274 Scientific News. [ April, 
tion of Cabul and Peshawur. Col. Prejevalsky wili shortly set 
out on his new exploring expedition to Kuldja, Thibet and the 
Himalayas. 
The last supplement to Petermann’s Mittheilungen is devoted to - 
an elaborate monograph by Dr. G. A. Credner, of Halle Univer- 
sity, upon deltas. .The paper is divided into two sections. 
the first he treats of the limits of deltas, their character, and 
formation of their surface, their size, power, material, rate and 
results of growth, their age, number and geographical distribution 
and classification. In the second he treats of the origin an 
causes of the formation of deltas, and the geological problem 
thus presented. Maps showing the various deltas and illustrating 
the upheaval and subsidence of land are also given. 
The British Arctic exploring ship A/ert has again been put 
into commission under her old captain, Sir George Nares, for 
surveying service in Magellan’s straits and the south Pacific. The 
work in Magellan’s straits is expected to occupy from one to 
two years. The Aert will then proceed to make isolated but 
important surveys in the neighborhood of the Society, Friendly 
and Fiji islands and of shoals and reefs between the Fijis and New 
Zealand, and finally on the south-western and north-western coasts 
of Australia. . 
Major Herbert Wood and other writers have heretofore confi- 
dently asserted that the ancient river Oxus (now the Amu Darya) 
has within historic times emptied into the Caspian sea, and that 
its ancient channel can still be traced. The recent breaking 
down of a dam at Fort Bend on the Amu, which has caused a 
water-course and opening a new water way from Moscow to the 
heart of Asia is one which would overtask the resources of the 
richest state. 
:0: 
SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
'`— In December, 1878, Dr. Gustav Leonhard, of Heidelberg, 
died, leaving the editorial management of the Jahrbuch für 
Mineralogie, so long and favorably know in America, in the 
hands of Dr. Hans Bruno Geinitz, of Dresden. Now, after six- 
teen years association with Dr. Leonhard, Dr. Geinitz retires from 
the editorship. The dissolution of this distinguished partnership 
will create a new feature in geological literature, and we can only 
wish Dr. Geinitz the same success in the cultivation of his favor- 
ite science in the future that he has had in the past. 
