterranean. "A 

 special committee to investigate the evidence was appointed 

 by the general committee. The two afternoon lectures 

 arranged by this section had reference to the -Mediterranean 

 basin ; and Dr. Tempest Anderson's views and description of 

 the Lipari Islands reminded his hearers of the obvious un- 

 stable condition of part of it at the present day. Mr. Silva 

 White's admirable account of the Nile Valley emphasised 

 its organic unity, its physical and political insularity, which 

 has resulted in the political control of Egypt since the time 

 of -Alexander the Great by the Power possessing command 

 of the sea. He also showed some views, and gave an 

 eloquent description of the desert barrier which surrounds it. 



Coming to our own country, the papers dealt with 

 problems within the sphere of influence of Cambridge. Mr. 

 H. Yule Oldham, reader in geography at Cambridge, dis- 

 cussed the changes in the fen district since the seventeenth 

 century, when the tides came up the Ouse and nearly 

 reached Cambridge. By the cutting of the new Bedford 

 River and the building of the sluice at Denver, the 

 tidal waters were diverted up the new river, and this 

 permitted the drainage of the fens. The old course of 

 the Ouse was indicated in modern maps by the irregular 

 boundary between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, which 

 followed it. Mr. R. H. Yapp dealt with the vegetation of 

 the fen region, and by a series of excellent slides showed 

 the characteristic forms found in different edaphic con- 

 ditions. The Rev. Alfred Hunt claimed the hamlet of 



I The full report is published in the 

 nd September, 19-3 ; and in Archacoi 



't-ographical Journal for .-\ugu-^t 



