170 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 371 



.■attachment, all danger of stripping the gears is eliminated, and 

 (the strain upon the gears is always a progressive one. 



The advantages of electric power for this work are claimed to 

 ibe great. The equipment is very much lighter than if steam- 

 power were used, and there is no expense of operation when the 

 table is not in use. One man can easily handle the table, and 

 more conveniently and directly than with steam. 



The two end capstans shown on the table are fixed. The 

 centre one is revolved in either direction by a simple clutch- 

 gear. It is used, of course, for working cars on to or oflE the 

 table without locomotive power. 



The capacity of the table is 100,000 pounds. Ordinary car- 

 :axle5, bearings, and wheels are used throughout for the run- 

 ning gear, and the total cost of the table and motor complete 

 was under |7,000. Its speed is about 150 feet per minute, 

 the same as the old wire-rope table which it replaced. The 

 old pit was lengthened somewhat, and accommodates ten 

 tracks. The rails are carried on wooden longitudinals resting 

 on small masonry foundation walls. The pit drains directly 

 into the city sewers. 



Electric transfer-tables have now been adopted by the 

 Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the Philadelphia and Reading 

 Railroad Company, the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Rail- 

 road Company, the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company, and 

 other prominent corporations; and they are now recognized as 

 an essential feature of every extensive and well-equipped rail- 

 way switch-yard. 



ASIA. I 



Asia, the birthplace of man, the mother of nations, is our 

 theme to-night. Here are found the two gi'eat races of the world, 

 — the Mongolian and Caucasian ; here the great religions of the 

 world had their origin, — the Jews, the Buddhists, the Chris- 

 tians, and Mohammedans. Here is the Pamir, the ' 'roof of the 

 world' ' or the steps to heaven, the abode of the gods ; the centi-e 

 of primeval tradition, as well as of modern theory regarding the 

 primitive history of man. Here the Paradise of Adam has been 

 most frequently located. Here is the lake from which the four 

 rivers of the Garden of Eden diverge to the four quarters of the 

 «fiarth. 



Beyond the Pamir, Alexander, the conqueror of the vrorld, 

 ■could not pass. Aristotle calls it the Mountain Parnassus, the 

 greatest of all that exist towards the winter sunset, — the great 

 snow mountains, which, in the morning and evening vapors, rise 

 up opposite one like gem spires. This wonderful mountain- 

 range is a series of high plateaus, running nearly north and 

 south about 400 miles, and from 100 to 350 miles in width. 

 These plateaus are covered with snow for nine months of the 

 year. The lowest passes from east to west are from 12,000 to 

 15,000 feet in height, while all along the range numerous snow- 

 peaks rise to 20,000 and even to 25,000 feet. The plateaus are 

 inhabited only in the summer season, when the shepherds from 

 Afghanistan and Turkestan on the west, and from China on the 

 Bast, feed their flocks on the rich herbage. 



The Pamir has been crossed at different times within the past 

 Ave hundred years. Marco Polo was one of the early travellers ; 

 Bonvalot, a French traveller, one of the latest. Bonvalot chose 

 .the months of March and April to cross the Pamir, because there 

 were no herdsmen to obstruct his progress. Many explorers have 

 lost their lives in these wild inhospitable passes, and among the 

 shepherds, more wild and inhospitable than the country. 



From the Pamir high mountain-ranges run north-east, east, 

 south-east, and south-west. Fi-om the north-east the Thian-Shan 

 and Altai ranges of mountains run in an easterly and north- 

 leasterly direction for nearly 3,000 miles, separating Siberia from 

 Mongolia. From Mongolia the range runs more northerly, pass- 

 ing through the eastern part of Siberia, forming the great divide 

 between the waters of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. 



In Kamtchatka the mountains of the range become volcanic, 



' Address delivered before the Geographic Society, Washington, CO., Feb. 

 26, by its president, Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard. 



An edition of this address, with numerous additions, will be published in 

 pamphlet form at an early date. 



and are- met by a range of volcanoes from Alaska. The combined 

 range then turns and mns south, through Japan and the Philip- 

 pine Islands, into Borneo. In this chain, miles in length, is the 

 largest number of active volcanoes in the world. 



