862 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol,. XXXII. No. 833 



that date these publications will be found only 

 in the hands of booksellers at a price consid- 

 erably higher. These volumes contain more 

 than 300 articles. A certain number of papers 

 — in the neighborhood of 100 — were not re- 

 ceived by the bureau in time for publication. 

 The members of the congress will find these 

 reviewed in, the Revue de I'Education famili- 

 ale, of which sample copies may be obtained 

 free of charge by applying to the secretary 

 general, as mentioned above. Probably the 

 fourth International Congress for Home Edu- 

 cation will be held in the United States. A 

 commission has been appointed to take the 

 matter under consideration. Professor Mon- 

 roe, of the State Normal School, Montclair, 

 N. J., is secretary of this commission. 



At the first Optical Convention, held in 

 1905, a permanent comniittee was appointed, 

 to which was entrusted the task of deciding 

 upon a suitable date for the holding of a 

 second convention, and of taking the necessary 

 steps to initiate it. According to Nature a 

 general meeting of the committee and of mem- 

 bers of the optical industry, representatives of 

 optical bodies and societies, and others inter- 

 ested in optical questions, was held on 

 November 29, to consider and discuss pro- 

 posals for the organization of a second con- 

 vention. The chair was to be taken by Dr. 

 E. T. Glazebrook, C.B., F.E.S., director of the 

 National Physical Laboratory, as chairman of 

 the permanent comniittee, and all interested 

 were invited to be present at the meeting. 

 The main features of the scheme which the 

 members of the existing executive committee 

 had in view were in broad outlines as follows: 

 (1) an exhibition of optical and allied instru- 

 ments; (2) the preparation of a catalogue of 

 optical and allied instruments of British man- 

 ufacture to serve as a convenient work of ref- 

 erence for all users of optical and scientific 

 instruments, not necessarily to be limited to 

 instruments actually exhibited; (3) the hold- 

 ing of meetings for the reading of papers and 

 for discussions and demonstrations on optical 

 subjects; (4) the publication of a volume of 

 proceedings, in which these papers will be 

 collected together. 



The Geographical Journal reports that with 

 a commission from the Turkish authorities. 

 Dr. Alois Musil has this year carried out 

 further explorations in northern Arabia, this 

 time in the region adjoining the Hejaz rail- 

 way. Leaving Vienna in April, accompanied 

 by Dr. Leopold Kober (geologist) and his 

 former coadjutor, Rudolf Thomasberger (car- 

 tographer) , he proceeded by way of Beirut and 

 Damascus to Maan, where he organized his 

 caravan, consisting of three servants and seven 

 riding-camels. During the next two months 

 he made a thorough examination of the im- 

 perfectly known area extending from Maan 

 southwards to Al Gaw, and from the Red Sea 

 eastward to Teima and the Wadi Sirhan, and 

 including the Biblical land of Edom. The 

 railway was used as the base for supplies, but 

 the journey was not without danger, especially 

 in the country of the fanatical tribes towards 

 the south, whose suspicions were aroused by 

 the light color of the beards of the traveler's 

 companions, doubt being thus thrown on their 

 character of Muslims. The scattered nature 

 of the posts maintained by the Turks renders 

 them powerless against the Beduin. There 

 had been no rain for four years, and the tem- 

 perature on one occasion rose to 55° C. (131° 

 Fahr.), but the traveler was able to secure a 

 large amount of ethnographical and linguistic 

 material — ^lists of names, drawings, copies of 

 inscriptions, and so forth. One result of the 

 journey is. Dr. Musil believes, the identifica- 

 tion for the first time of the true Biblical 

 Sinai. His companions carried on work in 

 other departments. Plants and insects were 

 collected and geological investigations made, 

 the country being found to consist of granite, 

 sandstone and basalt, succeeding each other 

 from west to east. The mapping was effected 

 by plane-table and compass, the use of the 

 theodolite being found impossible. Notes on 

 the form and nature of the surface, or at least 

 a record of the changes in direction of the 

 route, were made whenever it was possible to 

 elude the vigilance of the Beduin, who accom- 

 panied the party from curiosity. At the night 

 encampments the latitude was taken by alti- 



