the whole phenomena of the continuous and bright line spectrum in the neighborhood of the nucleus may be accounted for." He also discusses briefly some of the polarization phenomena of comets, and the envelopes which appear near the nucleus. The article is a very interesting and suggestive one; but in view of the fact that comets' tails sometimes grow, not a hundred thousand, but more than a million miles a day, it is doubtful whether the proposed hypothesis can be regarded as sufficient. — (Astr. reg., March.) C. A. Y. [689

GEODESY.

Altitude of Lake Constance. - Part of the work laid out by the European geodetic commission consists in carrying an accurate series of levels across the country, and a share of this has recently been completed by the royal Prussian geodetic institute. It is published as the Gradmessungs-nivellement zwischen Swinemünde und Konstanz, by W. Seibt (Berlin, 1882), and records the altitudes of a large number of points from the Baltic, where the datum plane is the mean water-level from fifty-four years' observations, to Lake Constance, where connection is made with the Swiss triangulation. The railway station in Constance is 399.990 met. above the Baltic. — (Verh. ges. f. erdk., Berlin, 1882, 514, 538.) w. M. D. [690

MATHEMATICS.

Symmetric functions. - Previous mention has been made of Mr. Durfee's tables for the twelfthic. By a curious coincidence, M. Rehorovsky of Prague has, almost simultaneously with Mr. Durfee, computed the same tables. M. Rchorovsky's tables differ from those of Mr. Durfee only in arrangement. The tables as arranged by the former are identical in form with those given by Prof. Cayley for the first ten orders in the Phil. trans., vol. 147; while those of Mr. Durfee are arranged symmetrically, and cannot be included in a half-square, as M. Rehorovsky's are. — (Sitzungsb. akad. wissensch. Wien, 1882.) T. C.

n

(3)

n

n

[691

Maximum value of a determinant.. -The elements of a determinant being restricted to lie between (-a) and (+ a), Mr. Davis finds, that, for all determinants whose order is greater than 2, a numerical maximum is found by making all the elements of the principal diagonal - a, and all the remaining elements of the determinant = + a. In the maximum cubic determinant Da", all of the strata are made identical, and equal to D2). The value of this determinant is ±n! D2) a". Formulae are also given for hyperspace determinants. (Johns Hopk. univ. circ., No. 20.) T. C. [692 Functions of several variables.-M. Combescure seeks to develop completely the immediate conditions to be satisfied by an analytic function of several imaginary variables. Assuming Z1, Z2... Zn as the variables, these are defined by the equations Zj = xj + iy;, where j = 1, 2... n. Then the function to be considered is F(Z1, Z2... Zn) = φ + ίψ. The differential co-efficients of and of the first order are connected by relations precisely similar to those connecting these quantities when there is only one variable, z: so, when one of the functions

or is given, the other may be found by simple quadratures. It is shown that the group of conditions for the determination of reduces itself to n (n + 1) the partial differential equations of the 2 second order, An,k = 0, where

for h, k = 1, 2 n, and, of course, including the cases where hk. These are the necessary and sufficient conditions to be satisfied by . A means is given of representing analytically by an exponential series, the co-efficients of which depend upon the sines and cosines of (a, x1 + ... + ann) and (B1y + ... + ẞnyn); a ẞ, as well as the constant co-efficients of these sines and cosines, being indeterminate real quantities, to which we can give any values we please. (Comptes rendus, Jan. 22.) T. C. [693

Homologies and conics. If L and M are two fixed points on a conic, K, and P a variable point, then PH, perpendicular to L M, cuts again the circle L. M P in a point, H, which describes a conic, K'. If the circle on L M as diameter cuts K again in E F, then LM and E F are the axes, and the point at infinity in the direction PH is the common centre of two of the twelve homologies which two conics in general determine. The ratio of corresponding areas of K and K' is constant, a function of the eccentricity of K and of the inclination of L M to the focal axis of K. Given, on the other hand, the centre and axes of the homology, two triply infinite systems of conics, K and K', can be determined; the conics of each system being similar and similarly placed, and the common points at infinity of one system being orthogonal to those of the other. All the conics of the plane are thus distributed into a doubly infinite number of triply infinite systems. The net of conics determined by three arbitrary points in a plane will give a doubly infinite number of conics, one out of each system, and hence will produce all the homologies of the plane, and each once only. There is therefore a (2,1) correspondence between the doubly pointed plane and the plane of the homologies. The discussion of these points by Luigi Certo is followed by an investigation of the variation of the ratio of corresponding areas, first, with the variation of the eccentricity, and, second, with the variation of the direction of the line L M. He also considers the distribution in the plane of the pairs of similar conics of which the system of conics through four points on a circle is composed. (Giorn. mat., xx.)