From the middle of the Pamir the Kuen-lun Mountains run in 

 an easterly direction 2, 700 miles. They sepai'ate Mongolia from 

 Thibet. From the central part of the Kuen-lun range, cross- 

 ranges of mountains run southerly through Thibet, past the 

 Himalayas, into and through the peninsula of Indo-China. In 

 Thibet these cross-ridges maintain a normal elevation of 12,000 

 feet, with occasional passes nearly 17,000 feet high. From the 

 south-east of the Pamir the Himalayas run in a continuous 

 curve about 1,500 miles, with a width of 200 miles, separating 

 Thibet from India. They are rightly named the "Abode of 

 Snow," for through their entire length a mean elevation of 

 18,000 feet is maintained. Forty peaks have been measured 

 which exceed 24,000 feet in height, while a few range from 

 26,000 to 29,000 feet. From the south-west of the Pamir the 

 Hindu-Kush extend in a westerly and south-westerly direction 

 through Afghanistan (with many peaks over 20,000 feet in 

 height) , connecting with other ranges which form the boundary 

 between Persia and Turkestan, to the Caspian Sea ; then around 

 the south end of the Caspian Sea, culminating in Mount Ararat. 

 A continuation of this range crosses Asia Minor to the southern 

 coast of the Black Sea, and thence to the Bosporus. 



These ranges of mountains radiating from the Pamir are 

 10,000 to 12,000 miles in length. Along their whole course are 

 snow -mountains and great glaciers. The Himalayas are supposed 

 to be the highest mormtains in the world, though none of these 

 ranges have been thoroughly explored. These mountains, and 

 the elevated jilateaus on their sides, give Asia an average eleva- 

 tion of 1,650 feet, much higher than either of the other con- 

 tinents. 



The Rivers of Asia. 



These great chains are the source of the great rivers of Asia. 

 In Siberia are the Irtish, Obi, Yenesei, and Lena. The Yenesei 

 traverses in Siberia a ten-itory which corresponds in length to 

 the distance between the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Winnipeg. 



The Amur is the only river of northern Asia that does not 

 empty into the Arctic Ocean. Its general course is east ; but, on 

 passing wholly into Siberia, it turns and mns to the north, where 

 its mouth is in inhospitable regions. 



In China are the Hoang-Ho and the Yang-tse-kiang. They rise 

 in the plateau of Thibet, near the Pamir. A great range of 

 mountains ruiming north and south obstructs their course, 

 through which they force their way, and flow in an easterly di- 

 rection, and empty into the Pacific Ocean ; while the rivers of 

 Indo-China, which rise in the same plateau close to these rivers, 

 flow south into the Indian Ocean. 



The Indus, and its main branch the Sutlej, rise on the north- 

 western side of the Himalayas, follow the mountains several 

 hundred miles, then find a way through the mountains in won- 

 derful canons. That of the Indus is said to be 14,000 feet in 

 depth. Near the head waters of the Indus, another great river, 

 the Sanpoor, rises, flowing in the opposite direction, and un- 

 doubtedly running into the Brahmaputra ; but no traveller has 

 followed the Sanpoor through the wild savage regions of lower 

 Thibet to its mouth. 



The waters from the south-eastern or Indian slopes of the 

 Himalayas for 700 miles flow into the Ganges, which, near its 

 mouth, unites with the Brahmaputra ; while the waters from the 

 west of the Himalayas flow into the Indus and its branches. 

 Thus these two mighty rivers collect all the waters of the Hima- 

 layas, and discharge them into the Bay of Bengal through the 

 many shifting mouths of the Ganges, or through the Indus into 

 the Persian Gulf. 



On the western sides of the Pamir, the great rivers of Turkes- 

 tan, the Jaxertes, and Oxus, or the Syr-Daria and Amu-Daria, 

 have their source, and flow through Turkestan into the Aral Sea. 

 Numerous rivers rise in the Hindu-Kush, and run through the 

 valleys of Afghanistan, but none of them reach the ocean : they 

 are lost in the salt lakes or in the desert. The Tigris and Eu- 

 phrates rise in the mountains on the coast of the Black Sea, run 



