276 
drift, the most fertile part of the plains; water 
is here plenty in sma]l lakes. The peculiar 
drainage system of the Andean region is ex- 
plained chiefly by the Pliocene depression and 
elevation of a previously dissected mountain 
range. Glacial erosion is not especially con- 
sidered as contributing to the present topog- 
raphy. W. M. Davis. 
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 
DURING the past year, L. Camerano has pub- 
lished (in Afti della R. Accademia delle Scienze 
di Torino, Vol. XXXV., and Arch. Ital. de 
Biol, Vol, XXXIII., fase. 2) papers on the ‘so- 
matic coefficient.’ These are based on a plea 
made by Andres that ichthyologists and others 
express the proportion of parts of the body not 
in relation to any other convenient organ, as is 
often done, but rather in thousandths of the 
total body length. Thus, if # is the proportion 
to be expressed, / is the observed dimension, 
and L is the total length of the body, in milli- 
1,000 10,000 
ae 1. Tal 
is the somatic coefficient and is constant for all 
organs of the body. Camerano makes the sug- 
gestion that the number 360, being readily divis- 
ible by more integers, is preferable to 1,000 and 
he publishes a convenient table of values of 
The factor 
meters, then, 
« 
L 
to be hoped, however, that those who express 
the dimension of organs in multiples of the 
somatic coefficient will not fail to give also the 
absolute lengths of the organs, as these are of 
no less importance. (4 18, 1D. 
for every quarter unit from 1 to 360. It is 
In describing to the Zoological Society of 
London, on January 15th, =the collection of 
fishes brought home from Lakes Tanganyika 
and Kivu by the Tanganyika exploring ex- 
pedition, under the leadership of Mr. J. E. S. 
Moore, Mr. G. A. Boulenger pointed out that 
the study of this important collection did not 
modify the conclusions embodied in his first 
report published in 1898. The exploration of 
Lake Kivu had thrown no light on the origin 
of the Tanganyikan fauna; the smaller lake 
proved to be very thinly populated with fishes, 
which all belonged to widely distributed genera, 
SCIENCE. 
(N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 320. 
the species showing a mixture of Nile and 
Tanganyika elements, with two that might 
prove to be endemic. The list of the fishes 
from the two lakes comprised 91 species, 74 of 
which had been named by the author. The 
collection now described consisted of examples 
of 50 species, 26 of which were new to science, 
2 being made the types of additional genera of 
the family Cichlide. 
A BILL ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL OBSER- 
VATORY. 
WE are now able to publish the text of the 
bill introduced into the Senate by Mr. Morgan_ 
on January 21st. The provisions seem to be 
all that could be asked, and it is to be hoped 
that men of science will unite in urging its 
passage. Personal letters to members of Con- 
gress and resolutions adopted by societies and 
institutions and forwarded to the Committee on 
Naval Affairs are the most effective way to 
The bill is intended ‘ to 
organize the National Observatory of the United 
advocate the measure. 
States’ and reads as follows: 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
bled, That the United States Naval Observatory shall 
hereafter be known as the National Observatory of 
the United States, and shall be governed by a Direc- 
tor thereof, who shall report directly to, and be under 
the supervision of, the Secretary of the Navy. 
SEcTION 2, That the Director of the National Ob- 
servatory shall be an eminent astronomer, appointed 
by the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, at a salary of five thousand dollars 
per annum, and shall be selected fromthe astron- 
omers of the National Academy of Sciences unless, in 
the judgment of the President, an American astron- 
omer of higher scientific and executive qualifications 
shall be found. 
SECTION 3, That the Secretary of the Navy may 
detail for duty as astronomers at the National Obser- 
vatory such professors of mathematics and other offi- 
* cers of the Navy as he shall deem necessary in the in- 
terests of the public service; but on and after the 
