Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Ada. 
517 
Two days after my arrival in Irkutsk snow again feil, and this 
time it covered the ground so deeply that all my outdoor work 
caine to an end. 
In Irkutsk there are two museums. One of these is attaclied 
to a Tecknological School, and is used for teacking purposes, and the 
other is at the rooms of the local Geographical Society, which acts 
as a brancli of the larger Society in St. Petersburg. In this latter 
there are many objects of great interest. Amongst the minerals, 
fine crystals of Uilnite and Onvarovite are the most noticeable. In 
the osteological collection the bones of Deer and of the Mammoth 
seem to preponderate. Some of the latter kad integument still 
remaining on them. In the Technological Museum there are some 
remains of the same animal, which, in addition to the integument, 
have also a good coating of long red hair, eight inches in length. 
I also saw several skulls of Tigers from the Amoor district, and 
Seals from Lake Baikal, together witk a long series of Crustacea, 
which also appear to be peculiar to this lake. Of especial interest 
to the Zoologist and Palajontologist are a number of mummified 
remains of various animals, which have been obtained from a cave 
near Nijni Udinsk. As the temperature of this cave appears never 
to rise above — 4° C., the creatures that have died in it have had a 
great portion of their integument preserved. The results obtained 
from exploring such caves, and a number of them appear to have 
been discovered in these localities, will probably be of great interest, 
as it will give us a surer insight into the softer parts of many 
animals with which we have only hitherto been acquainted from 
their bones. In the museum there is also a small collection of birds 
and quadrupeds, some insects and fossils, and an antiquarian assem- 
blage of dresses and implements. Düring my stay in Irkutsk, 
which was for about a month, the weather gradually grew colder. 
One night the thermometer sank to — 28° R. ( — 31° F.). Notwith- 
standing the deadening influence of this cold at night-time, the 
stars looked brighter and more cheerful than I had ever before seen 
them, and when the moon was up it was so light, that I could read 
without difficulty small handbills posted on the walls. The cold 
was, however, too great to be enjoyed. Düring the day the appear- 
ances were reversed, and the town, especially during the dull 
weather, was both melancholy and depressing. The smoke from 
the chimneys, instead of rising to be dispersed in airy clouds, rolled 
heavily from the chimney tops in a long black horizontal line, and 
then feil down towards the ground. Its quantity seemed to be 
increased, which was perhaps due to condeusation of the aqueous 
vapour. When you opened a door. the cold air rushing in Con- 
densed all with which it mingled like so much smoke, which rolled 
across the floor in fuming clouds. If the sun shone brightly, you 
could often see spicules of ice glittering in its beams. 
Although I feit great cold whilst staying in Irkutsk, I did not 
experience anything like the extreme cold which this district 
annually experiences. The greatest cold registered during the pre- 
ceding winter was — 39 5 R., and the greatest warmth during sum- 