C. L. F.

PHYSICS.

Optics.

[694

Color of water. -W. Spring reviews the several explanations suggested to account for blue and greenish colors of water in lakes and seas, - Bunsen's idea of inherent color, Tyndall's theory of reflection, and others, and concludes that some further study of the question is needed. Blue from reflection would imply red by transmission, but this is not observed from diving-bells. The author concludes provisionally that the color depends on the presence of certain salts, especially calcic carbonate in solution. The more complete the solution, the bluer the water. (Rev. scient., 1883, 161.) W. M. D.

Two experiments were tried. In the first, the yellow light remained stationary, and the blue one was moved towards the screen till equality of the shadows was obtained. In the second experiment, the blue light was left in its first position, and the yellow one moved away from the screen till the shadows were equal. On comparing the results obtained, it was found that they differed materially from one another. In another experiment the two shadows were cast so that when the eye was in a certain position they appeared of equal brilliancy. On approaching the screen, the blue shadow was found to appear more brightly lighted than the other; and, on going away from the screen, the reverse effect was observed. To further investigate these results, two methods of measurement were employed: 1. The intensity of the light corresponding to the different wave-lengths of the spectrum was determined by means of a Rumford photometer, as above described; 2. A small figure consisting of three short, broad, black lines, drawn on a white surface, was placed in different portions of the spectrum, and the intensity of the light increased or diminished until its outlines were just distinguishable.

It was found that the results obtained by the two methods agreed almost exactly for the less refrangible portion of the spectrum, as far as wave-length 517; but beyond that point the differences suddenly became very marked; and it was shown that a blue light had to be many times brighter than a yellow one in order to distinguish the same details by its aid; also, that the brighter the lights were, the more marked did this difference become.

Now, for purposes of artificial lighting, whether public or private, the end desired is less to produce a luminous sensation upon the eyes than to enable us to distinguish the objects around us. It is therefore concluded, that, for lights of equal brilliancy, the superiority of yellow sources (such as gas-flames and incandescent electric lamps) to sources richer in the blue rays, as the arc light, is beyond question. (Journ. phys., Feb.) W. H. P.

Electricity.

[696

Transmission of power. - Experiments relating to the electrical transmission of power were made on the 4th of March last, in Paris, at the Chemin de fer du Nord, before a commission of the French institute, composed of MM. Bertrand, Cornu, Tresca, de Lesseps, and de Freycinet. The resistance of the line was 160 ohms, a resistance equivalent to that offered by a copper wire 106 kilometres in length, and 4 mm. in cross-section. The power applied to the generating-machine was equivalent to 4.4 horsepower; and the rotation of the generating armature was varied from 380 to 1,024 revolutions per minute in order to ascertain the effect of speed of rotation upon the mechanical return at the other end of the line. As the general result of the experiments, 'La Lumiere électrique' announces that the available power transmitted was 47.5% of that which actuated the generating-machine. - (La Lum. électr., March 17.) A. G. B. [697

ENGINEERING.

