April 2^, 1887] 



NA TURE 



615 



Near u Herculis 

 ■n Ophiuchi 

 f Draconis 

 a Aquilae ... 



Meteor- Showers 

 R.A. 



... 236 

 ... 254 

 ... 262 



47 N. 

 21 S. 

 64 N. 



5N. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



We are glad to know that General R. Strachey, R.E., F. R.S., 

 has agreed to accept tlie presidency of the Royal Geographical 

 Society, in succession to Lord Aberdare. The Society's honours 

 for the present year will be conferred as follows : — The Founder's 

 Medal to Lieut. -Colonel T. H. Holdich, R.E., for the eminent 

 services he has rendered to geography in Afghanistan ; the 

 Patron's Medal to the Rev. George Grenfell, for the extensive 

 explorations he has carried out during his thirteen years' resid- 

 ence in Africa, partly in the Cameroons country and more recently 

 in the Congo region ; the Murchison Grant to Mr. George 

 Bourne, second in command and sole survivor of the Lands- 

 borough Expedition, which crossed the continent of Australia 

 in 1S61 ; the Back Premium to Sarat Chandra Das, for his 

 researches in Tibet ; the Gill Memorial to Mr. J. F. Needham, 

 for his explorations in the Lohit Valley of the Brahmaputra. 

 The following have been made Honorary Corresponding Mem- 

 bers : — H.R.H. Krom Mun Damrong Rajah Nubharp, Director- 

 General of Surveys and Minister of Public Instruction, Siam ; 

 Dr. Alfred Kirchhoff, Professor of Geography at Halle Univer- 

 sity, and President of the Halle Geographical Society ; and 

 Dr. E. Naumann, late Director of the Geographical and 

 Topographical Survey of Japan. 



The paper read at the Royal Geographical Society on Monday 

 was by General J. T. Walker, F. R. S., on the Lu River of Tibet, 

 the Lu-Kiang, or Lu-tse-Kiang of the Chinese. This river is 

 generally held to be the source of the Salwin, but General 

 Walker adduced many reasons for maintaining that it is more 

 probably that of the Irrawadi. In the course of an able paper, 

 the result of much research. General Walker gave a most useful 

 summary of exploration in this highly interesting hydrographical 

 region ; more particularly insisting on the value of the work of 

 the late Abbe Krick, who ascended the Lohit in 1852, but of 

 whom little is known in this country. General Walker made 

 out a strong case for his position, but the leading conclusion of 

 his valuable paper is that further exploration in this remarkable 

 region is urgently demanded. Probably no region of the earth 

 would yield more valuable results to scientific geography. 



According to the latest news, Mr. Stanley is well up to 

 time in his ascent of the Congo with the Emin Pasha Expedition. 

 He is at present on his march across country from Matadi, at 

 the lower end of the Livingstone Falls, to Leopoldville, on 

 Stanley Pool. It is hoped that when he reaches the Pool he 

 will find sufficient vessels in readiness to convey his large follow- 

 ing up the river without delay. So far the Expedition has been 

 exceedingly fortunate. 



The statement that Baron Nordenskjold will undertake .an 

 Antarctic expedition at the expense of the King of Sweden and 

 Mr. Oscar Dick.son is, to say the least, premature. We are in- 

 formed by Mr. Dickson that Baron Nordenskjold is "willing" 

 to undertake such an expedition, but that if he does so neither 

 the King of Sweden nor Mr. Dickson will find the money. No 

 doubt Baion Nordenskjold would be an excellent leader for such 

 an expedition, and as Committees have been formed both in this 

 country and in Australia to promote Antarctic exploration, 

 would it not be wise in them to unite their forces, and place 

 themselves in communication with the Baron ? Those who are 

 competent to give an opinion on the subject maintain that an 

 Antarctic expedition is much less risky than one to the other 

 Pole. There would be no difficulty in a party wintering on 

 some part of the Antarctic continent ; a vessel could cruise round 

 the verge of the ice during the winter and watch a favourable 

 opening, of which immediate notice could be given to the ex- 

 ploring party, while a third vessel could leave New Zealand at 

 a suitable time with additional supplies. No doubt the subject 

 will again be brought up at the next meeting of the British 

 Association, when it is hoped a strong and active Committee 

 will be appointed. Baron Nordenskjold will be among the 

 distinguished foreigners invited to the meeting, and we hope he 

 will accept the invitation. 



