Jan. 20, 1S81] 



NA TURE 



279 



of glaciers with dark frowning and flat-topped cliffs, here and there 

 reaching to a height of 1200 feet. It was after passing Barents' 

 Hook that new ground w as actually broken, and the exploration 

 was continued westwards until Mr. Smith succeeded in rounding 

 the western headland. The farthest point actually reached by 

 the Eira was in N. lat. 82° 20', E. long. 45°, and thence the land 

 could be seen trending away to the north-west. During the 

 voyage a meteorological record was kept, photographs taken, 

 and various collections made, chiefly of botanical and geological 

 specimens. 



The January number of Pctermann^ s Mitlhcilungen contains 

 an account of a journey from Dufile to Lur, on the w est shore 

 of Lake Mwntan-Nzige, by Dr. Emin Bey, in the last months 

 of 1879. Herr Clemens Denhardt brings together much valuable 

 information on the East African region between Mombasa and 

 the Victoria Nyanza, with special reference to the trade-routes, 

 accompanied by an excellent map. An article of special 

 scientific interest is contributed by Dr. H. Hofl'mann on the 

 Comparative Phenology of Central Europe. In a series of 

 tables and in a map the average time of bloom is shown for 

 a very large number of places, with reference to Giessen as 

 a standard. There is a very interesting account by Baron 

 Nordenskjiild of his visit to Behring Island, followed by some 

 critical remarks on the vegetative region of the Serra da 

 Estrella, by Dr. O. Drude. 



Bulletin, No. 5, 1879, of the American Geographical Society 

 contains a paper by General R. E. Colston on " Life in the 

 Egyptian Deserts," and an amusing lecture by Lord Dunraven 

 on " Moo<e and Cariboo Hunting." 



The French station of the African Association has been esta- 

 blished by M. Savorgnan de Brazza at Nghiuii, on the route 

 from Machogo to Levumba, in the region of the sources of the 

 Ogove, in 1° 30' S., and about 11° E. from Paris. 



The publication in which the results of the determination of 

 the South American longitudes by electricity have been tabulated 

 by American observers has just arrived in Paris. All the posi- 

 tions determined by M. Mouchez on the Brazilian coast have 

 proved correct within a difference of li second of time. These 

 determinations were taken by Admiral Mouchez when a subor- 

 dinate officer in the French service twenty years ago, by lunar 

 distances, oceultations, and eclipses. 



The author of the summary of Geographical Discovery in 

 Whitaker^s Almanac writer to us in reference to the notice 

 on p. 232, that it is not stated that Mr. Leigh Sr. ith's voyage 

 is "the mo^t remarkable geographical event of the year," 

 to the depreciation of Mr. Thomson's African journey; "but 

 that, in spite of the success of the latter, Mr. Smith's voyage 

 would probably be considered by many as the most remarkable 

 geographical event of 18S0." We doubt if "many" would 

 hold such an opinion, merely for the reason assigned in the 

 Almanac. "May I be allowed to point out," he adds, 

 ' ' that the word ' research ' means careful search or investiga- 

 tion ? and that mere searching for the North Pole is not the sole 

 object of Arctic voyages ? " We are glad the writer is of this 

 opinion, though we doubt if Mr. Leigh Smith's voyage has 

 much bearing on Polar " research." 



CHESAPEAKE ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY 

 A KEPORT of the third year's work at the Chesapeake Zoo- 

 ■'"*• logical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University has 

 been addressed to the President of the University by Mr. W. K. 

 Brooks, Director of the Laboratory. An advance copy of this 

 has been sent us, from which we make some valuable extracts. 



The laboratciry was opened at Beaufort, North Carolina, on 

 April 23, 18S0, and closed on .September 30, after a session of 

 twenty-three weeks. It was supplied %vith working accommo- 

 dations for six investigators, and the facilities which it afforded 

 were u-ed by the following six persons : — W. K. Brooks, Ph.D., 

 Director; K. Mitsnkuri, Ph.B., Fellow in Biology; E. B. 

 Wilson, Ph.B., Fellow in Biology; F. W. King, A.M., Pro- 

 fessor of Natural Science, Wiscon-in State Normal School; H. 

 C. Evarts, M.D., Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; 

 H. F. Osborne, Ph.D., Fellow of the College of New Jersey. 



Beaufort was selected for the third season's work because it is 

 the nearest accessible town south of Baltimore which is favour- 

 ably situated for zoological study. The scientific advantages of 

 Beaufort are very great ; the most important is the great 



difference between its fauna and .that of the northern Atlantic 

 coast. 



