“Fuly 2, 1885] 
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209 
Anomocaxe) belong to the Cambrian, and are closely akin to those 
collected by Richthofen in China. From the Lower Silurian, 
the Chasmops of the Podkamennaya Tunguska is especially 
worthy of notice. It belongs to the Trentock level, as far as we 
may judge from corals from the same locality described by Prof. 
Lindstrém. Finally, Mr. Schmidt has received from Krasno- 
yarsk several samples of a new genus, the Proefus, which is 
closely akin to species from the sub-divisions F and G of 
Barrande. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Barbary Ape (MZacacus tnuus 6) from 
North Africa, presented by Capt. A. B. Hawes ; two Common 
_ Badgers (A/eles taxus) from Staffordshire, presented by Col. 
E. M. M. Buller ; a Red Brocket (Cariacus rufus 6) from Para, 
presented by Mr. H. E. Weaver ; two Fruit Pigeons 
(Carpophaga ) from the Samoan Islands, presented by Mr. 
T. H. Bowyer Bower, jun.; a Common Cuckoo (Cwczlus 
canorus), British, presented by Mr. G. Lyon Leith ; two Tuatera 
Lizards (Sphenodon punctatus) from New Zealand, presented by 
Mr, L. W. Buller; a Malbrouck Monkey (Cercopithecus cyno- 
surus 6) from West Africa, deposited ; a Red-vented Parrot 
(Pionus menstruus) from South America, purchased ; a Molucca 
Deer (Cervits moluccensis), a Thar (Capra jemlaica), born in the 
Gardens. 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 
WEER, 1885, FULY 5-11 
(For the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 
Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, is here 
employed. ) 
At Greenwich on July 5 
Sun rises, 3h. 53m. ; souths, 12h. 4m. 17°6s.; sets, 20h. 15m. ; 
decl. on meridian, 22° 46’ N.: Sidereal Time at Sunset, 
15h. 11m. 
Moon (at Last Quarter) rises, 23h. 25m.*; souths, 5h. 45m. ; 
sets, 12h. 16m.; decl. on meridian, 3° 2’ N. 
Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 
h. m. h. m. h, m. ° 
Mercury ... 4 30 12 45 PON ew 2 on TONNG. 
Venus 5 13 ES OTO es 2 EO) 21 28N. 
Mars I 39 Ory. LSS 22 15 N. 
Jupiter Sez peer cueeE 2170 2. 22) 20) Ir 19 N. 
Saturn 2e5 Seer LIL 5 ROMUS) pees 22,32) Nino 
* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding day. 
July h. 
Oia 2E Mars in conjunction with and 5° 7’ north 
of the Moon. 
Io 23 Saturn in conjunction with and 4° 7’ north 
of the Moon. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
In concluding his notes on the Kurile islands, to the first in- 
stalment of which we have already referred, Prof. Milne has 
some interesting observations on the geology of this little known 
archipelago. The two islands, Iturup and Kunashiri, he says, 
form the two first of the series of stepping stones which connect 
Japan by means of Kamtschatka with Asia. They seem also to 
be the older members of the group. They contain a greater 
proportion of rounded hills and of deeply cut valleys than any of 
the islands farther north, and may therefore be regarded as older 
than those which are built up almost entirely of finely formed 
voleanic cones. The neighbouring island of Urup presents 
appearances similar to these two. He is inclined to think the 
formation of an island like Iturup commenced as a number of 
volcanic peaks forming islands, and that these have been subse- 
quently united by elevation, indications of which there are in 
the stratified rocks and terrace formations. All the appearances, 
however, which he has ascribed to a raising of the land, might, 
he observes, be also explained by a raising and lowering of the 
sea, such, for instance, as that which Mr. Croll points out, might 
be produced by the accumulation of ice during a glacial period 
at the pole ; and the fact that the height of the terraces increase 
as we go northwards appears to confirm this view. The steepest 
slope which he has observed in any portion of a volcanic cone 
was that of a small cone rising from the upper crater of Cha- 
cha-nobori, which had an inclination of 37°. This would indicate 
that it was formed of extremely fine materials, and that the last 
eruption by which these materials were formed had not been 
very violent. 
