October 28, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



213 



EXPLORATION AND TRAVEL. 

 Brazil. 



Dr. Hassler, who returned last April from an interesting jour- 

 ney through the Brazilian province of Matto Grosso, has described 

 the results of his journey in a lecture delivered before the Geo- 

 graphical Society of Bern. The expedition, which was organized 

 by the Brazilian Government, consisted of Dr. Hassler, an English- 

 man, a Brazilian lieutenant with forty soldiers, and several natives. 

 They ascended the Paraguay, and began their explorations from 

 Cuyaba, the capital of Matto Grosso. Having ascended the Rio 

 Cuyaba, they crossed the divide between the La Plata and Amazon 

 systems, and tried to reach the Rio des Mortes. Having first 

 struck the little-known rivers feeding the Xingii, they found the 

 Rio des Mortes, which they descended to its confluence with the 

 Araguaya, and followed the latter river to its confluence with the 

 Tocantins. They returned by the Araguaya, and, having traversed 

 an extensive part of the plateau of Matto Grosso, they reached the 

 Rio Lourengo, and returned by this way to Asuncion. Dr. Hassler 

 discovered and explored several large tributaries of the Araguaya. 

 The region traversed by this expedition is not far east from where 

 Von der Steinen made his important discoveries in 1883, and the 

 results of this journey will undoubtedly form a valuable contribution 

 to our knowledge of the geography of central Brazil. The topog- 

 raphy of the plateau of Matto Grosso and of its northern slope is 

 little known, and it is fortunate that the Brazilian Government 

 should at last undertake the exploration of this extensive country. 

 Dr. von der Steinen, who is now on his way to the sources of the 

 Xingii, was unable to carry out his plan, to reach the Matto Grosso 

 from the east coast of Brazil, but had to take the Paraguay route. 

 His last letter is from Cuyaba. The expedition was detained in 

 Brazil by the prevalence of cholera in the Argentine Republic. 

 They used this time for exploring the sambagui (or shell-heaps) of 

 Santa Catharina. They intended to start from Cuyaba to the head 

 waters of the Xingii, where tliey will establish a camp and study 

 the interesting Indian tribes inhabiting this remote region. 



New Guinea. — Since we published the sketch-map of New 

 Guinea in No. 242 of Science, several interesting reports on new 

 journeys have been published. Dr. Schrader, the leader of the ex- 

 pedition of the New Guinea Company, has ascended the Augusta 

 River in a small steamer some distance beyond the point reached 

 on the first expedition. The Proceedings of the Royal Geographi- 

 cal Society say that Mr. C. H. Hartwig and Mr. G. Hunter suc- 

 ceeded last July in reaching the summit of the Owen Stanley Range. 

 They appear not to have reached the highest elevations, but by a 

 judicious choice of route, along the valleys of the Kemp Welsh and 

 Musgrave Rivers, ascended to the saddle between Mounts Obree 

 and Brown, and crossed to the eastern or inland slope of the 

 range. They started with twenty-seven friendly natives, but had 

 some difficulty, in commencing the ascent, with the hostile tribe 

 who guard the great mountain Paramagoro, which they believe to 

 be the abode of the spirits of the departed. Their hostility was 

 eventually overcome by peaceable measures, and upward of two 

 hundred of them followed the expedition in the ascent, conciliated 

 by the daily supply of meat of wild pigs, which the travellers ob- 

 tained by means of their rifles, though the chief cause of the suc- 

 cess is attributed to the great experience of Mr. Hunter, who had 

 for a long time prepared for the expedition by making friends with 

 the tribes, several of whose languages he speaks fluently. The 

 flora is described as magnificent in the extreme, including palms of 

 many species, tree-ferns, marantas, orchids, and an endless variety 

 of tropical flowering plants. East of the range the country is more 

 open and richly grassed . The same number of that journal con- 

 tains a full report of the discovery of two large rivers, the Douglas 

 and Jubilee Rivers, emptying at the head of the Gulf of Papua, ac- 

 companied by a map and several illustrations. Their discovery 

 was mentioned in a recent issue of Science. The well-known trav- 

 eller, Capt. Adrian Jacobsen, has been sent out to New Guinea and 

 the neighboring islands by the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, 

 principally for making collections among the various Papuan tribes. 



Timbuktu. — Timbuktu and the upper Niger have lately at- 

 tracted considerable attention. The French are rapidly extending 

 their possessions toward this important place, starting from the 



Senegal. The Geographical Society of Paris has published several 

 sketch-maps showing the advance that has recently been made. 

