552 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. L, No. 19. 



Island, is comfortably housed on the right bank of 

 the Sagastir mouth of the river in latitude 73° 22' 

 ;!0" north, and east longitude 126° 34' 56". Fire- 

 wood and whitefish were abundant. November was 

 very clear, with little snow, which interfered with 

 1 eindeer-stalkirig. Dr. Bunge, the surgeon, had the 

 misfortune of breaking a rib through a fall, but was 

 doing well, and was visited by many Tungusi, who 



wished for medical advice. The last number of 



the Irkutsk bulletin contains four months' observa- 

 tions of the temperature of tlie air, by Ivan W. 

 Pavloff, an exile, at the village of Marsha, the period 

 covering August to November, 1882. A communi- 

 cation from the Danish ministry to the Parliament 

 gives an account of the condition of the colonies in 



West Greenland for the year 18S2. It is stated 



that the jslans of Dr. Boas for his studies of the 

 Innuit of Cumberland Inlet and vicinity embrace 

 a visit this fall to Iglulik, and a return to Cumberland 

 Inlet vlQ, the unknown west shores of Baffin Land, 

 wintering at the station ; and, next year, an investi- 

 gation of the little-known tribe of Eclipse Sound 

 and Pond Inlet, I'eturning by the most convenient 

 whaleship. — w. h. d. [1084 



(.South America.) 

 Bove's Patagonian voyage. — Lieut. G. Bove 

 gives a narrative of his unfortunate voyage south- 

 ward from Montevideo, whence he sailed Dec. 25, 

 1881, to Santa Cruz, on the eastern coast of Pata- 

 gonia, Staten Island, the easternmost of the Fuegian 

 Archipelago, and other islands near Cape Horn, until 

 his wreck In Hammacoja (Sloggett's Bay) on May 

 31, 1882. Santa Cruz is described as the fittest cen- 

 tre for the population of southern Patagonia, having 

 a tolerable anchorage, and fair supply of water and 

 wood, and a climate not too severe. But it is a poor 

 place at best; for the surrounding country is dry and 

 desolate, and the strong currents are continually 

 shifting the sand-bars in its river-channel. The spring 

 tides rise 16 met., and produce a violent bore. Forty 

 days were given to a careful exploration of Staten 

 Island : it is very mountainous, with peaks rising to 

 850 met., and a deeply indented shore-line; its rocks 

 are mostly schists and quartzites, with nothing more 

 recent than carboniferous strata; evidence of glacial 

 action is distinctly found in old moraines and numer- 

 ous lakes; and peat bogs of great area occur not only 

 near sea-level, but on the mountain flanks as well. 

 Further description of this region may be given in 

 later reports. The islands next explored near Cape 

 Horn are seldom visited; and one regrets to find so 

 little description given of them in Bove's account, 

 although as a simple narrative it possesses much In- 

 terest. While the southern islands were extremely 

 barren, a better country was found farther northward 

 along the deep fiords; as, for example, about the suc- 

 cessful English mission at Ustchluvaja, — a fine site, 

 with good anchorage, and sufficient wood and water, 

 and pasturage for cattle, on the On-astchiaga (Beagle 

 Channel). Bove compares the snowy Sarmiento 

 peak (2,300 met.) to the finest of Alpine scenery: it 

 gains from contrast with the sea what it loses in 

 absolute height. Extended glacial action Is often 

 referred to ; but. In the mention of rounded rocks and 

 abandoned moraines, there is again need of more defi- 

 nite statement. Recent glacial retreat was shown 

 by the interval of 100 met. between the foot of the 

 Negri glacier and its nearest terminal moraine. 

 The final wreck of the vessel was occasioned by the 

 selection of an anchorage, unprotected on the south- 

 east, where a rising storm exposed it to such severe 

 weather and waves, that it was hastily decided that 

 the only chance of safety lay in running ashore. 



This was accomplished without loss of life, and 

 much was saved from the stranded vessel. After 

 five days' waiting, their only boat was launched, and 

 a few men returned in it to the English mission 

 aboved named, whence the mission vessel, Allen 

 Gardiner, was at once despatched, and rescued the 

 entire party on June 10, after they had been some- 

 what disturbed by a band of natives. A rough out- 

 line map, and some views of doubtful accuracy, are 

 among the few illustrations; those of the Fnegians, 

 accompanying the author's special description of the 

 Jagan tribe of the southern islands, being much 

 better. Reports on zoology, botany, and geology, by 

 Vinciguerra, Spegazzini, and Lovisata, all members 

 of the expedition, give information of technical value 

 (cf. 1100). — [Boll. soc. fjeorjr. ital. vlii. 1883, 5, 89.) 

 w. SI. D. [1085 



(Asia.) 

 Indo-Chiiia. — A successful search in certain parts 

 of this peninsula for coal, iron, and gold, gave M. 

 Edmoncl Fuchs opportunity to note some of its phys- 

 ical peculiarities. Its larger features are : the val- 

 ley of the Red River (Song-ka) or Tonking, fertile and 

 open, occupied by 12,000,000 inhabitants, and con- 

 taining valuable coal of early mesozolc age; next 

 westward, the granitic plateau of Laos (Annam), 

 flanked with ranges of ancient slates, abruptly de- 

 scending to the coast on the east, and with a long 

 slope to the west into the valley of the Mekong, — a 

 great river 1,800 miles long, with a rapidly growing 

 delta, which is included in French Cochin-China. 

 The dally discharge of this stream is estimated at 

 almost 4,000,000,000 cubic metres, with a thousandth 

 part of silt. By the extension of the delta, an old 

 bay between mountain spurs on the north-west has 

 been shut off, and now appears as the great Cambo- 

 dian Lake, nearly two hundred miles inland. At the 

 time of high water, the Mekong rises some forty feet, 

 and reverses tlie current in the lake's outlet, flooding 

 it with muddy water, and thus filling the lake from its 

 lower end. Interesting notes are added on the na- 

 tive population, and further details are given on the 

 geology and mineral resources of the vast region 

 ("cf. 1079). — (iJei). scient, 1883, 482.) w. M. D. 



[1086 



BOTANY. 



Experiments upon variation in plants. — In 

 the botanical garden in Giessen, Prof. H. Hoffmann 

 has conducted for many years an interesting series of 

 researches upon variation, the results of which have 

 been published from time to time, with little or 

 no comment. The last notice gives a few facts rela- 

 tive to constancy of color, which may be briefly 

 stated as follows: Adonis aestivalis, pure red, self- 

 sown for 15 years, 410 plants in 15 generations, 

 without any change of color; same species, yellow 

 variety, no change in 13 generations. 



Ilieraclum alpinum is regarded by Kerner as a 

 plant which cannot thrive on a lime soil. Hoffmann 

 obtained, however, good seeds from specimens grown 

 in soil rich in lime, and afterwards carried on a 

 series of observations relative to the variation of the 

 species in soil both with and without lime. He 

 found the widest variability as regards the branch- 

 ing and leaves; but, with the most divergent forms, 

 he had also in every generation a few perfectly 

 typical plants. — (ZJof. zeif., April, May. ) G. L. G. 



[1087 



Pollination of Rulingia. — According to Urban, 

 several species of this Australian genus of Byttneria- 

 ceae possess curious adaptations to crossing by insect 

 aid. The flowers are small (one cm. or less in di- 



