234 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII. , No. 162 



Between the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean the 

 traveller found three series of ranges, separated by 

 depressions covered with forests, marshes, and 

 lakes. The Russian Lapps were well-made people, 

 averaging over five feet in height. The people 

 and officials everywhere gave him every assistance. 



Precursors of Columbus. — Prof. Guido Cora 

 reviews ' The precursors of Columbus' in a late 

 number of the bulletin of the Italian geographical 

 society. After an interesting resume, he concludes 

 that to Columbus is unquestionably due the open- 

 ing of a new world to humanity as represented by 

 civilized races ; that the name of America is de- 

 rived from some aboriginal word picked up by the 

 companions of Columbus ; that the precursors of 

 Columbus, in their voyages toward America, were 

 merely in search of wealth or prompted by a 

 spirit of adventure, and not instigated by scien- 

 tific prevision or the result of study of probabili- 

 ties ; that it is certain that the Scandinavians, 

 Basques, and probably also the Irish, had reached 

 American shores before Columbus ; while to the 

 brothers Zeno are due important charts and docu- 

 ments from which the previous discovery of 

 America might be inferred. 



Poliakoff 's ' Journey in Sakhalin.' — A transla- 

 tion of Poliakoff 's ' Journey in Sakhalin in 1881-82 ' 

 has been made by Professor Arzruni, and published 

 by Asher & Co. This forms a sort of monograph 

 of the products, industries, and people of this 

 little-known island, and is well worthy the atten- 

 tion of ethnologists and geographers. It contains 

 especially rich contributions to the anthropology, 

 mineral products, fisheries, and geography. The 

 Ainos, who inhabit the southern portion, are ex- 

 haustively treated of. As the original documents 

 are largely in Russian, this may be said to be for 

 most students the first effective publication of the 

 material. 



Pilcomayo expedition to Bolivia. — Some news 

 has been received from the latest expedition 

 of M. Thouar, who is endeavoring to find a trade- 

 route, via the Pilcomayo, between Bolivia and the 

 Argentine states. He left Assumption Sept. 28, 

 with an escort of twenty-eight experienced sol- 

 diers, two months' provisions, and a sufficient 

 number of horses, mules, etc. A volunteer, Mr. 

 Wilfrid Gilbert, accompanied the party. Major 

 Feilberg, as mentioned by us at the time, recently 

 ascended the river by water, finding a minimum 

 of six feet of water in the channel up to Lambara, 

 a point two hundred and fifty-live miles from the 

 mouth of the Pilcomayo. Here the party was 

 arrested by the rapids, over which there were not 

 more than two feet of water, rendering navigation 

 impossible, and deciding the return of the expedi- 

 tion. Since then an Argentine column, com- 



manded by Captain Gomenzorro, has raided the 

 borders of the river, killed or routed the peo- 

 ple of the Toba tribe, living on its banks, and 

 brought back a good deal of plunder and a few 

 prisoners. Defeats of this kind, however, have not 

 hitherto had much effect on the Tobas, beyond 

 causing them to retreat temporarily into their 

 jungles. They have avenged, as in the case of 

 Crevaux, on other white men, the destruction 

 visited on their villages. With this unpromising- 

 state of things, Thouar's plan of ascending the 

 river by land, with the above-mentioned small 

 escort, for the purpose of investigating the rapids 

 and determining whether any improvement of 

 the river at that point is possible, seems almost 

 foolhardy ; and it is to be regretted that the coun- 

 sel of those who advised an expedition by water 

 was not adopted. 



LONDON LETTER. 



The University of Cambridge has just suffered 

 a severe loss by the death of its librarian, Mr. 

 Henry Bradshaw, senior fellow of King's college. 

 The present efficiency of the university library is 

 almost entirely due to his untiring efforts during 

 the many years that he was at its head. His 

 bibliographical investigations were remarkable 

 for their accuracy, and were carried out with a 

 truly scientific precision, while he took a special 

 interest in that department of his duties which 

 was connected with the literature of systematic 

 zoology. Others will follow him in the post of 

 university librarian ; but it is not given to many 

 men to be so truly mourned as Mr. Bradshaw is 

 by the many generations of Cambridge men who 

 knew and loved him. The terms of the univer- 

 sity statutes require that the post shall be filled 

 within a fortnight of its becoming vacant ; and it 

 is probable that the choice of the electors will fall 

 upon Prof. W. Robertson Smith, the editor of the 

 ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' who is so well known 

 in the subject of Old-Testament criticism. He is 

 a fellow of Christ's college, and lord-almoner's 

 reader in Arabic to the university. 



The school of engineering at Cambridge has 

 been making considerable progress of late years 

 under the direction of Prof. James Stuart, M. P. 

 for Hackney ; and it is now proposed to institute 

 a tripos examination in engineering, which should 

 be combined to some extent with the natural 

 sciences tripos, and would include a very consid- 

 erable amount of practical work, together with 

 some of the higher branches of mathematics. 



Honor candidates who find a difficulty in math- 

 ematics need no longer be troubled with them 

 among the 1 additional subjects ' of the previous 



