658 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 46. 



systematic training. In commenting on 

 the proceedings of the geographical section, 

 Nature says (October 3) : " The characteris- 

 tic of the meeting was the exceptionally 

 scientific value of the papers, which dealt 

 less with exploration than with research." 



MOTTNTAIiS^S KST> LOWLAXDS OF GREECE. 



Philippson continues his studies of classic 

 ground (Reisen und Forschungen in Nord- 

 Griechenland, Zeitschr. GeseU. f. Erdk., 

 Berlin, xxx, 1895, 135-225; geol. and topogr. 

 maps), telling of his journey along bad 

 roads over half-barren mountain ridges, 

 where the slopes are washed by intermittent 

 torrents which carry gravel down to the 

 valleys and bays. Settlements are chiefly 

 found on the alluvial plains thus formed. 

 Near the mountain foot the plains are 

 stony and barren; further toward the sea 

 the detritus is finer and fertile. This note 

 suggests a reference, even if somewhat be- 

 lated, to Philippson's work on Peloponnesus 

 (Berlin, Friedlander, 1892, 643 p., geol. and 

 hypsom. maps). The most striking physio- 

 graphic features of Greece are there sum- 

 marized; a varied relief of apparently con- 

 fused changes from short ridges to deep de- 

 pressions, from steep gorges to basin-like 

 plains. This confusion results from the oc- 

 currence of complex zones of faulting in a 

 previously folded mountain structure, pro- 

 ducing a very diversified system of divides 

 and water courses. There is no culmina- 

 ting range; no dominating divide, no ex- 

 tended vallej^ trough; but, on the other hand, 

 there is a large number of individual areas, 

 not hermetically separated, but yet sharf)ly 

 divided (453-455). Many of the strik- 

 ing relations between form and history are 

 pointed out. Geological structure, topog- 

 raphy and climate are discussed with much 

 care. The extraordinarily irregular coast, 

 along which the sea penetrates far into the 

 land, is due to a general depression of the 

 region. The prevalence of ' j^otamogenous ' 



— river-formed — coast lines is shown to be 

 dependent on the protected character of the 

 shore, into whose quiet waters the steep 

 torrents wash the waste from the moun- 

 tains, building the land out into the sea. 

 W. M. Davis. 

 Harvard University. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 



It is announced by Prof. E. C. Pickering 

 that for some years the need has been felt 

 at the Harvard College Observatory of some 

 means of making a more prompt announce- 

 ment of the results of its work. It is pro- 

 posed, therefore, to issue a series of circu- 

 lars, as required, to announce any matters 

 of interest, such as discoveries made, the 

 results of recent observations, new plans 

 of work, and gifts or bequests. It is not 

 proposed to give these circulars a wide dis- 

 tribution, but rather to use them as a 

 means of bringing new facts to the atten- 

 tion of the editors of astronomical and 

 other periodicals, and thus secure the im- 

 mediate publication of such portions as 

 would be of interest to the readers of these 

 periodicals. The distribution will be made 

 without charge to such persons as will be 

 likely to use the results. 



The first of these circulars, issued on Oc- 

 tober 30th, is on 'A New Star in Carina.' 

 From an examination of the Draper Mem- 

 orial photographs taken at the Ariquipa 

 Station of the Observatory, Mrs. Fleming 

 has discovered that a new star appeared in 

 the constellation Carina in the spring of 

 1895. A pliotograph, B 13027, taken on 

 April 14, 1895, with an exposure of 60 min- 

 utes, shows a peculiar specti-um in which 

 the hydrogen lines II/3, H;-, Ho, Hs and H^ 

 are bright, and the last four of these are ac- 

 companied by dark lines of slightly shorter 

 wave-length. A conspicuous dark line also 

 appears about midway between H;- and Hd. 

 A comparison of the spectrum of this star 