" The configuration of our coastline," the Report goes on, " is 

 such that Cape Hatteras, the most projecting point south of 

 New York, deflects the warm water of the Gulf Stream away 

 from the coast, and thus forms an abrupt barrier between a cold 

 northern coast and a wann southern one. The fauna north of this 

 harrier jiasses gradually into that of southern New England, while 

 the fauna s luth of the barrier passes without any abrupt change 

 into that of Florida, but the northern fauna is sharply separated 

 by Cape Hatteras from the southern. As the laboratory of the 

 U.S. Fi.sh Commission and Mr. Agassiz's laboratory at Newport 

 afford opportunities for work upon the northern fauna, it seemed 

 best for us to select a point south of Cape Hatteras in order to 

 study the southern fauna with the same advantages, and as Beau- 

 fort is the only town near the Cape which can be reached with- 

 out difficulty, it was chosen as the best place for the laboratory. 

 The situation of this town is exceptionally favourable for 

 zoological work, for the surrounding waters present such a 

 diversity of conditions that the fauna is unusually rich and 

 varied." 



After describing in detail the special characteristics of the 

 locality Mr. Brooks goes on to say : 



" The zoological resources of Beaufort have not escaped (he 

 attention of American naturalists, and there are few places upon 

 our coast, outside of New England, where more zoological work 

 has been done. In i860 Drs. Stimpson and Gill spent a season 

 in dredging and collecting in the vicinity of Beaufort, Cape 

 Lookout, and Cape Hatteras, and an account of their work was 

 published in the American Journal of Science. Dr. Cones, who 

 was stationed at Fort Macon during the war, occupied himself 

 for two years in collecting the animals which are found here, and 

 he published a series of papers on the ' Natural History of Fort 

 Macon and Vicinity ' in the Proceedings of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. These papers, which were 

 continued by Dr. Yarrow, contain copious and valuable notes on 

 the habits and distribution of the animals which were observed, 

 and we found them a great help to us. These two naturalists 

 found 480 species of animals in the vicinity of Beaufcjrt. Of 

 these 4S0, 298 are vertebrates, and 182 are invertebrates. Of 

 the vertebrates 24 are mammals, 133 are bird.s, 27 are reptiles, 

 6 batrachians, 97 fishes, and 1 1 selachians. Of the invertebrates 

 147 are moUusks, 21 are crustaceans. The list of vertebrates is 

 very nearly exhaustive, aiid we made no additions to it ; but the 

 list of invertebrates is obviously very imperfect, and although we 

 made no attempt to tabulate the species which we observed, 

 there would be no difficulty in enlarging the list twenty or thirtv 

 fold. 



" Among other naturalists who have spent more or less time at 

 Beaufort I may mention Prof. L. Agassiz, Prof. E. S. Morse, 

 Dr. A. S. Packard. Prof. Webster, and Prof. D. S. Jordan. 

 Prof. Mor.'ie procured most of the material for his well-known 

 paper on the Systematic Position of the Brachiopoda on the 

 Sand-bars in Beaufort Inlet. 



" I will now attempt to give a very short statement of some cf 

 the leading points in our own summer's work. Much of our 

 time was spent in studying the development of the Cnistacea, 

 since this is one of the most important fields for original work 

 upon our southern coast. The supply of material is almost 

 inexhaustible, and would employ a number of students for many 

 years. The life-history of the Crustacea is of great interest in 

 itself, and the recent species are so numerous and diversified that 

 there is no group of animals better adapted for studying the 

 general laws of embryonic development in their relation to the 

 evolution of the group. These considerations have led us to 

 devote especial attention to this group during this and the 

 preceding seasons. One of the published results of the first 

 season's work was sn illustrated account of the metamorphosis 

 of Squilla, a representative of a somewhat aberrant group of 

 Crustacea. During the second season a member of our party. 

 Prof. Bii-ge, made a very thorough study of the development of 

 Panopaeus, one of our crabs, and the account of his observations, 

 with drawings, was ready for publication several months ago. 

 At Beaufort we spent most of our time upon this subject, and 

 figured more than Soo points in the development of various 

 Crustacea. 



" Among these I wish to call especial attention to our obser- 

 vations upon the development of the Sergestida; ; the least 

 specialised of the stalk-eyed Crustacea. This very peculiar group 

 was not known to occur upon our coast until we found a few 



