lo 
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NATURE 
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[Fuly 8, 1886 
Occultation of Star by the Moon (visible at Greenwich) 
Corresponding 
angles from ver- 
July Star Mag. Disap. Reap: texita right for 
inverted image 
h. m. h. m. ° ° 
Wee DAG. FOO) meenlO 3.44 -.. 4-55) ce kgoeg23 
Variable Stars 
Star R.A Decl 
h om. Oc h. m. 
U Cephei 0 52°2... 81 16-N. ... July 13y23) 52° 7 
U Libre 14 34°0 7 10S. alse M 
8 Libra 14 54°9 8 4S. 75) Le eN4 7 
WiGorone: .2. 2. M5/-0376)---432) AN: », 15, 0 40 m 
U Ophiuchi... ... 17 10°8 T (208N. 23. fe eae O) 772 
and at intervals of 20 8 
X Sagittarii.... <.. 17 40°4.....27 A70S. .... July) UyameeenO 7 
W Sagittarii see D7 578 w2e29 35S oes | 53) EOMMOMMO UZ 
U Sagittarii... TS 2552) -0) 19) 02'S: 338 RXOsmEezmO 772 
R Lyrze 18 51°9 ... 43 48 N. Pp ssh M 
T Sagittarii ... 19) 5077) 2 17 Tors: es, MW 
R Sagittarii... 19) IO?O) .. 1O/ZO1S. « 2-2 Nyy meee M 
8 Cephei 22\:24::0) 2. 57 SON <-> 9) ELSE IT 
M signifies maximum } #2 minimum. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
THE report published by Lieut. von Nimptsch, of the German 
army, gives some very interesting details of the journey he made 
with Herr Wolff, a traveller in the service of the Congo Free 
State, and which has resulted in the discovery of a river likely 
to be of material value to traders with the Congo. he Congo, 
in its course from the south-east, makes a very wide bend to the 
north, and then descends again to the Atlantic, a very large 
tract of country being embraced in this curve. Within this is 
the River Kassai, which Lieut. von Nimptsch regards as being 
“* of even greater importance to commerce than the Congoitself.” 
Describing their journey he says that, as far as Luebu, the 
Kassai flows through wide plains, well adapted for cultivation and 
pasturage, and forests of palms and gutta-percha trees. There 
are many villages on the banks, and the travellers met with 
great civility in all of them save one, the inhabitants of which 
fled at their approach. ‘‘ One tribe,” adds Lieut. von Nimptsch, 
“was remarkable for its joviality. The natives accompanied 
the steamer in their canoes, and when we could, organised 
dances and songs in our honour.” ‘There is a great deal of 
ivory all along the Kassai, and large pieces of the finest quality 
were readily given in exchange for empty boxes and tins. They 
discovered several afiluents of the Kassai, and they calculated that 
they were navigable fora distance of 250 miles. ‘‘ But the most 
important affluent,” the report goes on to say, ‘‘is that which 
Herr Wolff explored in the steamer Vorwarts during the months of 
February and March. He ascended this stream to a distance of 
430 leagues from its mouth, and one of its northern affluents 
brought him to within a week’s march of Nyangwe. He 
might have gone still further had his steamer not met with an 
accident, for there are no cataracts in this river. All this net- 
work of navigable water, extending over more than 3000 miles, 
is most admirable, and in future it will be possible to travel 
eastward from the Atlantic, reaching Nyangweé and then Lake 
Tangyuteka by leaving the Congo at the mouth of the Kassai, 
without being obliged to ascend the whole of the former stream, 
thus avoiding the Stanley Falls.” 
A TELEGRAM from Zanzibar, of the 3oth ult., states that Dr. 
Fischer had returned there. He has not succeeded in rescuing 
Herr Junker, the African traveller, who, when last heard of, 
was in the region north of Uganda. 
A VERY interesting discussion which took place at the St. 
Petersburg Society of Naturalists after the reading of a paper by 
Prof. Beketoff on the South Russian steppes as compared with 
those of Hungary and Spain is now summed up in the JZemoirs 
of the Society (vol. xxv. 2). The Russian steppes between the 
Pruth and Don, although belonging to the great ‘steppe 
region” of Grisebach, differ, however, from the remainder of 
the region inasmuch as they support agriculture without irriga- 
tion. They are akin, in this relation, to the Hungarian puchéas. 
