Sept. 9, 1880] 



NATURE 



455 



to Lacaille 5079, corresponding to a maximum, and at the same 

 hour on September 30 it was inferior to i Muscat, or very near a 

 minimum. It is Lacaille 5236. 



11. R Centauri. The light-curve appears to be irregular ; a 

 maximum of 6"lm. occurred about June 28, 1S78, and one about 

 August 3 in the preceding year ; there would appear to be 

 secondary maxinia and minima. A period of 5-5 days with 

 principal maximum April iS, 1871, and two intermediate maxima 

 following the principal one by 197 and 378 days respectively, 

 reconciles most of the observations, but is incompatible with 

 estimates of 6m. made on June 25 and 26, 1S74, with the meridian 

 circle. 



12. R Trianguli Australis. Varies between 6"6 and about S'O 

 in 3d. gh. 35m., the minima preceding the maxima by about 48 

 hours. Well-marked maxima occurred 1S71, July 14, at I4h., 

 and ."September 13 about midnight. Minima were observed 

 1871, July 12, at I45h., and September I at SMi. Good deter- 

 min.itions were made in 1S77, but are not printed in the Urano- 

 vietria ; the period 3d. 9h. 35m. is however deduced from a 

 comparison of the observations in 1871 and 1S77. 



To these stars may be added S Puppis of Lacaille, which 

 designation falls in with Argelander's (R.A. 7h. 43m. 6s., 

 N.P.D. I37°48''3); it appears to fall nearly to the ninth mag- 

 nitude, and to rise to about 7J, but has never been seen at 

 Cordoba sufficiently bright to be admissible in Gould's Catalogue. 

 It is Lacaille 2999. 



Also Lacaille 2691 (Lj Puppis), a red star varying from 3'6 to 

 €■3; Gould infers a period of about 135 days, with a variation 

 rapid at the maximum and comparatively slow near the minimum, 

 which apparently occm'S about six days nearer to the preceding 

 than the following maximum. Remarkably red near the 

 minimum. 



Cekaski's New Variable Star. — Prof. Julius Schmidt, 

 favoured by the fine sky of Athens, has already determined 

 approximately the period of this star, which appears to be 

 4d. 23h. 35m. ; he does not think it probable that this interval 

 ■can be a multiple of a period. The star is in the same category 

 as Algol, S Libra;, V Corona;, \ Tauri, and S Cancri, and is 

 without colour. It may be well to note that for some time to 

 come or until the latter part of December the minima w ill occur 

 during daylight in this country ; one of the first observable may 

 be expected on December 24 about I7h. Greenwich time. The 

 position of the star in the Dtirclwntsteriing is in R.A. 

 ■oh. 49m. 39s., Decl. -1- 81° 5''6. 



A New Comet. — The discovery of a faint comet by Mr. 

 Lewis Swift is telegraphed from Washington ; position August 

 II, apparently in about R.A. 172°, N.P.D. 22°. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 Dr. Matteucci sends home some interesting details of the 

 observations made by him in Kordofan during the march of 

 the expedition under Prince Borghese. In Kordofan, he says, 

 water is as dear as the wine of Barletta. In the rainy season 

 Iwwever things, are difi'erent ; from June to September almost 

 every inch of the country is covered with water, when, if one 

 may not die of thirst, there is a chance of his dying of malaria. 

 Vegetation along the line of march of the expedition was as 

 melancholy and infertile as it could well be ; stunted skeleton 

 acacias alternating with a few euphorbias in constant monotony ; 

 neither mountains nor hills, and not even plains. In Kordofan 

 the ground presents continuous undulations, no doubt in conse- 

 quence of the geological formation of the soil, which is a bottom 

 of sand slightly mixed with peroxide of iron. The water of 

 the rainy season is husbanded in wells, but so valuable is it that 

 the expedition had often to force the natives to give them access 

 to these wells. Kordofan is about 600 metres above the level 

 of the sea, and 3S0 above that of the Nile. Not a river, not a 

 torrent, not a brook waters this immense territory, which is 

 about 500 miles long and a little less broad. The mean tem 

 perature is not less than 920. At the surface the ground is so 

 sandy that animals on the march sink to a depth of 30 centi- 

 metres. The rains are irregular and never abundant. Some 

 years ago there were no wells in Kordofan ; the want of water 

 was not felt, for the natives, in the rainy season, collected the 

 water in large reservoirs, and a sufficient quantity was found in 

 them at each station and village. But the seasons, even in 

 Africa, tend to change. Eight years ago there was no rainy 

 season in Kordofan, and for several months the people feared 



they would all die of thirst. Then they thought of digging 

 wells, which gave very good results. Everywhere water °va° 

 found at a depth of 20 inches. But things have sadly changed 

 during the past eight years, and now, instead of finding water 

 at a depth of 20 inches, it is often not found at a depth of 160 

 feet. In all the wells Dr. Matteucci found the following suc- 

 cession of strata :— From 50 to 30 metres of deptli, sand with 

 traces of sulphate of lime ; above 30 extends the granite, with 

 a great abundance of quartz in proportion to feldspath and 

 mica. Tlie granitic mass rarely exceeds one metre in thickness, 

 and above is again found the sand. 



