NATURE 
[Fuly 30, 1885 
302 
Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 
h. m. h. m h. m. * 
Mercury) aca) Ou con Xu 5D, 20 34 2. 7eSpeN 
Venus) <. ~6) 4%. 26 342) 20,44, ... 10 TaN 
Mars Sec ONS Olas SO ELD. 17 39 23 50 N 
JMpiters cces eee Dass LS Seca (20:49 9 21N 
Satnrmaie ice: k20) ges oc ONSOy Gedy 40) 22 30 N 
* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding day. 
Occultation of Star by the Moon 
Corresponding 
angles from ver- 
August Star Mag. Disap. Reap. tex fo ripht for 
inverted image 
h. m. h. m. > a 
6e-. BeA.G. 1526... 6 ..;. 8)32).:. 3) 56... 120mn7 4. 
August h. 
(ei ery Mercury in conjunction with and 2° 32’ 
south of Jupiter. 
5 17_.... Saturn in conjunction with and o° 4’ south 
of « Geminorum. 
Ome 3 Mercury at greatest elongation from the Sun, 
27° East. 
Ome ey) Venus in conjunction with and o° 26’ 
north of Jupiter. 
6 20 ... Mars in conjunction with and 1° 20’ north 
of Saturn. 
7 8 ... Mercury at greatest distance from the Sun. 
ieee 14... Saturn in conjunction with and 4° 13/ north 
of the Moon. 
UP Coots Mars in conjunction with and 5° 33’ north 
of the Moon. 
8 17... Mercury in conjunction with and 3° 42’ 
south of Venus. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
LIEUTENANT PALA?, of the French Cavalry, has been 
despatched by the Ministers of Public Instruction and of Com- 
merce on a mission to the Sahara, his point of departure being 
Senegal and his terminus Algeria. The advanced posts recently 
occupied by the French in the Senegal, and the presence ofa gun- 
boat on the Niger, are believed to render the present a favour- 
able moment for such an expedition. At Timbuctoo Lieutenant 
Palat will appear as a French officer, but from this place to 
Algeria he will travel as a Moslem doctor. His mission, though 
of geographical interest, appears to be undertaken chiefly with 
the object of leading the trade of the Sahara to Senegal on one 
side and to Algeria on the other. 
Ar the meeting of the Paris Geographical Society on the 3rd 
inst. M. Lostalot, French Consul at Jeddah, described in detail 
the circumstances attending the murder of M. Huber; a letter 
was read from M. Teisserenc de Bort continuing his account of 
his expedition in the Sahara; M. Jules Girard discussed the 
changes of level on the coasts of Scandinavia, and M. Demanche 
read a paper on the half-breeds of Canada, with especial refer- 
ence to the recent revolt. 
THE Spanish Government has appointed a geological com- 
mission, of which Seior Abella y Casariego is the president, to 
investigate the Philippines. -The commission will not confine 
itself to geology, but will also study the geography and topo- 
graphy of the archipelago; and it is instructed to prepare a 
map which will complete and correct existing ones. 
THE last Bulletin of the Royal Geographical Society of 
Antwerp (June IX. 6th fascicule) contains a report of the 
proceedings at the reception of Mr. Revoil on his return from 
the Somali country, and an interesting reprint of the diary of 
a journey from Antwerp to Vienna and back in 1724, made by 
representatives of a commercial corporation at Ostend to obtain 
certain alterations in the letters patent granted by the Emperor 
Charles VI. 
A CORRESPONDENT writes :—In your note on Mr. Grenfell’s 
recent explorations in the Congo Basin you state that the 
northern bend of the Congo is found by him to be in 2” 11’ N. 