Steel for structures.- Mr. Ewing Matheson discusses at considerable length the important question of the modern use of steel for engineering-works. The author commences by stating the following propositions: 1. Rolled plates and bars of the various forms required for structures are now made of steel with as much certainty, in regard to quality, as iron of the first class; 2. Advantages in regard to size

and weight of pieces can be obtained in steel, which in iron are either impossible, or can only be had at very great expense; 3. Steel has a superiority in strength, ranging from once and a half to twice that of iron, and at the same time a more than proportionate superiority in ductility and elasticity; 4. Steel can be bent, straightened, cut, punched, planed, and drilled with the same tools and processes that are used for iron, and, for the most part, without extra force; 5. Protection against rust is of more importance for steel than for iron, but, if treated in the same way as is usual with iron, steel is less liable to waste by rust; 6. Owing to the above advantages, structures of steel are superior to those of iron, but economically it is only in some cases in regard to ships, and in still fewer cases in regard to bridges, that there is at present any pecuniary advantage in using steel; 7. This limit to the application of steel is due partly to official rules, which restrict the working-strains on steel, and partly to exigencies of design, which hinder the reduction in size and weight of members to the extent which its superior strength might otherwise allow; 8. Although, for the above reasons, steel structures may cost more than iron without any immediate compensation, yet, if measured by actual units of strength and durability, steel is cheaper as well as better for all but very small structures; 9. The employment of steel may be encouraged and extended by a fuller knowledge, among those who use it, of its qualities, by facilities for verifying these qualities by exercising a wider choice of the kind of steel suited to the purpose in view, and by such a liberal alteration of the present official rules as will allow fuller advantage to be taken of steel than is usual or permitted at present. The simplicity of manufacture, as compared with that of rolled iron, renders almost certain a nearer approximation in cost, if, by a wider permission, the demand for steel should increase. Each of the above points is taken up in detail and carefully considered, the admiralty specifications for steel plates for ships are given, the question of steel riveting is examined, the important matter of rust is discussed, and an extended comparison is made between the weight and cost of iron and steel for bridges. The whole paper is of great value, and well worth careful study.-(Proc. inst. civ. eng.) [698

G. L. V.

Recent hydraulic experiments. At a meeting of the Institution of civil engineers held in London Nov. 14, 1882, Major Allan Cunningham gave an account of an extensive course of experiments on the flow of water in the Ganges canal, extending over four years (1874-1879), the principal object being to find a good mode of discharge measurement for large canals, and to test existing formulae. Not less than fifty thousand measurements for velocity were made, and six hundred for surface slope, while five hundred and eighty-one cubic discharges were measured under very varied conditions. Forty measurements of evaporation from the canal surface were made in a floating pan, during twenty-five months. The results showed the movement of water in such a canal to be in many respects quite different from those before reported. - (Engineering, Nov. 17, 1882.) G. L. V. [699

Railroad accidents, and the earth's rotation. R. Randolph shows that the deflective force arising from the earth's rotation is entirely too small to determine derailments, and also, that, as an excess of right-handed derailments has been credited solely to north and south tracks, this proves it to be wholly imaginary; for the deflective force at any latitude is the same for all directions (Van Nostrand's engin. mag., 1883, 117). The numerical results given are but half

The type of modern marine engines. -- Constructing-engineer Albrecht, of the Austrian navy, discusses the various forms of engines and boilers which have been proposed or used, gives data and indicator-diagrams for various ships, shows that the compound engine effects a saving of fifty-seven per cent over the simple, and pronounces the threecylinder compound engine the most economical and best.(Mitth. gebiete seew., x. 9.) C. E. M. [701

Torpedo-nets. - Lieut. Sleeman, R. N., proposes to render torpedo-nettings useless as a protection for ships by sending one Lay torpedo after another, in the same path, at short intervals. The first breaches the net; the second passes the breach, and explodes against the ship. (Journ. de la flotte, Feb. 18.)

C. E. M.

[702

Pendulum-chronograph. - Capt. Caspersen, of the Danish army, has devised a chronograph for ballistic purposes, which consists of a pendulum prolonged above its point of suspension so that it can be arrested at its extremities at will by levers connected with electro-magnets. A horizontal wire is fastened at the point of suspension, with its ends bent so as to dip in cups of mercury; and thus, when the pendulum is oscillating, the contact is made alternately on the two sides, and registered automatically on a dial. The instrument measures with precision the hundredth of a second. (Mitth. gebiete seew., x. 9.) C. E. M. [703

CHEMISTRY.

