NA TURE 



[January 25, 1906 



rod, but holds the arm perfectly immovable in any position, 

 three contacts being made. The arm will support any 

 weight that will not actually break it. On some chimps 

 a micrometer screw allows the arm to be moved while 

 supporting the full weight that it can carry. Those who 

 have struggled with the old type of retort stand clamp 

 which wobbles in all possible directions will welcome tne 

 new invention should it be put upon the market. 



Wilfred Mark Webb. 



THE THIRD TANGANYIKA EXPEDITION.' 

 J" LEFT London for (ape Town on March 24, 1904, 

 ■*■ proceeding thence to Chinde, and up the Zambesi and 

 Shire Rivers, to Blanlyre and Zomba, in British Central 

 Africa. In Zomba 1 reported myself to Sir Alfred Sharpe, 

 and from him received much advice and assistance before 

 leaving shortly for the Upper Shire and Lake Nyasa. In 

 the region of this lake 1 stayed, roughly, three weeks — 

 one week on the gunboat anchored at the south end, one 

 week ascending the lake, and a week in Karonga befori 

 ■starting to cross the plateau to Tanganyika. 



I collected, as far as possible in the short lime, speci- 

 mi ns to illustrate the flora of the lake — dried spi 1 imens, 



algre scraped from rocks, &c, and tow-nettings aining 



diatoms and other of the more minute organisms. 1 made 

 mi systematii attempt to collect fish, bul brought a few 



speci us, in addition to some leeches, crabs, .1 species 



of prawn (of interest as nunc had been hitherl orded 



from tli'- lake), anil a sponge. 



Karonga was left on July 5, and after an unavoidable 

 delay on account of illness among my men, I arrived at 

 Niamkolo, at the south end of Tanganyika, on July 27. 

 I made this spol no. headquarters foi more than' two 

 mi. mhs, though during the period I stayed a vv ek at 

 Kiluta. I purchased at unci- a large dug-oul canoe and 

 hired a crew, so that I was able from the first to fish, 

 dredge, and take tow-nettings. Meanwhile, I made 

 -iiis with tin- owner oi a large dan in Ujiji to 

 liin- his vessel, anil this was dispati hed in the south end 

 of lb.- lake to pick me up. I sailed on board the dau 

 ' 11 Septe nber 2;, and fur the rest of my time on the lake 

 cruised about, visiting ,1, far as possible ihe must intercst- 

 ing and likely places on the lake shore. 1 camped on land 

 whenevei circumstances permitted, bul my si.-ivs varied, 

 acci rding as I found much or little of value to me. Although 

 I 111. ill.- some attempts, I found it almost impossible to 

 dredge satisfactorily in deep water by means of the dau, 

 so I was reduced to dredging from the canoe, in which 

 case, of course, we had nut sufficient power to dredge al 

 any depth. On one occasion, by (he kindness ,,'f the 

 captain, 1 was permitted to make an attempt from tin- 

 German gunboat, but unfortunately 1 lost the dredgi and 

 a large part of the rope, by the snapping of the rope under 

 the strain. 



I collected fish on every pussible occasion, but though 

 we tried various methods of catching them, the majority 

 were obtained direcl from the native fishermen. The 

 largest fish I saw was .1 Siluroid (probably Clarias), 

 'is cm, in length, and weighing 30-6 kilograms. Tow- 

 n ttings were taken systematii ally at various times before 

 and alter dark, in various places and at various seasons. 

 These consisted, as a rule, principally of phyto-plankton, 

 but there were also prawns, copepods, .sir. nods, and 

 insect larva- taken in this fashion. The quantity of 

 material obtained by tow-netting became markedly less 

 during the rainy season. The larger representatives of the 

 l"i, 1 were also collected, but show, on the whole, little 

 difference from the corresponding water-weeds of Nyasa. 



Scrapings from the rocks and submerged stems ..I pi s 



produced various of tin- smaller alga-, while a few fungi 

 were brought from the rotting wood of the canoe. 



