August 13, 1886.] 



SCIEJ^CE. 



135 



has at present only seven members on the associa- 

 tion's rolls, three of them the sole survivors of the 

 twenty-five. Was it for missionary service that 

 Buffalo called the association to its open doors? 

 Does Buffalo look upon itself as in xoartibiis infl- 

 delium ? 



THE TJRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY. 



The Transcaspian railway was opened for traffic 

 on the 14th of July as far as Merv. The opera- 

 tions must already be far advanced on the Merv- 

 Bokhara-Samarcand branches, for the names of 

 railway stations, the distances, and other details 

 over the whole length of the railway, from the 

 Caspian to the Turkestan frontier, are already 

 known. The following are fresh particulars of 

 this important central Asian strategical railway : 

 There are altogether 63 stations from Michail- 

 ovsk, on the bay of that name on the Caspian, 

 right through the deserts and oases of the Trans- 

 caspian, across the Amu Darya and Bokhara to 

 Samarcand. These do not include the new branch 

 of 25 versts, made from Michailovsk along the 

 Caspian coast to Ousun Ada, in order to have 

 deep water for the connecting sea service, and to 

 avoid the reshipment formerly necessary between 

 Krasnovodsk and Michailovsk. The distances be- 

 tween these stations vary from 15 to 33 versts, 

 being in most cases from 22 to 25 versts. 



The whole distance of the line when completed 

 as far as Samarcand will be 1,335 versts. The 

 distances in Central Asia have become so exag- 

 gerated in most minds that few persons would 

 imagine that they might travel by this new rail- 

 way right through the Transcaspian Steppes, over 

 the Oxus, and from one side of Bokhara to the 

 other, coming out at Samarcand, in something 

 like a day and a half, or less. 



The first, or western, portion of the railway 

 runs tlirough a desert, crossing now and then an 

 oasis, then traverses the cultivated territory of 

 Bokhara, and ends at Samarcand in Russian 

 Turkestan. The desert stretches along the line 

 148 versts between the sea-coast and Kazaudjik, 

 and 69 versts from the latter station to Kizil 

 Arvat. The Akhal Tekee oasis extends as far as 

 Gheours, 237 versts. The furthest point south, 

 Doujak, is distant from the sea 581 versts, from 

 Askabad 159 versts, Merv 167 versts, and Samar- 

 cand 754 versts. The railway traverses 300 versts 

 of Bokharan territory. Were the line made from 

 Merv over Burdalisk and Korti, instead of Char- 

 jui, 100 versts would be saved, and the distance 

 between Michailovsk and Samarcand would be 

 only 1,200 versts, or 800 miles, instead of 890 miles ; 

 but the Bokharan government, for some reason 



or other, did not consider that this shorter route 

 would so well serve the interests of their country. 



The principal stations are those of Askabad and 

 Samarcand. Besides post and telegraph offices, 

 lodging houses have been already partly built at 

 several stations for travellers, though nothing in 

 the way of luxury will be provided, as may be 

 imagined. According to the time-table, the trains 

 will run 20 versts an hour. In the event of war, 

 the number of trains departing may be increased 

 to 12 per day. 



The railway at present is only a single line. 

 Although many of the stations are situated in 

 waterless deserts, they are all furnished with 

 water in one way or another. At Michailovsk 

 there is Nobel's machinery for converting the sea 

 water into fresh water, and at several stations 

 large cisterns are to be regularly supplied, either 

 through pipe lines or by water trains. Artesian 

 wells Jiave also been dug, and good water has 

 been found between Michailovsk and Molla Kary, 

 and at other points. Not far from Bala Isshem, 

 the railway also has its own petroleum sources, 

 connected by a branch line. 



THE RECENT ERUPTION IN NEW ZEA- 

 LAND. 



A STEAMER which recently arrived at San Fran- 

 cisco from Australia brings further details of the 

 great volcanic disturbances in New Zealand. Heavy 

 earthquakes were still felt in the Tarawera and 

 Sulphur Springs districts, and severe shocks con- 

 tinued in the Rotoli district. A relief party that 

 was sent out reported that Lake Tarawera had 

 fallen considerably. The oil bath at Whakare- 

 warewa was throwing up stones and mud to the 

 height of twenty feet, and the great boiling lagoon 

 of Papatangi would suddenly rise as much as two 

 feet, and then as quickly fall. A similar phenome- 

 non was observed at the Kuirrau caldron, which 

 would rise two feet in half an hour, and then as 

 quickly return to its normal level. Mr. Dinsey, 

 the telegraph officer in charge of the Rotonea 

 station, near where the eruptions and earthquakes 

 were heaviest, reported on June 25 that volcano 

 No. 1 was dead, and that Nos. 2 and 3 were steam- 

 ing. No. 4 was still throwing up mud. Lake 

 Rotomahana was comparatively quiet, with only 

 one geyser in the centre playing. The Pink Ter- 

 race geysers were still blowing up clouds of steam, 

 but were less active than they had been. The im- 

 mense crevasse created between Tarawera and 

 White Terrace continued to steam, and the cone 

 on top of Tarawera Mountain was throwing out 

 volumes of black smoke and steam. The New 

 Zealand Herald says : "On Galatea Plains the 



