134 



NATURE 



[Jniie lo, iSb'o 



formed round the electrode may serve as germ for formation of 

 a layer of vapours, and this being once formed, the discharges 

 occur by sparks. 



GEOCRAPHTCAL NOTES 



We are delighted to find that our good neighbours, the French, 

 will not be behind the rest of the scientific world in exploring 

 the depths of the sea. A large Government steamer, the 

 Travailh-ur, will be at Bayonne on the 15th of next month to 

 undertake a dredging expedition along the Atlantic coasts of 

 Spain, under the charge of Trof. Milne-Edwards and the Marquis 

 de Folin. Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys and the Rev. Mr. Norman have 

 been officially invited to take part in this expedition. The 

 Dutch are also making arrangements for a dredging expedition 

 in the West Indies. 



From a note in the June number of the American Na'iiralist 

 it seems extremely likely that the U.S. Senate will endorse the 

 approval given to the Howgate Polar Expedition by the House 

 of Representatives. The steamer Giilnart', 230 tons burden, is 

 being fitted up, and will have a crew of fifteen officers and men. 

 The observing party, which will be left at the station as near 

 Lady Franklin Bay as possible, will consist of twenty-five men, 

 including the necessary scientific corps. A hou^e of wood is 

 be'ng fitted up for the men to winter in on the shires of Dis- 

 covery Bay, and a steam launch will form part of the expedition. 

 "In making this report the committee respectfully state and 

 report that the object of the bill, as is shown by its terms, is to 

 authorise a temporary station to be selected within the Arctic 

 circle, for the purpose of making scientific discoveries, explora- 

 tions, and observation's, obtaining all possible facts and knowledge 

 in relation to the magnetic currents of the earth, the influence of 

 ice -floes therefrom upjn the winds and seasons, and upon the 

 currents of the ocean, as well as other matters incidental thereto, 

 developing and discovering at the same time other and new 

 whale-fisheries, now so material in many respects to this country. 

 It is, again, the object of this bill that thi> expedition, having 

 such scientific observations in view, shall be regularly made for 

 a series of years under such restrictions of military discipline as 

 will insure regularity and accuracy, and give the fullest possible 

 return for the necessary expenditure ; and again, in view of 

 the fact that either the governments directly, or scientific corps 

 under their authority, of Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, 

 Austria, Denmark, and Russia, have concurrently agreed to 

 establish similar sta'ions, with like object, during the year 1S80, 

 it is believed th,at the interests and policy of our people concur in 

 demanding that the United States should co-operate in the grand 

 efforts to be thus made in the solution of the mysteries and secrets 

 of the North Polar seas, upon which, in the opinion of scientists, 

 depends so much that affects the health and wealth of the human 

 race." This station will form one of the series of International 

 Arctic Observatories to which we have already referred. 



During the past year H.M.S. Aki-t, first under Sir G. S. 

 Nares, and afterwards under Capt. Maclear, was engaged in very 

 useful service on the west coast of .South America, chiefly in 

 examining the channels in about 50° S. lat. Trinidad Channel, 

 which opens out a clear passage to the Pacific 160 miles north of 

 Magellan Strait, has been carefully surveyed, together with its 

 various ports and anchorages. This channel forms a valuable 

 addition to our knowledge of these waters, as it will enable 

 vessels bound westward to avoid the heavy sea often met with in 

 the higher south latit:ude. Its southern shores are bounded by 

 bold rugged mountains rising abruptly from the sea, and on the 

 north side a low wooded country lies between the sea and the 

 snow-clad mountains in the distance. The A/at also visited St. 

 Felix and St. Ambrose Islands, which, owing to the depth 

 of the soundings obtained, are thought to be unconnected 

 with both the South American ccuitiiient and the San Juan 

 Fernandez group. Capt. Maclcir describes St. Ambrose Island 

 as volcanic, composed of lava in horizontal strata, inter.sected 

 vertically by masses of basalt. Vegetation is scant, and the 

 i.-land is witliout water ; though frequented by sea-bird--, its sides 

 are too steep and rugged for guano to collect. From the sound- 

 ings it would seem that this, as well as the other islands, rises 

 as an isolated mountain from a submarine plateau. 



