IN THE HEART AND THE SPHYGMOGRAPH* N the same way that by the spectroscope much can be learned as to the chemical constitution and the physical changes going on in the sun, so by the sphygmograph applied to the artery at the wrist many of the most important phenomena occurring in the heart can be studied with a facility that cannot be otherwise attained. Till the introduction of the sphygmograph of Marey the pulse was considered to be little more than a simple up and down movement, because the instruments employed to register it, such as those of Herisson, Ludwig, and Vierordt, developed so much momentum that the details of the true trace were disguised. In the instrument as at present employed, the substitution of counterbalancing springs instead of weights has so far improved its efficiency, that the pulse is now known to form a decidedly complicated curve if its movements are allowed to record themselves on a moving paper. The sphygmograph trace, as thus produced, gives indications in two direc tions; first, as to the action of the valves of the heart; and secondly, as to the manner in which the muscular walls of the ventricles perform their work. It is to the former of these subjects that most physiologists have directed their observations in employing the instrument; but it is to the latter, the more important of the two, that it is my intention to direct attention on the present occasion. The heart being nothing more than a pump of a peculiar construction, much may be learned by comparing it with other artificially constructed machines for the same purpose. In most such machines the force which keeps the pump at work is constant in power, in other words it does not vary automatically in efficiency with the amount of work that is expected of it. In the locomotive engine, however, there is an arrangement by which the furnace becomes hotter as the speed at which it moves is increased, the waste steam pipe opening into the funnel and so varying the amount of the draught through the boiler tubes. With this arrangement it is nevertheless evident that there is a great waste of fuel in the construction of the furnace. It is quite possible to construct a steam-engine on much more economical principles, and the accompanying figure illustrates the manner in which the small engine on the table is at present working (see Figure). The boiler (a) being sufficiently heated, drives the engine (6), which performs work by pumping coal-gas from the tube c through the pump d, into the elastic reservoir e. From this elastic bag most of the coal-gas escapes, through the tube f, into an ordinary gas bag, but a tube (g) carries some of it to supply the Bunsen's burner (h) which heats the boiler. It is evident that with this arrangement the size of the flame of the Bunsen's burner (h), and therefore the pressure of steam in the boiler, which is the same as saying the efficiency of the engine, varies with the amount of work required of * Abstract of a lecture delivered by Mr. A. H. Garrod at the Royal Institution on the evening of Friday, Feb. 6. that engine; for the greater the pressure in the elastic bag, the harder is it for the engine to perform the work required of it, and the greater is the burner-flame. With a certain proportion between the sizes of the orifices of the taps and the extensibility of the elastic bag and tubes, it would be possible to arrange this engine in such a manner that, within certain limits, the velocity of the fly-wheel would not vary with the pressure in the elastic bag; in other words, with the work to be done. That the heart is a pump constructed on the same principle as this engine is the teaching of the sphygmograph, as far as it is in my power to interpret its curves, the proof resting on the following considerations. First, the analogy between the anatomical distribution of the arteries and the different parts in connection with the engine is not difficult to trace. The coal-gas corresponds to the blood, the boiler (a) together with the engine (b) to the muscular tissue of the heart, whose left ventricular DR. VON MIKLUCHO MACLAY'S RE- WHEN lately at Buitenrovg-the scarcely euphonious to make the acquaintance of the owner of a name, whose peculiarity, no less than fame, has rendered it familiar to every biologist. The friends-and we are sure they must be numerousof Dr. Miklucho Maclay will regret to hear that he is determined, in spite of an aguish fever which still clings to him, and of, it is feared, some serious implication of the liver, to start again in a few days for the scene of his recent labours-the east coast of New Guinea, where he had previously spent fifteen months in close intercourse with the natives. cavity has its analogue in that of the bellows (d). The elastic reservoir, together with the tubes, corresponds to the systemic arteries, the gas-bag connected with the tube f (the capillaries) to the systemic veins; and the tubeg to the coronary arteries, which supply the muscular tissue of the heart with nutrient blood, just as it does the boiler by means of the burner h. This, however, does not show that the pumping power of the heart varies directly as the blood-pressure; that such is the case depends on the opportunity offered by the sphygmographtrace for the estimation of the length of the ventricular systole under different circumstances. Each beat or revotion of the heart is divided into two main parts-(1) the period of contraction