'June 21, 1883] 



NA TURE 



179 



which was represented only by two species at the mouth 

 of the Taimyr and none at Cape Chelyuskin. So also 

 with the Cyperaceae and Ranunculaceoe. Sa.xifraga 

 oppositi/olia is not the most widely-spread species on the 

 Siberian northern coast, as is the case tor other parts of 

 the Arctic region, other species of Saxifraga being as 

 mu h or more extensively spread than it. The most 

 usual phanerogamous plants on the coast seem to be the 

 fMBula arcttata, var. hypcrborea, and Stcllaria longipes. 



We shall not analyse the valuable paper by M. 

 Kjellman on the flora of Novaya Zemlyi, which is a 

 summary of all that is known on this subject, and we 

 shall notice but a few facts concerning the vegetation of 

 the Siberian coast of Bering Strait. It is represented 

 on M. Kjell nan's lists by 221 species belonging to 41 

 families and 109 genera. The Compositas, Cyperaceae, 

 Saxifragaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Gramineae, numbering 

 from 20 to 15 species each, are here also the richest as 

 to the number of species. But we find on the Asiatic 

 coast of the Bering Strait a good many plants belonging 

 10 the Amen :an flora, as also to the flora of the Altai and 

 Baikal regions, which are not met with elsewhere on the 

 northern coast. No less than 53 species out of 221 

 appear only to the east of the Kolyma, which appears 

 thus to be, for the coast- region, a more important uoun 1- 

 ary line thin the Obi. This notable increase cannot be 

 accounted for only by the milder character of tlvs region, 

 but it could be explained, in our opinion, if we took 

 notice of the orography of Eastern Siberia, which favours, 

 by the extension of its chains of mounains from south- 

 west to north-east, the spread of both animals and plants 

 in the same direction. 



Dredging was very diligently carried on dining the 

 whole of the cruise of the Vega in the Arctic Ocean; and 

 Mr. Stuxberg's map of dredgings made during the 

 Swedish expeditions of 1S75, 1876, and 1S7S to 1879, is 

 dotted with 33 spots in the Kara Sea, and with 90 spots 

 along the Siberian coast to Bering Strait. The tempe- 

 rature of water obviously was found to be very low ; even 

 at a few fathoms below the surface it was from - 09' to 

 - 2'y at a depth of 50 metres, and it had a normal 

 specific gravity of 1027. The most uniformly spread 

 animals in the Siberian coast-region of the Arctic Ocean, 

 and in the Kara Sea, are undoubtedly the Crustaceans ; 

 the Echinoderms are comparatively few, as also are the 

 Mollusca, Bryozoa, and Hydroids. The Crustaceans 

 Idothea Sabinei, Idothea entomon, Diastylis Rathkei, 

 Atylus carina! us, and Acanthostephia Malmgreni, are 

 the most usual. The first, as known, has been found 

 nearly everywhere in the Arctic Ocean ; whilst the second 

 proved to be specific for the whole of the Arctic coast of 

 the old continent, for a stretch of nearly 160 degrees 

 of longitude ; it has been found also in the lakes of 

 Sweden and Northern Russia, even in the Caspian and 

 Lake Aral — Lake Baikal being till now the sole explored 

 great lake of this part of the old continent where it has 

 not yet been found. As to the vertLal distribution of the 

 animal forms, no distinct regions can be established. It 

 must be observed, however, that the littoral region — 

 about 30 fathoms deep — on account of its ice and sweet 

 water brought by rivers, is nearly quite devoid of 

 animals ; even the littoral forms go to take refuge in 

 the sublittoral region. Not only is the Siberian Sea very 

 1 ich in forms of animals (the number of described 

 Amphipods being as much as 59 out of 1 14 Amphipods 

 l.nown in all Arctic seas together) ; it contains also such 

 a number of individuals of certain species, that Mr. 

 Stuxberg describes about 20 real "formations" {djur/or- 

 mationeri), each consisting of very large quantities of 

 individuals of one given species, with a comparatively 

 small mixture of other species. Such are the Diastylis 

 Rathkei, Reticulipora intricaria, Alcyonidium mamn/il- 

 i'i/////i, Chiridota Icevis, Echinus drbbachici/sis, Asterias 

 Lincki, Archaster te/zuist/inus, Cleuodiscus crispatus, 



Ophiacantha bidentata, Ophiocten sericeum, Ophioglypha 

 nodosa, Astropliyton eucnemis, Antedon Eschricl/ti, Yoldia 

 arctica, and Idothea entomon, as also Ascidiae, Actiniae, 

 and Hydroids. As a whole, the Siberian basin differs 

 very much in its fauna from the other parts of the Arctic 

 basin, and it has no less than 16 species that are charac- 

 teristic of it. Novaya Zemlya is the limit of the fauna of 

 the Siberian Sea, being a separation-line for many species. 

 The foregoing notice will give a general idea of the 

 valuable material contained in the first volume of the 

 " Vega's Scientific Work," and the manner it is treatel. 

 We have but to express the wish to see, as soon as 

 possible, the appearance of the following volumes of this 

 series. They will surely give a new and powerful impulse 

 to the study of Northern Siberia. P- K. 



NOTES 

 We are glad to learn that Mr. Spottiswoode continues to go 

 on favourably. 



Still another well-deserved honour fir Sir Joseph Hooker. 

 The Society of Arts' Albert Medal for "distinguished merit for 

 promoting arts, manufactures, or commerce," has been awarded 

 to him for the present year, for the eminent services which, as a 

 botanist and scientific traveller, and as Director of the National 

 Botanic Department, he has rendered to the arts, manufactures, 

 and commerce by promoting an accurate knowledge of the flora 

 and economic vegetable products of the several colonic and 

 dependencies of the Empire. 



Among those to whom the Council of the Society of Arts 

 have awarded their silver medals are Mr. Alex. Siemens and 

 Dr. Hop inson, for their papers on " The Tran mission of Power 

 by Electricity," and "The Portrush Railway," and to Capt. 

 Douglas Galton for his paper on "The Economy of Sanitation." 

 Thanks were voted to Mr. W. H. Preece, F.R.S., for his paper 

 on Electrical Exhibitions. 



A special extra meeting of the Anthropological Insti ute was 

 held at the Piccadilly Hall on Tuesday, when the Botocudo 

 Indians and a large ethnological collection from Brazil were 

 exhibited by the kindness of Mr. C. Ribeiro, and Prof. A. H. 

 Keane read a paper descriptive of the Bo'ocudos. 



Mr. Mark H. Judge has resign ;d his position as Secretary 

 and Curator of the Parkes Museum. 



M. de Lesseps has declared officially at the Academy of 

 Science; the intention of the Suez Company to open a new 

 canal. During the works the maritime way will be lighted by 

 electricity, and an appeal has been addressed to physicists to 

 present their several syste us. The work will begin as soon as 

 pos-ible. 



We have received a favourable report of the National Museum, 

 Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. Considerable collections are 

 being brought together, but the committee should not forget that 

 the chief object of such a museum ought to be to make its col- 

 lections mainly representative of the interesting country in which 

 it is placed. 



Dr. Kerr of Canton is publishing in Chinese a complete work 

 on the theory and practice of medicine, compiled from European 

 standard works upon that subject. The sections on fevers, and 

 diseases of the stomich, have already been published, while those 

 on affections of the heart and lungs have just been issued. 

 Volumes on the kidneys and nervous system are in the press. 

 The translator has omitted the discussion of all unsettled theories 

 and disputed points. The volumes are printed from wooden 

 blocks, clearly and evenly cut, and are sold at a price which 

 brings them within the reach of all. 