This had already been found by Stanley ; vide the map in his 
recently-published book. You also note that the Mbangi River 
has been traced by him to a point in 4° 30’ N. lat., lying north- 
by-east (magnetic ?) of its mouth in 0° 26’ too? 42'S. lat. At 
this ultimate point its breadth is stated to be 673 yards. Now 
the breadth of the River Thames at Gravesend is considerably 
greater, and its source in a direct line from Gravesend westward 
is about 105 miles, the drainage area being, in round figures, 
5000 square miles. Arguing from this we should conclude that 
the source of the Mbangi does not lie east of 20° E. long., and, 
applying the measurements to Stanley’s map, the water parting 
falls just on the line thereon suggested. The distance in a 
direct line from the ultimate point, reached by Mr. Grenfell 
to the last known point on the Welle is 540 miles, and to 
the source of the Welle some 900 miles. Judging, then, from 
this preliminary note, it appears to be practically impossible for 
this river, of less than the third of a mile in breadth, to carry 
off the water of the Welle Basin ; and Mr. Stanley’s suggestion 
that the Biyere (wrongly called the Aruwimi) is the outlet of the 
Welle is rather strengthened than otherwise by this latest, and 
certainly not least important, contribution to our knowledge of 
the mighty Congo. 
A SOMEWHAT amusing quarrel has arisen between the 
parishes of Kjelvik and Maas6 about a point of considerable 
geographical interest—viz. the proprietorship of the North Cape. 
It is caused by the establishment on the celebrated promontory 
of a restaurant, the taxes of which are claimed by both parishes. 
The Cape has always been considered to form the boundary 
between the two, without it being stipulated to whom it actually 
belonged. 
The Deutsche Seewarte has issued a chart of the ice in the 
Atlantic Ocean this spring, which, as it may be remembered, 
penetrated very far south and east in consequence of continuous 
northerly and north-westerly winds. Several icebergs appear 
even to have been found in the Gulf Stream, It seems from 
experience that, first towards the end of June the ice recedes 
northwards, while between the banks and the east coast of New- 
foundland it remains longest, even after it has disappeared south 
and south-east of the banks. 
FRoM recent observations it would appear that during the last 
thirty years or so the elevation of the shores around the Baltic 
and the Gulf of Bothnia has gone on with greater rapidity than 
during the previous period of observation. The shore-marks by 
which the fact of the elevation has been ascertained were made 
about the year 1750, at the time of the dispute between Celsius, 
the celebrated Swedish astronomer, and a German man of 
science as to whether the level of the Baltic was rising or 
sinking, Celsius maintaining the latter view. Since the shore- 
marks were made it has been shown that a movement of eleva- 
tion of the land has been going on around the island of Born- 
holm, the level of which remains constant. The rate of 
emergence is most rapid in the north. In the neighbourhood of 
the frontier of Finland it amounts to two metres, while in the 
south it is only a foot. The increased rate of emergence in 
recent times is clearly shown on the rock known as Stora 
Reppen, not far from Pitea. That rock in 1851 had emerged 
94 cm. above its former level since the commencement of the 
observations, while in August, 1884, it had risen 50 cm. 
further. 
THE Geographical Society of Australasia has, it is stated, 
completed arrangements for the exploration of New Guinea, and 
a fully-equipped expedition has started under the leadership of 
Capt. Everill. 
THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS 
ROF. G. MITTAG-LEFFLER, principal editor of the 
Acta Mathematica, forwards us the following communica- 
tion, which will shortly appear in that journal :— 
His Majesty Oscar IJ., wishing to give a fresh proof of his 
interest in the advancement of mathematical science, an interest 
already manifested by his graciously encouraging the publication 
of the journal Acta Mathematica, which is placed under his 
august protection, has resolved to award a prize, on January 21, 
1889, the sixtieth anniversary of his birthday, to an important 
discovery in the field of higher mathematical analysis. This 
prize will consist of a gold medal of the eighteenth size bearing 
his Majesty’s image and having a value of a thousand francs, 
together with a sum of two thousand five hundred crowns 
(1 crown = about 1 franc 40 centimes). } 
His Majesty has been pleased to entrust the task of carrying 
out his intentions to a commission of three members, Mr. Carl 
Weierstrass in Berlin, Mr. Charles Hermite in Paris, and the 
chief editor of this journal, Mr. Gosta Mittag-Leffler in Stock- 
oe ie 
