NA TURE 



[July 26, 1906 



SOME RESUL'TS OF THE " BELGICA " 

 EXPEDITION.' 



T^ HE voyage of the Belgica is an important land- 

 -^ mark in Antarctic exploration, for, in addition 

 to its adventurous journey and its valuable geo- 

 graphical discoveries, it was the first expedition to 



bay, beagle (,!;; 



Strait and of the drift in the ice contain most new 

 information. The text is illustrated by twenty-nine 

 photographs and plates, many of which are of 

 unusual merit. Most of the photographs were taken 

 by Dr. Cook, others by M. Lecointc, and some by 

 M. Arctowski. 



M. E. de Wildeman's report on the phanerogams 

 of the Magellan Archipelago is 

 based upon the material collected 

 by M. Racovitza, during a short 

 stay there, before the departure of 

 the expedition to the south. The 

 report begins with a description of 

 M. Racovitza's collection, and, as 

 many of the species were imper- 

 fectly known, the author has 

 taken this opportunity of giving a 

 detailed account of them, illus- 

 trated by a series of fine plates. 

 Then follows a systematic enumer- 

 ation of the phanerogamic flora of 

 the southern part of Patagonia 

 and of the adjacent archipelago, 

 and a detailed table of distribu- 

 lion. The author concludes that 

 the new collections show that the 

 flora of Tierra del Fucgo is less 

 primitive and distinct from that of 

 the mainland of South America 

 than had been thought. All the 

 species are found on the American 

 continent, and some of them have 

 a wide distribution. Amongst other 

 British species there are Riimex 

 niaritimiis, on Tierra del Fuego, 

 while Uriica dioica and Veronica 

 arvensis occur on the mainland. 



The memoir by M. Dollo on the fish collected by the 

 Belgica discusses problems of more general interest 



el.— Jlagellan Strait. 



make deep-sea collections within the Antarctic circle. 



The scientific results of the expedition are in process 



of publication in a fine series of volumes which will 



long be an indispensable work of 



reference on Antarctic geography 



and biology. The three memoirs 



the titles of which are given 



below contain further instalments 



of the geographical, botanical, and 



zoological contributions. 



The second part of the first 

 volume of the " Rapports scien- 

 tifiques " of the expedition gives 

 the technical geographical observ- 

 ations, and some account of the 

 methods. Every effort has been 

 made to remove uncertaint}' as 

 to the geographical positions 

 attained, as the calculations for 

 some of them are repeated at 

 length. The text is mainly de- 

 voted to detailed descriptions of 

 the harbours and coasts visited in 

 the Magellan Archipelago, and in 

 the subsequent journey' past Gra- 

 ham's Land and through Gerlachc 

 Strait, and there is a full account 

 of the long drift of the Belgica 

 in the ice, from Februarv i<), 



1898, to March 15, 1899. The volume is accompanied I than those of the two other reports. It includes a 

 by an atlas of seven charts, of which those of Gerlache | systematic description of the fish collected by the ex- 

 Beige. R^st,itats du Voyage du S.Y. ; pedition, including three new genera—Cryodraco 

 imandement de A. dc Gerlache de Gomery " Gerlachia, and Racovitzaia. The Cryodraco IS of 



bydrographiques et Instructic 



L Du Fief (Wiencke Island). 



1 " E.xpedition Ant; 

 Belgica en 1897-09 sou 

 Rapports scientifiques. 



tiques. Vol. i., part i. By G. I.ecointe. Pp. no, xxix pla 

 portfolio of 7 charts. (Antwerp, 1905.) 



" Botanique — Les Phan^rogames des Terres Magellaniques 

 Wildeman. Pp. 222, x.viii plates. (Antwerp, 1905.) 



" Zoologie— Poissons." By L. Dollo. Pp. 239, xii plates, 

 1905.) 



By E. de 

 (Antwerp, 



NO. 19 I 7, VOL. 74] 



some historic interest, as a specimen no doubt be- 

 longing to this genus was caught frozen against 

 the bow of the Erebus during Ross's expedition. 

 The fish was sketched at the time by Robertson, but 

 it was devoured by the ship's cat before it could 