or systole, and (2) the period of repose or diastole. The former of these occupies the interval between the commencement of the primary rise and that of the dicrotic rise in the sphygmograph trace; the latter from the dicrotic rise to the commencement of the succeeding primary rise. In all good tracings from On September 19, 1871, the Russian corvette Vitias healthy pulses these two points, the primary and dicrotic cast anchor in Astrolabe Gulf, and Dr. Maclay landed with two servants, one rises, are readily found; and their relative lengths can be a Polynesian, the other a estimated with great accuracy. Swede. After a hut of very modest dimensions† had A large number of measurements have enabled me to prove that the relative been built for him by the ship's carpenter, the Vitias lengths of the systolic and diastolic portions of the pulse-weighed anchor on the 26th, and departed. trace do not vary for any given pulse-rate. But, as will be granted by most physiologists who have worked at the subject, the blood-pressure in the arteries is quite independent of the pulse-rate. Consequently the heart may be doing very different amounts of work without any variation in the pulse-rate, which is the same thing as saying, with the same length of systole; which makes it evident that, as in the above-described engine, the force of the cardiac muscular contraction varies directly as the bloodpressure, knowing what we do about the flow of fluids through capillary tubes, and the capacity of the arterial system under different degrees of blood-pressure. The sphygmograph trace tells us more than this. Though the length of the systolic portion of the beat does not change with any given pulse-rate, nevertheless it does so greatly with different rapidities of pulse; my observations showing that the length of the systole varies as the cube root of the whole beat, being found from the equation xy' = 47 3x when a = the pulse-rate and y' = the ratio borne by the systole to the whole beat. From this no other inference can be drawn than that the length of the diastole, or period of cardiac rest, during which fresh blood is circulating through the ventricular walls, must modify the contractile force of its muscular substance. The exact extent of this influence can be more readily estimated by a study of the cardiograph trace, which is obtained by applying the sphygmograph to the side of the chest at any spot where the pulsations of the heart are to be felt. It may, from the thus obtained curves, be demonstrated that if not exactly, approximately, at least, the nutrition of the heart's walls must vary as the square-root of the length of the diastolic period.* There is much, therefore, as I hope I have been able to show, to be learned respecting the action of the heart from measurement of sphygmograph tracings, and it is scarcely too bold to extend the generalisation to the properties of muscular tissue generally; for the fact that each beat depends entirely for its efficiency on the peculiarities in the blood-pressure and the duration of the previous diastole, removes all complications as to incompleteness of exhaustion, and all doubts as to the exact amount of work done by the muscular fibres themselves of that most perfect of engines, whose extreme perfection enables it to complete in most of us something like 750,000 beats in a week, and nearly thirty thousand million revolutions in a person by the time he is seventy years of age. * Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, May and November, 1873. Dr. Maclay was soon left practically alone, and dependent entirely upon himself, for the Polynesian servant died early in December of a chronic fever which he had when he started, and the Swede soon followed suit, with the exception, that he did not die, but by constant ailing was a source of much encumbrance to his master. Not As the natives were very distrustful, scarcely answering any questions, Dr. Maclay did not make much progress with the essential task of learning the language. only, however, were they suspicious, but determined to discourage the presence of the stranger by shooting arrowS close to his head and neck, and pressing their spears so hard against his teeth, that he was constrained to open his mouth. Finding that he did not only not take the least notice of these annoyances, but that all his actions toward them were good (for, he being a doctor, his utility in the economy of the community was soon discovered), they concluded that he was no ordinary mortal, but that he was the veritable man-in-the-moon ("Kâramtâmo "), and paid him due respect accordingly. the villages, and as these latter were never found at a inhabitants of the whole coast of Astrolabe Gulf; the * "Anthropologische Bemerkungen ueber die Papuas der Maclay Kuste in Neu Guinea." Reprint from the Naturkundig Tijdschrift voor Neder landsch Indie Deel xxxiii. Mijn Verblijf aan de Oostkust van Nicato Guinea. Ibid. (Batavia, 1873). + Only 7 feet broad, and 14 feet long, and divided by a screen of sailcloth into two rooms, one for his servants, the other for himself. The hut was situated on the south coast of Astrolabe Gulf, midway between the two capes, its boundaries. "Archipel der zufriedenen Menschen." Dr. Maclay told us of one curious custom which he does not mention in either of the two papers referred to in the note. The Papuans, though they know how to produce fire by rubbing together two pieces of