June 1, 1SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



491 



GEOGRAPHY. 



(North America.) 



The Blue Hills of Massachusetts, near Boston, are 

 roughly mapped by E. G. Chamberlain; and the view 

 from their highest summit, six hundred and thirty- 

 five feet, is described in detail. Among the visible 

 points are Holt's Hill in Andover, and Manomet in 

 Plymouth, each about thirty miles distant; Wachvi- 

 sett, forty-four miles ; and Grand Monadnocli, sixty- 

 seven and one-half. One hundred and twenty-five 

 villages were identified, and many others were sighted. 

 — (AppalacUa, in. 1-2%) w. m. d. [986 



Eastern Cuba. — W. O. Crosby describes the topo- 

 graphic features of eastern Cuba as dependent on 

 the following structural elements: eruptive roclis, 

 making sharp, serrated mountains, of which the Pico 

 de Tarquino exceeds eiglit thousand feet; these are 

 flanked by ridges of slates and schists, generally of 

 later date, as at least some of the eruptives penetrate 

 them in tongues and dikes ; finally, there are coral- 

 line limestones in terraces of marked uniformity for 

 considerable distances along the shore. The terraces 

 stand along the northern coast at altitudes of thirty, 

 two hundred to two hundred and fifty, five hundred, 

 and eight hundred feet. The lowest is most distinctly 

 of coral origin, and closely resembles the reef growing 

 tn the neighboring sea. Passing up to the older ones, 

 the limestone becomes more distinctly crystalline, 

 and the corals and shells are in great part obliter- 

 ated; but the resemblance, coupled with the progres- 

 sive change, serves to show identity of origin. Some 

 of the terraces slope away from their precipitous 

 front toward the mountains, and are hence regarded 

 as old fringing reefs. The highest limestone forms 

 the upper thousand feet of a bold mountain called 

 el Tunque, eighteen hundred feet high. The harbors 

 along the present shore are roughly circular openings 

 behind a narrow deep entrance in the outer reef; the 

 streams back of the harbors flow over detrital fillings 

 of their valleys. All these features are taken togeth- 

 er as proof of oscillating variations in the level of 

 Cuba, but in which the upward movement has pre- 

 dominated so strongly as to produce an elevation of 

 two thousand feet in post-pliocene time. The great 

 depression at which this irregular elevation began 

 ■would have reduced the Greater Antilles to a few small 

 rugged islands, and thus account for the absence 

 of large land-animals, which were common enougli 

 there in pliocene and earlier times. [It may be sug- 

 gested that the movements of depression, here sup- 

 posed to have interrupted the general elevation, would 

 be more fully proved if it were shown that the old 

 reefs could not have grown outward from the shore 

 during times of rest in the island's rising. The com- 

 paratively small and recent depression shown by the 

 silted stream-channels does not necessarily imply 

 previous depressions as well.] — {Appalac?da, iii. 

 129.) w. M. D. [987 



(4/nca.) 



Flooding the Chottes. — In spite of the discour- 

 agement of an adverse report by the French gov- 

 ernment commission. Commander Roudaire has 

 succeeded, with the aid of M. de Lesseps, in forming 

 a company to furnish the funds for his project, and 

 in December last went with a party of engineers to 

 sound the lowland by borings between the Mediter- 

 ranean and the Chottes. As far as reported, only 

 sand was found, which promises an easy construction 

 for the canal that is to form ' la mer interieure Afri- 

 caine.' In Marcli M. de Lesseps was to join the 

 party to make plans for the further work. — {Bull. 

 soc. geogr. Marseille, 1883, 36.) Later reports an- 



nounce the return of Mr. de Lesseps with the convic- 

 tion that the project can be successfully and advan- 

 tageously carried out. w. M. D. [988 



Stanley and de Brazza. — M. Savorgnan de 

 Brazza is well sustained by the French government 

 in his projects of exploration. An appropriation of 

 1,275,000 francs was voted him recently by the cham- 

 ber of deputies, — 449 ayes to .3 noes, — and confirmed 

 by the senate; and a part of his expedition, under 

 M. de Lastours, has already sailed from Liverpool. 

 He plans to enter the interior from a point on the 

 coast north of the Kongo, and is convinced that he 

 will find a valley there, crossing the mountainous con- 

 tinental border, that will allow the easy construction 

 of a railroad to his inner stations on the river. The 

 expedition is to have a most peaceful character, and 

 is placed under the patronage of the ministers of 

 foreign affairs and of public instruction; and 65,000 

 francs are to be devoted to buying gifts for the Afri- 

 can chiefs, who are to be conciliated. In the mean 

 time Stanley, who was thought to be in Spain or at 

 Nice regaining his health, has already sailed for the 

 Kongo with 3,000 tons of merchandise, and, accord- 

 ing to English despatches, has already advanced well 

 up the river with 230 men brought around the Cape 

 from Zanzibar by Capt. Cambier. — [Bull. soc. geogr. 

 Marseille, 1883, 44.) [989 



The rights of Portugal. — The claim set up by 

 Savorgnan de Brazza for French possessions on the 

 Kongo, from which the quarrel between him and 

 Stanley resulted, has aroused Portugal to assert her 

 rights in western Africa. An able treatment of the 

 ' Question of the Kongo ' has lately been issued in 

 Portuguese and in French by a committee of the 

 Geographical society of Lisbon, in which they claim 

 all the western African coast between lat. 5° 12' and 

 18° S., and an extensive but undefined territory in- 

 land, in right of discovery, possession, and recog- 

 nition. Their pamphlet begins with examples of 

 international decisions bearing on the question, and 

 then, with much care, discusses the evidence of dis- 

 covery from 1464, of possession from a little later 

 date, and of recognition of their rights by other na- 

 tions, France among the rest. It concludes with. a 

 note from Secretary-Gen. Strauch of the Interna- 

 tional African association, dated Brussels, Oct. 25, 

 1882, stating, that, as far as he knows, de Brazza had 

 a mission from the French committee of the associa- 

 tion, and funds from the French government; while 

 Stanley was in the service of the international com- 

 mittee, and was charged with founding scientific and 

 hospital stations on the Kongo, but not with acquir- 

 ino- territory. — {Soc. geogr. Lisboa. La question du 

 Zaire. Droits du Portugal, ISSZ.) w. m. d. [990 



BOTANY. 

 B:sudation of water from leaves. — By an ex- 

 amination of plants in very early morning, Volkens 

 has greatly extended the list of those from which 

 liquid water exudes. He describes the water-pores 

 of 150 species, distributed through 91 genera and 36 

 families. He appears to have exercised great care to 

 avoid errors from the possible presence of dew upon 

 the leaves. In order to ascertain the amount of water 

 in the stems of the plants exhibiting this phenomenon, 

 he made use of double scissors, by which a piece about 

 halt an inch in length could be cut out at one stroke, 

 thus diminishing the chances of affecting the relative 

 amounts of air and water in the part at the moment 

 of separation. By the use of this simple contrivance, 

 he has shown that the amount of air and water in a 

 vigorous plant varies considerably during the day, 

 even when the specimen is kept under uniform exter- 



