7«6'5, 1877] 



NA TURB 



i9S 



likely to be confirmed when large instruments are 

 brought to bear upon the object frequently. 



A Reported Occultation of Mar,s uy Venus, 

 A.D. 368, July 30. — Amongst the observations extracted 

 from the Chinese Annals by the Jesuit missionary Gaubil, 

 and printed in the Couiaissance dcs Temps for 1 8 10, is one 

 which is thus translated: "An 36S = 3" annce Tai-ho, 

 6" lune, jour Kia-yn (30 juillet) Venus dclipsa Mars." It 

 may be worth while to examine how far M. Leverrier's 

 tables will represent this reported observation. Calcu- 

 lating for July 30 at oh. and 8h. Paris mean time, we 

 find the following quantities : — 

 Sun. 



Los. e.-iith's 



00045397 



0004505S 



Log. radius 



166 25 48 ... + o 30 59 ... 9-860940 



166 49 12 ... + O 29 53 ... 9-860966 



Distance from the earth at noon, I '1263. 



Mars. 



Geoc. longitude. Geoc. latitude. Log. radius 



1663525 ... +03450 ... 0-196730 



166 48 17 ... + o 34 37 ... 0-196623 



Distance from th^ earth at noon, 2-2168. 



Hence the conjunction in longitude would occur Jidy 30 

 at 7h. i8'5m. Paris mean time, or July 30 at I5h. 4m. 

 mean time at Nanking, where the Chinese Court was 

 then established ; Mars north of Venus 4' 39". Conse- 

 quently, according to M. Leverrier's tables, there would be 

 no occultation, but a very close approach, and considering 

 the calculated time of conjunction, at an eaily hour in the 

 morning, whereas the planets would be evening stars, it 

 would appear that an occultation was only inferred from 

 some previous or subsequent observations or both. The 

 accuracy of the Chinese record, so far as regards a near 

 appulse of the two planets about the time named, is how- 

 ever confirmed. 



THE PREHISTORIC STEPPES OF CENTRAL 



EUROPE 

 T N a recent number of the Ma^dcbiirgische Zeititns, 

 *■ is an interesting article by Dr. A. Nehring, upon the 

 foriiier extension of the steppes of Russia into Northern 

 Germany. The country between Magdeburg and Hal- 

 berstadt now belongs to one of the most fruitful and 

 best cultivated districts in the Fatherland. Yet there are 

 good grounds for believing that in former days this 

 country was for a lengthened period a steppe — probably 

 not an isolated steppe, but connected on the east with the 

 great steppes of Russian Asia. 



Northern Germany, including the country designated 

 above, is generally regarded as having been in former 

 times either overflowed by the sea and beset by icebergs, 

 bringing down erratic blocks from the Scandinavian ice- 

 mass, or, as Ciesar and Tacitus subsequently found it, 

 covered with thick forests and extensive marshes. Both 

 these view-s are correct — the one for what is usually called 

 the Diluvial epoch — the other for the period immediately 

 preceding historic times. Yet we may be allowed to ask 

 what was the state of things in the intervening period ? 

 that is, after the sea had left the plains, and before the 

 wood from the neighbouring heights had grown over it. 

 It is probable that the former sea-bottom, which made its 

 appearance as a sandy plain saturated with salt, in many 

 parts of North Germany became a steppe. The same 

 thing has happened in other parts of the world. 



A steppe need not necessarily be quite flat. Within 

 the range of the extensive plains of the present steppes 

 and prairies there are not unfrequently hills and undu- 

 lating or elevated surfaces, and rocks breaking the uni- 



form level. The absence of wood is characteristic ; the 

 sandy surface is covered with grasses, dwarf herljs, and 

 stunted bushes, which increase rapidly after the rainy 

 season, but fade away altogether in the dry season, and 

 present the appearance which we generally associate with 

 the word " steppe." The soil lis not altogether unfruitful, 

 for the sandy loam is much appreciated by many kinds 

 of plants. It is only where the former sea-bottom con- 

 sists of pure sand that herbage is altogether deficient. 

 We designate as deserts such tracts of land — especially 

 when they occur in hot countries. The soil of the 

 " steppe " proper is often very fruitful, but its defect is 

 that it has no regular supply of water, being only here 

 and there varied by streams, marshes, and lakes, the latter 

 generally salt. In the neighbourhood of such water a 

 continuous vegetation may be developed, but the greater 

 part of the steppe is covered with herbage for only a few 

 months after the rains, and this disappears as quickly as 

 it grows. Heat and cold, drought and flood, luxuriance 

 and want succeed one another very rapidly. 



The fauna of the steppe is, in its most obvious features, 

 quite peculiar. Such of its animals as live on the ground 

 and cannot escape the bad season of the year by emi- 

 gration, become so accommodated to the climate and soil 

 that they are never met with in other places — that 

 is in woody or inarshy districts. Among these the 

 steppe-rodents (such as Jerboa?, Sousliks, and Voles) 

 are most remarkable. They find sufficient sustenance 

 in the twigs, leaves, and berries of the steppe-plants. 

 The dry sandy soil is well adapted for their underground 

 dwellings, which protect them from the severe winter and 

 from the attacks of the beast of prey. Let us take, for 

 example, the steppes which lie between the Lower Volga 

 and the Upper Ob. The characteristic animals of this 

 district are (l) the large Jerboa {Aladaga jaciiliis) ; (2) 

 several species of Souslik {Spcrtnophilus altaiciis, &c.) ; 

 (3) the Steppe-marmot {Arcleinys bobac) ; (4) the little 

 Piping-hare {Las;oinys pMsilliis) ; (5) the Wild Ass {Eqiiiis 

 onager) ; (6) the Saiga Antelope {Saiga tartarica). The 

 remaining mammals met with, whether as residents or as 

 temporary visitors, belong either to the fauna of Central 

 Europe or to that of Northern Siberia. 



Now this is exactly the same series of mammals which 

 Dr. Nehring's continued researches in the stone quarries 

 of Westeregeln (in the Circle of Manzleben) have brought 

 to light. As regards the number of individuals the 

 steppe-mammals show an undoubted predominance. The 

 most numerous are the Jerboas and the Sousliks, which 

 must formerly have inhabited the neighbourhood of Wes- 

 teregeln in large numbers. Nearly quite as numerous 

 must have been the wild asses, of which the teeth and 

 bones occur in large masses. There are also many 

 remains of Voles, mostly of such species as at the pre- 

 sent time are only found in Eastern Europe and Western 

 Asia. Of the marmot and piping-hare Dr. Nehring has at 

 present only single examples, but expects to find more as 

 his excavations continue. 



Of the characteristic steppe-mammals mentioned above 

 the Saiga is the only one not yet found at Westeregeln. 

 But it is to be expected that it will yet be discovered 

 there, because the whole facies of the extinct fauna indi- 

 cates its former presence, and the Saiga has already been 

 found fossil in several places further to the west. Perhaps 

 also a specimen of a supposed large sheep {Uiii<,), which 

 was obtained some years ago near Westeregeln, may 

 really have belonged to the Saiga. 



On the whole, if we put the Saiga aside, the Diluvial 

 fauna of Westeregeln seems manifestly to have been a 

 steppe-fauna, and brings us to the conclusion that the 

 district in which these animals dwelt must have been a 

 steppe of similar character to that which now extends 

 between the \olga and the Ob, and perhaps have been 

 even in direct connection with it. That the animals, the 

 remains of which are found in the Diluvium of Weste- 