 The upper Gambia and the neighboring districts have been sur- 

 veyed, and extensive stretches of land on the upper Niger have 

 been placed under French protectorate, which now extends from 

 the right bank of the Niger to Sierra Leone and Liberia, including 

 the whole of Futa-Djallon. Roads are being built, and much ad- 

 vance is being made in our knowledge of these districts. While this 

 is a safe and reliable way of progress, Mr. George Angeli's scheme 

 of a railway from Cape Juby to Timbuktu seems rather vague, and 

 unlikely to be carried out. Of great interest is an approach to the 

 upper Niger by Dr. A. Krause through a country which was for- 

 merly considered impenetrable. We mentioned the beginning of 

 his journey, on which he started from the Gold Coast, in No. 218 of 

 Science. He succeeded in entering the totally unknown region in 

 the great bend of the Niger, but had to return when about one 

 hundred and fifty miles from Timbuktu. The results of this journey 

 will be of great importance. As it is generally accepted that 

 journeys in Africa are very expensive, it will be of interest to learn 

 that Krause had no more than twenty-five dollars on landing. 



Stanley Falls. — The London Times publishes an interesting 

 letter of Major Barttelot on the state of affairs in Central Africa. 

 This letter makes it clear that Tippo-Tip's authority in Stanley 

 Falls is very limited, and that he will require support from the 

 Kongo Free State to suppress the slave-hunters, who extend their 

 raids almost to the confluence of the Aruvimi. The Kongo Free 

 State has decided to send some troops to his assistance, and, in 

 case this effort should prove unsuccessful, to endeavor to obtain the 

 support of the Sultan of Zanzibar. If Tippo-Tip is true to his 

 obligations, it may be that the efforts of the state will be successful. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 

 Vital Statistics in Massachusetts. 

 The Massachusetts State Board of Health has issued the forty- 

 fifth registration report of that State, containing the vital statistics 

 for the year 1886. During this year the public health has markedly 

 improved; the birth-rate being greater, and the death-rate less, 

 than in any other year since 1879. 50,788 births, 18,018 marriages, 

 and 37,244 deaths were recorded, being an increase of 1,998 births 

 and 966 marriages, and a decrease of 850 deaths, as compared with 

 1885. The death-rate was 18.85; the birth-rate, 25.69; and the 

 marriage-rate, 9.12. The number of illegitimate births was 1,034, 

 or 20.3 per thousand. The rate in Russia is 29, and in Bavaria 

 152, the average for Europe being 64. In Massachusetts, and also 

 in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont, as well as in most 

 countries of Europe, the marriage-rate has decreased during the 

 past twenty-five years. 601 divorces were granted during 1886, 45 

 less than in 1885, but 105 more than the average for the preceding 

 twenty years. Of these, 20.8 per cent were for adultery, 45.7 for 

 desertion, 16.3 for intoxication, 5.3 for extreme cruelty, 10.3 for 

 cruel and abusive treatment, and 1.2 for neglect to provide mainte- 

 nance. The infant mortality was greater than in any year since 

 1875, and also greater than the average of the past fifteen years. 

 The average age of all persons at death was 34 years, the extremes 

 being 48.63 in Barnstable County, and 30.29 in Suffolk. The ratio 

 of deaths from zymotic diseases to all deaths has steadily decreased 

 from 28.6 in 1876, to 18.5 in 1886. The death-rate from consump- 

 tion has decreased from 3.25 per thousand in 1867, to 2.98 in 1886; 

 that from cancer has, during the same period, increased from 0.29 

 to 0.56. During the ten years ending 1 886, there have been the fol- 

 lowing deaths : from typhoid-fever, 8,466 ; from whooping-cough, 

 2,765; from diphtheria, 15,288; from measles, 1,832; from scarlet- 

 fever, 5,130; and from small-pox, 193. The increase in the mor- 

 tality from diseases of the brain during the past twenty-five years is 

 very marked. In 1865 the rate per ten thousand for this class of 

 disorders was 12.06; in 1865, 14.39; '" '870, 14.35 ; in 1875, 16.42 ; 

 in 1880, 17.00; and in 1885, 20.01. In this class are included ap- 

 oplexy, softening of the brain, paralysis, insanity, cephalitis, and 

 brain disorders generally. There were but 32 deaths reported from 

 ague and remittent fever during the year: 62.5 per cent of these 

 were in the five western counties, having but twenty-six per cent of 



