Aprils, 1885] 



NA TURE 



54i 



known from very ancient times, when it formed an independent 

 kingdom. The origin of the great peak of Mount Auckland, 

 which renders the island so conspicuous, is thus given by the in- 

 habitants (we quote from Mr. Griffis) : " Clouds and fogs covered 

 1 and the earth trembled with a noise of thunder for seven 

 days and seven nights. Finally, the waves opened, and there 

 emerged a mountain more than 1000 feet high, and forty ri in 

 circumference. It had neither plants nor trees upon it, and 

 clouds of smoke, widely spread out, covered its summit, which 

 appeared to be composed chiefly of sulphur." The fullest recent 

 account which we possess is one published by a gentleman who 

 visited the place with the French Consul in Shanghai in 1S51, to 

 seek for the crew of a vessel, the Narwhal; believed to have 

 been wrecked there. The story of the visit was published at 

 the time in an English journal printed in China. The in- 

 habitants are Coreans of the ordinary type ; iron appears to 

 abound on the southern coast, and there were ample evidences 

 of much comfort and even wealth among the islanders. Chris- 

 tianity is said to have reached Quelpart through a Corean, who 

 made his way through North China to Hongkong, where he 

 was taught by the missionaries, and who then made his way 

 back to the island. 



The geographical subject proposed this year by the French 

 Academy of Inscriptions for the Prix Bordin is " A Critical 

 Examination of the Geography of Strabo." According to the 

 terms laid down by the Academy, competitors are (1) to give 

 the history of the text of the work ; (2) to characterise the lan- 

 guage of Strabo with reference to that of contemporary Greek 

 writers, such as Diodorus Siculus and Dionysius of Halicar- 

 nassu ; (3) to distinguish the information collected by direct 

 observation of places and that drawn by him from his prede- 

 cessors ; (4) to express definite conclusions on his critical method 

 various documents. The papers should be in the hands 

 1 Secretary of the Institute not later than December 31, 



18S6. 



The Hungarian Society of Geography is engaged just now in 

 organising a Magyar expedition for the exploration of the regions 

 about the Urals, and principally of the Baskir country, where 

 the Uralo-Altaic peoples are disappearing. The Society regards 

 it a- essential to study tribes which will soon be only a more or 

 less confused recollection. The exploration is to be anthropo- 

 logical, ethnographical, and archaeological, 



THE Director of the Museum of Ethnography in Paris has 

 just received from the Minister of Public Instruction a fragment 

 of the planking of the canoe in which MM. Crevaux, Delict, 

 and Kingel were ascending the river when they were murdered 

 on the Tejo-Picolmayo by the Tobas Indians. The Minister 

 sent at the same time a collection of ethnographical water-colour 

 drawings made by Ringel and annotated by Crevaux. These 

 were recovered by M. Bueno, and sent to the French Legation 

 at Rio de Janeiro. 



IN the Bollettino of the Italian Geographical Society for 

 March an attempt is made to determine the limits of the new 

 " Kingdom of the Congo,'' as recognised by the late Berlin 

 Conference, and modified by the treaty concluded between the 

 African International Association, and Portugal on February 14. 

 The territory as thus determined would be limited on the west 

 by the Atlantic seaboard from Banana to Yabe (5° 45' S. lat. ), 

 then by the parallel of Yabe to the meridian of Pontada Lenha ; 

 then by this meridian northward to the Chiloango ; then by the 

 left bank of this river to its source, and beyond that point by a 

 curved line to the Ntombo-Macata Falls on the Congo, leaving 

 to the French the station of Mboco, but reserving Mucumbi and 

 Manianga ; lastly, from the Ntombo-Macata Fads the Congo 

 itself to its confluence with the Bumba beyond the equator, 

 where the boundary running north-west remains still to be deter- 

 mined. The southern frontier follows the Congo from Banana 

 to a point a little above Nokki, the north bank remaining to the 

 Association, the south to Portugal ; then from near Nokki the 

 parallel of this place as far as the river Kwango ; then 

 this liver to about 9° S. lat., and thence a diagonal 

 line across the continent !o Lake Bangweolo. Eastwards the 

 boundary coincides with the west coasts of Lakes B 



. i a, Muta Nzighe, and Albert Nyanza. On the north 

 the frontier will follow the line of water-parting to be here- 

 after determined between the Congo, Nile, Shari, and 

 Benue (Niger) river basins. Within these limits the new 

 State will have an approximate area of about 1,000,000 square 



miles and a population of probably 40,000,000, mostly of Bantu 

 speech and Negro or Negroid stock. 