Iv is announced from Lisbon that the Portuguese explorers, 
Capello and Ivens, who left Loanda some time ago, have 
discovered the sources of the Lualaba, Luapula, and Chambeze, 
the upper waters of the Congo. 
AMONG the recent scientific missions ordered by the French 
Minister of Public Instruction we find the following :—M. Bordas, 
to study the zoology of the Madagascar Islands, of the Seychelles, 
and Comoros ; M. Clermont-Ganneau, to examine the epigraphy 
of the islands in the Red Sea, situated at the entrance to the 
Gulf of Akaba ; M. Morgan, mining engineer, on a geological 
and mineralogical mission in the Orange Free State, the Trans- 
vaal, Zululand, and Natal; Lieut. Palat, to explore the route 
from Senegal to Algeria by Medina, Timbuctoo, Mabrouk, and 
the Touat. 
THE island in the North Pacific which appears now to be 
definitely added to the British Empire is not, as was at first 
supposed, Quelpaert, but another Corean island, or rather group 
of islands, known as Port Hamilton, about forty-five miles to the 
north-east of the former, and about thirty miles off the Corean 
coast, in the Broughton Channel, separating the peninsula from 
Japan. The position of the group is 34° 1’ 23” N. lat., and 
124° 57’ 30” erst of Paris. The port is surrounded by three 
larger islands, and several smaller ones. The largest of all is 
on the west, and runs from north-west to south-east ; it is hilly, 
but the height of the main eminence is not given by Sir Edward 
Belcher. Between the two main islands is Observatory Island, 
and the whole inclosean excellent harbour. The islets, except in 
one or two channels, which serve as entrances to the bay, are 
connected by barriers or reefs, above which the water is shallow. 
The islands are poor in wood, but water is good and abundant, 
and the sea abounds in fish. There are no cattle, but pigs, 
fowls, and some vegetables are found. The group was visited in 
1846 by Capt. Belcher, and in 1855 by a French frigate. 
AT the last meeting of the Geographical Society of Paris 
Baron Benvist-Méchin described a recent journey in the Merv 
oasis. This was a continuation of previous communications to 
the Society of the great journey made by the Baron and some 
companions from Peking through Manchuria, thence through 
Siberia, south to Samarkhand, Merv, and so into Persia. M. 
Simonin made a communication on the pictorial writing of the 
North American Indians ; it appears that, of all the tribes, only the 
Cherokees and the Creeks possess a writing. The former have 
newspapers and books in their language, and write with seventy- 
seven phonetic characters in a syllabary invented by a Cherokee 
in 1830. The Creeks have nineteen characters. The notorious 
Sioux chief, Sitting-Bull, has written his autobiography in pic- 
torial writing. His ‘‘Czesar’s Commentaries’’ are written on 
the back of a book which belonged to the Commissariat of the 
Third United States Infantry Regiment, and contain a recital of his 
adventures between 1864.and 1870. Each figure is roughly traced 
in ink, the men and horses being represented as a child might 
draw them ; colours have in some cases been added to render 
the picture more vivid. The Comptes Rendus also contains the 
continuation of a paper by M. d’Aoust on the causes of earth- 
quakes, and the itinerary of a journey in the basin of the Ruo- 
vouma by M. Angelvy, an engineer in the service of the Sultan 
of Zanzibar. 
Tue latest Bulletin (9™ année, No. 2) of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society of Belgium is mainly occupied by a paper by 
M. Hennequin on the agricultural maps of : Belgium, with refer- 
ence to certain maps recently produced by the military carto- 
graphic institute for the Ministry of Agriculture. A brief 
account of Guatemala by M. Leclercq is compiled from the 
official publications of that republic, and a paper by M. Haron 
on the commune of Manage (Hainaut) is an interesting study in 
local geography. It deals, under successive divisions and sub- 
divisions, with the commune on four main heads—physical, 
economical, and political geography. 
THE last Zettschrift of the Berlin Geographical Society con- 
tains the following papers:—The conclusion of ‘‘ Achelis’s 
article on the methods and task of ‘ethnology ; rivers and lakes 
