593 



NATURE 



\_April 22, 1880 



January 27, 22 ... 309 49 ... 109 33 ... - o 32 ... +1 15 

 28, o ... 310 1 ... 109 49 ... - o 25 ... +1 32 

 28, 2 ... 310 13 ... no 4 ... - o 17 ... + 1 48 

 2S, 4 ... 310 26 ... no iS ... - o 10 ... + 2 4 

 The following expressions for the comet's heliocentric co- 

 ordinates to be combined with the X, Y, Z of the Nautical 

 Almanac, apply to the same orbit, and may be useful to some of 

 our readers in the other hemisphere who have occasion to learn 

 the right ascension and declination of the nucleus in examining 

 their observations of the track of the tail before the head was 

 visible : — 



x = r [9-99922] sin {v + 8 397) 

 y = ;■ [9'9go79] sin (v + 279 220) 

 » = r [9-32714] sin (»+ S2 39-9) 

 >■ is the radius-vector and v the true anomaly. 



A New Comet. — A telegram to the Astronomer-Royal 

 notifies the discovery of a cimet at Ann Arbor, Michigan, on 

 April 6, at uh. Washington time, in right ascension 7I1. 20111., 

 and declination S4° 25' ; daily motion in right a cension, - 30m. ; 

 in declination, -4S'; tail, 3'. From a telegram to the Academy 

 of Sciences at Vienna, the name of the discoverer would appear 

 to be Schaberle. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 The gold medals of the Royal Geographical Society have just 

 been awarded as follows : — I. To Lieut. A. Louis Talander, of the 

 Swedish Royal Navy, in recognition of the services he has 

 rendered to geographical science as commander of the Vega in 

 the Swedish Arctic expedition under Prof. Nordenskjbld, during 

 which he safely navigated the ship along the unsurveyed shores 

 of the Asiatic continent for nearly 3,000 miles, and took the 

 leading part in charting the coasts of Northern Asia. 2. To 

 Mr. Ernest Giles for leading four great expeditions and several 

 minor ones in Australia, and for his route-surveys, geol igical 

 and botanical collections, and published descriptions of his 

 various journeys. A gold testimonial watch was voted to Bishop 

 Samuel Crowther for his services to geography in the Niger 

 region during the past forty years, and for having aided various 

 expeditions on that river between 1S41 and 1S57. Prof. 

 Nordenskjbld, having received a gold medal in 1S69, was. we 

 believe, in accordance VI ith all precedents, ineligible for another, 

 but, as we have already recorded, he has been elected an honorary 

 corresponding member — an honour accorded to Mr. H. M. 

 Stanley under analogous circumstances. The Council of the 

 Society of Arts at their last meeting elected Prof. Nordenskjbld 

 an honorary life member of the Society in consideration of the 

 services rendered to science by his recent explorations. 



Mount Naiguata, in the Venezuelan coast-chain near 

 Caracas, and at a short distance towards the east from the 

 Silla, was ascended by a party from Caracas, August 24 last 

 year. Its height was fcr the first time carefully determined 

 by Lie. A. Aveledo and Dr. Man. V. Diaz. The barometrical 

 reading on the top was 55l"20mm. (reduced to freezing point), 

 thermometer being at 13 C. At the same time observation:. 

 made in Caracas (Colegio de .Santa Maria) gave: Barom. 

 6S3'44mm. ; therm. 24 'S, which makes Naiguata 1,85: metres 

 higher than the liwer station, and as this place is 930 metres 

 over sea-level, the total height of Naiguata is 2,782 metres, or 

 9, 130 Eng. feet. 1 >r. A . Ernst made botanical and other collec- 

 tions. The rock, wherever it is not covered by vegetation, is 

 amphibolic gneiss, with much quartz, and therefore very hard. 

 A swift (Chetura totalis, Sclat.) was frequent on the top, 1 ut it 

 could not be discovered whether it was nesting there. In the 

 stomach of one specimen a large number of wasps were found. 

 Of beetles there were some Platyomus, a Fttrostichus, and a 

 few Chrysomelida, crowded together with some wasps in a 

 narrow cleft between two large stones. Not very far from the 

 top a specimen of what appears to be the moss insect described 

 by Belt ("Naturalist in Nicaragua," p. 3S2) was caught, 

 clinging to the bark of a stem, which was thickly covered 

 ierd utiJulata, Hedw., the likeness between the insect 

 and the branches of the moss being indeed very striking. No 

 butterfly was seen, though there was an abundance of flowering 

 plants ; nor were there any land-shells, which was to be expected, 

 on account of the total absence of limestone. Amongst notable 



plants growing on the higher part of the mountain the following 

 may be mentioned : — Arcnaria nemprosa, H.B.K., Acirna, sp.D. 

