1877.] Microscopy. 571 
from marks made by himself, on the piles of the wharf, the lake is fif- 
teen inches higher than in July, 1875. It is to be hoped that the U. S. 
geologists will measure the oscillations of the lake. 
GEOGRAPHICAL News.— The Geographical Magazine for June 
contains a map of the seat of war in Asia, which is intended to assist its 
readers in following the military operations now being carried on in 
Asia. The editor observes that it possesses but few claims to accuracy, 
for of the countries delineated only a small portion has been made known 
to us through the surveys of Russian officers and of other Europeans, 
some of them in the service of Turkey. 
Corea having entered into a treaty with Japan, there are prospects 
that this last of exclusive nations in the far East will have intercourse 
with other countries. A general account of Corea is given in the Geo- 
graphical Magazine. A new map of Japan has been compiled by R. 
H. Brunton, formerly engineer-in-chief of the Japanese Light-House 
Department. It is said to be the only map of Japan which can be con- 
sulted with confidence. It is published by Triibner & Co., London. 
The Darien Exploring Expedition, under command of M. Lucien N. 
B. Wyse, returned to Panama early in April. M. Wyse has expressed 
his conviction, based on the results of these surveys, that the inter- 
Oceanic canal will soon be made through Columbia. The proposed canal 
will have a length of 143 miles, including 46 miles of the Atrato and 
43 of the Tuyra, which can be rendered navigable at small expense. At 
the confluence of Tuyra and Pucro the elevation above the sea is 92 
feet, and it appears from a reconnaissance that the height of the water 
parting at the head of the Tihule does not exceed 230 feet. The late 
Dr. Maack, who was attached to the American Expedition as geologist, as- 
certained that the two oceans formerly communicated near this spot. The 
fossils discovered belonged to species still existing in the two oceans, 
The engineers would, therefore, only have to break through this barrier, 
which has been formed by an upheaval of the tertiary strata. 
At the meeting of the Berlin Geographical Society, held May 12th, 
Baron Richthofen read a paper on the roads followed by the silk trade, 
according to Ptolemy and the Chinese authorities. It was announced at 
this meeting that Dr. Nachtigal proposed to start for Western Africa 
next year. In the mean time, it is proposed to dispatch a pioneer ex- 
Plorer to follow in the footsteps of Pogge and Mohr. 
MICROSCOPY. 
ANOTHER MECHANICAL FINGER. — Mr. Hanks, of San Francisco, 
» ata recent meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society de- 
scribed a device used by him for picking up objects under the micro- 
Scope, which answers nearly all the purposes of the most elaborate me- 
ical finger, and at the same time requires no extra apparatus. For the 
1 Conducted by Dr. R. H. Warp, Troy, N. Y. 