wood, do not do this when they require this agent, but always carry their fire literally about with them, either trailing a lighted stick after them as they walk, or placing the same under their beds when they sleep. Dr. Maclay, despite much pains, was only able to collect ten skulls, and only two out of these had the lower jaw, for the natives preserve this with great veneration, while the skull itself is thrown into the neighbouring jungle as a thing of no worth. The skull of the Papuans of Maclay coast is "dolicho-cephalic." The superciliary eminences are frequently very strongly developed The maxillary region is prognathous, so that the upper teeth project considerably beyond those of the mandible. The Papuans are of middle stature, the females being considerably smaller than the males, but are strong and well built. Contrary to what has been written, there is no roughness of skin considerable enough to constitute a race characteristic; which may be largely accounted for by the custom of smearing the bodies with a kind of earth, and to the frequency of psoriasis ("masso"). The colour of the skin too is in general of a light chocolate brown, and not of a bluish-black colour as has been previously asserted. The inhabitants of New Ireland, an island not far distant, have, on the other hand, a comparatively dark skin. The scars of slight wounds, e.g. such as are made with a red-hot coal, are somewhat darker than the surrounding skin, while deep wounds, which are of not infrequent occurrence, leave behind them scars almost white in colour. After a series of very careful observations, made as well upon shaven as upon well-covered scalps, Dr. Maclay concludes that the hair is not naturally disposed, as has been represented, in tufts or clumps, but grows just as it would upon the head of a European. The length of the hair, too, varies in different individuals, for while one man is fain to cover his bald pate with a Cuscus, another is proud to display a "gatessi," which luxuriantly covers his shoulders. † The natural colour of the hair is dull black, but this is marked, after the period of childhood, by a black ("kuma") or red (" surru ") dye. The hair of children is covered with a wash of ashes and water for protection against lice; this hardens into a thick crust. In the case of males this is continued till the time of circumcision, after which period much care is bestowed upon the coiffure. The women, oddly enough, expend no pains upon the arrangement of their hair. The eye-brows are generally shaven, and the hairs of the beard are either shaven or plucked out in the young men, but are permitted to grow among adults. The general hair-growth upon the body seems to be more scanty than it is among the Caucasian races. Though hair is never seen on the back of the hands, it sometimes grows pretty thickly along the line of the vertebral column, and is sometimes so far extended as to cover the whole of the buttocks. With regard to the physiognomy, the forehead is not high but small, and sometimes retreating; the nose is broadly flattened out, frequently with dilated nostrils; the mouth is broad, and has a projecting upper lip; the chin is retreating, while strongly projecting cheek-bones strikingly contrast with the smallness of the forehead in the temporal region. The Papuans of Maclay coast bore a hole through the septum of the nostrils, in which a long fragment of stone or piece of shell is worn. The teeth are much worn through the almost exclusive use of a vegetable diet : ⚫ A small marsupial found in Papua. It is figured in Wallace's "Malay Archipelago." The long hair worn at the back of the head is termed "gatessi." Dr. Maclay noticed this in his own teeth after a stay of eight months in Papua. The lobules of the ears are pierced at an early age by means of the thorn of a Dioscorea and become much elongated by having to support heavy ear-rings. If the back of a Papuan is seen in profile, there will be noticed a considerable concavity of curve in the lumbar region. This would seem to be a characteristic in which the Papuan differs from the Caucasian race. The Papuans make a greater use of the left hand and arm than of the right, and use the feet to pick up various objects-sometimes very small ones-from the earth. This is done, not by flexion of the toes, but by anadduction of the great toe, which is considerably separated from the rest of the toes. From this use of the,toes, it frequently happens that the two feet are dissimilar in size. Circumcision is performed at from the ages of 13 to 15 years, and, as Zipporah performed it, with a sharp flint. This custom is general among the Papuans of Maclay coast, and among most of the coast and some of the mountain inhabitants. Those and among them are the New Irelanders and the inhabitants of one of the Islands of the Archipelago of Contentment-who do not use this rite are looked down upon by their circumcised brethren. The suckling of infants is carried on for a long period, sometimes to the age of four years. The Papuans are very strict in their sexual relations. The men marry early, soon after circumcision, and have only one wife; concubinage is almost unknown. The women, probably on account of the hard work in which they are engaged, seldom bear many children. In spite of the dark colour of their skin, Dr. Maclay was able to recognise a change of colour in the face among the Papuans. He does not, however, state whether blushing