March 24, 1887] 



NATURE 



497 



Minor I'lanei 

 name of ValJa. 



Xu. 262. — This object has received tlie 



Harvard College Observatory. — The late Uriah A. 

 Boyden having left proprety to the value of 230,000 dollars in 

 trust for the purpose of astronomical research, the Trustees of 

 the fund have transferred the property to the President and 

 Fellows of Harvard College, in order that the researches pro- 

 posed by Mr. Boyden may be directed at the Harvard College 

 Observatory. These researches will be supported by a portion 

 of the means of the Observatory, in addition to the trust 

 fund itself. By the terms of the will the money is to be 

 devoted to observations "at such an elevation as to be free, so 

 far as practicable, from the impediments to accurate observa- 

 tions which occur in the observatories now existing, owing to 

 atmospheric influences." 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK 1887 MARCH zy— APRIL 2 



/ t^OK the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 



^ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on March 27 

 Sun rists, 5h. 49m. ; souths, I2h. 5m. 30'is. ; sets, i8h. 22m. ; 

 decl. on meridian, 2° 35' N. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 6h. 41m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter on April i) rises, yh. 19m. ; souths, 

 I4h. 12m. ; sets, 2lh. l6m. ; decl. on meridian, 9° 44' N. 



Saturn in conjunction with and 3° 23' north 

 of the Moon. 



M signifies maximum ; 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



In a recently-issued Colonial Office Report on the Gambia 

 will be found some useful data on the climate of that colony 

 which completely upset the results of previous observations and 

 greatly reduce the temperatures hitherto accepted. The mean 

 temperature, according to these latest observations, varies from 

 6S°'S in January to 80' in July at 7 a.m., and from 73°'7 '" 

 January to 82°"5 in July at noon. The same Report contains 

 some interesting statements relating to the ethnology of the 

 colony. 



The principal paper in the just-issued Bulletin (only No. 4 of 

 1885) of the American Geographical Society is on the historical 

 and geographical features of the Rocky Mountain Railways, by 

 Mr. James Douglass. There is also a translation of Baron 

 Nordenskjold's reply to criticisms on the " Voyage of the 

 Vega." The criticisms relate to points of minor importance. 



The new number of the " .Antananarivo Annual and Mada- 

 gascar Magazine " (Christmas, 1886), consists, besides a reprint 

 of Mr. A. R. Wallace's chapter on the fauna of Madagascar, 

 mainly of papers on linguistic topics and on Malagasy folk-lore. 

 M. Grandidier's paper on the channels and lagoons of the east 

 coast of the island is translated with some interesting remarks 

 by Mr. Sibree appended. Mr. Sibree points out that it would 

 only require about thirty miles of canals to connect all these 

 lagoons and so create a safe and extensive internal waterway 

 of the greatest commercial value. The Rev. \V. Montgomery 

 contributes a paper on the Malagasy game of " Fanerana," in 

 many respects resembling chess. 



In the new number (Heft i. Band 10.) of the Deutsche 

 Geographische Blatter, we find a useful and careful, if rather too 

 favourable, study of the trade-routes of Mexico, old and new, 

 and their commercial importance, by Herr A. Scobel. From a 

 scientific point of view the most valuable paper is that of Dr. 

 Otto Finsch on his visit three years ago to the atoll of Diego 

 Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago, about half-way between the 

 Seychelles and Ceylon. Dr. Finsch was only a few hours on the 

 islands, but his notes on the people (mostly of the Xegro type 

 from the Mauritius) and the richness of the bird life are interest- 

 ing. An open space in the little east island was covered with 

 "millions" of birds, whose combined cry was deafening. 

 Eggs, also in "millions," lay about everywhere, unprotected by 

 any nest. The commonest among these birds was the sooty 

 tern (Sterna fuliginosa). Xext to the Laccadives, the Chagos 

 Islands seem to be the favourite breeding-place of this bird 

 in the Indian Ocean. The variety in the colouring of the 

 eggs was unprecedented in Dr. Finsch's experience, especially 

 considering the fact that they all belonged to birds of the one 

 species named above. The only other species noticed in the 

 island by Dr. Finsch was the noddy [Aiious stoliJus). The 

 birds arrive in the islands in the month of June, and stay till 

 the young are fledged ; by Xovember they have all taken their 

 departure. As on most coral islands, the animal world generally 

 is very poor. 



The same number contains an account of Fontana's exploration 

 of Eastern Patagonia in 18S5, and also a short biography of Emin 

 Pasha. From the latter we learn that Edward Schnitzer was bom 

 at Oppeln, in Silesia, in 1840 ; received his early education at 

 Xeisse, in Upper Silesia, and studied medicine at Breslau, 

 Berlin, and Kbnigsberg. From his earliest years he had a 

 special taste for natural history, and especi.ally ornithology, and 

 in the latter department he has all along been a diligent col- 

 lector. In 1864 we find Schnitzer at Antivari, in Albania, as a 

 surgeon in the Turkish service. In 1870 he accompanied 

 Ismail Pasha to Syria and Arabia, and afterwards to Trebizond, 

 Erzeroum, and Epirus. At Ismail's death in 1874, Schnitzer 

 came to Constantinople, and in 1875 ^'^^^^ a short visit to his 

 German home. Entering the Egyptian service, he, in 1876, 

 followed Gordon Pasha from Cairo into the Soudan, where, 

 under the title of Emin Efiendi, he was appointed chief surgeon, 

 and in 1878 Governor-General of the Equatorial Province, with 

 the title of Bey. His work as administrator, scientific explorer, 

 and collector, since then is well known. To Bremen and 

 \'ienna he has sent some 2000 bird-skins, carefully labelled 

 with all necessary information, and including some twenty-five 

 new species. 



Since the time of Herodotus travellers in Africa have brought 

 home reports of pygmy tribes scattered about in various regions 

 of -Africa. Readers of Schweinfurth will remember the Akkas 