The Germans continue to show great activity in the explora- 

 tion of their portion of New Guinea. Freiherr von Schleinitz 

 has recently accomplished a running survey of Huon Gulf, and 

 besides establishing the direction of the coast-line and the posi- 

 tions of reefs, has laid down eight hitherto unknown harbours and 

 discovered nine new rivers. Some of them, especially the JIarkham 

 River, would form excellent routes for the exploration of the 

 interior ; the broad valley of the latter extends for miles between 

 high ranges of mountains. The south coast of Huon Gulf con- 

 sists exclusively of primitive and metamorphic rocks, with older 

 sedimentary rocks and volcanic formations. At a later date a 

 further survey was made of the coast from Astrolabe Bay to the 

 mouth of the Empress Augusta River, and led to the discovery 

 of a series of bays, harbours, islands, and rivers. 



M. Grimailo, in company with his brother, an engineer, 

 and six Cossacks, has set out for a further exploration of the 

 Pamir. 



Dr. Labonne left Cherbourg a few days ago for a further 

 exploration of the geysers and glaciers of Iceland. 



PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE FOSSIL 

 REMAINS OF A CHELONIAN REPTILE, 

 CERATOCHELYS STHENURUS, FROM LORD 

 HOWE'S ISLAND, AUSTRALIA ■ 



'H^'HE interesting remains of which I propose to give a brief 

 ■*• notice in the present communication are contained in a 

 friable sandstone (apparently formed of concreted blown sand), 

 and they have a very recent appearance. The age of the deposit 

 in which they are found is unknown, but it is probably (Quatern- 

 ary. The specimens have been for some years in the palisonto- 

 logical collection of the British Museum, and, for the most 

 part, they have not yet been submitted to careful examination. 

 But I learn that the greater number of them were long since 

 rightly determined to be Chelonian by Mr. Davis, and set aside 

 as such. 



Several of the most important of these numerous and, ii» 

 general, very fragmentary bones were originally found imbedded 

 close together in the same block of sandstone. They consist of 

 a great part of a pelvis, a caudal vertebra, and an imperfect 

 skull. Of the pelvis, a right ischium and a pubis are imbedded 

 in the rock, while- an imperfect right ilium, which fits well on 

 to the ischium, is separate ; all these bones are unmistakably 

 Chelonian. The caudal vertebra has remarkable peculiarities. 

 It resembles an ordinary Chelonian caudal vertebra from the 

 anterior half of the tail, in its general characters ; but it is 

 strongly opisthocoelous, the centrum having a deep cup behind 

 and a correspondingly curved articular head in front. From the 

 posterior part of the ventral face two stout processes diverge, 

 and present terminal rounded facets for the rami of the large 

 chevron bone which must have articulated with them. As a 

 general rule, the caudal vertebrse of Chelonia are procoelous — but 

 Chelydra and Gypochelys (perhaps also Slaiirotypus and Platyster- 

 «;/w)formweIl-known exceptions,- in so far as the vertebrae beh in 

 the third and fourth are strongly opisthocoelous. In fact, the ver- 

 tebra in question closely resembles the sixth or seventh of Chely- 

 dra or of Gypochelys (see Figs. I and 2). In the first, however, 

 the transverse processes are very much stronger, and the penta- 

 gonal platform into which the upper surface of the neural arch 

 expands, in place of a neural spine, is as long as the vertebra, 

 instead of being only about half as long. The stout pre-zyg- 

 apophysis of the right side is broken off, leaving only the base 

 visible in the fossil. 



' Paper read at the Royal Society, by Prof. Thomas H. Hu.iley, F.R.S., 

 on March 31. 



2 The opisthocebus chanacter of -most of the caudal- vertebrae of Clulyara 

 was first pointed out by Von Meyer in his description of the CEningen Che- 

 iydrie. B.-iur (" Ostcologische Notizen," Zool. Anzeigcr, No. 238, i386) h.-is. 

 gone fully into the questi.in, and has pointed out the e.xceptional nature of 

 their structure among the Chelonia. bince the above paragraph was written. 

 Dr. Gunther has kindly enabled me to e.Mamine a spirit specimen and a 

 skeleton of Flaiystcntitin. The candtal vertebra; resemble those of Chely- 

 dra except that the lastnine are proco^lous, while that between these and 

 the more anterior opisthoccelous vertebrse is nearly flat at the ends. In this, 

 as in other respects, RIatystermiM presents characters intermediate between 

 C/iiVj/rfra and the ordinary £»yrfis. Prof.Gope ("Vertebrata of the Ter- 

 tiary Formations of the West," 1S83, p. iii)ascribes opisthoccelous caudal 

 verebr^ to the Bnnida, but no figures or descriptions of such vertebr.e are 

 given Of the opisthoca:lous Chelonian vertebra figured in Plate XXIV. of 

 the " Report of Extinct Vertebrjta obtained in New ^^exico " (1887), it is 

 expressly stated that their " correct reference cannot now be made " (p. 43)- 