The same number of the Bollettino publishes a letter from 

 Count Giacomo di Brazza, dated Brazzaville, October 22, 1884, 

 in which the writer complains that his efforts to complete the 

 triangulation of Stanley Pool were frustrated by the officer of 

 the African Association, a certain Captain S., in charge of the 

 left bank of the pool. To complete the work it was necessary 

 to cross over to that side of the Congo ; but the permission to 

 do so was refused by the official in consequence of instructions 

 issued by Colonel de Winton, " that all were to remain on their 

 own side." 



ON THE SALINITY OF THE WATER IN THE 

 FIRTH OF FORTH 1 



T T is the purpose of this paper to state the methods employed 

 •^ for examining the salinity and alkalinity of estuary water at 

 the Scottish Marine Station at Granton, and to describe and 

 record six months' observations of the water of the River and 

 Firth of Forth up to December 31, 18S4. 



(1) Collection of Water Samples. — To collect a sample of 

 surface-water from a small boat it is sufficient to wash out the 

 bottle with the water, and then hold it a few inches under the 

 surface until it fills. The temperature of the water is taken by 

 means of an ordinary thermometer in a copper case. On board 

 a larger vessel the same thing may be done, the bottle being 

 attached to a sounding-line and lowered over the side, or, with- 

 out stopping the vessel, by means of a clean bucket, care being 

 taken to draw the sample forward of the ejection-pipe of the 

 condenser. When brought on board a thermometer is immersed 

 for a minute, and the temperature noted. The water is then 

 bottled, tied down, and labelled. 



The water-bottle employed for obtaining samples from any 

 depth beneath the surface consists of a brass basal disk support- 

 ing three radiating sheets of brass surmounted by a brass dome, 

 on the top of which there is a ring for the line. The basal plate- 

 has an india-rubber ring fixed upon it, and its under surface has 

 two rings for attaching the lead, and a stopcock for running off 

 the water. There is also a brass cylinder, the edge of which 

 rests upon the india-rubber ring when the instrument is closed. 



On board the Medusa, the steam-yacht of the Marine Statior, 

 the water-bottle is attached to the sounding-line, which is wound 

 on a drum worked by a small deck-engine. It has a 7-lb. lead 

 attached to it, the stopcock is closed and a little plug screwed 

 in to prevent the entrance of mud should it strike the bottom. 

 It is then lowered, the slip-cylinder being held in the hand. 

 When the desired depth is reached the slip is let go ; it crashes 

 down on the frame and is guided by the brass strips on to the 

 india-rubber ring, on which it presses, and so firmly incloses a 

 sample of water. It has been found necessary to let down one 

 or two cylindrical weights, slipping on the line, after the slip 

 has struck the body, in order to press it firmly down. Repeated 

 trial and continuous use have shown this manner of water- 

 collecting to be satisfactory. 



The bottles used for preserving the samples are glass-stoppered, 

 blue glass half- Winchesters, which hold about I - S litres. They 

 are packed in boxes, fifteen in each, so as to be carried easily 

 and safely. Each bottle is labelled as it is put aside, with parti- 

 culars of the date, hour, and temperature. 



The temperature below the surface is ascertained by means 

 of the Negretti and Zambra thermometer in the Scottish frame, 

 which was described to this Society in July, 18S4 (Proceedings, 

 vol. xii. p. 927). 



When each sample of water is taken, the following observa- 

 tions are made and recorded : — Date ; hour ; position by bear- 

 ings ; depth of water ; " depth from which sample was taken ; 

 temperature of the water at that depth ; temperature of the air ; 

 natuie of the weather, wind, and state of sea ; state of tide ; 

 colour and transparency of the water. 2 



The colour of the water is observed by sinking a disk of iron, 

 painted white, to the depth of a few feet or fathoms, according 

 to circumstances, and noting its colour. The transparency may 

 be very roughly measured by observing the distance to which 

 the disk remains visible. 



It is important that the actual notes of all observations be 



1 All, tract of a paper read at the meeting of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh, January 5, 1885, by Hugh Robert Mill. B.Sc, F.C.S., Chemist to 

 the Scottish Marine Station, Granton, Edinburgh, 



- These are sometimes omitted in the case of surface samples. 



