1892.] Geography and Travels. 41 



(general Notes. 



GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS. 



At the meeting of the Society of American Naturalists, held in 

 Philadelphia, Dec. 30, 1891, reports from four exploring expeditions 

 were read. The following abstracts of them appeared in the Philadel- 

 phia Ledger soon after : 



The Galapagos Islands. 



Prof. George Baur, of Clark University, Worcester, Mass., presented 

 his report on his expedition to the Galapagos Islands, in the South 

 Pacific Ocean. 



The expedition left New York May 1, on the steamship City of 

 Para, most of the funds for which having been provided by Mr. 

 Stephen Salsbury, one of the trustees of Clark University, a contribu- 

 tion from the Elizabeth Thompson Fund of Boston, Prof. H. F. 

 Osborn and others. 



The expedition reached Chatham Island, one of the group, on June 

 9th. Here they remained over two weeks, during which extensive 

 collections were made. Great differences were noted in the climate 

 between the upper and lower portion of the island. In the former it 

 was nearly always damp, rain falling nearly every night and day ; 

 while, in the latter, it was very agreeable, and rain seldom fell. 



On the 27th of June the expedition left Chatham Island, and 

 reached Charles Island the next day. 



Before going on the expedition, Prof. G. Baur had announced the 

 conclusion that the Galapagos Islands were, contrary to the general 

 opinion, to be considered as continental ; that they developed through 

 subsidence, and not through elevation by volcanic activity. This con- 

 clusion led him to the establishment of the two following theses : 



First. Continental islands must have ft harmonic distribution of 

 fauna and flora. 



Second. Oceanic islands must have a disharmonic distribution. 



From all that is known about the Galapagos Islands, it appears 

 that the distribution was harmonic. 



Charles Island was the first taken for comparison, and here every- 

 thing seemed quite different from Chatham. The hills were more 

 rounded, and there was very little indication of more recent volcanic 

 eruption. The rocks were more decomposed, but more dry than Chat- 

 ham. The composition and aspect of the flora were different. Many 

 of the large trees of the upper region of Chatham were totally absent. 



