242 



NATURE 



\Jan. 8, 1880 



rested for awhile. But then who would have thought that Kufra 

 lies li° more to the south than is indicated on the maps? that 

 Kufra is the largest oasis but one of the Sahara? that of all 

 oases Kufra contains the largest uninterrupted areas of arable 

 land Are there uninterrupted areas at Fesan extending over 

 200 kilometres ? Or at Tuat, or at Tafilet? No ! And every- 

 where the finest water. There may be about 1,000,000 palm 

 trees in the oasis, and if Kufra is otherwise poor as regards 

 variety of species of plants, it is all the richer in numbers of 

 plants of one and the same species. I have not reached Wadai 

 on my tour. Thus I have not even been able to reach the basis 

 up 111 which my operations were really to begin. But it is not 

 my fault. I have the consciousness of having fully done my duty." 

 The King of Sweden has expressed his wish that after the 

 Vega has reached Naples Prof. Nordenskjbld and Lieut. 

 Patander should, on their trip overland, visit several geographical 

 societies on the continent. At Copenhagen they are to rejoin 

 their ship, and with it proceed to Stockholm. 



At the last meeting of the Halle Geographical Society, the 

 Pre-ident, Dr. Kirchhoff, announced the formation of a geo- 

 graphical' union amongst the students at that University, this 

 being the first union of the kind. It is hoped that the students 

 at other universities will imitate this commendable exam. le. 

 Later on at the same meeting Dr. Lilienfeld read a highly 

 interesting paper on the South African diamoud fields which he 

 visited last year. 



Dr. Oscar Lenz writes from Tetuan, under date of 

 November 27, as follows : — " I arrived at Tangiers in excellent 

 health. After having made excursions from this place in all 

 directions, I travelled to Tetuan, which is highly interesting and 

 situated most beautifully, and which was particularly attractive 

 to me in a geological sense. For several days past I have been 

 trying to start in a southerly direction for the Shishuaun district, 

 which has never before been visited by a Christian, but I have 

 not yet obtained permission from the Caliph ; it is stated that 

 the inhabitants are in open revolt against the Sultan, also that 

 die Kabyl tribes are extremely fanatical and will not tolerate 

 any Christians in their country. Between December 4 and S I 

 expect again to be at Tangiers, from which place I shall send a 

 detailed report of my interesting journey to the African Society. 

 Then I shall prepare for a prolonged sojourn in the interior. 

 About New Year's Day I hope to be at Fez." 



The Tanuary number of Petermaiiu's Mittkcilungen contains 

 a detailed account, by Frof. Veth, of the Dutch expedition to 

 Sumatra. He gives a statement of the literature relating to 

 Sumatra previous to the expedition, a sketch of its programme, 

 the results of Schouw Santvooit's expedition, and those of his 

 own and Hassel's journeys in Rawas, Lebong, and Lemun, 

 concluding with a sketch of the important Balang Hari river. 

 A fine large map of part of Sumatra accompanies the paper. 

 This is followed by a paper on the Sanpu river of Tibet, with 

 a map from English sources. There is also a narrative of the 

 recent voyage of the Dutch vessel, WiUem Barents to the Barents 

 Sea, also with a map, which is followed by one of Dr. Emin 

 Bey's valuable narratives, describing his journeys between the 

 Victoria and Albert Nyanza in 1S78. We are glad to see from 

 the m nthly summary that the publication of the narrative of 

 Baron \<n\ Der Decken's travels in East Africa, 1859-65, has at 

 :en concluded. 

 A grant of 4,000/. has been made by the Minister of Public 

 In traction at Paris, to the French Committee of the International 

 African Association, in order to enable them to establish two 

 stations similar to those which the Belgian expeditions are about 

 to found in Eastern Africa. One of these will be placed in the 

 we region, and will probably be under the command of M. 

 Savorgnan de Brazzn, already well known for his explorations in 

 that quarter. It is expected that the other station will be 

 established in Usagara, on the eastern side of the continent. It 

 had previously been proposed that M. de Brazza should lead an 

 dition from the Gaboon towards Lake Chad, and it is not 

 impossible that there may be some further modification of the 

 present projects. 



In the letters which, after long delays, have at length reached 

 the London Missionary Society from Ujiji, Mr. Hore gives some 

 account of his explorations on Lake Tanganyika and its adjacent 

 rivers. In March apparently lie explored the coasts of Ujiji, 

 Ukaranga, and Ukawendi, and the Malagarasi and Kibwe rivers. 