Fiv e or six spi s "I prawns were collected, in addition 



I" those already known from the lake, some among the 

 rocks at the water's edge, olhers by dredging in a few 

 fathoms. Some two or three species of crabs were 

 obtained, and at least two species of Argulus. These latter 

 were perhaps most common from the mouth-cavity, gill- 

 bars, and surface of the body of various large Siluroids, 

 1 From a report by Mr. W. A. Cunnington, Christ's College, Cambridge. 

 NO. 1891, VOL. 7 V] 



but they were also frequently present upon large specimens. 

 ul Lates, and occasionally on other scaly fishes. Two- 

 forms of true parasitic copepods were found — one on the 

 gills of a Siluroid, and the other attached at the junction 

 of the pelvic fins of a Polypterus. Of worms, a . few 

 Oligochaetes were collected and a considerable number of 

 leeches. 



In addition to these were some Turbellaria,»and various 

 endo-parasites — Cestoda, Trematoda, and Nematoda — prin- 

 cipally from the gut of fishes. Among the Polyzoa is, at 

 any ra'e, one form with horseshoe-shaped lophophore, 

 which has not yet been described from Tanganyika. There 

 is probably little of interest in the molluscs collected, as 

 my work was confined to lb.- comparatively shallow water. 

 I was struck by the irregularity in the appearance of the 

 Tanganyika medusa, or rather the uncertainty of finding. 

 it at any particular time or place. It is doubtless, like 

 all such forms, driven to and fro by wind and currents, 

 but it is curious that one 111. >\ be a month or more on 

 'In- hike without seeing a single specimen. I have brought 

 back a few in formalin, fur museum purposes, and others 

 I'" erved with a view to tin- histub gy. Some quantity 

 sponge was collected, encrusting in every case sub- 

 merged rinks or shells. 



Apart from actual collecting, some observations oi 

 physical interest were made. Attempts w. re made, 

 both on Nyasa and Tanganyika, to observe the seiche 

 alterations in water-level, and at the south end of 

 Tanganyika the actual level of the water was marked, 

 with the view of affording some basis of comparison foi 

 the use of future investigators. A good many readings 

 ul the water temperature have been taken, which 

 should prove interesting, as 1 believe nothing has ever 

 been recorded from these lakes before. The temperature 

 in general seenis very high, the lowest obtained on the 

 lake being only 73 ;, and the highest recorded Si°.o. At 

 a depth of 76 fathoms (length of the sounding-line) the 

 temperature appears fairly constant, for readings taken on 

 various occasions, and at different sputs, onl} \.n\ between 

 74°. 1 and 74°-8. 



Iln total length of time spent on and around Tanganyika 

 was about eight months. Dismissing the dan at Usuirt- 

 bura, at the north end of the lake, I began on March tS, 

 i'i"5, Ihe journey overland to (In- western shi re of the 

 \ I' toria Xvanza. This took rather longer than was ex- 

 pi-i ti-il, owing to the bail weather anil the famine-stricken 

 nature of the country, but Bukoba, a German station or? 

 Nyanza, was reached on April 16. During a stay of tern 

 days waiting for the steamer, ami during a short stay in 

 Entebbe, the British capital, 1 was able t" do some collect- 

 ing in this lake also. As fir as possible, representatives 

 of the water flora were obtained, fur the sake of com- 

 parison with the plants collected on Nyasa and Tangan- 

 yika, A few tow-nettings were taken, and, in addition to 

 the smaller plants and animals thus obtained, there were 

 also collected a few molluscs, some Argulus, and certain 

 endo-parasites. Mure interesting was the finding of a 

 species "I prawn and a sponge, as no sponge had been 

 recorded from the lake before. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIOXAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The council of King's College, London, has received a 

 donation of 500!. from the Drapers' Company for the 

 further equipment of the physics laboratory, especially for 

 the promotion of research. 



Prof. W. W. Watts, F.R.S., assist. mi professor of 

 geology and professor of geographv at the Birmingham 

 University, has been appointed professor of geology at the 

 Royal College of Science, South Kensington, vacant by the 

 retirement of Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F.R S. In view ul 

 the changes in organisation that may be found desirable in 

 lb.- Royal College of Science and the Royal School of 

 Minis alter the consideration of the report of the depart- 

 mental committee on the college, the appointment has been 

 111, nil- .1 temporary one. 



The council of the Armstrong College of Durham Uni- 

 versity in Newcastle has resolved to found a chair o' 



