720 REPORT— 1903. 



on the margins of the Bonn maps, and that the MS. was that of the treatise on 

 geoo-raphy published in 1527, but that it included a line coloured set of unpub- 

 lished maps, closely resembling those at Bonn and Munich, but more in number 

 and somewhat more cai-efuUy executed. Particularly interesting was the fact that 

 a pair of the maps were evidently copies of the famous map of Johan Ruysch, 

 issued with the Home Ptolemy of 1508, while both the northern and southern 

 hemispheres were shown on an equal scale on the equidistant projection, the 

 southern having been given on a much reduced scale, and with the continental 

 outlines reversed, in the Bonn copy. Examination showed that the MS. was 

 the original MS. of the work (many alterations and marginal additions made 

 on it having been incorporated in the printed edition), but not the copy from 

 which the printer had worked, as further corrections and additions appear in the 

 printed volume. From the great resemblance of the maps to those at Bono, which 

 were made in 1510, and the fact that Glareanus was in correspondence with the 

 Swiss reformer, Zwingli, on the subject of geofrraphical studies in the same year, 

 it seemed probable that the treatise was first written considerably before 1527, and 

 this idea is supported by the nature of the additions made in the printed work, 

 which include references to the ' eruditus rex ' Henry Ylll. of England (whose 

 reputation for learning would have reached Glareanus at an early date, through 

 the latter's correspondence with Erasmus), and to his residence as professor at Paris, 

 which came to an end in 1521. In this case tlie exisrence of gores drawn after 

 his method in about 1515 would be explained, while in various ways the claim of 

 Glareanus to originality as a geographer would be heightened, his work being e.ff. 

 prior to the well-known treatise of Apianus, wliich first appeared in 1524. It may- 

 be noted that one of the editions of the smaller Cosmography, generally attri- 

 buted to Apianus, incorporates bodily one of the chapters of Glareanus's work. 



The history of the MS. is of interest, as its private ownership can be traced 

 back some 300 years to a member of the important Swiss family of Ott, from which 

 the present owner, Major-General E. Iteuouard James, is descended in the female 

 line through that of Kenouard. Among the other documents contained in the 

 volume is a letter from Erasmus to Glareanus, written in 1516, but this throws no 

 light on the subject of the geographical woj-k of the latter. Some or all of the 

 maps may possibly be reproduced in coloured facsimile by the R.G.S. if sufficient 

 subscribers appear likely to come forward. 



4. The Besults of the Expedition to Sokotra and Ahd-el-Kuri by Mr. W. 0. 

 Grant and Br. H. 0. Forbes. By H. O. Foebes, LL.D. 



At the meeting of the Association at Bristol in 1898 a committee, consisting 

 of Dr. Scott Keltie, Dr. Blanford, Professor Weldon, and the author, was 

 appointed to further an expedition then projected by Mr. W. 0. Grant (of the 

 British Museum) and the author, for the exploration of the islands of Sokotra 

 and Abd-el-Kuri, situated in the Gulf of Aden, and a sum of money was placed 

 at their disposal in aid of the project. The Councils of the Royal Society and 

 the Royal Geographical Society also generously assisted the expedition by grants 

 of money and instruments, while the Museums Committee of the Liverpool 

 Corporation gave substantial aid in money and by allowing the chief taxidermist 

 of the Museum to accompany the expedition. The Museums Committee under- 

 took in addition the publication of the results in a special volume of the ' Bulletin 

 of the Museums,' the quarterly periodical of these institutions. The expedition 

 left England in October 1898 and returned in March 1899. A preliminary 

 report was presented to this Association at the Dover meeting. Since then the 

 results of the expedition have been worked out and a volume containing 600 

 pages, thirty-four coloured plates, and eighty-eight illustrations in the text was 

 placed on the table. As editor of it the author had the good fortune to have 

 the co-operation of twenty distinguished specialists (in addition to tlie con- 

 tributions by Mr. Grant and himself) in working out the collections. The objects 

 of the expedition were biological (mainly) and geographical. The volume as 



