266 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. Xo. 35. 



of plants. Thougli left iucomplete, it is a 

 storehouse of information and suggestion. 



Since then, prehistoric science has taken 

 a long stride, and that branch of it devoted 

 to the studj^ of the vegetation which sur- 

 rounded primitive man and his early cul- 

 ture-plants has not been neglected. We 

 have but to remember what a conspicuous 

 feature it is in the mooted question of the 

 origin of the Arj'ans to see the value at- 

 tached to it by thoughtful students. 



In America, Dr. Harshberger, of the TJni- 

 vei'sity of Pennsylvania, has contributed a 

 searching study to maize, and others have 

 traced the archteologic history of tobacco, 

 mandioca, etc. A work which has just ap- 

 peared in Europe from the competent pen 

 of Dr. George Buschan takes up the culti- 

 vated and useful plants found in the pre- 

 historic sites of the old world, both Europe 

 and Asia (Vorgeschichtliche Botanik der 

 Cultur und Nutzpflanzen der Alteu Welt, 

 auf Grund Prahistorischer Funde, J. TJ. 

 Kern, Breslau, 1895). He has prepared for 

 it by a ten years' study of the collections in 

 various museums and in private hands, and 

 has received the aid of most of the eminent 

 archffiologists of Europe. His results enable 

 the student for the first time to estimate 

 correctly the value and meaning of much 

 of the material collected. 



D. G. Bbinton. 



University of Pennsylvania. 



CUBBENT NOTES ON PHYSIOGBAPHY [XV.). 

 LAKES IN THE AUSTRIAN ALPS. 



An atlas of the lakes in the Austrian 

 Alps, prepared under the direction of Pro- 

 fessors Penck, of the University of Vienna, 

 and Richter, of the University of Graz, be- 

 gins with a folio on the Lakes of the Salz- 

 kammergut, sounded by Simony and drawn 

 by Mullner, and lately published by Holzel, 

 of Vienna. The text by Mullner will con- 

 stitute a number of Penck's Georjniphlsche 

 Abhandlungen, to be issued shortly . A second 



number of the atlas will be by Richter, con- 

 cerning the more eastern Alpine lakes. 

 The eighteen maps now published are on a 

 scale of 1: 25,000; the land tinted in two or 

 three shades of buff, the water in several 

 shades of blue. The land has contours, 

 generally at 20-meter interval; the water 

 has the original sounding and the con- 

 jectural contours for every ten meters. 

 Numerous true scale sections are added. 



In this connection mention may be made 

 of the atlas of French lakes by A. Dele- 

 becque, published by the French Ministry 

 of Public Works, 1892-93 (Paris, Baudry), 

 with maps ou scales of 1: 10,000 and 1: 

 20,000, for which a text is annouBced as 

 forthcoming. The land surface is here left 

 blank. 



LOFTY BALLOONING IN GERMANY. 



The scientific skill of the Germans in lofty 

 ballooning is only exceeded by the height 

 of their ascents. The ' Cirrus,' fitted with 

 automatic meteorological instruments and 

 despatched without an observer, reached 

 heights of 16,325 m. above sea level on 

 July 7, and 18,500 m. on September 6, 1894; 

 the minimum recorded pressures being 85 

 and 59 mm., and temperatures, — 53° and 

 — 67 °C. It is thought that these extremely 

 low temperatures are nevertheless not so 

 low as they should have been; the mechan- 

 ical aspiration for the thermometer being 

 regarded as insufficient. The heights are 

 calculated with careful regard to tempera- 

 ture, thus making them less than the val- 

 ues that would be given by rough calcula- 

 tion, such as has been used bj^ certain other 

 aeronauts. 



The ' Phoenix ' carried Gross and Berson 

 to a height of 7,930 m. on May 11, 1894; 

 but this altitude was much exceeded by the 

 ascent of Berson alone on December 4, to 

 9,150 m. above sea level, where the tempera- 

 ture was -47.9°C. Berson prepared himself 

 for this extraordinary lliglit by a good 