 At the end of April he started on another voyage, during which 



he visited Uguhha and explored the mouth of the Lukuga River; 

 this he declares is the veritable outlet of the lake. Mr. Hore 

 descended the river in a canoe as far as where the Mitwanse — ■ 

 now swept away — used to be, and landed at Stanley's farthest. 

 He then walked for six hours, and mounted the Kijanka ridge, 

 which is farther down the river than Stanley places it. He 

 slept there, getting the latitude by stars and good bearings ; and 

 from above where he landed he had a glorious bird's-eye view 

 of the river far into Urua. He states that the so-called Lukuga 

 Creek is a wide and very swift river. With regard to Uguhha,. 

 Mr. Hore says that, by general consent, it is the gateway from 

 Lake Tanganyika to the west. 



The new number of the Geographical Society's periodical 

 contains only one paper, Capt. A. H. Markham's account of his 

 Arctic cruise of 1S79, in the Barents Sea ; it has been rendered 

 inordinately long by the introduction of many pages of irrelevant 

 matter. It has, however, a redeeming feature, in that it is illus- 

 trated by two useful maps. 



The new Bulletin of the Belgian Geographical Society fur- 

 nishes some interesting information in its "Chronique Ge'o- 

 graphique," more particularly in regard to the various expeditions 

 of the International African Association, from which we gather 

 that another expedition will before long leave Zanzibar for the 

 interior. It is especially worthy of note, however, that no 

 information is allowed to leak out respecting Mr. H. M. 

 Stanley's proceedings on the Lower Congo, on which subject and 

 his plans the Central Committee maintains a di creet silence. 



We have received Parts 9, 10, and II of the new edition of 

 Stieler's Hand Atlas. 



PHYSICAL NOTES 



We learn that Mr. Edison is attempting to construct a port- 

 able electric lamp which shall, including the constant battery 

 employed to generate the current, be no larger than an ordinary 

 moderator lamp. 



The Scientific American states that the story of Edison's tele- 

 phone having been used over 2,oco miles of line is incorrect ; 

 the messages were transmitted over the greater part of the line 

 by telegraph, and only over the last few miles in Pennsylvania 

 by telephone. 



A measuring polariscope, specially adapted for examining 

 the angles between the optic axes of crystals upon the plan 

 suggested a few months ago by Prof. W. G. Adams, has been 

 constructed by Ilerr E. Schneider, and is described in Carl's 

 Repertorhtm. 



The study of the spirit level has been continued by M. 

 Plantamour. lie has shown that the bubble of very accurately 

 adjusted levels is continually moving ; indicating a continual 

 gently rising and falling of the earth's crust. 



A singular phenomenon of atmospheric electricity during a 

 snow storm was observed at Cherbourg on November 20, 

 by M. Delamare. At about half-past five in the evening the 

 snow-flakes fell so quickly that it was perfectly dark. M. Dela- 

 mare, walking along under the shelter of his umbrella, heard a 

 faint buzzing sound as of insects flying around, and at the same 

 moment observed a pale luminous "brush" proceeding from the 

 extremity of each of the ribs of his umbrella. On extending 

 er towards one rib the brush- discharges ceased, and he 

 received a continuous stream of faint sparks. It would be 

 interesting to learn whether the handle of the umbrella was of 

 ivory or any material of specially good insulating properties. 



M. Guebhard has recently shown an elegant method of procur- 

 ing iridescent rings in a permanent form. These rings, w hich are, 

 like Newton's rings, due to interference giving rise to the " colours 

 of thin plates," differ however from Newton's rings in reversing the 

 order of the colours, that corresponding to greatest thickness being 

 at the centre. M. Guebhard drops a little collodion on to the 

 surface of mercury. It is drawn out on all sides into a thin film of 

 iridescent hue, which when hard may be floated off on to paper. 

 Ten years ago the writer of this note similarly fixed on paper 

 iridescent films obtained by dropping mastic varnish on to the 

 surface of water. M. Guebhard produces similar rings, though 

 of no permanency, with drops of volatile mineral oil on the 

 surface of mercury, or even by the film of moisture condensed 

 from the breath. At the meeting of the Sgciiti de Physique 

 of Paris, on December 5, these experiments were shown by pro- 