By letters from Senegal published in the French papers we learn 

 that the survey of the country between the Senegal and the Nirer 

 is in progress. Three different topographical parties have been 

 formed to determine the position of the intended ports and the 

 route of rail-.vay intended to connect the two streams. The 

 work must be quite fini.-hed by the month of May, 1881. 



Recent letters from Ladakh, according to the Indian papers, 

 state that some Yarkand traders have arrived there, having 

 accomplished the journey from Yarkand to Leh, a distance oi 

 515 miles, in thirty-two days. These men report that they met 

 Mr. Ney Klias, the well-known traveller, on the ascent of tie 

 Sasser Mountain. The Sasser Pass, which lies at an elevation 

 of 17,500 feet, is nine stages distant from Leh, on the summer 

 route to Yarkand, by way of the Karakoram. The traders alsi 

 report that the road beyond the Sasser Pass was in good condi- 

 tion and free from snow early in May. They state that the 

 Chinese are quietly established in Yarkand and Kashgar. 



M. De La Motte has published as a quarto pamphlet the 

 address which he delivered before the French Geographical 

 Society on July 16, respecting his studies in the basins of the 

 Niles. He has devoted several years to the subject, and has 

 had a special map constructed to illustrate his researches on a 

 scale of I : 1,200,000. 



Messrs. Cassell, Fetter, and Galpin will publish at the 

 end of September the first monthly part of Prof. Ebers' " Egypt : 

 Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque ; " translated by Clara 

 Bell, with notes by Dr. Birch, of the British Museum. The 

 work will be profusely illustrated, and will occupy about three 

 years in publication. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The yournal of Anatotny ajid Physiology, N'ormal ana 

 Pathological, vol. xiv., part 4, July. — Dr. H. S. WUson, on the 

 rete mirabile of the narwhal (two plates). — W. J. Walsham, 

 observations on the coronary veins of the stomach (a plate). — 

 Note on the same, by Prof. Turner. — F. W. Bennett, a commu- 

 nication between the air-bladder and the cloaca in the herring. — 

 Prof. M. Watson, the curvatores coccygis muscles of man. — Dr. 

 G. A. Gibson, valvular hajmatoma (plate). — R. Maguire, a con- 

 tribution to the pathology of macroglossia and hygroma (plate). 

 — Dr. J. Dreschfeld, the changes in the spinal cord after ampu- 

 tation of limbs (plate). — Dr. B. C. Waller, the morbid anatomy 

 of certain forms of post-scarlatina nephritis in relation to theii 

 bearing on the histogeny of granular kidney (plate). — Dr. J. G. 

 Naismyth, the antagonism of opium and belladonna illustrated 

 by a case of attempted suicide. — Dr. R. J. Anderson, on an 

 astragalo-scaphoid bone in man. — Dr. Foulis, the mode of heal- 

 ing in wounds under antiseptic dressings. — Prof. M'Kendrick, 

 the respiratory movements of fishes (plate). — G. B. Hones, some 

 points in the anatomy of the porpoise (plate). — Prof. Turner on 

 two masks and a skull from islands near New Guinea (plate). — 

 Dr. D. Newman, the effect of certain anresthetics on the pul- 

 monary circulation. — H. Bendall, a new method of preserving; 

 the colour of tissues. — J. Macdonald Brown, variations i'.-i 

 myology. — Dr. G. A. Gibson, anatomical and physiological notes. 



Bulletin dc V Acadhnie Royak des Sciences (de Belgique), No. 6. 

 — On the application of the second principle of thermodynamics 

 to the variations of potential energy of liquid surfaces, by M . Van 

 der Mensljnigghe. — Structure of the ovary, ovulation, fecunda- 

 tion, and the first phases of development in Cheiroptera, by MM. 

 Van Beneden and Julin. — An original Ctenides of Brazil found 

 at Liege, by M. Van Beneden. — Account of a case of cestodic 

 tuberculosis, with some observations on the eggs of Tania 

 mediocanellata, by the same. — Difference of appreciations of the 

 apparent size of microscopic objects by different observers, by 

 M. Montigny. 



