March 26, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



279 



the straits during the last week of October, 1884, 

 and that for all practical purposes of navigation 

 the straits remained closed at this point till the 

 early part of June in the present year. In June 

 a good deal of open water was seen at different 

 times, but the pack would close up again, and 

 remain in that condition for several days at a 

 time. 



"From a consideration of these reports, I am 

 of the opinion that it might have been possible to 

 pass through the straits during the early part of 

 this July. The same date of closing as shown by 

 the observations last year would give a season of 

 navigation rather less than four months for the 

 individual season. 



" It should, however, be stated, that the move- 

 ments of ice this spring were evidently much 

 later than those of last year ; for in the month 

 of August this year we met with vast quantities 

 of heavy ice, and in the same month last year 

 comparatively little was seen. On the Labrador 

 coast and at Churchill the report was the same, — 

 that the ice was unusually late in leaving this 

 year. 



" I was informed by a captain who had made a 

 number of voyages through Hudson's Straits, 

 that he had seen the straits clear of ice in June, 

 but that it was a rare occurrence. The fact, how- 

 ever, that the straits had been clear at this time, 

 shows that there is a great variability in the dates 

 of the opening of navigation. " 



The above conclusions scarcely seem to justify' 

 the building of a railway from Winnipeg to 

 Churchill, — a scheme so seriously contemplated, 

 that one or more companies have been organized, 

 an extensive preliminary survey made, proving 

 the feasibility of the route, and the requisite 

 capital actually promised ; while one of the en- 

 gineers has gone so far as to assert that the bay 

 and strait were navigable for properly constructed 

 vessels all the year round. 



The observers at all the stations report that the 

 huts were warm and comfortable, the food good 

 and sufficient, and their health, except in the 

 instances mentioned, excellent. The weather was 

 not nearly so severe as expected, the thermom- 

 eter never going so low as it often does in 

 inhabited portions of the north-west. 



THE PANAMA CANAL. 

 It has been reported in the daily papers from 

 time to time, during some months, that matters 

 at the Isthmus of Panama were in a bad shape, 

 that the funds previously subscribed and loaned 

 were nearly exhausted, and that but a small por- 

 tion of the necessary excavation had been com- 



pleted. Apparently to counteract the impression 

 made on the public mind by these statements, 

 M. de Lesseps, on his brief visit of inspection of 

 the work in progress on the canal, from which 

 he has just sailed for France, was accompanied 

 by delegates from various commercial cities of 

 Europe and this country, and an engineer was 

 also despatched by the French government to re- 

 port upon the state of affairs, before a decision 

 should be made in regard to the advisability of 

 allowing a further sum of money to be raised 

 and borrowed for the canal. 



In the supplement to No. 148 of Science (vol. 

 vi.) there appeared a notice of the recent book 

 by J. C. Rodrigues, on the Panama canal, which, 

 from his point of view, showed that the canal 

 construction had been shamefully mismanaged 

 from the start, and that failure and bankruptcy 

 were imminent. There has just issued from the 

 press another work 1 on the same subject, written 

 by one who has had a large, if not the largest, 

 share in the preliminary investigations, in the de- 

 liberations of the canal congress, and in obtaining 

 the territorial and other concessions, and has had 

 the best of opportunities for knowing about the 

 progress of the work, — Commander Lucien N. 

 B. Wyse. As will be inferred from the sub-title, 

 the author aims to give an exhaustive account of 

 the matter, from the very earliest explorations, 

 through the discussion of the several proposed 

 routes, a critical analysis of the points for and 

 against the eleven most promising lines, an ac- 

 count of the political and business negotiations 

 with other coimtries, the concessions secured, and 

 the views and arguments of the United States 

 authorities, down to the present state of the work 

 (October, 1885), the money already expended and 

 the future prospects. The admirable map which 

 Commander Wyse gives, of that portion of Cen- 

 tral America and the isthmus in which lie his sev- 

 eral projected routes, is reproduced with this issue 

 of Science, and the accompanying profiles show 

 in metres the elevation of the ground over the 

 different lines. The book contains also a plan of 

 the Panama canal as it is to be when completed, 

 and some ninety woodcuts of isthmian scenes and 

 views of the canal-works. 



The volume is very handsomely printed ; and a 

 person, whether interested or not in the canal, 

 will find the opening portion, describing the 

 scenery, the flora and fauna, the geological forma- 

 tions, the climate, the inhabitants, and the mode 

 of life in that part of the world, very reada- 

 ble. Space will not permit the giving of an ab- 



1 Le canal de Panama, Visthme americain; explorations; 

 comparison des traces etudies; negociations ; etat des tra- 

 vaux. Par Lucien N. B. Wyse. Paris, Hachette, 1S86. 8°. 