follows upon a sense of shame, but only notices that the features are darker when they are overjoyed, or have been making great efforts, e.g. in the dance. The Papuan women, like their European sisters, culti vate the art of which Mr. Turveydrop was the distin guished professor. Readers of the "Arabian Nights may remember how that the seductive wriggling of the sides of one of the damsels "shaped like the letter alif," caused the "world to turn black" before the eye of a susceptible hero, and will therefore fully appreciate the subtle influence of a peculiar and "killing" wriggle which the Papuan maid begins to have at even the tender age of seven years. The half-caste women whom one sees at Batavia seem to have adopted a similar though modified habit. The favourite position of the Papuan men-as it seems to be among the Malays also-is resting the buttock upon the heels (das Hocken), while the whole surface of the soles of the feet is applied to the ground. Dr. Maclay found that he could keep his balance only when the toes alone were in contact with the earth. This position of the Papuan must not only be acquired, but must depend also upon a peculiar relation of proportion in the limbs. Nothing can be said with certainty as to the duration of life among the Papuans. Dr. Maclay never saw an old individual among them. Dr. Maclay, from the observations which he has at present made, concludes that the Papuan stock falls into numerous varieties, distinct from one another, which, however, have no sharp lines of demarcation. On December 19, 1872, some natives came to Dr. Maclay to inquire the cause of some smoke which had been seen rising from the sea between Vitias and Dampier Islands. This turned out to be the clipper Izoumroud, which had been sent out to look for the traveller (whose death, it seems, had been announced in the English journals), at the instance of the Grand Duke Constantine. Early on the morning of the 24th the Izoumroua weighed anchor, and as she steamed away there could The apparatus employed in obtaining specimens was a slightly modified form of that devised by Dr. Maddox. It consisted of three thin brass tubes, two of which slipped over the third central one and came into contact with the opposite side of a projecting rim on its circumference. This rim was formed by the margin of its diaphragm which divided the centre tube into two chambers. It was of sufficient thickness to allow of a spindle passing up through it. The latter terminated in a pointed extremity, which came in contact with the upper end of the bearing, and provided for the free rotation of the system of tubes. Round the margin of the diaphragm there was a set of perforations, to allow of the passage of air through it, and, on the centre of its anterior surface, there was a square plate of glass with a slightly projecting rim on its lower margin. The anterior of the two lateral tubes was provided with an expanded orifice, and contained a small, finely-pointed funnel in its interior; the pointed extremity opening immediately in front of the centre of the diaphragm-plate. The posterior tube was quite simple, and had a good-sized fish-tail vane fitted into a slit in its extremity. The following are Mr. Cunningham's conclusions:The most important conclusions to be derived from all the preceding experiments regarding the dust contained in the atmosphere in the vicinity of Calcutta appear to be the following: 1. The aeroscope affords a very convenient method for obtaining specimens really representing the nature of the true atmospheric dust. 2. Specimens of dust washed from exposed surfaces cannot be regarded as fair indices of the constituents of atmospheric dust, since they are liable to contain bodies which may have reached the surface otherwise than by means of the air, as well as others which are the result of local development. 3. Specimens collected by gravitation also fail to indi cate the nature and amount of organic cells contained in the atmosphere, as the heavier amorphous and inorganic constituents of the dust are deposited in relative excess due to the method of collection. 4. Dew also fails to afford a good means of investigating the subject, as it is impossible to secure that all the bodies really present in a specimen of it should be collected into a sufficiently small space, and, moreover, because it is liable to accidental contaminations, and also affords a medium in which rapid growth and development are likely to take place. 5. Distinct infusorial animalcules, their germs or ova, are almost entirely absent from atmospheric dust and even from many specimens of dust collected from exposed surfaces. 6. The cercomonads and amœbæ appearing in certain specimens of pure rain-water appear to be zoospores developed from the mycelial filaments arising from common atmospheric spores. Microscopic Examinations of Air," by D. Douglas Cunningham, M.B. Surgeon H. M. Indian Medical Service (Calcutta). 7. Distinct bacteria can hardly ever be detected among the constituents of atmospheric dust, but fine molecules of uncertain nature are almost always present in abundance; they frequently appear in specimens of rain-water collected with all precautions to secure purity, and appear in many cases to arise from the mycelium developed from atmospheric spores. 