18 
Thian-Shan Mountains to the vicinity of Kashgar. This territory 
became part of the Russian dominions by the treaty of Pekin in 
1860, by which the frontier line was fixed as extending from the 
east of Lake Issyk-Kul, along the southern spur of the Celestial 
Mountains, to the Khokand country ; but the terrritory had 
never yet been visited by a European. Starting from Fort 
Vernoé, north of Lake Issyk-Kul, the party turned the western 
end of the lake, and then marched nearly due south. The 
country was very mountainous and picturesque, five distinct 
lines of elevation belonging to the Thian-Shan system being 
crossed in succession, some of them by passes upwards of 
12,000 feet in height. The intervening valleys are traversed 
by streams, forming the head-waters of the Jaxartes, the 
largest of which is the Narym ; and on the elevated ridges lie 
two beautiful alpine lakes, the Sou-Kul and the Chatir-Kul. 
Game is very abundant along the banks of the rivers, and the 
country is but thinly peopled by tribes of Kirghizes. The 
Russians did not gain possession of the new territory without 
a severe struggle with the forces of the neighbouring indepen- 
dent state of Khokand, who, in October 1860, marched an 
army of 40,co> men against the small Russian force, but were 
defeated. Baron Osten Sacken paid great attention to the 
botany of the country passed through, and noted the various 
zones of vegetation, from the wooded lower slopes of the 
Thian-Shan to the treeless plains below the snow-line. The 
alpine flora he described as extremely rich and beautiful in 
colour and form—amongst the plants he mentioned Anemone 
narcissifiora, Ranunculi, Geraniums, Potentillas, Gentians, and 
other genera—showing a great resemblance between the pro- 
ductions of the Thian-Shan and the Himalaya, The expedition 
reached to within two marches of Kashgar, and then returned 
to Fort Vernoé. 
A second paper, on “ Recent Russian Explorations in 
Turkistan,” was read by Mr. Delmar Morgan. In the discussion 
which followed, M. Bartholomei, of the Russian Legation, spoke 
of the friendly rivalry which now prevailed between Russians 
and English in the exploration of Central Asia. Sir Henry 
Rawlinson enumerated three new expeditions to different parts 
of Turkistan, in which the Russians were now engaged, and the 
scientific results of which were freely communicated ; and he 
congratulated the President, Sir Roderick Murchison, on the 
actual realisation of his anticipations of former years, when 
Russia and England would be friendly rivals in completing our 
acquaintance with the geography of the respective boundaries 
of each in their Eastern possessions. 
Ethnological Society, April 26.—Prof. Huxley, F.R.S., 
in the chair.—Dr. Donovan read a paper on ‘* The importance 
to the Ethnologist of a careful study of the Characters of the 
Brain.” —Mr. E. B. Tylor then read a communication ‘*On the 
Philosophy of Religion among the Lower Races of Mankind.” 
Generalising from the lower religions of the world, the author 
stated the principle on which, in his view, was developed the 
philosophy of what may be called Natural Religion. Taking 
the doctrine of spiritual beings as the minimum definition of 
religion, he described it as azimism, a term which fits with the 
theory put forward, that the conception of the soul as recog- 
nised by the lower races, is the starting-point of their religious 
philosophy. Sucha soul, combining the ideas of ghost and 
vital principle, explains the phenomena of life, disease, dreams, 
visions, &c. This idea is extended to animals and inanimate 
objects, which are considered to have souls capable of appearing 
after death or destruction. On the analogy of the body and 
soul, the actions of nature are explained on the animistic theory 
as worked or controlled by soul-like spiritual beings. Of these 
beings an immense number are held to be actually human souls 
ormanes. To such beings are ascribed the phenomena of 
disease, especially epilepsy and mania. Similar in nature, 
though different in function, are the spirits of trees, springs, &c. 
Hence the savage polytheist rises to expanded conceptions of 
greater deities, as Sun and Moon, At an early period he 
separates the cause of good from that ofevil, and hence Dualism 
is rooted deeply in the religion of the lower races. The cul- 
minating conception of a Supreme Deity is well known to many 
of the lower races.—The President, Mr. Pusey, Mr. Howorth, 
and Dr. Hyde Clarke, joined in the discussion on this paper. 
N.B.—It should have been stated in the report of the last 
meeting, that the paper ‘On the Danish Element in the Popu- 
lation of Cleveland” was written by the Rev. J. C, Atkinson, 
of Danby. 
