Septembkr 14, 1888. 



SCIENCE. 



13' 



EXI'LORATION AND TRAVKL. 

 The Kongo Free State. 



Capi'AIN ThvS, on liis i-elurn from Africa, delivered some very 

 ■interesting lectures on the state of affairs on tlie Kongo, vvliicli 

 were recently published in the form of a pamphlet. The following 

 notes are taken from this publication. The establishment of easy 

 communication between the upper and lower Kongo is of vital im- 

 portance for the development of western Central Africa : therefore 

 the Kongo Industrial and Trading Company has taken active 

 measures for the establishment of good roads. A few months ago 

 an e.s-pedition was sent out to study the feasibility of a railroad 

 leading to Stanley Pool. After five months of hard work, a hun- 

 dred miles of the proposed road were surveyed. The whole dis- 

 trict to be traversed by the road was mapped on a scale of i : 2,500, 

 with five-metre contour-lines. After this work was completed, 

 the expedition, which is commanded by Captain Cambier, proceeded 

 inland to make a reconnaissance and survey of the upper part of the 

 road. After this preliminary survey has been made, the line will 

 be located and resurveyed. It is e.xpected that this work will be 

 completed this year, and the company expects to make its detailed 

 plans and estimates in the beginning of next year. So far, no 

 serious difficulties have been met with. As the railroad will not 

 be completed for a few years, the company has made an attempt 

 to organize regular caravans for carrying the trade between Matadi 

 and the Pool. At present sixty thousand loads of sixty-five pounds 

 each are transported by carriers through the district of the cata- 

 racts. As this method of transportation is expensive and unsafe, it 

 has been proposed to use cattle instead of men. With this aim in 

 view, attempts have been made to raise cattle, and have been found 

 to be successful ; and it is hoped that by this means the cost of 

 transportation will be greatly diminished. While the railroad is 

 being surveyed, M. Delcommune has been sent on a commercial 

 reconnaissance of the upper Kongo. In March he started on the 

 steamer ' Roi des Beiges ' up the Kassai. Thepamphlet is accom- 

 panied by a sketch-map of the Kongo Free State, by A. T. Wau- 

 ters, showing the present state of our knowledge of this vast terri- 

 tory. A number of special maps show the situations of the im- 

 portant stations and the route along the Kongo from Matadi to 

 Leopoldville. 



The Kassai. — The observations of Captain Thyson the Kassai, 

 and its principal tributary the Lulua. have been published by the 

 Institut National de Geographic at Brussels in the form of a large 

 map on a scale of i : 200,000. The map is mainly intended for the 

 use of steamers going up and down the Kassai and Lulua, and the 

 notes on the character of the rivers and their banks have been care- 

 fully compiled from the observations of Captain Thys and of Wiss- 

 mann. While this map is particularly valuable on account of the large 

 amount of detail it contains. Dr. B. Hassenstein's map of the San- 

 kuru, which was published in the July number of Petcnitaitii's 

 Mitteilungcn, must be considered one of the most important con- 

 tributions to the geography of Africa. In it the surveys of Dr. 

 Ludwig Wolf in 18S6, and those of Wissmann and Francois in 

 1SS4-S5, have been made use of. The astronomical observations 

 of these travellers have been carefully scrutinized, and the final re- 

 sults obtained by Hassenstein must be considered the most prob- 

 able, considering the present state of our knowledge. The con- 

 struction of the upper part of the Lulua is based upon the longi- 

 tude of Mukenge, near Luluaburg, which has a probable error of 

 ±7'. The barometer observations have been reduced, and a great 

 number of elevations are contained in the map. The scale of the 

 latter is i : 600,000, and a considerable amount of detail is given. 

 The great value of this publication becomes obvious when compar- 

 ing it with the preliminary maps compiled from the surveys of 

 these travellers. 



young students. The author remarks in his preface that " young 

 persons are incapable of distinguishing between important and 

 unimportant historical facts," and therefore need guidance in the 

 study of such facts. This is undoubtedly true ; but unfortunately 

 Mr. Rupert is not always successful in making the required distinc- 

 tion himself, for he gives altogether too much attention to military 

 affairs, and too little to soine political and social events of far 

 greater importance. In other respects, however, his work is well 

 done. The second part of the book is a brief exposition of the 

 Constitution, giving an explanation of its provisions, and in some 

 cases the reasons why they were enacted. The decisions of the 

 Supreme Court on questions of constitutional law are not given, 

 probably because they were deemed somewhat beyond the prov- 

 ince of a schoolbook ; but the author's exposition, so far as it goes, 

 seems well adapted to the wants of students in the high schools. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 

 A Guide to the Study of the History and the Constitution of the 

 United States. By WILLIAM W. RUPERT. Boston, Ginn. 

