428 
Banda, and Kayeli, and on the following day at Kairatu. 
Villages on the beach were overwhelmed by the sea. At 
intervals of about twenty minutes the sea receded to a distance 
of 300 yards from low water mark, and then returned to over- 
flow to a depth of 34 feet the broad plain near the beach, fifteen 
miles west of Kayeli. This phenomenon does not appear to 
have been general, but to have confined itself to the locality 
mentioned. 
EARTHQUAKE shocks were felt on August 26 in the valley of 
the little river Miirz, in Styria. They caused no damage beyond 
loosening the foundations of a few cottages. Several shocks 
were felt in the same district last May. 
THE Wacion of Guayaquil gives details of the eruption of the 
volcano of Cotopaxi early on the morning of July 23. It states 
that about one o’clock in the morning people were awakened by 
a sound as of heavy artillery fire, apparently from guns of the 
heaviest calibre. The explosions followed one another with 
wonderful rapidity, sometimes causing a continuous roar, shaking 
the earth and causing the windows and the doors of the houses 
to rattle. At Chimbo, which is situated almost at the foot of 
the volcano, there was what the residents along the river Yana- 
Yacu call an ‘“‘aluvion.”” The phenomenon so-called is really 
the stream of lava which descends the mountain sides, melting 
the snow with which it is covered, and pouring down a tre- 
mendous mass of lava, mud, stones, and all obstacles encountered 
in its progress. Investigations during the day showed that the 
shocks produced by the explosions during the night were exceed- 
ingly heavy. The smoke hung like a pall over the face of the 
country, and the steady fall of ashes thrown constantly out of 
the terrible crater intensified the darkness. Accounts from 
Latacunga state that the eruption began with a terrible storm. 
The damage done was considerable, but the number of victims 
isnot known A similar catastrophe occurred in June 1877. 
THE ‘ Bureau Scientifique Central Néerlandais,” established 
in 1871 at Haarlem, after the death of its first Director, the 
lamented Prof. E. H. yon Baumhauer, has been taken in hand 
by Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, at Leiden, The Bureau is in relation 
with the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, the ‘‘ Ministére 
de l’Instruction publique en France,” the ‘* Commission des 
Echanges Internationaux 4 Bruxelles,” with bureaus in Christi- 
ania, Stockholm, Copenhagen, &c. Packages sent as donations 
or exchanges, and destined for Dutch learned societies or scien- 
tists, henceforth are to be sent to the new Director at Leiden or 
to be delivered to the agent of the Bureau at London free of 
expense. The agents of the Bureau are Messrs. Williams and 
Norgate, 14, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus 9 ) 
from India, presented by Mr. H. J. Thimbleby; a Binturong 
(Arctictis binturong 8) from Malacca, presented by Mr. T. H. 
Haynes ; a Great Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) from New 
South Wales, presented by Mr. A. Mcllwraith ; two Golden- 
crowned Conures (Conurus aureus) from South-East Brazil, 
presented by Mr. Cuthbert D. Middleton ; a Common Cuckoo 
(Cuculus canorus), British, presented by Mr. R. B. Spalding ; 
two Javan Sparrows (Padda oryzivora) from Java, presented by 
Miss Coleman; a Black-headed Gull (Larus rubicundus), 
European, presented by Mr. Humphries; a Horned Lizard 
(Phrynosoma cornutum) from Texas, presented by Miss Simp- 
son ; a Common Chameleon (Chameleon vulgaris) from North 
Africa, presented by Master Cecil Guy Dart ; a Robben Island 
Snake (Coronella phocarum) from Robben Island, South Africa, 
presented by the Rey. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S. ; a Macaque 
Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus) from India, a Siamese Blue Pie 
(Urecissa magnirostris) from Siam, an American Black Snake 
CVAD Tae 
[ Sepz. 3, 1885 
(Coluber guttatus) from North America, a Smooth-headed 
Capuchin (Cebus monachus), a Squirrel Monkey (Chrysothrix 
scturea) from South America, deposited ; two Axolotls (.S7redon 
mexicanus) from Mexico, purchased ; fourteen Striped Snakes 
(Tropidonotus sirtalis), born in the Menagerie. 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 
WEEK, 1885, SEPTEMBER 6-12 
(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 September 6 
Sun rises, 5h. 22m.; souths, rth. 58m. 8°3s. ; sets, 18h. 34m. 5 
decl. on meridian, 6° 18’ N.: Sidereal Time at Sunset, 
17h. 38m. 
Moon (New on September 8) rises, 2h. 11m. ; souths, 9h. 44m. ; 
sets, 17h. 6m. ; decl. on meridian, 14° 3' N. 
Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 
by fork, h. m. h. m oe 
Mercury... 4 53 Ir 28 18 3 6 I4N. 
Venus... 8 2 14 0 19 31 6 23S. 
Marsi ie) sOng2 8 40 16 46 22 14N. 
Jupiter 530, ee T2069 eS eAg) 6 31 N. 
Satumne eee som GR 15 35 22 23N. 
* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding day. 
Sept. h. ‘ ‘ : 
8... 4 ... Mercury in conjunction with and o° 27’ 
south of the Moon. 
8 — Total eclipse of Sun, visible only in regions 
near the south pole. 
8 22 Jupiter in conjunction with Sun ; also in 
conjunction with and 1° 57’ north of the 
Moon. 
PE coo! 9) Mercury stationary. 
it Gey | Ks) Venus in conjunction with and 2° 27’ south 
of the Moon. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
Mr. GARDNER, British Consul at Newchwang, publishes with his 
annual trade report this year (China, No. 6, 1885) a most interest- 
ing account of his consular district, which embraces the whole of 
Manchuria. It contains an area of about 300,000 square miles 
and a population estimated by the Roman Catholic missionaries 
at 15,000,000. Its boundaries are, on the north, the Amour, 
separating it from Eastern Siberia, on the east the Ussuri River 
and Sihoti Mountains separating it from the Russian province of 
Primorsk, on the south the Tiumen and Yalvo Rivers separating 
it from Corea, the Yellow Sea and the Gulfof Liao-tung, on the 
west China, Mongolia, and Russian Siberia. The first part of 
the report deals with the ordinary trade and productions of 
Manchuria, and gives a summary of the statistics of foreign 
trade since the port of Newchwang was opened to trade in 
1861. The second part is devoted to geographical notes on 
Manchuria, its three provinces, Heh-lung-Kiang (or Sagalien), 
Kirin and Féngtien being taken separately. The history, 
government, military force, and divisions in towns are the heads 
under which these provinces are described. Various appendices 
contain an account of a journey from Moukden to San-sing, an 
essay on Christian missions in Manchuria, and a sketch of the 
botany of South Manchuria by Dr. Morrison. The latter is, 
from a scientific point of view, the most important part of the 
report. The lists given are defective, as the greater part of Dr. 
Morrison’s collections remain unidentified, there having been 
no opportunity of visiting herbaria or consulting published 
accounts of Northern Chinese plants. 
THE report of the Resident in the State of Selangore in the 
Malay peninsula for the past year contains some curious inform- 
ation with regard to ‘aboriginal tribes’ called the Sakeis, who 
number between 700 and 800. They are in nine divisions, 
under head-men called Batins, and they live mainly by collecting 
gutta, rattans, and other jungle produce. As far as is known 
they have no form of religious worship, but they are very super- 
stitious, believing in good and bad omens, the sacred character 
of certain birds, and they always desert a village as unlucky on 
the death of any member of the tribe. They tattoo figures on 
their arms, but apparently only for the sake of ornament, and 
