January 29, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



99 



proceeded to Norway House in the middle of 

 October last, and started from there in canoes, 

 but were frozen in when only twenty-five miles 

 on their journey, and had to abandon the canoes 

 and use sleighs, drawn by men, as the means of 

 transport. Great delay was experienced at first, 

 owing to the larger lakes being still open, as well 

 as some of the rivers, which necessitated a good 

 deal of portaging, and cutting of roads through 

 the woods. Oxford House was reached Nov. 9, 

 the parly having followed the usual boat route 

 thus far : and from this point the real work of the 

 exploration commenced. The country was thor- 

 oughly examined from the north side of Oxford 

 Lake to the mouth of Nelson River in as nearly a 

 direct line as possible, and the party arrived at 

 York Factory, Nov. 30. On the return journey 

 the line chosen as the result of the previous exam- 

 ination was followed and marked out. Sound- 

 ings and sections were made at the crossings of 

 the various rivers, and a careful estimate made 

 of the amount necessary to build the line. Major 

 Jarvis touched at Oxford House again Dec. 17, 

 and from that point, following the north shore of 

 Oxford Lake, returned direct to Sea River Falls, 

 on the east branch of the Nelson River, about 

 twenty miles below Norway House. The whole 

 of the proposed railway from Sea River to the 

 terminus chosen at the mouth of the Nelson 

 River, a distance of about three hundred and ten 

 miles, has been actually traversed on foot and 

 thoroughly explored, and the result may be briefly 

 summed up as follows : the line is quite practi- 

 cable, the rock and earth work being light, with 

 no heavy bridging, nor any work of an excep- 

 tional character. It may, indeed, be considered an 

 easy line to construct, the country generally being- 

 level, and with a sand or gravel formation. The 

 only rock met with was at the southern end of 

 the line. The timber is not of large size, but 

 enough was found for all immediate requirements. 

 The Nelson River terminus is very favorably situ- 

 ated, being large, flat, well drained, and about 

 ten feet above high water. Major Jarvis was 

 accompanied by R. J. Money, civil engineer, 

 assistant to Mr. Shelf ord, the well-known Eng- 

 lish engineer. Mr. Money is also perfectly satisfied 

 with the feasibility of the scheme. The total 

 distance walked over was upwards of a thousand 

 miles. 



— The fish commission steamer Albatross will 

 leave Washington, as soon as the ice in the river 

 disappears, for Norfolk, Va., where she will 

 undergo a few necessary repairs, and thence sail 

 for the Bahama Islands, where several months 

 will be passed in scientific research and hydro- 



graphic work. An efficient corps of naval officers 

 and scientific experts will accompany the ship, 

 among whom are the following : Lieut. -Com- 

 mander Z. L. Tanner, commanding ; Lieut. H. S. 

 Waring ; Lieut. B. O. Scott ; Ensign W. S. Hogg ; 

 Ensign W. S. Benson ; Surgeon J. M. Flint ; Passed 

 Assistant Engineer G. W. Baird ; paymaster, C. D. 

 Mansfield ; chief naturalist, Mr. J. E. Benedict ; 

 assistant naturalists, Mr. Thomas Lee and Mr. 

 Willard Nye. 



— The gratifying success of hatching cod arti- 

 ficially at Wood's Holl, recently attained by the 

 U. S. fish commission, marks a new era in fish- 

 culture. It is now the intention of Professor 

 Baird to attempt the acclimatization of the codfish 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, and to this end one million 

 of young cod will pass through Washington during 

 the present week en route to Pensacola, Fla., to be 

 placed in the Gulf of Mexico. 



— Considerable interest attaches to the country 

 around Commander Islands and Kamtchatka. Dr. 

 Leonhard Stejneger of the Smithsonian institution 

 visited this region in 1882-83, and also visited the 

 territory worked over by Steller, bringing back 

 with him many relics of that expedition, and also 

 portions of skeletons of the extinct sea-cow, and 

 of a vast number of birds and cetaceans. The 

 results are interestingly told in Bulletin No. 29 of 

 the national museum, which contains 382 pages, 

 and eight colored lithographic plates from sketches 

 by the author. 



— Bulletin No. 30, ' Bibliography of publications 

 relating to collection of fossil invertebrates in the 

 national museum,' by John Belknap Marcou, will 

 be issued in about two weeks. It contains a com- 

 plete list of the writings of F. B. Meek, C. A. 

 White, and Charles D. Walcott, and is an impor- 

 tant contribution to this branch of science. 



— The fifth annual ensilage congress met in 

 New York, Jan. 20. There were about two hun- 

 dred persons present as delegates from all parts 

 of the United States. The opening address was 

 delivered by Mr. Edward Atkinson of Boston, 

 w T ho was followed by S. C. Smith of St. Albans, 

 Vt., Orlando B. Potter, and James B. Brown. 



— The chemical division of the U.S. geological 

 survey is conducting a series of interesting experi- 

 ments with newly acquired material, under the 

 supervision of Prof. F. W. Clarke, v\ho is about 

 completing an investigation of minerals from 

 Litchfield, Me. Among the minerals there exist- 

 ing, a new species of the zeolite family has been 

 found, to which Professor Clarke has given the 

 name of hydronephelite. Messrs. Gooch and Whit- 