wwwww

White phosphorus. A modification of phosphorus, quite different in its properties from the variety hitherto known as white phosphorus, was obtained by Remsen and Kaiser in the distillation of ordinary stick phosphorus. The distillation was conducted in an atmosphere of hydrogen, and the distillate collected in a receiver partly filled with water and ice. At the end of the distillation a thin white cake was found floating on the surface of the water. It dissolved readily in carbonic disulphide, melted at the same temperature as the common form, and, on melting, was transformed into the latter. It withstood the action of sunlight longer than ordinary phosphorus. (Amer. chem. journ., iv. 459.) [705

C. F. M.

Specific heat and valence of thorium. — On further study of the metal thorium, L. F. Nillson finds that it is tetratomic, and that its atomic heat calculated from the mean of several determinations of the specific heat 0.02787 is 6.4. Analogous to silicon, it forms a fusible alloy with platinum; and the composition of its chlorplatinate corresponds to those of tin and zirconium. -(Berichte deutsch. chem. gesellsch., xvi. 153.) C. F. M. [706

Formation of arsenides by pressure. - When a

mixture of zinc filings and arsenic in powder was subjected to a pressure of 6,500 atmospheres, W. Spring observed the formation of an arsenide (Zn ̧ As). Corresponding arsenides of lead (Pb,As2), cadmium (Cd, As2), and of copper (Cu3As2), were also prepared. Varying the proportions of copper, Cu, As2 and Cu As were formed. Tin gave Sn3 As, and silver Ag3As and Ag, As, the latter a brittle mass of metallic lustre and gray color. - (Berichte deutsch. chem. gesellsch., xvi. 324.) C. F. M. [707

Production of apatites and wagnerites containing calcium bromide. When sodium bromide is heated to a temperature just above fusion, and calcium phosphate is added to it, A. Ditte states that welldeveloped hexagonal pyramids separate on cooling, which have the composition Ca Br2. 3 (Ca ̧(PO4)2). On heating calcium bromide and calcium phosphate together, a compound (Ca Br2. Ca3 (P O4)2) corresponding to wagnerite crystallizes in long needles. If calcium arseniate is used, instead of the phosphate, in the preceding experiments, in the first case the compound Ca Br2. 3 (Ca3(As O4)2) crystallizes in hexagonal pyramids, and, in the second case, Ca Br2 Ca (AsO4)2 is formed. When vanadic acid is fused with sodium bromide and calcium bromide, the chief product is a bromo-vanadate, Ca Br. 3(Ca ̧ (VO4)2). The corresponding wagnerite (Ca Br2. Ca (V O4)2) results when the acid is fused with pure calcium bromide. Analogous compounds may be formed in which calcium is replaced by other metallic elements. -(Comptes rendus, xcvi. 575.) C. F. M.

[708

The atomic weight of lanthanum. - Since the atomic weight of lanthanum was reduced by the results of Brauner to 138.28 from 139.15, the value formerly obtained by Cleve, the latter sought to verify or disprove Brauner's result by a more careful preparation of the material from which the atomic weight was determined. From 1.5 kilos. of the mixed oxides of cerium, thorium, lanthanum, and didymium, the first two elements were removed by treating the partially decomposed nitrates with water, and didymium by fractional precipitation with ammonium hydrate. The seventh fraction was converted into the sulphate, and submitted to fractional crystallization. The last mother-liquor contained 10 grms. of the sulphate, which, on analysis, gave 138.69 as the atomic weight. Since a trace of didymium could still be detected by the spectroscope, the fractional crystallization was continued until analysis showed a constant percentage of lanthanum. The mean of several determinations gave 138.22 as the atomic weight. Cleve seeks to explain the difference between his results and those of Brauner by the different methods employed to obtain pure material. He thinks, that, since Brauner depended upon a fractional crystallization of the oxalates, his product may have contained a trace of yttrium. (Bull. soc. chim., xxxix. 151.) C. F. M. [709

METALLURGY.

