﻿Frof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 517 



Two days after my arrival in Irkutsk snow again fell, and this 

 time it covered the ground so deeply that all my outdoor work 

 came to an end. 



In Irkutsk there are two museums. One of these is attached 

 to a Technological School, and is used for teaching purposes, and the 

 other is at the rooms of the local Geographical Society, which acts 

 as a branch of the larger Society in St. Petersburg. In this latter 

 there are many objects of great interest. Amongst the minerals, 

 fine crystals of Uilnite and Onvarovite are the most noticeable. In 

 the osteological collection the bones of Deer and of the Mammoth 

 seem to preponderate. Some of the latter had integument still 

 remaining on them. In the Technological Museum there are some 

 remains of the same animal, which, in addition to the integument, 

 have also a good coating of long red hair, eight inches in length. 

 I also saw several skulls of Tigers from the Amoor district, and 

 Seals from Lake Baikal, together with a long series of Crustacea, 

 which also appear to be peculiar to this lake. Of especial interest - 

 to the Zoologist and Palaeontologist are a number of mummified 

 remains of various animals, which have been obtained from a cave 

 near Nijni Udinsk. As the temperature of this cave appears never 

 to rise above — 4° C., the creatures that have died in it have had a 

 great portion of their integument preserved. The results obtained 

 from exploring such caves, and a number of them appear to have 

 been discovered in these localities, will probably be of great interest, 

 as it will give us a surer insight into the softer parts of many 

 animals with which we have only hitherto been acquainted from 

 their bones. In the museum there is also a small collection of birds 

 and quadrupeds, some insects and fossils, and an antiquarian assem- 

 blage of dresses and implements. During my stay in Irkutsk, 

 which was for about a month, the weather gradually grew colder. 

 One night the thermometer sank to — 28" K. ( — 31° P.). Notwith- 

 standing the deadening influence of this cold at night-time, the 

 stars looked brighter and more cheerful than I had ever before seen 

 them, and when the moon was up it was so light, that I could read 

 without difficulty small handbills posted on the walls. The cold 

 was, however, too great to be enjoyed. During the day the appear- 

 ances were reversed, and the town, especially during the dull 

 weather, was both melancholy and depressing. The smoke from 

 the chimneys, instead of rising to be dispersed in airy clouds, rolled 

 heavily from the chimney tops in a long black horizontal line, and 

 then fell down towards the ground. Its quantity seemed to be 

 increased, which was perhaps due to condensation of the aqueous 

 vapour. When you opened a door, the cold air rushing in con- 

 densed all with which it mingled like so much smoke, which rolled 

 across the floor in filming clouds. If the sun shone brightly, you 

 could often see spicules of ice glittering in its beams. 



Although I felt great cold whilst staying in Irkutsk, I did not 

 experience anything like the extreme cold which this district 

 annually experiences. The greatest cold registered during the pre- 

 ceding winter was — 39-5 E., and the greatest warmth during sum- 



