have shown that the sensory nerves as well as the motor nerves decussate in the medulla, and not as Brown Séquard has supposed in the spinal cord. They find, too, that there are differences in relative position in the sensory nerves of different animals. In the cat, for example, sensory impulses travel along the posterior column of the cord, and in the monkey (and presumably in man) along the lateral columns. In the monkey and man the lateral columns are relatively larger than in the cat, where the posterior column is more largely developed. The sciatic nerve has been studied by Hasterlik and Biedl, who have succeeded in separating the two sets of fibres which control the size of the blood capillaries and in tracing them to their origin in the spinal cord. The study of the various pathogenic bacteria has been prosecuted with unceasing ardour as the recognition of their function in disease becomes more general. It has been found that in cancerous growths at a certain stage of their development, parasitic protozoa, similar to the gregarinidæ, are of constant occurrence. No inoculation or feeding experiments with human cancer growths have resulted in attacks of cancer in other animals, but cancroid growths in the rat have been shown by Professor Hanau of Zurich to be transmissible by inoculation from rat to rat. The action of the blood serum on the muscles has received some further elucidation from experiments made with a frog's heart. A purely inorganic fluid containing salts in the same proportion as blood serum will keep a frog's heart beating for thirty hours, and hence the salts probably act as a muscle stimulus. On the other hand, solutions of serum albumen or of proteid material have no effect in prolonging the beating. A curious fact has also been discovered in regard to the physiological results of starvation. During prolonged abstinence from food the daily excretion of nitrogen from the kidneys varies very little. The output of phosphates also is nearly constant, while that of chlorides shows a falling off, while the respiration also remains almost normal. The important work of Messrs. Brown and Morris on the phenomena of plant nutrition has been already noticed.

Dr. A. B. Griffiths has published his results on certain respiratory globulins, which not only act as carriers of oxygen, but also retain some or all of their acquired store of this gas till they undergo metabolism in the tissues; and the part played by phosphorus in the nucleo-albumins has been studied by Lilienfeld, who finds that the quantity of this element determines in some degree the power a cell possesses of performing its specific functions.

GEOLOGY.

An interesting discovery has been made in strata of Miocene age at Kelina, in the Balkan Peninsula, of two molar teeth belonging to a genus previously only known from beds of tertiary age in North America. The occurrence of these fossils is strong evidence of the former land connection, probably by Behring Straits, of Europe and America. One of the doubtful points in the anatomy of the trilobite has been set at rest by the finding of specimens in the Hudson River shales which showed distinct traces of antennæ, thus strengthening the arachnid-like character of these well-known and widely spread genera. A new fossil fish from the Caithness flagstones has been described by Dr. R. H. Traquair, under the name of palæospondylus. This fish appears to have been an ancestor of the marsipobranchiate fishes, of

which the lamprey is a living example. So far, only one stratum in one quarry has yielded examples of this fossil-a striking illustration of the limitations under which paleontological work is carried on. On the southwest coast of Madagascar, Mr. J. T. Last has found the skull of an extinct genus of lemurs of unusual size. This skull was found in company with remains of crocodiles, and the gigantic Madagascar birds æpyornis. It is three times as large as that of an existing lemur, and presents certain features intermediate between the fossil and living members of this order. The name Megaladapis has been given to this new discovery. The generally discredited fossil character of the eozoon canadense has been previously alluded to, but it is of interest to note that Dr. Johnston Lavis has found examples of structure in some metamorphic blocks of limestone thrown up during an eruption from Monte Somma, which perfectly resemble the eozoon in appearance and arrangement.

