426 
Analyses of Books. [July, 
have been slowly rising, whilst the rivers have been deepening 
their channels. Thus there is no necessity for assuming that the 
River Siul ever flowed at the elevation at which the boulder-bed 
now rests. Such boulders now lie at the top of the Chandon 
Namo Pass, at the height of 12,340 feet above the sea-level and 
2400 feet above the present bed of the Spiti. 
The flora of these regions is not uninteresting. A poppy of a 
delicate purple-blue merging into white is common above the 
zone of trees, but the author has never observed it at lower ele- 
vations than 11,000 feet. Wild rhubarb abounds at the head of 
the valleys. The stalks are consumed by English explorers and 
sportsmen, but whether the root is pharmaceutically valuable we 
do not learn. There are many species of Fungi growing on the 
trunks of trees. According to the natives all the Fungi para- 
sitical on the oak are wholesome, whilst those growing on pine 
trees are to be avoided. Col. McMahon made a dietetic experi- 
ment with one of the former, which he found not unpalatable. 
He adds : — “ On opening my eyes next morning I was thankful 
to find myself still in the land of the living.” 
The inhabitants of these upland regions are not believers in 
cleanliness. The author writes : — “ The process of washing my 
face and hands in the morning was a source of great delight to 
a group of village maidens, who in these mountain villages seem 
wholly unacquainted with the cleansing properties of soap and 
water.” The geologist in the Himalayas has to contend with 
difficulties. Here is a specimen : — “ The torrent under Budra 
has cut a deep narrowgorge through the mountain ; descent to 
the water’s edge was impossible, and the only way to cross the 
stream was by a frail bridge stretched from rock to rock some 
150 or 200 feet above the roaring torrent below. The bridge was 
formed of these poles about 30 yards in length, and across them 
small roughly hewn planks were fastened with twigs, forming a 
roadway of about a yard in width. A plank was dangling by 
one end over the chasm below, leaving a gap in the roadway, and 
suggesting painful doubts regarding the stability of the rest of 
the structure. The bridge had neither railing nor hand-ropes.” 
Mr. R. D. Oldham discusses the probability of obtaining 
water by means of Artesian Wells in the plains of Upper India, 
and comes to the conclusion that there is no zone of coarse per- 
meable deposits continuous with those of the bJiatar, and that in 
consequence there is little prospecft of obtaining water in this 
manner in the plains of Upper India, except in small quantities. 
Mr. H. B. Medlicott replies, considering the difficulty raised 
by Mr. Oldham rather imaginary, and re-affirming his conviction 
that there is a reasonable prospecft of success. He urges that 
the trials hitherto made have been fixed upon solely on grounds 
of local need, and not as being in any degree favourable sites for 
testing the conditions. 
Mr. F. R. Mallet examines the prevailing opinion that the 
