May 26, 1 881] 



NATURE 



desirability of making arrangements for the future preser- 

 vation of the collection, Ur. Davis entered into nego- 

 tiations about a year ago with the College of Surgeons of 

 England, by which body it was purchased, and in whose 

 museum it has now been arranged in such a manner as 

 to be accessible to all workers at anthropology. Such a 

 collection as this, well cared for in a public museum, is a 

 solid and permanent increase to the wealth of the country, 

 for even if the methods of investigation now used are 

 superseded by others, and the present literature comes to 

 be looked upon as obsolete, the specimens will remain as 

 materials for building up the history of the human race ; 



and as the interest in the subject increases— as it certainly 

 will— many of these evidences of the physical structure 

 of people passed or passing away will come to be objects 

 of priceless value. ^ • H. F. 



J/. H. MILNE'EDWARDS 



WE referred some time ago to the fact that a medal, 

 subscribed for by a number of his admirers, had 

 been presented to the venerable zoologist, M, H, Milne- 

 Edwards. 5X0 one better deserves such a recognition,. 



Medal presented to iM. H. Milne-Edwards. 



and none know better than the French how to do such an 

 honour gracefully and impressively. Our illustration is 

 reproduced from La Nature of May 7, where will be 



found a pretty complete list -and it is a long one— of M. 

 Milne-Edwards' works. The medal, a production of 

 some artistic merit, is the work of M. Alphde Dubois, 



THE ZOOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE 

 SOCOTRAN EXPEDITIOX 



AT the meeting of the British Association in 1878, 

 upon the motion of Mr. Sclater, a Committee, con- 

 sisting of Dr. Hartlaub, Sir Joseph Hooker, Capt. J. \V. 

 Hunter, Prof. Flo.ver, and the mover, was appointed to 

 take steps for the investigation of the natural history of 

 Socotra, Socotra, it was stated, was one of the few spots 

 in the world which seemed never to have been trodden 

 by the foot of the naturalist, and would in all probability 

 be found to contain distinct insular forms, of which it 

 would be highly interesting to know the relations, and to 

 secure specimens for our collections. 



The grant of loo.'., gixen by the Association for this 

 excellent object, having been subsequently increased by 

 two su ns devoted to the same purpose out of the Govern- 

 ment Fund of 4000/. administered by the Royal Society, 

 the Committee felt strong enough to proceed to action, 

 and in the winter of i§;9 were fortunate enough to secure 

 the services of Prof J. B. Balfour, of the University of 

 Glasgow, for a special expedition to the island 



Prof. Balfour left England on January 9, 1880, accom- 

 panied by Alexander Scott, a gardener from the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, as collector, and reached 

 Aden by the French mail on the 24th, where he obtained 

 every sort of advice and assistance from the civil and 

 naval authorities for his expedition. Owing to adverse 

 winds and other difficulties Prof. Balfour did not manage 

 finally to reach Socotra until February 11, when the 

 party, which had been reinforced by the addition of Lieut. 



Cockburn of the 6th Royals and a corps of attendants 

 from Aden, were put on shore at Gollonsir, a village 

 situated at the north-west end of the island, by H.M.S. 

 Scae.ull. In his report to the Socotran Committee Prof. 

 Balfour gives the subjoined account of his subsequent 

 proceedings : — , . 1. j 



"Making in the first instance Gollonsir our head- 

 quarters, we explored the adjacent country to the south 

 and south-west until February 25, when we struck tents, 

 and sending our heavy baggage and stores by sea, started 

 to march to Hadibu. We took four days to accomphsh 

 this reaching Hadibu late on the night of the 28th inst. 



"'Having communicated to the Sultan the fact of our 

 arrival, he came to Hadibu on March i, when we had an 

 interview. , ,, ... , • 



"Establishing our depot now on the Hadibu plain, 

 about a mile from the town, we spent the time until the 

 7th inst. investigating the magnificent Haggier range of 

 hills shutting in on the south the Hadibu plain. 



" On March 8, leaving a tent-Lascar in charge of the 

 depol at Hadibu, we started upon a trip to the eastern 

 end of the island, going eastward along the northern side 

 and returning westward by the southern side ot the 

 island. During this trip we reached Ras Mom*^, the 

 extreme eastern headland. Camp at Hadibu was agam 

 entered on March 18. , l ■. 



"As yet we had not seen- much of the southern parts 

 of the isLmd, so on March 22 we left Hadibu on our last 

 excursion. Crossing the Haggier range we emerged upon 

 the southern shore at Nogad, traversed the coast-line foi 

 some distance, and then recrossed the island so as to 



