884 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1042 



three years, the great insurance corporation of 

 Lloyds has reported that over 134,000 tons of 

 shipping in which they were interested, had 

 mysteriously disappeared, involving a loss of 

 over $13,000,000. 



Whilst the first duty of the expedition will 

 be to accurately chart the seas, the vessel will 

 carry a staff of twelve scientific men, who will 

 make a thorough investigation of all places 

 visited, and in little known regions, parties 

 will be left for short periods to carry on work 

 in many branches of science. The expedition 

 has been fortunate in enlisting the practical 

 support of many governments, and after con- 

 sultation with hydrographers in many parts 

 of the world, the following itinerary has been 

 agreed upon. 



Leaving London in June, surveying work 

 will be carried on in the North Atlantic, par- 

 ticularly in the vicinity of the sinking of the 

 Titanic — ^where on three occasions a rock has 

 been reported — thence down the Atlantic, after 

 calling at several ports in this country, to the 

 Panama Canal. 



For the next four years investigations will 

 be made in the Pacific Ocean, calling at most 

 of the little known islands, and extending in 

 its operations from the Sea of Ohkotsk to King 

 Edward VIL Land. 



On leaving the Pacific, the expedition will 

 continue its work amongst the islands of the 

 East Indies thence to Zanzibar by way of 

 Columbo, Seychelles and Mombasa. Later 

 considerable time will be spent in the unknown 

 waters south of Madagascar. After calling at 

 Natal, the vessel will once more sail for Ant- 

 arctic waters, and endeavor to find the coast 

 line between Queen Mary Land and the Wed- 

 dell Sea. On leaving these latitudes a thor- 

 ough investigation will be made of the Sand- 

 wich Islands, which are at present unsurveyed. 

 Continuing westward oceanographic work will 

 be carried on around South Georgia and the 

 Falkland Islands. Prom Port Stanley a line 

 of soundings will be made to Montevideo, ex- 

 amining several shallow patches in the South 

 Atlantic, and thence by way of Trinidad, 

 Martin Vaz and Cape Verde Islands to London. 



A FOSSIL BOTANICAL GABDEN 

 The New York State Museum has received 

 from Willard Lester, Esq., a deed of gift of 

 about three acres of land in the town of Green- 

 field, two miles west of Saratoga Springs, 

 which include the widely known " Cryptozoon 

 Ledge," and this little property is set apart 

 as a public geological park to be preserved and 

 protected by the state because of its scientific 

 interest. 



The acquisition of this natural monument 

 by free gift from a distinguished citizen of 

 the state is not only the expression of a fine 

 sentiment, but it brings under authoritative 

 care a noteworthy natural phenomenon. The 

 Cryptozoon is a marine calcareous alga which 

 grew in great spherical bodies and in the Cam- 

 brian seas which deposited the limestones of 

 this park, they were so abundant as to form 

 extensive reefs. The Hoyt (Cambrian) lime- 

 stone here forms a ledge which has been planed 

 ofE by the ice sheet so that the Cryptozoa are 

 smoothed down to a level surface and their 

 interior structure beautifully displayed over 

 an area of about a half acre. The gift, how- 

 ever, includes the extension of this ledge into 

 other natural rock faces and abandoned work- 

 ings of the old Hoyt quarry from which the 

 geological formation takes its name. 



The little property which is to be known as 

 the " Lester Park " is of great natural beauty, 

 both in itself and in its approaches, but not the 

 least interesting thing about it is the fact that 

 it is given to the state because of its geo- 

 logical and educational worth. 



John M. Clarke 



SECENT CHANGES IN THE ACTIVITIES OF 

 THE BOSTON NATURAL HISTOEY 

 SOCIETY 

 On Wednesday evening, November 18, Pro- 

 fessors H. L. Clark and Alexander McAdie 

 addressed the first of the general meetings of 

 the society which are being resumed this sea- 

 son. Dr. Clark spoke on New Australasian 

 Echinoderms collected by S. S. Endeavor and 

 Dr. McAdie spoke upon Exploring the Air. 

 The interest shown by the large number of 

 members present and the number of informal 