Silver-milling at Charleston, Arizona. According to Mr. W. Lawrence Austin, the ore, as the mine was developed, gradually changed, and was found to carry wulfenite (molybdate of lead). The bullion resulting from milling this changed ore ran down to from 200 to 300 fine. The fineness was again restored to 970 by stamping much finer, and giving up altogether the grinding in the pans; departing from the usual custom of stamping, 35 mesh to the inch, and grinding, and also by the use of lime in cleaning the amalgam. Cerussite and galenite did not cause the same trouble as wulfenite. — (Eng. min. journ., Jan. 27.) R. H. R. [710

Refractory bricks. The waste liquors from manufacturing potash salts at Stassfurt and Leopoldshall, containing 27 to 30% of chloride of magnesium, are now saved. The evaporated salt is treated, at an elevated temperature, with highly superheated steam in an oxidizing flame; and nearly chemically pure magnesia and hydrochloric acid of 21° Baumè, are obtained. This magnesia is well adapted, not only for making the cement of oxychloride of magnesia, but also for making magnesia firebricks, now so much used. - (Eng. min. journ., Feb. 24.) R. H. K. [711

Proposed modification in copper-smelting. — Paul Johnsson proposes to heat the 35 to 40% copper matte, derived from cupola or other furnace smelting, in a Siemens furnace, and to direct a blast of air upon the surface of the molten metal, in order to oxidize the impurities, and to bring the matte forward to blister copper in one operation of 12 hours. He estimates that 20 tons of matte could be treated in one furnace, with the labor of 10 men, in 24 hours; while, by the old method, 8 calciners, 4 reverberatory furnaces, and 40 men, would be required to do the same work.(Eng. min. journ., March 3.) R. H. R. [712 Bessemerizing matte in a reverberatory furnace. H. M. Howe refers to the article of Paul Johnsson (Eng. min journ., March 3), and claims that the credit of the process belongs to the Orford nickel and copper company, and not to Paul Johnsson.(Eng. min. journ., March 17.) R. H. R.

GEOLOGY.

Lithology.

[713

Lithology of the Eisengebirge. The rocks of the Eisengebirge of Bohemia are divided by Helmhacker into three groups, crystalline schistose rocks, crystalline massive rocks, and clastic (fragmental) rocks. Under the first are described rocks classed as amphibole gneiss, gneissoid granulite, porphyroid, mica schist, and phyllite; under the second group are placed red granite, gray granite, gneissoid granite, syenite, granite porphyry, quartz porphyry, felsite porphyry, diorite, diorite aphanite, diabase, gabbro, uratite diorite, corsite, and troktolite; and of the last, a diorite-tuff-conglomerate only is described.

Under the name 'porphyroid,' a term well known in the early part of this century and previously, Helmhacker places rocks which resemble quartz and felsite porphyry, but have a schistose structure. They possess a felsitic groundmass and crystals arranged in more or less parallel layers. Phyllite is divided into staurolite, andalusite, and ottrelite phyllite, and fruchtschiefer and lydite. In the thin section, the first is seen to possess a groundmass composed of sericite plates, between which biotite scales and magnetite grains were lying. The staurolite lies porphyretically enclosed in this groundmass, and shows aggregate polarization. In the second, the groundmass is principally composed of biotite scales and magnetite or anthracite grains. The andalusite in the thicker sections is of a pale rose tint; in the thinner, colorless. The ottrelite schist or phyllite was formed by the contact metamorphosis of black argillite with granite. This formation of ottrelite schist, by the action of intrusive rocks, agrees with the present writer's observations on Lake Superior (Bull. mus. comp. zool., vii. 45). The ottrelite or chlorotoid plates are surrounded by a very fine, granular, scaly groundmass, formed principally of a muscovite-like mineral, which polarizes brilliantly. The irregular polygonal ottrelite plates have a pale grayish-green color, and are plainly dichroic. They are homogene

ous, and, excepting some dust-like grains of magnetite, are free from inclusions.

The term 'troktolite' is the equivalent of the more common one forellenstein'; and the diabase-tuff-conglomerate belongs to that class of rocks which the present writer named in a briefer way, in 1879, porodite (1. c., v. 280). Our space forbids an adequate idea of an extended paper filled with details. — (Árch. natur. landesdurchf. Böhmen, 1882, v. 87.) M. E. W.

METEOROLOGY.

