July 12, 1877] 



NA TURE 



217 



C. E. Judg has the first part of an important contribution on 

 the Geographical Outlines of South Australia. 



The Giogiaphkal Magazine lot July contains a masterly 

 paper, with an elaborate and carefully-constructed map by Mr. 

 Trelawny Saunders on the Himalayan system. Both article and 

 map are evidently the result of thorough study and extensive 

 knowledge. 



From a Report of the Board of Commissioners of the New 

 York State Survey, which is under the charge of Mr. J. T. 

 Gardner, formerly of the United States Geological Survey, we 

 learn that, although the Survey was decided on only in 1S76, 

 much has already been done in the way of commencement, and 

 that it is likely to be carried out with a thoroughness quite equal 

 to any of the trigonometrical surve)s of Europe. 



Mr. Landsborough, the well-known Australian explorer, 

 recently read a paper at Oxlty, Queenslane^, in which he 

 adduces a variety of interesting facts to prove that dense forests 

 are on the increase in Australia, that the climate is becomirg 

 moister, and therefore improving, that the country is gradually 

 ceasing to he favourable to sheep-rearing, and becoming agricul- 

 tural, and seems to hint that in course of time the great central 

 desert may yet " blossom as the rose." Formerly wlien there 

 were no sheep to keep down the grass, fires were frequent and 

 terribly destructive to trees and all vegetation, but since the 

 stocking of lire country there is less grass for the fires to consume, 

 and their ravages are consequently becoming limited in extent. 

 Queensland, especially, Mr. Landsborough declares, is now so 

 unfit for sheep-pasturing, that no one thinks of making'a living 

 by them. The observations of this experienced traveller are 

 well worthy of attention, and it will certainly be interesting to 

 watch the changes caused by the presence of civilised men in 

 Australia, as we know exactly its condition at their first advent. 



M. Waddington, the late French Minister of Education, our 

 readers may remember, sent out a number of men to various 

 countries for the purpose of scientific exploration. The follow- 

 ing is a list of these missions : — M. Masqueray in Algeria; .MM. 

 Pinard and de Cessac, Nonh America ; M. la Gaviniere, 

 Celebes; Marignac, Antilles; Armingaud and Malard, Italy; 

 Dr. Harmand, Cochin China; Wiener, Peru and Bolivia; 

 Ralfray and Maindron, New Guinea ; EJ. Blanc, Maritime. 

 Alps ; Kalte, New Caledonia ; Ujfalvy, Central Asia ; Serre, 

 Say, Sahara ; Rochemonteix, Egypt ; du Chatelier, Finistere 

 (France); Abbe Ansault, Italy; Mangeot et Bersct, Japan; 

 Mouchez, Algeria; Guizet, Japan and Chira. 



We have received the Bulletin, for 1876, of the Essex Insti- 

 tute (Salem, U.S.), one of the best of the m.iny local socie'ies 

 of the United .States. A large portion of the Bulletin is occupied 

 . ,'with a valuable paper by Mr. E. W. Kelson, on the birds of 

 ^ North-East Illinois. We may state that this Institute is issuing 

 a series of " Historical Collections," which are likely to be of 

 service to those who are interested in the f olilical histoiy and 

 social progress of the United States. 



The Kansas Collegiate is the title of a small sheet conducted 

 by the students of Kansas State Univertity, and cOJMains various 

 notes and news likely to interest those for whom it is intended. 

 The number for May 23 contains a Scientific Supj^lement devoted 

 to subjects of more or less scientific importance. The longest 

 of these is an address by Prof. F. H. Snow, on " Tlie Relation 

 of Biids to Horticulture," and which contains tome interesting 

 information on the habits of many of the Kansas birds. Ano'.hcr 

 paper, by Prof. G. E. Patrick, gives the results of an examina- 

 tion of a meteorite found at Wacender, Mitchell Co., Kansas. 

 Prof. Snow, we notice, has formed a fine and constant!)- 

 increasing collection of the birds of Kansas. 



The Commission Siiperieure, or governing body of the French 

 International Exhibition of 187S, has been completed by the 

 appointment of some influential members, among whom are the 

 Due d'Audifret-Pasquier, president of the French Senate, M. 

 Andral, the vice-president of the Council of State, M. Alphaud, 

 the chief engineer of the Paris works. Amo ngst the ordinary 

 members are M. Brunet, Minister of Public Instruction, M. St. 

 Claire- Dtville, member of the Institute, and M. Rothschild 

 the banker. M. Krantz has given a detailed report on the 

 state of the works, which are much in advance of the 

 specified time. The unexpected success of the exhibition in 

 foreign countries and especially in Great Britain and the British 

 Colonies will fill up the vacuum created by the abstention of 

 Germany. Many nations have asked for an enlargement of the 

 space allotted which it has been impossible to grant. The 

 public will be admitted by tickets and not by turnstiles. The 

 coffee-houses, balls, concerts, theatres, so numerous in the 1867 

 exhibition, have been abolished, but great experiments for testing 

 the apparatus exhibited, and promoting human knowledge 

 will be tried. China will be represented by an official com- 

 missitn, and Siam will make a magnificent display. Liberia, 

 the negro republic on the Gold Coast, will exhibit for the first 

 time in France. 



That science in certain cf its applications does pay is evident 

 from the fact that a M. Delille, a " professor " of legerdemain, 

 who has practised at fairs in France, and who has died at the age 

 of eighty-eight, gained by his trade a fortune valued at several 

 millions of franc.''. He began to practice at the eaily age cf six- 

 teen, and was seen operating at the last fair of St. Germain. He 

 dealt largely with electricity. Here is another argument agains 

 the Endowment of Research very similar to one which has been 

 urged before. 



From the prospectus of St. Thomas's Hospital Medical 

 School, we notice that two scholarships of the value of 60/. and 

 40/. respectively will be awarded during the first week in 

 October, after an examination in physics, chemistry, botany, and 

 zoology. 



The King of the Belgians, wl.o has been appoin'.ed a second 

 time president of the International Association for Exploring 

 and Civilising Central Africa, has declared that next year he 

 will declii.e to continue ihe office. 'Ihe Society is possessed 

 of an ani.ual revenue cf 73,000 francs, principally from 

 subscriptions obtained in Belgium, wheie tie scheae is very 

 popular. It has been decided by the executive committee that 

 a static n should be founded in the Trans-Tanganyika region. 

 The head of the station and the explorer have been appointed. 

 A depot will be formed at Zanzibar, and three others in inter- 

 mediate countries ; one is to be placed under a Catholic mission, 

 and two under two PtotestantP, who have volunteered to help 

 the Association. The works aie to be btgun without further 

 delay. 



A COMI'ANY is now being formed, we learn from the 

 Engineer, toconstiuct a pneumatic railway between the South 

 Kensington Station of the District Railnay and the Albert Hall. 

 The line will rise the whole way to the Albert Hall, the ruling 

 giadient being i in 48. The train wUl be blown through the 

 tube by an ejector, in other word?, a great centrifugal pump, 

 two feet in diameter, fixed close to the District station, and 

 worked by a pair of condensing ergines exerting about 170 

 indicated horse-power. The tunnel will be uf brick, and the 

 floor will be paved. Its cross-sectional area will be 105 5 square 

 feet ; at the end of the train is fixed a screen cr piston, with an 

 area of 104 square feet, the difference being allowed for windage. 

 The train will consist of six carriages, of very light build, the 

 rail gauge being four feet. This train will hold 200 passengers, 

 and the total load will be thirty-two tons, or ten tons less than 