8. Distinct bacteria are frequently to be found amongst the particles deposited from the moist air of sewers. though almost entirely absent as constituents of common atmospheric dust. 9. The addition of dry dust, which has been exposed to tropical heat, to putrescible fluids is followed by a rapid development of fungi and bacteria, although recognisable specimens of the latter are very rarely to be found in it while dry. 10. Spores and other vegetable cells are constantly present in atmospheric dust, and usually occur in considerable numbers: the majority of them are living and capable of growth and development; the amount of them present in the air appears to be independent of conditions of velocity and direction of wind; and their numbers are not diminished by moisture. II. No connection can be traced between the numbers of bacteria, spores, &c., present in the air and the occurrence of diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, ague, or dengue; nor between the presence or abundance of any special form or forms of cells, and the prevalence of any of these diseases. 12. The amount of inorganic and amorphous particles and other débris suspended in the atmosphere is directly dependent on conditions of moisture and of velocity of wind. If these results be compared with those obtained by other observers, and detailed in the first section of this report, it will be seen that they agree very closely with those of M. Robin, only differing from them in indicating the presence of a somewhat larger number of spores thin appeared in his observations. They differ almost equally from those arrived at by Pouchet and Ehrenberg. It is somewhat difficult to understand how the former observer so constantly failed to detect the presence of spores in his experiments, but there is an apparent reason for Ehren berg's observation of the predominance of animal forms in the atmosphere. His conclusions appear to have been almost entirely founded on the results of the examination of specimens of dust not directly obtained from the air but from surfaces on which it had been previously de posited from the air, such as leaves, tufts of moss, &c Now, as has already been indicated, it is certainly quite unwarrantable to assume that all organisms found in such specimens existed as such in the air, or were even derived from the air in any way. All such surfaces are more less liable to contact-inoculation; leaves and moss, for example, are liable to this through the agency of insects or birds. Moreover, with regard to many of the organisms detected in such situations, it must be recollected that there is no reason why they should not have arrive there by means of active progression over the surface When surfaces are wet with rain, there is no reason why Tardigrades, Rotifers, Anguillulæ, and many infusoria should not travel over them from one point to another The journey accomplished at any one time may be small and its progress soon arrested by defective moisture; b unless they are deprived of vitality in the interval b desiccation, they are ready for a fresh start when favour able conditions are again presented to them. It is hardly safe to venture on the vexed questions regarding the origin of bacteria, but it may, at all event be stated that the results of the present experiments a certainly not opposed to the belief in the transmission these organisms in some way or other by means of atmosphere; for they were actually observed among particles in moist air, the addition of dry dust to put scible fluids was followed by their rapid development, and they appeared in specimens of pure rain water. THERE are two islands named St. Paul in the ocean: one close to the Equator was visited lately by the Challenger; the other, south Although these observations may not appear to encourage of the Cape of Good Hope, is to be visited by a French expe the hope of success in discovering the presence of atmo- dition under Capt. Mouchez, for observing the forthcoming transit spheric particles connected with the origin of disease, it of Venus, as we stated in our last number. The identity of name must not be forgotten that they only refer to bodies distinguishable from one another whilst in the air, the possi-ing decided that no naturalist was needed for St. Paul, the Challen has created a singular confusion. The French administration hav bility remaining that many of the finer molecules present in it are really of different natures, and may yet be distinguished from one another by means of their actions or developments. Many interesting questions are suggested in connection with the fact of the presence of such considerable numbers of living cells in the air. What becomes of them when drawn into the respiratory cavities of animals? Is their vitality destroyed, and, if so, how are they got rid of? Are they ever capable of undergoing any development within the organism, and do they then exert any prejudicial influence on the recipient? These and similar questions can only be answered by means of patient and extended experiment, but even such imperfect and superficial observations as the present will, I trust, serve a useful purpose in clearing away a few of the preliminary obstacles from the path of investigation. NOTES A SPECIAL General Meeting of the Linnean Society is to be held on Thursday, March 5, at 8 P.M., "to consider alterations in the Bye-laws of the Society;" when it is expected a full explanation will be given of the reasons which induced the Council to make the alterations recently adopted by the Society, which met with such