Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/377

 April 3J, ISBS.]

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��diromoULUograplieil pktes o( Afric&ii irlbes niiil of the Alps, both finely cxecutetl. The work ii lo run through two hundred and Bfty-aiit weekly numbers.

— Mr. A. Ainslie Common, well known as the mkker of a powertul reflcctlng-telesi^ope at Ealing. Eng., lias been experimenting in the application of photography to the production of stellar uiaps. A small tens of four Inches aod a half diameter has been found sufficient to show star^ of the ninth magnitude; and one of the photographs of the region about Altair {a Aqullae) was touud to contain eighteen hundred separate stars which had been Identified.

— Messrs. Hachette have just published vol. i. of the ' Nouvelle gdographje unlverselle' of Eiisfe Recius, which shows the same amount of care and energy as its predeceHors. The maps and the Illustrations, near- ly all taken from photo- graphs, areexcellent. This folame deals wlih the basin of the Nile, and thus embraces regions in which the public are just now specially interested. Mr. Reclns furnishes full ac- counts of the physical geog- raphy of the country, aiiil at Its inhabitants, hut very wisely abstains from dis- cussing the political events of the day. The Informa- tion has been well brought down to date, documents published as recently as tue raEvigei ok tuk nam i November, 1884, having "''""° '•'-* been consulted.

— The Natal Mercantile (id cfrlisw gives a lengthy account of the expedition of Dr. Aurel Schulu in the interior. One strange tribe discovered by the party on the Kabengo River, was the Hakuba tribe. They are atrougly aquatic, taking to the water like fish, splendid fishermen, well built, strapping fellows of Zulu type, expert canoeists, and the corn-growers of the couutry-alde, and, In addition to all Lhla, imbued with a horror of shedding human blood, so much so that a man of the outside blood-shedding tril>ea is always 'open to back himself to give battle to Bfty Hakubas any day.' Another interesting matter is the accountof the cliief Kama, who rules atSoshong, the capital of the northern Bechuana. He governs his people well: his great wish is to have them well armed with guns, and provided with ammunition. Alcohol in any shape is not allowed In his dominions. No kafir beer is brewed. Any white trader selling liquor is fined up lo a hundred pounds; any subject brewing Is eipelled from the country. All, from the chief downward, are stanch teetotalers. Kama claims domtnloni up to the Tyobe Kiver, though those portions do not pay tribute. He gives as niucli as a hundred and eighty pounds for a horse, and is an expert rider himself. His hiatory is romantic, and will be read with Interest when It iippea.rs.

���— Prof. Silvaiiua P. Thompson, formerly professor of experimental physics at University college, Bristol, has been made director of the Finsbury technical col lege of London.

— The Norwegian brig Coulant reports, that on March 21, in latitude 13" 22' north, longitude IS' aiy west, the ship was going nine linots under full sail, when she struck something, apparently a sand- bank, and continued striking for half a minute. The vessel's speed was reduced to about five knots. The captain had no time to get a lead over, and could see nothing over the sides. At the time a heavy sea was running. It has been suggested that this might have been a submarine earthquake.

— The Japan aazelLe publishes a brief statement from Mr. tiowlnnd, technical adviser to the Imperial

mint at Osaka, on his ob- servations during a recent journey through a part of Korea. He spent ten days at Soul, the capital, and twenty days on the over- land route 1)etween that place and the port of Fasan. He did not observe any In- dication of mineral wealth; there were no signs of mines, and nothing beyond douhU ul indications of min-

l.lncea. Therearenomoun- i.'iiiiK exceeding about four thousand feet in highest HDU LojA TO AI.UAM1, tfi.\\. clevatlon, and no char- \nmomie.) acterlstic volcanic cones.

The central range was ci'ossed by a pass twenty-three hundred feet above the sea-level. The forests were of no great extent; but very extensive tracts of cultivated ground, evi- dently yielding a large surplus production of rice, barley, and beans, were noticeable throughout. There was a marked absence of any manufacturing industry, or of Indications ihai any thing beyond food-products received attention. The traffic on the roads was very limited, — no signs of wealth, no money, and no for- eign trade.

— Views of the devastation caused by liie recent Spanish earthquakes still aSord material for the foi^ eign Illustrated paiiers. The cuts here copied are taken from La Nature and L' Aatronomie of recent dates; and the first one, at least, gives evidence of being drawn after a photojjraph, or from a careful sketch. The fracture here represented In part is de- scribed as being about a mile and a halt long, and of considerable but undetermined depth. A church has sunk in it, leaving only the top of Its tower above ground. The formation of the crevasses was violent, accompanied by an explosive uolse; and, where they Iraversed villages, escape from Ingulfmeul was by no means easy. A muleteer lost one of his mules in a fracture, and the artists of I,' Attriinomle have not hesitated to comuieinoraie this sad occurrence by a

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