At the meeting of the Paris Geographical Society of May 7 

 a Greek physician, Dr. Panagiotes Potagcs, was introduced by 

 MM. Ujfalvy and Duveyrier as one of the most extensive tra- 



vellers of our time. M. Potagos, we are told, has since 1867, 

 beginning at Tripoli in Asia Minor, visited Teheran, skirted the 

 Paropamisus on his way to Medjid, Ilerat, Kandahar and Kabul ; 

 crossed the Hindu Kush by one of the most difficult passes, 

 traversed Badakshan, Wakhan, and all Kashgnria, arriving at 

 Hami in 1S71. Thence he went to Ulus-utai in the heart of 

 Mongolia, returning to Hami, where all his notes and collec- 

 tions were de-troyed, and he himself kept prisoner for more 

 than a year. Thence continuing his journey, he reached Kulja, 

 and returned to Europe by Semipalatinsk, Omsk, Moscow, and 

 St. Petersburg. After staying at Salonica for two years, he 

 went to Bombay and Peshawur, descended the Indus to Karachi, 

 thence to Bunder-Abbas in Persia, crossed the mountains of 

 Lari^tan, and made his way to Kabul, reaching India again by 

 the Kurrum Valley, meeting Major Cavagnari on his way. 

 From Bombay he went to East Africa, and penetrated into the 

 interior farther than .Schvveinfurth. The principal sphere of his 

 African journeys seems to have been in the region of the River 

 Bere, which M. Deveyrier is of opinion is the Welle of Schwein- 

 furth, but which, according to M. Potagos, cannot be connected 

 with the Aruwimi of .Stanley, but rather with the basin of the 

 Shari. The observations of M. Potagos are, however, t03 

 vague to be of much scientific value, unless, indeed, further 

 details be forthcoming. 



Mr. L.^urence Oliphant has lately returned to England 

 from a journey of exploration on the eastern side of the River 

 Jordan, and is, we believe, engaged in preparing for publication 

 an account of the results of his investigations. 



The map of Equatorial Africa, on the scale of IJ'S miles to 

 one inch, on which Mr. E. G. Ravenstein has for some time 

 been eng.aged for the Geographical Society, is stated to be 

 approaching completion, and it is expected that the lithographed 

 sheets will be ready during the summer. An analytical catalogue 

 of works on African travel and geography, including papers in 

 periodicals, is being compiled at the same time. 



Mr. Stanford has just published a fine new wall map of 

 New Zealand, on the ;cale of seventeen miles to an inch. The 

 whole of the coast line, together with the details of harbours and 

 binks of these islands, has been carefully reduced from the most 

 recent Admiralty Charts. The interior details of rivers and 

 mountains, roads and railways, towns and villages, hav; been 

 pliitted in from the various Government surveys and partly from 

 private sources. Although not over-crowded with names, it 

 contains, besides the chief physical features, the names of all 

 villages and other centres of population, together w ith the names 

 of many places of interest, such a; the geysers cr hot springs 

 and the boiling lakes of the North Island. The principal 

 Maori tribal names are also given over the areas once occupied 

 by them. The m-p is coloured to show the boundaries of the 

 new admini.-trative divisions, all of which are named. The large 

 size, accuracy, and clear.iess of this map render it eminently 

 useful for teaching purposes. 



The annual address of Chief Justice Daly, President of the 

 American Geographical Society, on the Geographical Work of 

 the World in 1S7S and 1S79, is as usual, remarkably compre- 

 hensive and well arranged ; indeed it is the best summary of the 

 subject we have seen. 



V Explomlion of June 2 contains an interesting article on the 

 v.irious explorations of M. Paul Soleillet in Africa. There is 

 also a map of the French possessions and factories on the coast 

 of Guinea. 



" Anglo-Canadian " sends us the draught of a scheme for 

 reaching the North Pole by balloon in comparatively few days, 

 at a cost which must take the gas completely out of the elaborate 

 and expensive scheme of Commander Cheyne. Our correspon- 

 dent has patented a directable balloon, which he maintains is 

 capable of being moved at a rapid rate in any direction. We 

 need not enter 'into the details of his plan, which reads very 

 glibly, but which we should like to see subjected to rigid scien- 

 tific tests. The whole scheme is to cost only 2,000/., including 

 a steamer to be chartered to Spitzbergen to take the necessary 

 compressed gis which " Anglo-Canadian " would use as fuel. 

 We do not attach much importance to the attainment of the 

 Pole, and should prefer to see any money that can be raised for 

 Arctic exploration in this country devoted to the founding of 

 one of those international series of Arctic observations from 

 which England is conspicuously absent. 



