84 General Notes, [January, 



achieved from time to time, etc. ; (2), to leave behind, where prac- 

 ticable, the buildings and other of the equipments of expeditions 

 likely to be useful to future investigators in the same branches of 

 science, and to take all possible precautions for their preserva- 

 tion; and (3), to endeavor to make arrangement with railway and 

 steamer companies for the reduction of the cost of passages and 

 transport. 



Geographical News. — The second Geographical Society in 

 the United States has been organized at San Francisco, under 



the title of The Geographical Society of the Pacific. The 



recent census of India, shows the total population to be 252,000,- 



000. Russian explorers have recently visited the Bai Shan 



Mountain, twelve miles north-east of Kuldja and found that the 

 fires that have been burning there from time immemorial are not 

 volcanic, but proceed from burning coal. On the sides of the 

 mountain there are caves emitting smoke and sulphurous gas. 

 The question as to the existence of volcanic formations in Central 



Asia, may now be considered as decided in the negatative. 



The Nature states that " Mr. James Jackson, ' Archiviste- 

 Bibliothecaire ' of the Paris Geographical Society, has published, 

 in a volume of 340 pages, a ' Liste Provisoire de Bibliographies 

 Geographiques Speciales.' The list was undertaken at the 

 instance of the Society, and was printed in some haste, we believe, 

 for the recent Venice Congress. But when we remember that 

 the list is only a bibliographical one, a list of lists, in fact, the 

 accumulation of geographical literature is almost appalling. It 

 bears evidence of extensive and careful research, though the 

 author admits that it is by no means exhaustive. Mr. Jackson 

 recently visited the United States to search the libraries there, 

 and the result is a work invaluable to all students of geography. 

 He has wisely devoted comparatively small space to Europe, 

 because, as he states, the works relating to the countries of that 

 continent are well known and easily accessible. Mr. Jackson 

 gives not only bibliographies proper, but references to works on 

 travel and geography, and to periodicals, journals, and transac- 

 tions, which contain special lists. The divisions of the list are : — 

 Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceanica, Polar regions, Oceans 

 and Hydrography, Peoples and Nations, Voyages, Travelers, and 

 Geographers, and Generalities. By means of the arrangement 

 under each division the methodical table of contents, the index to 

 authors and periodical publications, the work is rendered easily 

 consumable. It reflects the greatest credit on Mr. Jackson's 



industry and on the enterprise of the Paris Society." A new 



island has been discovered in lat. 7 48' S. long. 8*° 48' W. and 

 188 miles from Punta Aguja. south of Guayaquil, the nearest 

 land. It appears to be of volcanic origin and is only fifty feet 

 above the sea, in its highest part. It is a mile long and about 

 the same width. In the northern portion of the Chinese pro- 



