TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION E. 627 



2. A Netv Form oj Tacheometer or Range Finder. 

 By E. A. Reeves, F.B.A.S. 



This instrument consists of an ordinary inverting telescope mounted on a 

 slide, much like the bed-plate of a lathe, the whole being supported by a tripod- 

 stand. In the diaphragm of the telescope are two vertical wires, and the distance 

 of an object is obtained by first turning the telescope with the slide until the 

 object is made to coincide with the left-hand wire, and then moving the telescope 

 along the slide until the same object appears exactly on the right-hand wire. 

 The length of the slide necessary to bring the object from one wire to the other 

 gives the distance at sight, the amount of slide being in direct proportion to the 

 distance of the object. Instead of the telescope being fitted with fixed wires and 

 carried on a movable slide, the instrument may be so arranged that the base is a 

 fixed length, having a telescope at each end fitted with a vertical and horizontal 

 wire, the right-hand telescope having an additional movable vertical wire, made 

 to move across the diaphragm by means of an ordinary micrometer screw. To use 

 this form of the instrument, as before, turn the rod, until the vertical wire of the 

 left-hand telescope intersects the object observed ; then, looking through tlie right- 

 hand telescope, turn the head of the micrometer until the movable wire also 

 intersects the object, when the numbers registered on the drum of the micrometer, 

 aided, if desired, by a table, will give the distance of the object. Errors in adjust- 

 ment or those caused through imperfections in the lenses, will be eliminated if, 

 after taking the first observation, the operation is repeated with the telescopes 

 and base reversed, as in ' face left ' and ' face right ' readings with a theodolite. 

 Either form of the instrument can be fitted to a theodolite. 



3. A Journey in the Centred Himalayas and Adjacent Parts of Tibet. 

 By T. G. LoNGSTAFF, M.A., M.B. 



This journey was undertaken during tie summer (May to October) of 1905, 

 The primary object was mountaineering, and the writer was accompanied by an 

 Italian alpiue guide and a porter. The distance travelled was about a thousand 

 miles. Kumaon was first visited, and the eastern glaciers of the Nanda Devi 

 group were explored, heights of over 20,000 feet being attained by the party. 

 The extreme north-west corner of Nepal was next visited, in order to examine the 

 glaciers to tlie north of Nampa. By the kindness of the Indian Government the 

 party were allowed to accompany Mr. C. A. Sherring on his political mission to 

 Western Tibet. 



Entering this country by the Lipu Lekh Pass (16,780 feet), Purang (Taklakot) 

 was reached on July 15. Leaving the mission here, the writer spent a week on 

 Gurla Mandhata (25,350 feet), reaching heights of about 23,000 feet. The 

 glaciers and valleys of this group do not seem to have been previously visited. 

 Rejoining the mission at Mansarowar Lake, the whole party passed along the 

 neck of land separating that lake from Rakas Tal, and examined the channel, seen 

 by the brothers Strachey, between the two lakes. 



Passing close to the sources of the Satlej, the two parties separated at Missar, Mr. 

 Sherring proceeding to Gartok, and the writer making his way to Gyanema, and 

 thence to Shipchilam. On August 28 the Chor Hoti Pass (18,500 feet) was crossed 

 into Garhwal. Following the course of the Dauli River, Gwaldam was reached 

 in September, and at the beginning of October a reconnaissance was made up the 

 Kuramtoli glacier at the foot of Trisul. 



4. The Climate of the Wheat Area of Central Canada. 

 , By Professor L. W. Lydb. 



In this area we have a typically continental climate modified by latitude and 

 lakes: a long summer day, slow rotation of earth, chinook winds. The operation 

 of these factors is seen in the character of the forest. 



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