violent opposition from a small section of the Fellows. It is understood that Mr. Bentham, who has occupied the chair of the Linnean Society for the past eleven years, will not offer himself for re-election at the ensuing anniversary. The custom of the Society requires that the next president shall be a Zoologist, but students of both branches of Biology will be glad to learn that Prof. Allman has allowed himself to be nominated. Few naturalists would bring to the office a wider, and none a more sympathetic knowledge. MR. HIND writes to the Times that he has received from Prof. Winnecke, Director of the Observatory at Strasburg, the following position of a comet discovered by him in the Constellation Vulpecula on the morning of Saturday last :-February 20, at 17h 16m 40s mean time-right ascension, 20h 35 34 25; north declination, 26 deg. om 46s. The diurnal motion in right ascension is 9 increasing, and in declination 1 deg. 30 towards the south. PROF. ASA GRAY has been appointed to fill the Chair in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, previously occupied by the late Prof. Agassiz. THE Rev. Dr. Thomas William Jex-Blake, Principal of Cheltenham College, has been elected Head-Master of Rugby School, in succession to Dr. Hayman. A BARONETCY has been conferred upon Dr. George Burrows, F.R. S., President of the Royal College of Physicians. WE would direct the attention of Paleontologists and others who are specially interested in the Cephalopoda, to a paper by M. Munier-Chalmas, in the Comptes Rendus for Dec. 29, 1873, which is translated in the current number of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, in which, from a study of their earliest stages, the generally accepted systematic position of the Ammonitites and Goniatites is stated to be inaccurate, they being shown to be dibranciate decapoda allied to Spirula, and not tetrabranchiata at all. ger having explored the island a few months since, M. Mouchez had some trouble, it is said, to get the decision reversed by the authorities. Both islands, southern and northern, are almost of the same microscopical size and equally barren. They are of volcanic formation, with no trace of vegetable earth, and consequently of vegetation. A TELEGRAM from Melbourne, dated February 17, states that Colonel Egerton Warburton has reached Perth, in Western Australia, overland from Adelaide, having thus accomplished the object of the exploring expedition on which he left Tennant's Creek, north of Adelaide, in the centre of Australia, about twelve months ago. Colonel Warburton's explorations embrace a portion of the interior of Western Australia hitherto unknown. The distance traversed is over 1,000 miles of longitude, the expedition having been conducted by means of camels, and was fitted out by the munificent liberality of the Hon. Thomas Elder, M. L. C., and Mr. W. W. Hughes. Another expedition under Mr. Gosse, conducted with horses at the expense of the Government of South Australia, has not been so successful. Mr. Gosse, amid many difficulties caused by want of water and the barren nature of the country through which he passed, managed to reach as far as E. long. 129° 59′ in lat. 26° 32' S., the total distance traversed irrespective of numerous turnings and windings, being not less than 600 miles. His most notable discovery was made in lat. 25° 21′, long. 131° 14', being a hill consisting of one solid rock (fine conglomerate) or huge natural monolith two miles long, one wide, and 1,100 feet high, with a spring coming from its centre; Mr. Gosse named it "Ayres Rock." highly creditable to the enterprise of South Australia, which, as Both expeditions are our readers know, has succeeded in carrying a line of telegraphy right across the country, from Port Augusta to Port Darwin. THE enterprise of the Australian Colonies is producing really valuable scientific results, as will be seen from the following telegram, dated Dec. 22, published in the Brisbane Courier, from Mr. G. Elphinstone Dalrymple, commander of the Queensland North-east Exploring Expedition :-"The coasts, harbours, inlets, navigable rivers, and creeks have been examined from latitude 18° 15' to 15° 15′ S. The Bellenden Kerr mountain range has been successfully ascended, and foundto be a complete razor back' of granite. Palms were found on the summit; but although the botanical discoveries were interesting, they have not borne out all that was anticipated from them; 144 miles of soundings and 371 compass cross bearings have been taken in 19 navigable rivers and creeks of which the North and South Johnstone, the Mulgrave and Russell, drain the Bellenden Kerr range; the Mossman and Daintree drain the Arthur Palmer range inside the Schnapper Island. This range is nearly as lofty as the Bellenden Kerr, and is 25 miles in length. New rivers have been discovered penetrating a jungleclad country of thoroughly tropical character, covered with a new rich soil suitable for sugar and other tropical cultivation. The extent of this country is roughly estimated at, in the aggregate, half a million acres, thus at once placing Queensland on a par with other favoured tropical countries. Mr. Hill has collected 3,000 botanical specimens, roots, and blocks of timber; 130 shells of five genera and eight species; 42 specimen bags of soils. Mr. Johnstone has collected 30 specimens of interesting birds, insects, and reptiles; and I have obtained 93 geological specimens." |