Aui,"-. 6, 1874] 



NA TURE 



267 



In foggy or stormy weather, the vessel is kept under 

 command, if possible, to clear any icebergs seen, but if 

 not able to move, should be placed broadside to the wind 

 or before it ; the danger of being head to wind is, that if 

 the ice anchors carry away and a crack forms under the 

 stern, the force of concussion with the ice may damage 

 the rudder fittings irreparably. 



When crossing the water at night and approaching ice, 

 the vessel is always stopped to take the shock gently, 

 and because icebergs loom much like field ice. The 

 whereabouts of water is inevitably shown by a dark 

 horizon, and that of ice by the blink or " glinny." 



There are no laws regulating the prosecution of the 

 seal fishery except one passed in 1S73, forbidding the 

 departure of sailing vessels before the 5th, and steamers 

 before the loth of March. 



Little Placentia, Newfoundland, June 22 



THE INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL 

 CONGRESS 



'T^HE Organising Committee of the Geographical Con- 

 -*■ gress to be held in Paris in the spring of 1S75 have 

 issued a programme of subjects to be discussed during 

 the meeting. The " Commissaire General " of the Con- 

 gress is M. le Baron Reille, to whom, at 10, Boulevard 

 Latour-Maubourg, all communications ought to be ad- 

 dressed. The Congress will last eight days, the first of 

 which will be devoted to a general meeting for the pur- 

 pose of inaugurating the work of the Congress. The 

 members will be divided into sections, each of which will 

 meet separately on the following forenoons to discuss the 

 subjects connected witli the section ; the afternoons will 

 be devoted to general seances. During the meeting of the 

 Congress there will be an exhibition of objects relating to 

 the study of geography, and on the last day prizes will be 

 awarded to exhibitors. The transactions of the Congress 

 will be ultimately published. The conditions of subscrip- 

 tion are much the same as those of the French Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science. 



The sectional sub-committees have provisionally pre- 

 pared a series of questions for discussion under each sec- 

 tion ; proposed additions to or modifications of these 

 should be addressed to M. le Baron Reille as above. The 

 sections are as follows : — 



I. Mafheina/ieal Section, including Mathematical Geo- 

 graphy, Geodesy, and Topography. The following are 

 some of the questions to be discussed in this section : — 

 Substitution of the centesimal division of the quadrant 

 for the division called sexagesimal ; consequences rela.- 

 tive to the division of time in astronomy. — Choice of a zero 

 for a general level. — Measure of the differences of longi- 

 tude ; utilisation of telegraphic lines for the purpose of 

 determining longitudes ; advantages to geography by 

 the electric telegraph. — Employment of chronometers. — 

 Measure of an arc of the meridian in the soutliern liemi- 

 sphere, and particularly in the Argentine Republic. — The 

 most simple instruments and the quickest methods for 

 determining magnetic declination. 



II. Hydrographical Section, including Hydrography 

 and Maritime Geography. — Among the questions to be 

 discussed in this section are the following : — Choice of a 

 simple and uniform method for reckoning the points of 

 the compass. — Researches concerning the depth to which 

 the agitation of the surface of the sea penetrates. — Study 

 of marine currents ; question of the currents in straits. — 

 Determination of the temperature of the sea at different 

 depths ; instruments used ; selection of the special points 

 where these observations ought to be made. — Causes of 

 the temperature of the Gulf .Stream. — Programme of inter- 

 national instructions relative to observations which could 

 usefully be made at once. 



III. Physical Section, including Physical Geography, 

 General iSIeteorology, General Geology, Botanical and 



Zoological Geography, General Anthropology. Among 

 the subjects proposed for discussion in this section are : — 

 New and well-established facts relative to the mobility of 

 the crust of the earth during historical times. — Various 

 theories as to the origin of mountains. — Lithology of the 

 bed of the ocean. — Actual results of recent researches on 

 the inlluences exercised by astronomical phenomena, such 

 as solar spots, meteoric showers, &c. — To investigate new 

 facts relative to the circulation of the atmosphere and the 

 ocean, the movements of aerial and maritime currents, 

 and their influence upon climates. — To discover the 

 origin and general progress of great atmospheric whirl- 

 winds or cyclones, as well as their periods ; to determine 

 their duration, their force, and the extent of the coun- 

 tries exposed to their effects. — Means to be adopted in 

 order to extend more widely the establishment and the 

 discussion of simultaneous meteorological observations, 

 recommended by the International Congress at Vienna. — 

 Geographical distribution of animal and vegetable species 

 during tertiary times ; consequences which flow therefrom 

 relative to the climatology of the globe during that period ; 

 geographical relation between the quaternary and the ex- 

 isting fauna and flora ; extinctions and migrations ; distri- 

 bution of land and water during that period. — Species, 

 genera, and families of plants which are characteristic of 

 the great natural regions. — Also many questions relative 

 to the geology, zoology, botany, anthropology, &c., of the 

 various great divisions of the globe — Europe, Asia, 

 America, Oceania. 



IV. Historical Section, including Historical Geography 

 and the History of Geography, Ethnography, and Philo- 

 logy. — This section includes questions as to the condition 

 of man both in prehistoric and historical times, com- 

 prehending the discussion of many particular points of 

 history and ethnography. 



V. Economical 6V<:7/o«.— This section is concerned 

 with subjects connected wirh Economical, Commercial, 

 and Statistical Geography. 



VI. Tlie Didactic Section will discuss questions con- 

 nected with Geographical Education and the diffusion of 

 Geographical Knowledge. 



VII. Section of Voyages, including explorations and 

 voyages, scientific, commercial, and picturesque. In this 

 section such points as the following are proposed for dis- 

 cussion : — How could a permanent bureau be constituted 

 to indicate to travellers, by land and sea, the desiderata 

 of geographical science ? — Questions as to the undis- 

 covered portion of Africa, as to the equipment of voyagers 

 and travellers, instruments for various purposes, the 

 bearing of explorers towards natives, narratives of travel, 

 &c., &c. 



There are proposed for discussion in the seven sec- 

 tions in all 1 23 questions, of which the above are a sample ; 

 and it will be seen, we think, that if the right men are 

 induced to attend the Congress, and if the discussions 

 are conducted in a truly scientific and candid spirit, great 

 good must be the result to the many branches of science 

 which are more or less connected with the subject of 

 geography. 



THE LAST NEW COMET 



MR. J. R. HIND, F.R.S., writes as follows to the 

 Times horn Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Twickenham, 

 August I : — "From three consecutive nights' observations 

 of the new comet of Marseilles, received from M. Stephan, 

 I have calculated a first approximation to the orbit. It 

 appears the comet will not reach its perihelion till about 

 the 25th inst., but is already slowly receding from the 

 earth, being distant from us at the time of discovery about 

 55,000,000 miles. Though it may continue visible in good 

 telescopes for several weeks, it is not likely to become an 

 object of any general interest, like the comet which has 

 just left this hemisphere. The elements bear no resem- 

 blance to those of any comet previously computed." 