[714

Winds on sea and on land. — Mr. Alexander Buchan has recently discussed the observations of the wind made by the Challenger during its cruise of three years and a half, ending with May, 1876. Observations of the force and direction of the wind were made on 1,202 days, at least 12 times each day. Of these, 650 were on the open sea, and 552 near land. The seas were the North and South Atlantic, North and South Pacific, and the Southern Ocean.

Mr. Buchan finds the diurnal range of the windvelocity on the open sea very small, not varying more than mile, on either side of 17.5 miles per hour, during the 24; while near land the range was very marked, being nearly 15 miles per hour at 2 P.M., and only a little over 11 from 9 P.M. to 8 A.M. This he explains from the fact that the daily range of surfacetemperature, for example, on the North Atlantic, is only .7°; and hence over the ocean the atmosphere rests on a floor the temperature of which is all but constant day and night. On approaching the land, however, the daily range of the temperature of the air over the sea becomes materially augmented, and amounts to 4.3°; and we know, from all observations, that on the land the range is still greater. This shows that the phenomena of the daily range of windvelocity is intimately associated with that of the surface-temperature. Mr. Buchan writes, "So far as concerns any direct influence on the air itself, considered apart from the floor or surface on which it rests, solar and terrestrial radiation do not exercise any influence in causing the diurnal increase of the wind-velocity with the increase of temperature." On nearing land, the wind is everywhere greatly reduced in force, the retardation being due chiefly to friction. The winds were found lightest over the North Pacific (14.5 miles per hour), and strongest over the Southern Ocean (23.5 miles per hour). (Nature, March 1.)

H. A. H.

[715

Rainfall of New South Wales. - A valuable map by H. C. Russell, for 1881, shows a fall of forty to sixty inches at several points along the coast north and south of Sydney, and diminishing to twenty or even ten inches on the plains of the Darling River, some five hundred miles inland. (Journ. roy. soc. N. S. Wales, xv.) W. M. D. [716

Weather-predictions in Australia. - All the Australian colonies being now connected by telegraph, it is proposed to issue daily, at Melbourne, a weatherchart, showing atmospheric conditions at nine A.M., and attempting predictions for the following day, especially when cyclone disturbances show themselves within the vicinity of the coast. Most of these storms come from the southern Indian Ocean, and move east or north-east, sometimes running ashore, sometimes passing south of Tasmania. As the barometer falls on their approach, warm north winds come down with increasing strength from the heated interior country. Rain is generally heaviest with these winds, but sometimes falls to a considerable amount after the storm-centre has passed, the wind veering through the north-west, as a rule, but some

Hawaiian Islands. - Preparatory to his studies of the Cascade range, Capt. Dutton, of the U. S. geological survey, visited the Hawaiian Islands last year. He regards Kilauea formed independently of Mauna Loa, and describes its lava-lake. The colossal eruptions of Mauna Loa were especially remarkable: that of 1855 would have built Vesuvius. The mountain has no cinder-cones; and when in eruption there is no roar of vapors or cloud of steam, but a huge river of fiery lava wells forth like water from a radial fissure on the mountain flank, sometimes beginning as a great fountain several hundred feet high, then swiftly flowing down toward the sea. The lava being very liquid, the volcano is abnormally flat, and, as yet, it has no streams or ravines upon it; but there are many long tunnels in the lava, which lead the drainage underground. Mauna Kea has numerous cinder-cones, which form striking features on its slopes. The difference between the erosion on its windward and leeward sides is very marked. The other islands were also examined. Haleakala, on Maui, presents grand scenery in its deep valleys; Oahu and Kaui are also deeply eroded, implying a cessation of their activity earlier than that of Hawaii, but not necessarily an earlier beginning. journ. sc. 1883, 219.) W. M. D.

GEOGRAPHY.

(Arctic.)