NATURE 
| May 5, 1870 
PARIS 
Academy of Sciences, April 25.—M. Chasles presented a 
note by M. H. Durrande, on surfaces of the fourth order, 
and a communication from Mr. Spottiswoode concerning a 
theorem brought before the Academy on the 21st of March last, 
and of which he now gives the following enunciation :—‘‘ Every 
point of a surface is sextactic in ten of the sections made by the 
planes of a bundle of which the axis passes through the point.” 
—M. de Saint Venant presented a memoir on the pressure of 
soils, containing a comparison of his estimates from the rational 
consideration of the limit of equilibrium, and by the employ- 
ment of the so-called principle of least resistance of Moseley. 
—Several papers on subjects connected with physics were read. 
M. Becquerel communicated some experimental researches by 
MM. Lucas and Cazin, upon the duration of the electric spark. 
M. Jamin presented a note by M. A. Tréve, on electric cur- 
rents, containing some curious and interesting experiments on _ 
the action of currents in opposite directions, and when crossed 
in vacuum-tubes. A note by M. Rénou, on the latent heat 
of ice, deduced from the experiments of Laplace and Lavoisier, 
was communicated by M. C. Sainte-Claire Deville. The author 
referred toa note by M. Jamin, in which the correctness of the 
experiments made by Laplace and Lavoisier was maintained, and- 
stated that the accordance of results obtained by M. Jamin 
could only be fortuitous, as the thermometers employed by the 
old experimenters were inaccurate.—M. H. Sainte-Claire Deville” 
presented a note on the formation of liquid drops, by M.— 
Duclaux. The author described experiments with distilled 
water, and with alcohols of different strengths, and stated that — 
in the formation of drops phenomena of cohesion have but little 
action. Drops of water are formed much more rapidly in vapour — 
of alcohol than in the air, and yet the amount of alcohol dis-— 
solved is very small, and hence the author concluded that the 
effect is produced only upon a very thin superficial layer of the © 
drop, the tension of which constitutes the resisting power deter-— 
mining the size ofthe drop. He extended these considerations to 
the formation of emulsions, and to various liquids in the organ- | 
ism.—A paper on the fixed characteristic notes of the different 
vowels, by M. R. Kceenig, was presented by M. Regnault. The — 
author discussed the results obtained by MM. Helmholtz and 
Donders, and gave the following as that of his own investigations 
into the musical notes of the vowels. 
OU oO A E I 
(sib)2  (sib)3.—s(sib)4a.~—(siD)5—(si)6 
giving in round numbers of simple vibrations : 450, 900, 1,800, — 
3,600, 7,200.—Numerous papers relating to astronomical subjects “ 
were communicated, and M, Delaunay read a note on the dis- 
covery of a new telescopic planet at the Observatory of Marseilles — 
on the 19th April. This is the 110th asteroid of the group be- 
tween Mars and Jupiter, and M. Delaunay proposes for it the — 
name of Zydia. Its position on the 19th April, at ro" 33™ 135, 
mean time at Marseilles, was as follows :— 
121 2™ 30°, 22. 
+6° 50’, 38”. 8 
in right ascension — IS 77 
in declination + 2”, 20 
Magnitude 12 — 13. 
M. Faye presented three memoirs, namely: a report on the 
operations of M. Respighi in spectral observation of the solar 
protuberances ; a note on the recent experiments of M. Willner 
on the spectra of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, with 
reference to those of the solar protuberances; and a note 
on the processes of photographic observation proposed by 
M. Paschen for the coming transit of Venus.—A letter from 
Father Secchi on the results of some spectral observations of the 
sun was also read.—M. Delaunay presented, on the part of M. 
Flammarion, a reply to the objections raised by M. G. Quesneville 
to his law of the rotatory movement of the planets——M. Chapelas 
presented a note ona luminous meteor of great brilliancy ob- 
served at Paris on the night of the r9th of April. This meteor 
passed from near ¢ Herculis to the neighbourhood of 5 « ¢ Cephei, 
describing a trajectory from S. to N. of 48°. Its colour was 
green, and it had a long train. Its disappearance was preceded 
by three noiseless explosions, accompanied by flashes which 
illuminated the hills round Paris. Its apparent size was 6 or 7 
times that of Jupiter.—The subject of arctic explorations was 
treated by M. C. Grad, who suggested as an untried route for 
attempting to reach the North Pole, the passage through 
the Sea of Kara and the Siberian Ocean.—The chemical papers 
were the following: Researches upon new platinic derivatives 
— 
Horary movements 
