THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
times past piayed a greater r<Me there than it did 
now. There was a range of hills in the desert, 
7000 feet high, and for three months of the year 
their summits were covered with snow. Descend- 
ing the hills were old river-courses, some of great 
length. Much oi the region, he considered, had 
once been a large freshwater lake. Speaking of 
the commercial aspect of the Sahara, he said it 
was difficult to go there without becoming enthu- 
siastic about it. But there seemed to be no limit 
to the amount of water that was to be got by 
sinking artesian wells. The cultivation of palms 
was extending to an enormous extent, and the 
French expected to carry on their railway to 
Tougourt in the next few years. It. G . S. J ourn 
NOTES AND NEWS. 
Mr. R. Lydekker lately read a paper be- 
fore the Zoological Society of London on a 
Cervine jaw which was obtained from a 
pleistocene deposit in Algeria, and which j 
appears to indicate the former existence ; 
in that country of a large deer allied to 
Cervus cashmirianus. For this new form 
Mr. Lydekker has proposed the name 
Cervus Algericus. 
The honey of the Malta bees has long j 
been noted both for its purity, and for its J 
delicious flavour. The latter is largely 
due to the extensive crops of sulla (clover) 
that are annually raised throughout the 
islands, from which the bees derive the 
largest proportion of their material. It 
is estimated that to collect one pound of 
honey from clover, 62,000 heads of clover 
must be deprived of nectar, and, 3,750,000 j 
visits from the bees must be made. 
In our next number the first of a series of 
articles on “The formation of Mountain 
Chains” will appear, written by Mr. T. Meb 
lard-Reade O.E., F.G.S., F,R,I,B,A. : the emi- 
nent physicist whose book on the subject has 
attracted so much attention in the scientific 
world, and whose theory has had such an 
influence on current geological thought.^ 
Since Livingstone’s memorable journey 
across the “Dark Continent,’ Africa lias 
been crossed no less than twelve times. 
The Portuguese traveller Silva Porto fol- 
lowed Livingstone, Cameron crossed.it in 
1873, Stanley in 1874, Major Serpa Pinto 
in 1877, the Italian Mattucci in 1880, Cap. 
Wissman in 1881, Ivens and Capello the 
Portuguese explorers in 188^, and in 1885 
by the Swedish Commissioner Lieutenant 
Gleerup. Since then Stanley has recrossed 
it, and Captain Frivier of the French army 
as also performed the same task. 
Among the prizes that are to he awarded 
by the French Academy in 1892 is the 
Jecker prize of 10,000 fr. for discoveries in 
organic chemistry; the Brean prize of 
100,000 fr. (£4,000) for the discovery of 
a cure, or preventive of Asiatic cholera; the 
Argo gold medal for an}^ discovery that 
may have been of real service to science; 
the Leconte prize of 50,000 fr. for any in- 
vention or work on natural history, physics, 
mathematics, chemistry, or physiology; and 
the Montyon prize for the best contrivance 
whereby the ordinary occupations of life 
may he carried out with the minimum of 
danger. 
In a communication that M. Mares late 
lv made to the French Meteorological So- 
ciety it was shown that the weather in 
Algeria had been as remarkable as had 
that which had characterized the last win- 
ter, and spring in Europe. 
The author stated that in many localities 
the excessive rain-fall had prevented the 
sowing of seeds, and in the mountainous 
districts, where the sowing had taken place 
early, the seed had been swept away by 
the torrents. About the third week in 
January a heavy fall of snow lay on the 
Mitidja and the Sahel for two whole days. 
The writer states that for the last thirty 
five years, although he had sometimes seen 
snow fall, it did not lie an instant on the 
ground. 
