436 
horse introduced by that navigator in a map of the 
world in the region now known as Argentina. This, 
it is urged, is no evidence at all, but merely’ an 
indication that the country was suitable for horses. 
Historical evidence is cited to prove that horses were 
unknown to the Indians of Mexico, Panama, Peru, 
and Brazil at the time of the visits of Columbus (1498 
and 1502), and of the opening up of the country by 
his successors. It is then shown that there is a 
hiatus between the beds containing remains of E. 
rectidens and those with bones of modern horses, 
while it is argued that the ancient indigenous perisso- 
dactyles became extinct as the result of climatic and 
other physical changes. That the historical evidence 
in the case of the countries mentioned is decisive may 
be admitted, but the statements of Senor Cardoso 
with regard to the existence of large numbers of 
horses in Argentina in 1580 and the lack of fear of 
these animals exhibited by the Indians, as well as 
certain structural peculiarities alleged to be peculiar 
to Argentine horses and E. rectidens, are not referred 
to by Dr. Trouessart, who had not seen the original 
paper when writing his own article. A summary of 
Senor Cardoso’s views will be found in The Field of 
July 20, 1912. 
FRENCH HYDROLOGY.} 
‘TRE operations of the French Hydrological Service 
in the Alps have been so often the subject of 
notice in these columns that the issue of a fresh 
volume (tome vi.), bringing the record of results down 
to the end of the year 1911 for the service in the 
southern region, does not appear to call for more than 
passing notice. As is customary, the volume, which 
is mainly devoted to numerical tables of discharges 
and other statistical information, commences with a 
brief description of certain special features in regard 
to methods of gauging and their adaptation to local 
conditions. This is followed by a chapter of explana- 
tory remarks on the longitudinal sections and levels 
contained in the annexe—a case of forty-three plates. 
Somewhat fresher ground is opened out by the first 
volume relating to operations of the same service in 
the Pyrenees, and detailing the results obtained in 
the basin of the Adour. In a brief, but very effec- 
tive, résumé of the circumstances which preceded and 
led up to the establishment of the hydrological service 
in the south-west, M. Tavernier, who is in charge of 
this section of the work, records that the hydrology 
of the Pyrenees has been in the past the subject of 
greater research and more numerous observations than 
that of the Alps; and he adds that, while the material 
thus accumulated is fairly plentiful, it has brought 
with it the attendant difficulty of its evaluation and 
coordination, so as to admit of its utilisation in con- 
nection with future operations, which are naturally 
destined to be of a more precise and systematic char- 
acter. He narrates, in seven successive subsections, 
the progress of investigation and the nature of the 
observations made before the inauguration of the 
departmental service of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
dating back to a period anterior to the year 1850, 
and including the records of certain services specially 
formed, from time to time, to study the phenomena 
of floods. 
When he comes to discuss the relative merits of 
the regimen of the watershed of the Pyrenees and 
that of the Provencal Alps, he has some interesting 
remarks to make on the importance of lakes, which 
may be rendered as follows :—- 
The true wealth of the Pyrenees is to be found in 
close proximity to the summits, where numerous lakes 
1 Ministére de l’Agriculture: Direction générale des eaux et foréts, 
Service des grandes forces hydrauliques. (a) Région des Alpes: Compte 
rendu et résultats, Tome vi. et Annexe (nivellements), 1913. (4) Région du 
Sud-Ouest : Comptes rendus et résultats obtenus. Tomes 1 et 2, 1912. 
NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 
NATURE 
q SFe4. eal 
“a 
[DECEMBER II, 1913 
exist, and where artificial reservoirs can be formed. 
It is quite otherwise in the Provengal Alps, where 
lakes are scarcely to be found, and where reservoir 
basins are rare. The lakes of the Pyrenees replace 
advantageously the glaciers of the Alps, since, in the 
former case, the outflow can be regulated to meet 
requirements, whereas the discharges arising from the 
melting of glaciers are intermittent and irregular, 
often proving a source of inconvenience because they 
cannot be controlled. aie 5 
The second volume of this series is purely statistical 
and diagrammatic, and deals with the results obtained 
in the basin of the Garonne down to the end of 1910 1 
. . . 
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF PAPUA.! 
HE Commonwealth of Australia has begun the — 
issue of ‘‘The Bulletin of the Territory of 
Papua,” of which the first number consists of a valu- 
able report by Mr. J. E. Carne, of the Geological 
Survey of New South Wales, on the coal, petroleum, 
and copper ores of part of British New Guinea. Mr. 
Carne visited the district to the north of the Gulf 
of Papua in 1912 in order to investigate the value of 
the coal discovered on the Purari River near the 
northern foot of Mt. Favenc. The coal proved to be 
only a brown coal of Cainozoic age, and Mr, Carne 
regards it as of no present economic value. He 
visited the Vailala River to inspect a series of gas 
springs, of which the first was discovered by G. A. — 
Thomas at Opa in 1911. Mr. Carne’s samples from — 
these gas springs have been analysed by Mr. Mingaye, 
who shows that they contain petroleum. The: dis- 
charge of natural gas is in sufficient quantity to indi- — 
cate the probable occurrence of considerable supplies 
of oil in the underlying beds, and Mr. Carne regards _ 
the geological conditions as so promising that he — 
recommends the prospecting of the area by adequate — 
boring. 5 
In discussing the relations of this oilfield he gives — 
a valuable summary of the present stage of develop-— 
ment of the New Zealand oilfields, and the most 
recent information regarding the gas well at Roma, in 
Queensland, and of that at Grafton, in New South 
Wales. Mr. Carne also visited the Astrolabe copper 
field to the east-north-east of Port Moresby. Only 
three of the ore occurrences there were available for 
inspection at his visit, and mining in the field is at 
present dormant. Mr. Carne, however, regards the — 
prospects of the field as encouraging, though no final 
opinion can be formed without further prospecting. — 
His account of one or two of the mines indicate that 
there are considerable bodies of low-grade ores avail- 
able. Mr. Carne’s memoir contains full references to 
the earlier literature on the economic geology of the 
districts visited, and it forms a valuable contribution — 
to the geology of New Guinea. 
METEOROLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS AT 
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
A MOST important contribution was made by Mr. 
J. I. Craig, who was unfortunately unable to 
be present at the meeting. The abnormal warmth of 
1gt1 in Europe prompted Sir Edward Fry to ask in 
Nature if the phenomenon was world-wide. Mr. Craig 
was able to reply for Egypt in the negative, inasmuch 
as the summer there had been cooler than usual, but — 
he was struck by the definiteness of the opposition, — 
and began to investigate the relation between tem- 
peratures in Egypt and southwest England, based 
on values for the past thirty-four years. He found 
that the departures from the normal in the two 
1 J. E. Carne: Notes on the Occurrence of Coal, Petroleum, and Copper 
in Papua. Bulletin of the Territory of Papua, No. 1, 1913, vill. Pp. r16-+ 
xxix plates+-3 sections +1 map. 