 (allied to A. cylindros'.achya, Cav.* and A. macrorhka. Hook.), 

 Berhcris aurahuacensis, Ch. Lem. (after Sir J. D. Hooker; the 

 plate in Van Houtte's, ' ' Flore des Serres" iv. tab. 334, however, 

 does not agree ; it looks very much like B. guilache, Tr. et PI.), 

 Liabum hastifolium, Poepp., Ilicracium avila, H.B.K., Cna- 

 pltalium incamtm, H.B.K., Myrsine ciliata, II.B.K. (the only 

 woody plant which reaches the top), Sphacelc, sp. n., Sipho- 

 campylus microstoma. Hook., Anthricum coarctatum, R. et P., 

 Arthrostylidium longijlorum, Munro, Epidenlrum alpicolum, 

 Reichb. (several specimens were seen with racemes ten to twelve 

 inches long, and sending forth a sweet vanilla-like smell). It 

 must be remembered that Mount Naiguata was ascended some 

 years ago by the late Mr. James Mudie Spence, of Manchester, 

 and his party. 



We tale the following from the Times of India .-—It is said 

 that Major Biddulpb, stationed on the Kashmir boundary, has 

 prepared a report upon the cu-toms, the languages, and the folk- 

 lore of the singular commun'ties among whom he has been 

 residing for a long time. "From Major Biddulph's peculiar 

 advantages and opportunities may be expected," says the 

 Pioneer, "a complete account of people who are a survival of 

 the old Aryans, from whom all civilised mankind of the present 

 day is probably descended. Surgeon-Major Bellew, meanwhile, 

 has been examining a few men from the cantons on the south- 

 west of Dardistan, peopled by a similarrace, who in one respect are 

 still more interesting, for their country has never yet been visited 

 by a civilised traveller. But in appearance and language they 

 closely resemble the Dards, and, unlike them, have not embraced 

 the creed of their Mahomedan neighbours. The tongues spoken 

 in all these hills are, for the most part, Aryan ; not descended 

 from Sanskrit, and, indeed, of earlier origin than that classical 

 language. On the northern slopes of the mountains Parsee 

 words prevail in the southern cantons. Some of the words 

 resemble Greek, some Latin, some those of modern Europe. 

 Thev make, and freely consume, grape wine, something like a 

 crude Burgundy. Those who are not Mussulmans believe in one 

 G )d, but employ the intercession of minor p jwers, rei resented by 

 images. They also occasionally canonise great men whom they 

 have lost by death. They are usually monogamous, opposed to 

 divorce, and strict defenders of the chastity of their unmarried 

 girls. The=e latter have blue, grey, or hazel eyes ; black hair is 

 the exception amongst them, and, when young, they are of such 

 remarkable comeliness as to be in great demand in the slave 

 markets of adjacent countries. Authentic information concerning 

 these interesting races cannot but be anxiously awaited by all 

 who realise the nature of the questions involved." 



The Rev. C. T. Wilson, of the Church Missionary Society's 

 upedition, who has just arrived in England via Egypt, 

 from Lake Victoria, will read a paper on " Uganda and its 

 People," at the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on 

 Monday next. Great interest will attach to this meeting, owing 

 to the expected presence at it of the three Waganda ch 



ipanicd Mr. Wilson as a deputation from KingMtesa. 



Further details are to hand as to the projected Italian Ant- 

 arctic Expedition, under Lieut. Bove and Commendatore Negri. 

 Committees for subscriptions have been started in the chief 

 Italian towns and the clonics, and it is hoped the expedition 

 will be ready to sail in May, 1SS1. From the Shctlands the 

 cvii diti 'ii will *-eer t 1 the south-west, and endeavour to "pene- 

 trate a line of land which was observed by Dallman, a Hamburg 

 whaler, some few years since. Thence a movement will be 



irds the land where Bellinghau-en marked the lofty 



Alexander and Peter, and the weste n lands observed 

 by Wilkes in 1S39. At this point a serious discussion mustarbe 

 as to future movements. It would be desirable to coast along 



of Bellinghausen if there were any appearance of a 



"continued ma's," steam for the back of the i-lands which 



Wilkes believed to exi.^t, and thus enter on the south of Ross's 



Sea, where the winter might be srent. Should, however, cxpec- 



disappointed, the winter might be passed on the 



1 en land, and preparations might be made for entering 

 Ross's Sea. The voyagers think that with a strong vessel it 

 would not be impossible to penetrate beyond Ross's Sea, and 

 complete the studies which were made of the flora, the fauna, 

 and the mineralogy of the Antarctic region. Having examined 

 the^e lands and seas, it is proposed to move towards Adele, dis- 

 covered by D'Urville in 1S40, and here it is thought it might be 



