November 8, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



617 



may at once introduce in their reductions 

 my expressions of the diurnal nutation, em- 

 ploying the constants: 



V = 0".07, Lo = 1''.5 E. from Greenwich. 

 My formulae are, in the meridian : 



Aa = — tg 6 {n '^, + f S^). 

 A(5 = -f Si + ^S, 

 s'^ = 1^ sill ( 2 L + a) ; ?/ ::= i- cos (2 L + a) ; 

 L =: Lo + A 



A denoting the longitude of the observatory, 

 W. from Greenwich. 



2i = — 1.155 — 0.134 cos fi + 0.36 cos 2 O 



+ 0.82cos2(i: + 0.14cos(2C— Q)— 0.13cos( C— r') 



2^ = —0.18 sin S2 + 0.39 sin 2 © + 0.89 sin 2 1 + 



0.18 sin (2C-Q) 



+ 0.07 sin (3C-r') + 0.07 sin ( (L-r'), 



where the arguments are true longitudes.* 



F. FOLIE, 

 DlEECTEUE DE L'OBSERVATOIEE EOYAL DE BEL- 

 GIQUE. 



CURRENT NOTES ON PHYSIOGRAPHY {XVII. ). 

 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. 



The last few years have added much to 

 our knowledge of this inhospitable region. 

 Besides the Bowdoin expedition to the 

 Grand falls of the Hamilton river, Low 

 and Eaton, of the Canadian Geological Sur- 

 vey, traversed the interior by several routes 

 (London Geogr. Jour., June, 1895, 513-533, 

 map) and Bell, of the same survey, gives 

 an excellent summary of his own explora- 

 tions and of all available material (Scot. 

 Geogr. Mag., July, 1895, 335-361, map). 

 Labrador is a moderately elevated plateau, 

 averaging 1,800 feet above the sea, of Ar- 

 chsean i-ocks; hilly, interspersed with many 

 lakes and swamps, and having a surface of 

 bare rocks, alternating with numerous and 

 large boulders and other glacial debris. 



* The constant term of S indicates that each star 

 position of every catalogue must he corrected witli 

 A a =a'^081 tan (S cos (2 L + a), A (J =— 0".081 sin 

 {2 L -\- a). The last form of correction has been de- 

 tected empirically by Gould in his own catalogue of 

 Cordoba, and has allowed me to reduce greatlj' the 

 systematic differences noticed by Downing between 

 the catalogues of Greenwich, the Cape and Melbourne. 

 (See Annuaire for 1894, p. 348 and 372. ) 



Mountains rise along the northeast, north 

 and northwest border, the loftiest being the 

 first named, with summits reputed tobe8,000 

 or 9,000 feet high. These present steep sides 

 and jagged crests, and are believed to have 

 escaped the glaciation that ground so heavily 

 over the rest of the region. The largest of 

 the numerous lakes in the interior plateau 

 — Mistassini — is a hundred miles long. 

 Many lakes have two outlets. The rivers 

 on the plateau do not flow in deep or well 

 defined valleys, but are prone to spread 

 over the country in straggling channels; 

 branches turn off unexpectedlj' on either side 

 and, after an independent course of fromfive 

 to fifty miles, rejoin the main channel. Ev- 

 ery river is broken throughout its whole 

 course by falls and rapids at irregular but 

 generally short intervals, thus necessitating 

 many portages in canoe traveling. Can- 

 yons like that of Hamilton river, and fjords 

 like that of the Saguenay, are explained 

 by Bell as the sites of deep-weathered dykes, 

 cleaned oitt by glacial action. Grand falls 

 on the Hamilton occur where this river 

 plunges down the side of the canj^on, which 

 continues for twenty-five miles to the north- 

 west, although not occupied there by any 

 considerable stream. Eecently elevated 

 beaches occur along the eastei'u coast, up to 

 500 feet above the sea. Excepting in the 

 north, the plateau is generally forest cov- 

 ered, but the trees seldom reach two feet, 

 and are generally less than one foot in 

 diameter. Great loss is caused by forest 

 fires. The population is very scanty; 18,000 

 total, or about one to thirty square miles ; 

 and most of these live near the St. Law- 

 rence and Atlantic coasts. About a thou- 

 sand schooners, many of which carry sev- 

 eral families, go from ISTewfoundland to the 

 Atlantic coast to fish in the summer. 



TRANSVERSE VALLEYS IN THE SOUTHERN ALPS. 



FtJTTEEER concludes a careful study of 

 the ' Durchbruchsthaler in den Siid-Alpen ' 