Dr. T. W. Gregory has shown that it is evident from a study of fossil bryozoa that in early eocene times the sea areas of the north and south of Europe were separated by a land barrier. North of this barrier the bryozoa are comparatively few, both in variety of species and in individuals, and have a dwarfed and stunted appearance, such as would be produced by currents of cold water from polar regions. South of the barrier, on the other hand, the bryozoa flourish, and are remarkably abundant. Dr. A. Dunlop has found in the Island of Jersey evidence that in recent geological times the island was sunk some 120 feet below its present level. Raised beaches have been discovered at that elevation in South Hill, near St. Helen's, and at other places at somewhat less heights. These raised beaches often contain flint pebbles, pointing to drift from the French mainland, as there is no chalk in Jersey. Mr. E. Wethered has investigated the occurrence of the organism girvanella in the Wenlock limestone, and inclines to the opinion that it was a vegetable somewhat allied to the algae. It often varies specifically in quarries only a short distance apart in the same formation. Mr. Wethered finds also, contrary to the general opinion, that crinoid remains are very frequent in the Wenlock limestone. Professor Judd, by his work in the composite dykes of the Isle of Arran, has shown that rock material of widely differing composition may be ejected from the same central lava mass. Thus, sometimes a highly basic rock like augite andesite was ejected first, succeeded by an acidic rock, such as quartz-felsite, at other times the acid rock would precede the ejection of the basic one, though both would be drawn from the same central source. Colonel C. A. McMahon has suggested an interesting explanation for the pseudo-bedded structure presented in many places by the Dartmoor granite. This bedding he finds is in most instances roughly parallel to the general slope of the ground, and he considers it to be a result of the alternate action of sun and frost splitting up the rock in a manner similar to that which is practised in India of quarrying stones by lighting a fire on the surface and then letting it cool. A rough sketch of a little-known geological district has been given by Dr. J. W. Evans, who has travelled for some time in the Matto Grosso (Brazil). Much of this state is merely alluvial, but Dr. Evans has been enabled to classify most of the main rock formations, and to trace certain analogies between the geological condition of Southern Asia and South America.

GEOGRAPHY.

The interest attaching to exploratory work in Africa has been mainly transferred to political complications. The question of the retention or non-retention of Uganda was made dependent upon an expedition under Sir Gerald Portal, which, though not sent out with any idea of discovery, has added to our knowledge by its return to the coast through previously unexplored country along the Tana River. The Matabele difficulty has also resulted in the opening out of that country, and a better understanding of the territory lying immediately south of the Zambesi. Similarly the delimitation of frontiers between British and Portuguese possessions in Southeast Africa, between France and Britain in the Gulf of Guinea, and between Germany and Britain in the regions lying between Darfur and Lake Tchad have all been the cause of more accurate surveys. Numerous German and French expeditions have penetrated into the unknown countries lying at the back of their respective spheres of influence. Among them may be mentioned the journey successfully carried out by M. Maistre from the basin of the Congo to that of the Shari. It would appear that there can be no longer any doubt that Emin Pasha was killed by Manyema slavers, as a box of his journals has been obtained by Lieutenant Dhanis. These records show that Einin left Kavalli in March 1892, and after travelling with the Manyema towards the Congo, met his death when three days' march from that river at or near the town of Muomena. Good exploring work has been done by Lieutenant Sclater in Nyassaland, and by Vice-Consul Sharp in the littleknown region round Lake Miveru. A model example of careful work performed under difficult circumstances is that done by Mr. J. W. Gregory. Mr. Gregory had started with an exploring expedition organised by Lieutenant Villiers. That officer, however, left the expedition, and joined that under Sir Gerald Portal. Mr. Gregory accordingly determined not to return without some result, and paid a visit to Mount Kenia. He succeeded in ascending the mountain to a height of 17,000 feet, when further progress was stopped by glaciers. He also mapped the general outlines of the district, and made valuable collections. The district lying between Mount Kenia and the Tana has been the scene of the travels of Mr. Chanler and Lieutenant von Höhnel. Here they met with a tribe which had not previously been visited, of which they obtained some interesting details. This tribe is known as the Rendilé, and appears to have some affinity to the Somali of the east coast. Lieutenant von Höhnel has had to return to Europe owing to an accident, but Mr. Chanler has continued his journey, and pushed on across the unknown district lying between the Rendilé and Berbera. From Berbera an Italian expedition, under Captains Bottego and Grixoni, went south across the Webi Shebeli till they struck one of the northern tributaries of the Jub. There they parted; Captain Grixoni went southward till he arrived at Bardera on the Jub, and then followed that river to the coast, thus crossing the eastern corner of Africa by a new route west of that previously explored by Robecchi. Captain Bottego, on the other hand, went westward, so as to work out the relations between the sources of the Jub, and the little-known region round Lake Rudolf. Further north, Captain H. G. Swayne has made two excursions into Harrar and Ime. On

