422 
stayed in South Georgia from April 22 to June 15, and during 
this time a detailed survey was made of Cumberland Bay, 
one of the largest bays in South Georgia. Investigations into 
the natural history of Cumberland Bay were carried on, and 
zoological collections brought home from depths as great as 
2700 metres. Soundings have given depths up to 5997 metres 
north-west from South Georgia. The expedition returned to 
Port Stanley on July 4, and will up to the end of September 
carry on work around the Falkland Islands and in Tierra del 
Fuego. In October, the Av/arcfzc will start for Graham Land, 
in the Antarctic Ocean. 
THE United States National Museum has just issued a printed 
list (24 pages) of the meteorites acquired for the Washington 
collection before January 1, 1902. The list, which is intenaed 
mainly to facilitate exchanges and the increase of the collection, 
is alphabetically arranged, and gives for each of the meteorites 
the weight in grams, the date of fall or find, and a brief de- 
scription of the more salient characters. As many as 348 falis 
are represented, 143 being those of meteoric iron, There are 
three full-page plates, photographic reproductions ; one illus- 
trates the arrangement of the specimens for exhibition, while 
the two others are pictures of the Allegan and Casas Grandes 
meteorites. The list has been prepared by Mr. Wirt Tassin, 
assistant curator in the Division of Mineralogy. 
In vol. xxiv. of the Proceedings of the United States National 
Museum, Mr. G, P. Merrill gives a detailed description of frag- 
ments of a meteorite ploughed up some years ago at Admire, 
Lyon County, Kansas, U.S.A. As the metallic part is much 
rusted, probably a long interval of time elapsed between the fall 
and the find of the material. The meteorite, of which about 44 lb. 
weight is known to have been collected, belongs to the same 
group as the iron brought by Pallas from Siberia (1749), but 
approximates more closely in characters to the meteorite found 
in 1880 at Eagle Station, in Kentucky. It consists of a con- 
tinuous mass of meteoric iron enclosing angular crystals of 
olivine (I to 30 millimetres in diameter), the crystals having 
been in almost every case broken and afterwards cemented to- 
gether by metallic material which had flowed into the fissures. 
Schreibersite, troilite and also small grains of chromite are com- 
paratively abundant as constituents of the metallic portion, 
which forms about one-third of the whole mass. 
ALASKA would seem to offer opportunities to the bryologist 
as well as to the gold-seeker, Although several collections of 
mosses have been made in that country from the year 1867 to 
the present time, Mr. J. Cardot and Mr. I. Thériot have placed 
on record twenty-nine new species as the result of collections 
made by the Harriman expedition in 1899. The descriptions 
of these, together with a general list of all known mosses from 
Alaska, are given in the Proceedings of the Washington Academy 
of Sciences bearing the date July 31 of this year. This does 
not, however, include a collection of more than 200 mosses which 
have been identified and named by Mr. R. S. Williams since 
this paper was written. The new species, which are given on 
the authority of the writers, except most of the Bryum species, 
for which M. Philibert is responsible, are fully diagnosed 
and illustrated. In addition, seventeen new varieties are’ re- 
corded, and Bartramiopsis Lescurzé is described in full with 
figures. 
It is not the happy fate of many botanical gardens to be able 
to put bya surplus of more than 1000/. in one year. Such is the 
announcement which appears in the thirteenth annual report 
of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The director, Dr. Trelease, 
presents his report, and in addition a memoir on the tribe 
Yuccez of the order Liliaceze. The latter is the result of a 
study extending over sixteen years, during which time large 
numbers of varieties have been examined in their native habitats 
NO. 1713, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
[Aucust 28, 1902 
and certain of them have been taken into cultivation. As this 
tribe is preeminently American, and in fact almost confined to 
the United States, and as the writer has taken advantage of 
every available opportunity to examine interesting or critica) 
specimens, the results and opinions here recorded are extremely 
valuable. Very interesting by reason of the ordinary dependence 
of these plants upon the Pronuba moth for pollination is the 
reference to hybrids which have been raised. It will be noticed 
that one of the parents in many cases is Yucca alotfolia, this 
species being unique since it is usually self-pollinated. To the 
two genera Yucca and Hesperalee, which are combined by 
Engler, is added a third genus, Samuela, with two species, 
instituted by Dr. Trelease ; also the genus Yucca of Dr. Engler 
is split into three genera, Hesperoyucca, Clistoyucca and Yucca. 
The memoir is lavishly illustrated with more than one hundred 
figures reproduced from photographs. 
THE Imperial;Engineering Company, of Liverpool, has issued 
a pamphlet descriptive of apparatus for illustrating Prof. Hele 
Shaw’s experiments on stream-line motions, both for use in 
schools and colleges and for original research, 
A BRIEF account of the bibliography of Gilbert’s ‘‘ De Mag- 
nete” is given by Herr G. Hellmann (Berlin) in Terrestrial Mag- 
netism and Atmospheric Electricity, vii. 2. It appears that 
only three editions of this work appeared, namely, Londini 
1600, Sedini 1628, and Sedini 1633. Of the Sedini 1628 edition 
two varieties are known, differing in their title-pages. The 
rarest edition is the Stettin one of 1628, and of the two varieties 
that is rarest which has on its title-page the words ‘‘ Sumpiibus 
| Azchoris}.’ 
A NEW journal has been started in Glenville, U.S.A., bearing 
the title Zhe Aeronautical World, and dealing with matters 
relating to aérial navigation of all kinds. It contains a large 
number of notes on events of current interest in this connection, 
lists of patents, and other information of this class. We should 
like to see rather more attention given to the difficulties which 
have still to be surmounted in connection with the problem of 
flight, leaving writers like Mr. H. G. Wells to indulge in ‘‘an- 
ticipations’’ of a speculative character as to the future of aériab 
navigation when these difficulties have been overcome. Still, 
such speculations have a certain attraction for those who cannot 
appreciate anything but accomplished results. 
THE Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy of Sciences (July 21) 
contains a report on a paper by M. Torres dealing with a pro- 
ject for a navigable balloon with an interior keel. The idea 
contained in this project is very similar in general principle to 
that underlying M. Severo’s ill-fated machine, namely, to bring 
all the forces acting on the balloon into the same horizontal line, 
with a view of minimising pitching. Accordingly M. Torres 
proposes a balloon with several compartments, containing a 
central beam suspended in its interior, and forming, -with its 
attachments, a rigid internal keel. The propeller will then be 
attached at the end of this beam, and the car, which is to be 
reduced to the smallest possible dimensions, will be close up to 
the balloon. The fatal Pax disaster, however, raises doubts in 
regard to the last feature. 
AN astronomical model called the ‘‘ Rotaplane,” devised by 
the Rev. C, Thomas and provisionally patented by him, has 
been submitted to us for examination. The model is intended 
to show the apparent diurnal motion of the horizon of any latitude 
with reference to the ecliptic at any time of the year. The 
direction-of the polar axis is represented by an upright rod, to. 
which the horizon can be inclined at an angle equal to the 
latitude of the desired place of observation. A semi-meridian is. 
fixed to the horizon, and outside the whole is a flat ring to repre- 
sent the plane of the ecliptic, By turning the polar axis, after 
