oe. General Notes. [ October, 
being made, and he trusted that in a few years our ideas as to the 
condition of the depths of the sea may be as definite as they are 
with regard to regions to which we have long had ready access. 
— London Times. 
THe ARABIAN DeEsERT oF Ecypt.—Dr. G. Schweinfurth writes 
from Cairo, on the 18th of June, to the London Atheneum an ac- 
count of his visit to the desert region lying between the Nile and 
the Red Sea. He started from a village near Atfih, on the Nile, 
on March 29th, and, taking a circuitous route, in the course of 
which he examined, more or less minutely, fifty-five: wadis, re- 
turned to the Nile opposite to the town of Siut, on June gth. 
Whilst he found remains of Roman settlements, neither inscrip- 
tions nor ruins indicate any knowledge of this region by the an- 
cient Egyptians. The orographical and hydrographical features 
of this territory, to the east of the Nile, are far more varied than 
might have been expected. Every wadi has its own physiog- 
nomy. The rocks may belong to the same geological formation, 
but they vary exceedingly in contour and configuration. The 
wadis wind about in a curious manner, sloping down gently or 
steeply; the vegetation met within them is sometimes sporadic, 
at others ephemeral or continual; the animal world, too, con- 
tributes to impress a character upon each of the two hundred 
principal wadis which are met with in this small corner of North- 
eastern Africa. 
MICROSCOPY .?! 
Nationat MicroscopicaL ConGress—This Convention, a call 
for which had been published by the Indianapolis Lyceum of Nat. — 
Hist., assembled at Indianapolis on Wednesday morning, August 
14th. About sixty members were in attendance, representing 
. Hervey was appointed chairman, and H. F. Atwood, 
secretary. Addresses of welcome were made by Mayor Caven 
and Dr. O. Evarts, and responded to by the chairman. Regular 
organization was then effected by the election of the following 
officers: President, Dr. R. H. Ward, of Troy; vice-presidents, 
Prof. J. E. Smith, of Cleveland, and Dr. W. W. Butterfield, of 
Indianapolis; secretary, H. F. Atwood, of Chicago; treasurer, 
Dr. J. B. Marvi 
the meetings except Friday afternoon, which was devoted toa 
court house, which was largely attended by citizens. Owing to 
the large attendance and the limited number of instruments, nO 
effort was made to classify the objects, and the exhibition was 
f altogether a popular character. On the last day of the meet- 
eT tS SN eee ep Te TE ee a a 
