262 Scientific Intelligence. 



Washington, 1904 (Department of Commerce and Labor). — The 

 annual volume from the Coast and Geodetic Survey contains the 

 general report of the Superintendent, Mr. O. H. Tittmann, for the 

 year ending June 30, 1904, with special statements from the vari- 

 ous assistants and inspectors. A series of nine Appendixes fol- 

 low, giving the details of operations in the office and field, results 

 of magnetic observations, of work done on telegraphic longi- 

 tudes, on cotidal lines for the world and other subjects. 



From the report by Mr. L. A. Bauer upon the results of the 

 magnetic observations, we have quoted on another page (p. 248). 

 The Superintendent notes the interesting fact of the completion 

 of the determination of the difference of longitude between San 

 Francisco and Manila, and details of the work are given by 

 Assistant Edwin Smith in Appendix 4. It is notable that the 

 finally accepted value of the longitude of the Cathedral dome at 

 Manila differs but S *006 from that determined by officers of the 

 IT. S. Navy in 1881-82. 



3. The /Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. — The second 

 Antarctic voyage of the "Scotia" has produced some interesting 

 results. The Argentine government has agreed to take over the 

 meteorological and magnetic observatory in the South Orkneys, 

 established by the first Scottish expedition. The newly-dis- 

 covered part of the Antarctic continent has been named Coats- 

 land, in 74° T south, 22°0' west. Some very rich hauls were made 

 in 1410 fathoms of water in 7l°22' south, 16°34' west, no less 

 than sixty species of animals being obtained. One of the most 

 interesting results of the exploration is the discovery that sound- 

 ings made by Ross, and which are represented on practically all 

 maps, are in error. Instead of a sounding of "4000 fathoms, 

 no bottom" a sounding of 2660 fathoms was obtained, and the 

 sea, likewise, is shown to be of much less extent than w r as sup- 

 posed. Data were collected at the South Orkneys for a detailed 

 map of Laurie Island ; a continuous hourly meteorological record 

 was kept for nine months ; botany and geology were investigated, 

 and an extremely rich shallow water fauna was collected. In the 

 South Atlantic a somewhat deeper channel has been demonstrated 

 between the Falkland Islands and the South Orkneys, and farther 

 to the east the ocean maps have been materially changed by the 

 discovery of a large southern extension of the Middle Atlantic 

 ridge to the south of Gough Island. 



4. National Academy of Sciences. — Vol. V of the Biographi- 

 cal Memoirs has been recently issued; it contains notices of the 

 following gentlemen, former members of the Academy : Joseph 

 Henry, John Edwards Holbrook, Louis Francois de Pourtales, 

 Augustus A. Gould, Henry A. Rowland, Theodore Lyman, 

 Matthew Carey Lea, Francis A. Walker, John G. Barnard, James 

 E. Keeler, James Hadley, Henry B. Hill,Sereno Watson, Robert E. 

 Rogers. Each notice is accompanied by a portrait and signature. 



5. The American Museum Journal. — The January number of 

 this publication is largely devoted to a well illustrated paper by 