Being comparatively well watered, they belong more to Europe 
than to Asia, while those beyond the Don and the Volga bear a 
truly Asiatic character. As to the disier/os of Spain, they are 
more akin to the deserts of Africa than to the steppes of either 
Central Asia or Europe; they have, however, some likeness to 
those of Transcaucasia, As to the causes of the want of forests 
in the Russian steppes, Prof. Beketoff explained it by the cir- 
cumstance that, being covered with salt-clays, after the emergence 
from the sea, they were, first, inappropriate to the growth of 
forests. As the surface, however, lost by and by its salt and 
became covered with grasses, masses of ruminants were attracted — 
into the region, and these ruminants prevented the appearance 
of trees, destroying them as soon as they appeared ; the climate 
being most unfavourable for the spreading of forests, the rumin- 
ants were also an important factor in the prevention of their 
appearance. The American buffaloes are an instance of 
the same influence. Dr. Woeikof fully confirmed the view 
taken by Prof. Beketoff, but pointed out that the burning 
of the steppes by man played also a most important part in 
the prevention of the appearance of forests. In America he 
was told of several instances where the trees began to grow as 
soon as the burning of prairies was stopped. Cattle are surely 
a great enemy of appearing forests. The very dry season of 
1857 partly destroyed the cattle in Texas, and partly compelled 
to send it away to the mountains, and immediately the AZesgucla 
began to spread in the prairies. It had time to take root before 
the cattle were brought back, and now it grows freely. The 
same has been seen on the //amos of Venezuela. The continuous 
wars and requisitions have led to a notable diminution of cattle, 
and now we do not find the boundless steppes of former 
times ; there are at least bosquets of trees. Mr. Jonas sup- 
poses that this change has even slightly modified the climate. 
Prof. Sovyetoff supported the same views, pointing out that 
cattle are an enemy not only of forests, but also of the grass 
covering of the steppes. He mentioned an instance of a large 
estate of 800,000 acres of virgin steppes in Taurida, where nearly 
half a million of sheep are grazing, The grass vegetation on 
these steppes has become strikingly poor, so that the cattle- 
owners calculate that for each sheep they must have 4°6 acres of 
grazing-land, 21°6 acres for each head of horned cattle, and 27 
to 32 acres for each horse. The black-earth soil, when continu- 
ally trampled on by the sheep, hardens as well as a clay soi 
would harden; the soil is thus no more aérated, and becomes 
unable to support a rich grass vegetation. A 
THE New York Tunes announces that Lieut. Schwatka, the 
Arctic explorer, has accepted a commission from that paper to 
explore the southern coast of Alaska and to attempt an ascent 
of Mount St. Elias, the highest peak on the North American con- 
tinent. Mr. William Libbey, Professor of Geography at Prince- 
ton College, has undertaken the charge of the scientific portion 
of the expedition, which left Port Townsend on the 14th inst. 
THE three papers contained in the current number of the 
Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society are of exceptional 
value and interest. Mr. James W. Wells describes the physical 
geography of Brazil in its broad features. He shows that the 
idea fostered by most maps that Brazil is a very mountainous 
country is wholly erroneous, and that it is mainly a vast plateau, 
excavated into numerous valleys by denudations, with relatively 
few purely mountain chains. 
panying the paper, the four main physical features of the country” 
are (1) the vast, low-lying, flat plains of the Amazons, and the 
flat, grassy plains of the Paraguay ; (2) the elevated highlands 
that extend over the greater part of the empire; (3) the higher ‘ 
lands constituting the watersheds of the principal rivers ; and 
(4) the groups of mountain ranges consisting of primitive rocks 
of purely upheaved strata. Mr. Wells then takes the three 
great hydrographic sections of Brazil, and treats of each in turn. 
Mr. Hosie describes one of the many journeys which he made 
through South-Western China while residing as agent at Chung- 
king, the particular journey selected being one which carried 
him over new ground. A map which is appended shows the 
vast area covered by Mr. Hosie in his various journeys through- 
out Sze-chuan, Yunnan, and Kweichow provinces, and the very 
interesting observations on trade, present and prospective, in 
these regions show that his commercial duties have not been 
forgotten in the ardour of exploration. Mr. Bourne writes a 
paper on Diego Garcia, the principal of the Chagos Islands, 
which have recently received much attention on account of their 
position near the Red Sea route to Australia. The writer 
visited this remote spot to study the fauna and flora, and to make 
a collection of the corals of this part of the Indian Ocean. 
As shown by the map accom- — 
—— eT CO 
