388 



SCIEWCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 220 



among his collections which were sent to Ger- 

 many are twenty-six new species. It is to be 

 hoped that the gallant explorer will soon be saved 

 from his perilous position, and succeed in taking 

 with him his collections and the valuable results 

 of his many years' researches in equatorial 

 Africa. 



Asia. 



The observations of E. Michaelis on the signs of 

 an ice-period in the Altai Mountains, mentioned 

 in Science, Feb. 11, 1887, are confirmed by A. Bia- 

 loveski, who found glacier deposits, remains of 

 moraines, and glacial striae in the southern part 

 of the Altai {Nature, March 31, 1887). 



La gazette gSographique says that Sarat Chandra 

 Das, an Indian explorer, who was sent out by the 

 English government in order to study the religions 

 of Indo-China. has arrived at Bangkok. He pre- 

 tends to have explored the upper course of the 

 Bramaputra and Jamdok-Tso (Palte Lake), which 

 is situated about fifty miles south of Lassa. 

 Africa. 

 The new expedition of Lieutenant Wissmann 

 left Luluaburg Nov. 16, 1886. The proposed field 

 of exploration is the district between the Sankuru 

 and Nyangvve. He went by steamer to the place 

 where the Lubi discharges into the Sankuru. 

 From there he will try to go north and to explore 

 the unknown region where the Lulongo, Juapa, 

 and Lomami have their sources (Mouv. geogr., No. 

 7). During his stay in Luluaburg, Wissmann was 

 not idle. He and de Macar, the new commander 

 of the station, made a reconnaissance in the land 

 of the Baluba and the basin of the Lubilash. 

 They visited the residence of Mona Tenda, near 

 the river Lukula. The country is inhabited by 

 the Bashilange. and densely populated, the vil- 

 lages being built on the summits of the hills. The 

 eastern bank of the Lukula belongs to the Baluba. 

 While the country west of the river is very fertile, 

 the Baluba country forms an undulating prairie. 

 Though its appearance is barren and desolate, the 

 population is very numerous. Unfortunately the 

 visitors were attacked by the natives and forced 

 to return to Luluaburg (Mouv. geogr., No. 7). 



In his letter to the London Times, Stanley 

 criticises the methods of colonization of the Ger- 

 mans in eastern Africa. He advises them to pen- 

 etrate the Somali peninsula instead of establishing 

 scattered stations in the most unhealthy regions of 

 equatorial Africa. He proposes that they should 

 establish a permanent post or fort at the mouth of 

 the Jub or Rufiji, and advance by degrees inland. 

 In fact, the German East African association fol- 

 lows a similar course to the Kongo association by 

 establishing factories on the coast and inland. 



The district they selected for their operations is 

 one of the most important in Africa, and includes 

 all the caravan routes from the upper Kongo and 

 Nile to the harbors of the east coast. Stanley's 

 observations in Zanzibar on the predominant in- 

 fluence of the Germans and the decreasing power 

 of the English do not confirm his criticism. 



America. 

 The Brazilian and Argentinian commissions for 

 determining the disputed boundary of the territory 

 of the Missions were going to meet in the begin- 

 ning of April. Important additions to our knowl- 

 edge of the geography of that district may be ex- 

 pected from their surveys. 



Antarctic regions. 



The cable informs us that Nordenskjold is plan- 

 ning an Antarctic expedition, and that he assumes 

 eighteen months for accomplishing it. The in- 

 terest in Antarctic exploration is rapidly increas- 

 ing everywhere. The Royal geograpliical society 

 of London, the Scotch geographical society, the 

 German Geographentage, the Australian royal 

 society, have expressed themselves in favor of 

 Antarctic explorations, but since Lieutenant Bove's 

 unsuccessful journey, this is the first attempt of 

 organizing an expedition. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The Elizabeth Thompson science fund, which 

 has been established by Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson 

 of Stamford, Conn., "for the advancement and 

 prosecution of scientific research in its broadest 

 sense," now amounts to $25,000. As accumulated 

 income is again available, the trustees desire to 

 receive applications for appropriations in aid of 

 scientific work. This endowment is not for the 

 benefit of any one department of science, but it is 

 the intention of the trustees to give the preference 

 to those investigations which cannot otherwise be 

 provided for, which have for their object the ad- 

 vancement of human knowledge or the benefit of 

 mankind in general, rather than to researches di- 

 rected to the solution of questions of merely local 

 importance. Applications for assistance from 

 this fund should be accompanied by a full state- 

 ment of the nature of the investigation, of the 

 conditions under which it is to be prosecuted, 

 and of the manner in which the appropriation 

 asked for is to be expended. The applications 

 should be forwarded to the secretary of the board of 

 trustees. Dr. C. S. Minot, Harvard medical school, 

 Boston, Mass., U.S.A. The new grants will prob- 

 ably be made in May, 1887. The following grants 

 have been made : 1. $200 to the New England 

 meteorological society for the investigation of 