the other side of the Red Sea Dr. Weiss has visited Hadramaut in Southern Arabia, but owing to the fanatical opposition of the natives was unable to make the observations he intended. Other attempts to explore the interior of Arabia have been made in the north by Baron de Nolde, and in the south by Mr. and Mrs. Bent. In Central Asia the region of the Pamirs is gradually becoming well known. Full accounts have now been published of the journeys by Mr. Conway, Mr. Littledale, and Mr. Rockhill, respectively, of which a short notice was given last year. Many corrections in the courses of rivers and the position of mountains have resulted from these journeys. Attempts have been made again without success to reach Lhasa. A missionary, Miss Annie Taylor, entered Thibet from China, and penetrated to within a few days of the sacred city, when she was turned back by the Thibetan authorities. Mr. H. M. Becher, who had undertaken surveying work in Perak, was unfortunately drowned, owing to a sudden rise of a river, after having penetrated inland till within sight of the Mountain Gunong Tahan, which had never previously been seen by any European.

The ruins of Zimbabwe, described by Mr. Bent, have been shown by Sir John Willoughby and Mr. Swan to be only one among similar places, which were the fortified towns of a gold-mining race, possibly Phoenician in type.

The gallant attempt of Dr. Nansen to reach the Pole has, so far, begun under auspicious circumstances. The Fram started on June 24 from Christiania, and reached Yugor Straits, at the entrance of the Kara Sea, on August 3. Here he took on board his dog-teams, and after a little delay, owing to the ice, he sailed on the 20th for the New Siberian Islands. The Kara Sea appears to have been unusually open, as no difficulty was experienced a little later by some Russian trading vessels in reaching the mouth of the Yenesei. The favourable state of the ice may also be surmised from the circumstance that Dr. Nansen has not called at Ust Olensk, near the mouth of the Lena, as he had originally proposed to do. On the opposite side of the Arctic Circle, Lieutenant Peary is continuing his exploration of Greenland, having started in August for Bowdoin Bay with the object of completing his mapping of the north coast of Greenland. On the same island, Lieutenant Garde has made a journey inland from Fredrikshaab,. and succeeded in reaching a point about half-way across the mainland, and an elevation of 7,000 feet. Dr. Drygalski has returned after spending two winters on the north-west coast of Greenland, where he has made a series of observations on the giant glaciers of that region. The wreck of the Ripple, the schooner in which a small Swedish exploring party set out in 1892, has been discovered on the Carey Islands by a Dundee whaling boat, the Aurora. The greatest novelty in Arctic voyages is the success of an American whaler, the Newport, which is stated to have north latitude 84° off the mouth of the Mackenzie River, some miles further north than any previous explorer. In the Antarctic Ocean, a few minor geographical discoveries have been made by the Dundee whaler, Active, and a useful collection of the flora and fauna of Joinville Island was made by the surgeon on board, Dr. Donald. Icebergs were reported to be very numerous. Large numbers of seals were obtained, but the expedition was not successful in finding the black whale, which was one of the principal objects of the voyage. A Norwegian vessel started in September with the object of penetrating as far southwards as possible in the direction taken by Ross in 1843.

OBITUARY

OF

EMINENT PERSONS DECEASED IN 1893.

JANUARY.