 12°. 

 The first part of this book presents a selection of topics cover- 

 ing the whole period of American history, and accompanied by a 

 numerous list of authorities, the whole being designed as a guide to 



In the Overland Monthly for September is a short paper on 

 orange-culture, by Mr. Adolphe Flamant of Napa; the Grand 

 Canon of the Colorado is described by Mr. J. G. Lemmon, botanist 

 of the State Board of Forestry ; and among the short stories is ' A 

 Question of Will-Power, a Psychological Study,' by A. G. Tassin. 

 Ginn & Co. announce ' The Elements of Plane Analytic Ge- 

 ometry,' by John D. Runkle, professor of mathematics, Massachu- 

 setts Institute of Technology, as in press. They also invite atten- 

 tion to Taylor's ' Calculus ' (differential and integral, in one vol- 

 ume), lately adopted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



' The Relation of the Sexes to Government ' will be discussed 



by Prof E. D. Cope in the October Popular Science Monthly. The 

 differences between the two French schools of hypnotism will be 

 set forth by Dr. Christian A. Herter, under the title ' Hypnotism : 

 What it is, and What it is not.' Under the title ' Ethics and Eco- 

 nomics,' Mr. Robert Mathews will give a thoughtful view of 



our social outlook. Henry Carey Baird & Co. will publish on 



Sept. 15 a new book on steam-engineering, entitled ' The American 

 Steam-Engmeer, Theoretical and Practical,' by Emory Edwards, 

 the well-known author of ' The Practical Engineer's Guide,' etc. 

 The author in the forthcoming book will give examples of the latest 

 and most approved American practice in the design and construc- 

 tion of steam engines and boilers of every description. The J. 



B. Lippincott Company will publish on Sept. 14 the second volume 

 of the new edition of Chambers's Encyclopaedia, from Bea to Cat. 

 The same thorough revision and accuracy that characterize the 

 first volume are also found in the second. It contains 82S pages, is 

 profusely illustrated with new woodcuts, and supplied with maps 

 of Belgium, Burma, California, Dominion of Canada. Eastern Prov- 

 inces of Canada, Cape Colony, and South .Africa. They will begin 

 at once the publication of a series of biographical studies of the 

 great men who have influenced the social and political history of 

 the world, under the general title of ' International Statesmen Series.' 

 It is to be edited by .Mr. L. C. Sanders, and its scope will be com- 

 prehensive, embracing the ancients and the moderns, and including 

 not only the creators of the English Commonwealth, but also the 

 makers of European and American politics, and the founders of 

 the Indian and Colonial Empires. The initial volume of the series 

 is ' Lord Beaconsfield,' by T. E. Kebbel, author of a ' History of 



Toryism.' Messrs. Trtibner & Co., London, announce 'The 



Literature of Egypt and the Soudan,' by H. H. Prince Ibrahim- 

 Hilmy , ' Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources,' by 

 E. Bretschneider, M.D.; ' Table of Quarter-Squares of all Numbers 

 from I to 200.000,' calculated by Joseph Blater ; ' Bibliography of 

 South .A.ustralia,' compiled by Thomas Gill ; and • .Manual of New 

 Zealand History,' by J. Howard Wallace. 



— During the total eclipse of the moon on Jan. 28. 18SS. Prof. 

 W. H. Pickering searched, by means of photography, for a lunar 

 satellite. The results of his observations have been published in 

 the ' Annals of Harvard College Observatory.' The method of 

 observation was- to direct the telescope, with the camera attached 

 to it, towards the moon, and to adjust it so as to follow the motion 

 of the latter. The effect is. that the stars are represented as short 

 lines, while any satellite, whose motion would probably be in ac- 

 cordance with that of the moon, would appear as a point or a line 



