596 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 8}>. 



full activity. Although of such great length, these 

 Himalayan glaciers could never have reached the 

 enormous thickness which the earlier alpine glaciers 

 attained. 



Two periods of glacial extension are clearly de- 

 fined, separated by a milder interval of climate. 

 During the earlier glacial period the Indus valley was 

 filled with those extensive lacustrine and fluviatile 

 deposits, mixed with large angular debris, such as we 

 see at Scardo, which may be coeval with the extreme 

 extension of the alpine erratics, so far as the miocene 

 hills south of Turin. 



The second period followed after a long interval of 

 denudation of the same beds, and would correspond 

 with the last extension of the great moraines of 

 Xvrea, JXaggiore, Como, etc., followed by a final re- 

 treat to nearly present smaller dimensions. jSfowhere 

 on the south of the Himalaya do we find valleys 

 presenting any featiu'es similar to those of the 

 southern Alps, particularly on the Italian lakes, 

 which are, X believe, the result, in the first place, of 

 marine denudation, succeeded by that of depression, 

 and finally powerful ice-action. 



This attempt to bring before you some of the great 

 changes in the geography of Europe and Asia must 

 now be brought to an end. I am only sorry it is not 

 in more able hands than mine to treat it in the 

 manner it deserves, and in better and more eloquent 

 language; but it is a talent given to but few men 

 (sometimes to a Lyell or a Darwin) to explain clearly 

 and in an interesting form the great and gradual 

 changes the surface of the earth has passed through. 

 The study of those changes must create in our minds 

 humble admiration of the great Creator's sublime 

 work, and it is in such a spirit that I now submit for 

 your consideration the subject of this address. 



FRENCH GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORA- 

 TIONS.^ 



Since the last re-union of our societies, we have 

 seen the complete success of the French expedition 

 to observe the transit of Venus. This phenomenon, 

 important for astronomy, which requires a unity of 

 measurement of the celestial spaces, should also be 

 of interest to geography, for the unity sought is the 

 correct distance of the sun from the earth. We 

 already know the distance of the moon from the 

 earth, about ninety-six thousand leagues, of which I 

 can easily form an idea, as it is the distance I have 

 traversed by land and sea since 1854, the time that I 

 commenced my isthmus travels. " The French expe- 

 dition sent to foreign parts to observe the transit of 

 Venus has obtained a great and well-earned success, 

 of which they are justly entitled to be proud." So 

 says one of the most eminent French savants, Mr. 

 Dumas, who has largely contributed to that success. 



It now remains, and it is not the least ditficult part 

 of the task, to compare the results obtained, in order 

 to submit to a delicate analysis the infinitesimal 

 differences, which correspond to errors of hundreds 



1 Address by Ferdinand de Lesseps before tbe geographi- 

 cal congress at Douai. Translated from Cosmoa-les-moiides, vi. 

 91, 121. 



of kilometres, in the distance sought. Savants have, 

 it is true, more than a century to make use of the 

 observations of 1882; for the phenomenon will not 

 take place again till the year 2U04. 



At the extreme east of Europe we find in process 

 of execution a work whereby modern science shall 

 again assert her superiority by a success which the 

 ancients gave up. Throngh the initiative of Gen. 

 Tiirr, the Isthmus of Corinth is at this moment being 

 cut, which will shorten by about two hundred and 

 fifty kilometres, on an average, the voyage between 

 the eastern and western parts of the north of the 

 Mediterranean. In the course of the present year, 

 the two plains at the side of the Gulf of Aegina and 

 the Bay of Corinth will be cut away, and workmen 

 will attack the solid mass of forty-seven metres, 

 which it is desired to cut away to eight metres below 

 the level of the sea. It is, in minimo, the cut of the 

 Isthmus of Panama, the length of which is seventy- 

 three kilometres instead of six kilometres; that is, 

 double the distance between the garden of the Tuille- 

 ries and the Arc de Triomphe in the fitoile at Paris. 

 Some distance north of Corinth, there is unfolding 

 another episode of the struggle between these two 

 rival powers, the earth and man. There the work 

 has begun which will transform a marshy lake Into 

 fertile plains. In a few years, broad Lake Copais will 

 sufier the fate of Lake Fucino, Lake Fessara, Lake 

 de Harlem, and the marsh of Pinsk. 



There is still a fourth isthmus to cut. The king of 

 Siam has authorized a survey for a maritime canal on 

 his territory, between the Indian Ocean and the seas 

 of China and Cochin China. The object is to escape 

 the dangerous Strait of Malacca, and gain six hundred. 

 leagues from Europe to the extreme east. 



In Arabia, Mr. Charles Huber, who two years ago- 

 successfully accomplished a mission for tbe minister 

 of public instruction, has resumed the journey he 

 made so fortunately ; but he wishes to proceed farther 

 than at that time he was able. At present he is at 

 Palmyra, copying rare inscriptions; and, this com- 

 pleted, he will set out for Hall, for the Nedjed, and 

 perhaps farther if circumstances favor his energy and 

 firm will. The Arabian peninsula is one of the fields 

 of study where French science has a long standing 

 and very honorable record. We can but hope that Mr^ 

 Huber may show himself worthy of his predecessors.. 

 In the extreme east, Cochin China and Tonquin' 

 have been most recently explored by the French, and 

 I should like to recount the discoveries of Dr. N^is 

 and Lieut. Saptans at the sources of the Donnai. The 

 former is at present en route for the region which he 

 has already visited. Ethnography and anthropology, 

 which are his special objects of study, will no doubt, 

 acquii-e new information, full and exact, from Dr. 

 Nfiis's present journey. The study of the ancient- 

 civilizations and of epigraphy engages the attention 

 of Capt. Aymonier, who has just finished a fruitful 

 exploration at Cambodia. The parcels recently sent 

 to the museum of the Trocadero testify to the im- 

 portance of the results gathered by Mr. Aymonier, 

 who is one of the most distinguished, perhaps the 

 most distinguished, representatives of Indo-Chinese 