(Amer. [718

Norwegian arctic fishery in 1882.- The fisheries from Tromsö and Hammerfest employed 575 persons, in 67 vessels of 2,654 tons total burden, and produced, in 1882, 148 walrus, 5,839 seal of all species, 117 beluga, 49 polar-bears, 211 reindeer, 332 kilos eider-down, 65 hectolitres whale-blubber, 261,400 haddock, 369 hectolitres of haddock-livers, and 2,430 of other fish-livers, having a total value of some 210-, 000 kronor, or about $60,000. ·(Deutsch. geogr. bl., vi. i. 1883.) W. H. D. [719 Commerce of the White Sea. — In curious contrast with prevalent notions about the arctic regions, are the statistics of trade between the four ports of Norwegian Finmark and the Russian ports of the White Sea, especially Archangel. In 1881 four hundred and seventy vessels, employing over two thousand men, visited the Finmark ports; and in 1882 a still larger number, bringing goods, chiefly the product of the rich fisheries of the White Sea, to the amount of more than $700,000, and receiving cargoes for Russia of nearly equal value. (Deutsch. geogr. bl., vi. i., 1883.) W. H. D. [720

(Asia.)

Persia. Stack's 'Six months in Persia' (2 v., New York, Putnam, 1882) is an entertaining narrative of an overland journey by one well fitted for it from his knowledge of the language of the country. His descriptions seldom have an especially geographical turn, as most of his route had been fully described before; but one would like to hear more of the burial of the old town of Askizar in drifting sands (ii. 4), of the depth to which the rivers have cut in the alluvial

slope at the foot of the mountains, so as to be out of reach for irrigation, and of the ascent of Demavend (ii. 179). The characteristic Persian landscape is desert plains bordered by rugged mountains, with villages along the lower slopes where they can get a supply of water. The accounts of the people's dissatisfaction under Persian misgovernment; of their apparent desire for external control, and their wonder whether it will come from Russia or England, of which they have very indistinct notions; and of the polyglot society in the larger towns,-are all of interest. A chapter is given on the outfit necessary for travelling in comfort; and a number of route-maps illustrate the several parts of the journey from Bushir to Karmán, Ispahan, Tehran, and the Caspian.-W. M. D. [721

Southern Persia. - Persian exploration seems to be attracting much attention in England; and the March number of the Royal geographical society's proceedings is almost entirely occupied with the accounts of recent travellers there, and the discussions their narratives excited. Col. Champain points out the small amount of trade carried on with Persia by British merchants, and shows that Russian wares are superseding British in the Persian markets. This

he ascribes to the wretched condition of the roads from the southern coast of the country and in Turkish Arabia, and advocates an attempt to improve them, as well as to build a railroad from Baghdad to Khanakin (100 m.), and to improve the channel of the Karún River where obstructed by rocks at Ahwaz. G. S. Mackenzie, of the house of Gray, Paul, & Co., at Bushir, on the Persian Gulf, described his experience on inland journeys, made some years ago, as far as Ispahan; and, while he considered it too soon to project railroads there, he thought much could be done by improving the rivers and roads. Capt. H. L. Wells gives detailed narrative and surveys of several routes across the mountainous country from Bushir, inland to Ispahan, and from Lake Niris, near Shiraz on the south-east, as far as the Karún River, 300 miles to the north-west. Although far better than the deserts of central Persia, the towns are generally forlorn and dirty, and the roads are very rough. Lake Niris is also quite unlike the flat swamps of the desert regions farther east, as its shore-line is very irregular, its banks are often precipitous, and numerous rocky islands rise from its blue waters. It was found to have a large extension to the east from its north-western end, not previously explored, known as Tasht or Nargis, joining the main lake by a narrow passage. The lake has no outlet, and its waters are bad but drinkable. Ruins and cuneiform inscriptions were found at several points. W. M. D. [722

Yesso. This northern Japanese island is described by Dr. Brauns of Halle as even more picturesque than Dai Nippon. Its surface is sharply broken by mountain and valley, and the volcanic peaks and leaping streams give it a most attractive landscape. Volcano Bay, north of Hakodate, with numerous cones rising to six thousand feet around it, is named as one of the most beautiful places in the world. The central part of the island contains a bold and high range of old crystalline rocks, bordered by the heavy miocene lignite formation, and the fossiliferous pliocene strata. The volcanic rocks belong with the latter, and consist of the true eruptive masses (Lyman's 'old volcanic formation') and the later stratified tuffs, which often cover extensive areas. No glacial action is recognized in the quaternary deposits. Brief notes are added on the fauna and flora. (Verh. erdk. Berl., 1883, 43.) w. M. D. [723