1882.] Scientific News. 85 



vince of Shensi the sand from the desert is seriously encroaching 

 on the country and has already half buried some cities. The 

 high walls which have hitherto kept it out of Yiilin will not much 

 longer be of any avail, as the sand is already heaped almost to 



the top. An expedition was sent last summer to explore the 



neighborhood of Bear Lake, British Columbia, which was pre- 

 viously quite unknown. In the Geographical Section at the 



Meeting of the British Association, in addition to the papers here- 

 tofore mentioned the following were read : — Progress of Arctic 

 Research since the Foundation of the British Association, by 

 Clements R. Markham, F. R. S ; On the Island of Socotra, by 

 Professor J. Bailey Balfour ; Journey to the Imperial Mausolea, 

 East of Peking, by F. S. A. Bourne; Comparative Sketch of 

 what was known of Africa in 1830, with what is known in 1881, 

 by Lieutenant Col. J. A. Grant ; Some Results of Fifty Year's 

 Exploration in Africa, by the Rev. Horace Waller; Recent Visit 

 to the Gold Mines of the West Coast of Africa, by Commander 

 V. L. Cameron, R. N. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



— The first part of a valuable work by M. Alph. Milne Edwards, 

 on "The Fauna of Austral Regions," has been presented to the 

 French Academy. The geographical distribution of birds is 

 chiefly dealt with. It is remarkable (and would hardly have been 

 expected) that these animals are eminently adapted to reveal the 

 existence and position of the zoological centers whence the various 

 species have radiated. The penguins are specially interesting in 

 this respect. They appear to have migrated from a center of pro- 

 duction in the Antarctic islands, near Victoria land, and to have 

 followed the great current- going northwards, reaching the waters 

 of Cape Horn, the Falklands, New Georgia, the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and various islands of the Indian ocean, establishing, in 

 each case, powerful colonies, with (in time) distinctive characters. 

 Another colony, represented by the Spheniscans, starting troni 

 the same center, and favored by Humboldt's current, has gone to 

 the west of Cape Horn, along the coast of Chili, to Peru and the 

 Gallipagos islands, touching at various points. 



— The volume on the Vertebrata of the Western Tertiary forma- 

 tions on which Professor Cope has been engaged for several years. 

 is, we understand, approaching completion. Most of the plates 

 are drawn, and the printing of the text is well advanced. This 

 work will cover much ground, and will furnish much detailed 

 information on a subject which has of later times excited general 

 interest. The volume is No. iv of the Hayden series. Vol. m 

 will follow. It will give a similar account of the recent discover- 



