634 



SCIENCE. 



[N.S. Vol. XVII. No. 433. 



the main cliain, besides yielding valuable in- 

 formation as to the topography and glaciation 

 of the region. In 1887 and 1889 Mr. Fresh- 

 field undertook further journeys to the Cau- 

 casus, which added very largely to accurate 

 knowledge of the central group, to the phys- 

 ical geography of the main chain, and to the 

 correct delineation of the higher region, which 

 previously had been but imperfectly mapped. 

 A journey from the headwaters of the Ingur 

 through Abkhasia to Sukhum Kaleh also de- 

 serves mention. The two volumes in which 

 Mr. Freshfield has published an account of 

 these travels, ' Central Caucasus and Bashan,' 

 1869, and ' Exploration of the Caucasus,' 1896, 

 are standard works on the region with which 

 they deal, and contain excellent maps, the 

 fine map of the Caucasus, embodying much 

 new work, being especially noteworthy. In 

 1899 Mr. Preshfield broke new ground, carry- 

 ing out an expedition into Sikhim and Nepal, 

 where he made the circuit of Kanchinjunga 

 at a high level, one of the passes being of the 

 height of 20,000 feet. This journey, though 

 interfered with by an exceptional snowfall, 

 yielded valuable results as regards the glacia- 

 tion and the physical geography of the dis- 

 trict. 



The recipient of the other royal medal, 

 which is bestowed annually by the patron, is 

 Captain Otto Sverdrup, the leader of the ad- 

 mirably organized and conducted expedition 

 in the Fram, extending over a period of four 

 years, which has done so much to complete 

 our knowledge of the geography of the Arctic 

 regions. The expedition was the first to pene- 

 trate through Jones Sound to the Arctic seas 

 beyond. It explored the western shores of 

 Ellesmere Land, defining the main outlines of 

 its intricate system of fiords and reaching 

 from the south to a point within sixty miles 

 of that reached by Aldrich on his journey 

 round the north coast. To the west of Elles- 

 mere Land three large islands were discov- 

 ered, extending west to about 106° west 

 longitude; this discovery confirmed the con- 

 jecture that land existed to the north of the 

 Parry Islands. Of the Parry Islands the 

 north shores of Findlay's Island and North 

 Devon were explored for the first time. It 



will be remembered that Captain Sverdrup 

 was captain of the Fram during Dr. Nansen's 

 great expedition, and assumed command when 

 Nansen left the ship. He safely worked the 

 Fram clear from the ice, after attaining a 

 latitude of 86° north. 



The Victoria medal for geographical re- 

 search had already been awarded as a special 

 medal to Dr. Sven Hedin. 



The minor awards of the society have been 

 bestowed by the council as foUows: (1) The 

 Murchison grant is awarded to Mr. Isaachsen, 

 a lieutenant in the Norwegian army, who 

 accompanied Captain Sverdrup on his last 

 expedition. He assisted with the astronom- 

 ical and magnetic observations, and had 

 charge of the cartographical work. He was 

 Captain Sverdrup's right-hand man, and did 

 a great amount of exploring work. He it was 

 who discovered the two most westerly of the 

 three islands the existence of which the expe- 

 dition made known for the first time. (2) 

 The Gill memorial goes to Mr. Ellsworth 

 Huntington, an American traveler, who car- 

 ried out a remarkable journey through the 

 Great Canon of the Euphrates Eiver, during 

 which he made valuable observations in phys- 

 ical geography. (3) The Back grant is be- 

 stowed on Dr. W. G. Smith, of Yorkshire 

 College, Leeds, for his investigations into the 

 geographical distribution of vegetation in 

 Yorkshire, embodied in maps and a paper 

 which will shortly be published. (4) The Peek 

 grant is received by Major Burdon, whose 

 name has been mentioned as the probable 

 first resident at Sokoto, in the Northern 

 Nigerian Protectorate. He has presented to 

 the society a number of excellent route maps 

 which he has compiled as the result of his 

 journeys in northern Nigeria. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



The spring meeting of the council of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science will be held in the Cosmos Club, 

 Washington, D. C, on Thursday, April 23, 

 1903, at 4:30 p.m. 



The annual stated session of the National 

 Academy of Sciences begins at Washington 

 on Tuesday, April 31. 



