January 4, 1906J 



NA TURK 



227 



CIENTIF1C EXPLORATION IN CENTRAL 



ASIA. 1 

 T is with a lingering feeling of regret that we 

 recognise how different, of necessity, are the 



\\V trusl that the botanical, zoological, and climato- 

 logical observation;-, which have been almost entirely 

 omitted from this volume, will be included in the 

 more detailed report. We cannot help feeling that a 



I 



explorations of the present day from those of fifty preliminary volume, Mich as this is intended to be, 

 years ago. No longer is il possible, except in rare should have included some reference to these other 

 instances, for a traveller to return with tales of new subjects, while some of the geological and glacial notes 

 discoveries of lakes, sources of rivers, mighty peaks, miffht have been left to the more detailed report, 

 and of the strange' peoples that dwell there. Much The care with which Dr. Merzbacher explored is 



work still remains, but it is of a more scientific worthy of the highest praise, leaving little or nothing- 

 nature, and therefore will probably 

 provide matter which when pub- 

 lished may be less entertaining 

 and less widely read. When a 

 traveller makes a speciality of one 

 particular branch of science, as 

 Dr. Gottfried Merzbacher does in 

 his volume on " The Central Tian- 

 Shan Mountains," to the almost 

 entire exclusion of all others, il 

 follows that he can only appeal to 

 a limited number of readers; to 

 those, in fact, who are interested 

 in the study of geology and 

 glaciers. We would, however, 

 make this reservation, that the 

 photographs which adorn this 

 book are exceptionally beautiful re- 

 presentations of snow scenery, and 

 will more than satisfy the ordinary 

 reader as well as the man of 

 science, and that the map is of 

 great general value. 



For two seasons, 1902-3, did Dr. 

 Merzbacher and his companions 

 labour in the central Tian-Shan 

 Mountains which lie north-east of 

 Kashgar. Russian explorers have 

 visited this district many times, 

 but the main backbone of the 

 range has never been closely ex- 

 plored, and Dr. Merzbacher was 

 able to discover and correct many 

 errors in existing maps. We 

 would here point out the growing 

 ii' 1 essity for the closer interchange 

 of information between the various 

 scientific societies of different coun- 

 tries. Dr. Merzbacher met a 

 Russian expedition which to his 

 delight was not intending to w oik 

 over quite the same tract of coun- 

 try, while Dr. Friedrichsen and 

 Signor Giulio Brocherel have 

 already published the results of 

 their explorations of the same 

 range, which were being under- 

 taken almost simultaneously with 

 those of Dr. Merzbacher and his 

 companions. Health)- rivalry is to 

 be encouraged, but such over- 

 lapping of work as this is re- 

 grettable. 



In this volume, which is of the nature of a pre- 

 liminary report, Dr. Merzbacher has embodied 

 observations on the present and past glacier condi- 

 1 ions of the Tian-Shan Mountains, and on pecu- 

 liarities in the physical features of its valley forma- 

 tions, subjects to which, throughout the expedition, 

 hi- attention was specially directed. A more detailed 

 report, however, is to follow when his rich collec- 

 tions have been scientifically examined and arranged. 



1 "The Central Tian-Shan Mountains, 1902-1903." By Dr. Gottfried 

 Merzbacher. Pp. ix+285. (London : John Murray.) Price121.net. 



1.— Telephoto^rapbic View of Khar 

 Middle Course of the Bayumkol V 

 Tian-Shan Mountains, 1903-1903." 



for any future travellers in this region to accomplish. 

 He made his winter quarters at Kashgar, but was 

 not content to wait for more clement weather, and 

 made many useful excursions during the winter 

 months, which happened to be unusually mild. It 

 would be out of place to attempt here a description, 

 however short, of his journeyings, and indeed, wilh- 

 i, .1 map, it would be nigh impossible to follow any 

 such description. F.acli glacier, each valley, each 

 ridge is in turn visited, surveyed, and described. 

 The position of the great peak of Khan-Tengri 



NO. 1888, VOL. 73] 



