64 The American Naturalist. [January, 
From a note in the September issue of the Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. 
it appears that the Lake Basso-narok is identical with Lake Samburu, 
and that the river Omo of Borelli discharges into it. MM. Teleki 
and Hoenel declare that it has no outlet. As the Samburu is 1,970 
feet above the sea, while the Victoria Nyanza is 3,800, this lake must 
form a distinct basin. 
An article upon nilometers in the Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. for Jan- 
uary, by Col. Ardagh, contains many interesting facts respecting those 
methods of measuring the rise of the Nile. It seems that the esti- 
mates now given by the Sheikh in charge are utterly unreliable. 
MM. Delcommune and Haneuse have performed a voyage of 503 
miles on the Lomanie, and have arrived within three days’ march of 
Nyangwe. They have proved that this stream is the one traversed by 
Wissmann and Pogge after leaving Nyangwe. The river is 250 metres 
wide, and 12 to 18 deep, and affords the most direct route from 
Stanley Falls to Lake Tanganyika. 
According to Prof. Virchow, positive data have been obtained to 
prove the existence of an Egyptian stone age; but there is a yawning 
gap between this evidence and the time of Menes. Skulls of the 
older dynasties agree with statues of the temple-building kings to prove 
that in cld times the type of the Egyptian skull was brachycephalic. 
But the modern fellaheen are long-headed. Prof. Virchow believes in 
the distinctness of both Egyptians and Nubians from the negro. The 
latter never changes color, while in the former color deepens by ex- 
posure to sun, and vice versa. This is why the Egyptians painted the 
men red, and the women light yellow. 
Baron v. Steinacker does not give a very roseate picture of the 
German Protectorate in Southwest Africa in his recent article in the 
Mitteilungen. There seems to be no available harbor along the coast save 
Walfish Bay, which is English ; the coast is without water, the middle dis- 
tricts have few spots favorable for agriculture, and it is only in the north 
and northeast that the agriculturist can have scope. The southern parts 
of the Kubango and Chobe districts are impassable swamps in the rainy 
season. The Hereros and the Hottentots are at constant strife. The 
report is accompanied by a map, embodying the Baron’s surveys, as 
well as previous ones. 
M. Camille Douls has been assassinated by his guides, between the | 
Oases of Alouef and Akabli, 900 kilometres south of Oran; but 
whether from fanaticism or cupidity is not known. As on his previous 
journey, he was in the disguise of a Mussulman. 





