GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 
EUROPE 
England. Four additional "wires, mainl}' for telephone pur])Oses, are 
to be laid between London and Paris. 
A census taken in iNIarcb last found the population of London, e.xclusive 
of the outer suburbs, to be 4,411,271, an increase of 199,528 in five years. 
ASIA 
India. In 1895 new railways aggregating over 800 miles in length were 
opened, while nearly 3,800 miles were under construction or sanctioned. 
The net earnings of the Indian railways averaged 5.78 per cent. 
China. The imports during 1895 amounted to 171,696,715 taels (the 
tael fluctuating between 65 and 74 cents), against 162,102,911 taels in 
1894. The exports amounted to 143,293,211 taels, against 128,104,522 taels 
in 1894. Silk is now a more important export article than tea. Raw cot- 
ton, also, is an export that is increasing very rapidly. Of the total foreign 
trade of nearly 315 million taels, Great Britain had over 215 millions, 
Japan 32 millions. Continental Europe (excluding Ru-ssia) 29 millions, the 
United States 2 O 5 millions, and the Russian empire 17 millions. Nearly 
219 million taels of this trade had its center in the port of Shanghai. The 
total number of foreign residents in China last year was 10,091, the British 
and Americans leading all other nations, with 4,084 and 1,325 respect- 
ively. Of the 603 foreign firms in the empire, 361 were British and 91 
German. 
AFRICA 
Uganda. About 100 miles of the new railway are expected to he con- 
structed this year, at a cost of about £520,000. The total outlay will lie 
not less than £3,000,000. 
• Asha.nti. iMajor Donovan, a British officer, recently visited lake 
Busumakwe and is said to be the first white man to have jienetrated that 
region. The area of the lake was found to be about 48 s(iuare miles, and 
there is no aiijiarent outlet. 
• Damomkv-Lagos. The Anglo-French commission for the demarcation 
of the boundary between Dahomey and Lagtis has coiii|)leted its task to 
the satisfaction of all concerned. Tiie French were found to have occu- 
pied several i)laces in British territory and to have been receiving taxes 
therefrom, but the representatives of the French government i>romptly 
withdrew on this fact being established. 
P>iHTiHH Ckntkal Ai-'kica. Mr A. J. Swann, the British magistrate at 
Kotakota, lake Nya.«sa, who some time ago discovered some remarkable 
fresh-water medusa;, has recently found an immense bed of lime fo.ssils 
