NOTES.

Very respectfully,G. K. GILBERT,EVERETTHAYDEN,WILLARDD. JOHNSON,Committee on Exploration.

La Carte de France, dite de l'Etat Major, par M. J. Collet. Paris, 1887. 8vo, pp. 92, with 4 plates.—This pamphlet describes the great "Staff Map" of France, recently completed, giving its history, the methods employed in the field and office work, the contents of the map, and the means of representing the various features therein described. The scale of the map is 1:80,000. Relief is represented by hachures, for drawing which approximate contour lines have been located, but these are not otherwise used. A great variety of cultural features are shown, many of which are ephemeral, and which contribute to the overloading of the map with details. Moreover, as the time which has ordinarily elapsed between the survey and the issuance of the work in printed form is ten or twelve years, most of this culture has become not only of no value but misleading by the time it is published.

The account of the organization and methods by which the map has been produced is of special interest. The primary triangulation upon which it is based is one of the most elaborate and accurate ever executed in any country. No expense has been spared in this direction. Within this triangulation is a secondary triangulation, also very elaborate, from the stations of which numerous additional points are cut in, or located by unclosed triangles. All this work is of the highest order of excellence, being infinitely more accurate than the map requires.With this, however, the accuracy appears to end. The detail consists of the map, or the map proper, little more than a compilation of commune cadastral plans. These were fitted to the triangulation points and to one another, a process which appears to have been by no means easy of satisfactory accomplishment. This adjustment having been completed, the culture was brought up to date of survey and a survey was made of the relief features by the use of such inferior instruments as the clinometer compass and chain.

The principal and obvious criticism upon such work is that it is top-heavy. The triangulation is far more elaborate than is required, while the provision for making the map itself is by no means comparable with it: it is as far below the requirements of the scale as the triangulation is above it.

This leads up to a broader proposition, which may be stated thus: That the general tendency of surveying organizations is in the direction illustrated by that of the "French Staff." Organized originally for map-making, they progress little by little in the direction of devoting their energies to geodetic work, while at the same time the topographic work proper, for which they were created, is belittled and neglected. As a consequence the latter depreciates in quality and diminishes in quantity; the main purpose of the organization is lost, and a mere means becomes the ultimate end of the work. This tendency should be recognized in map-making organizations. The weakness of our modern maps is seldom in the primary control. It is easy to do triangulation of sufficient accuracy for the control of maps upon such scales as that above considered, little knowledge or experience being required beyond that gained at our engineering schools; while the more accurate triangulation, generally known as geodetic work, requires merely better instruments, more time, and more experienced observers.

The weak features of maps are generally the details, the part of the work that, strange to say, is usually relegated to the lowest grade of professional men. This weakness consists in an insufficiency of minor locations for the control of the sketch and in unfaithful sketching. It is the sketching that requires the most careful attention and the best and most experienced men. The instrumental portion of the work is the least difficult; the artistic portion, or sketching, is the most difficult. It would seem more logical and would doubtless produce better results to reverse theusual order of promotion and place the topographer above the triangulator. Moreover, the triangulation should be regarded as merely a means for the correction of the sketching, and it should be required only that it be of sufficiently high grade to meet this condition. The minor locations should be sufficiently numerous and well distributed to fully control and correct the sketching; and finally the sketching should be as faithful a representation of the topography as is consistent with the necessary generalization of the surface features.

H. G.

Polar Regions.—TheSociete de Geographieof Paris in its Proceedings publishes the following communication from M. Ch. Rabot on the new Danish expedition engaged in the exploration of the eastern coast of Greenland, under the command of Lieutenant Ryder, of the royal Danish navy. The expedition has in view the examination of the unknown coast between Franz-Josef fiord, in latitude 73°, and the most northerly point reached by Commander Holm and Lieutenant Garde, about latitude 66°. Lieutenant Ryder left Copenhagen June 7, 1891, in the Norwegian whalerHekla, which had been chartered by the Danish government. The first ice was met on the 20th, in latitude 68° 12', longitude 13° 05' west. Unable to pass through the pack to the Greenland shore after several attempts, the ship proceeded northward, and in the vicinity of Jan Mayen made soundings and successful dredgings. Several attempts to reach the coast of Greenland were made from the 75th parallel southward, but without success up to July 2, when theHeklawas in latitude 71° 31', longitude 6° 30' west. Since that date there has been no direct news, but on July 26, in latitude 72° 40', longitude 14° 25' west, the English whalerActivesaw theHeklaa few miles to the northeast, heading to the south-southwest. On August 2 theActive, in latitude 71° 40', approached within 12 miles of the coast, and on August 20, in 70° 30', was within 7 miles of the mainland. In both instances the intervening sea was free of ice. The English captain believes that theHeklamade the eastern coast in about 71° 30'. TheHeklais provisioned for the winter, and there is a prospect of marked success by the Danish officers in their undertaking.

The Crossing of Tibet.—The explorations of Mr. Rockhill in Tibet and his renewed attempt to reach Lassa, the "holy city" of that country, creates an unusual interest for Americans in the account of the crossing of Tibet by M. G. Bonvalot, Prince Henri d'Orleans, and P. Dedeken, published in the last Bulletin of the Paris Geographical Society.

Six days' journey from Moscow brought the party through Russia and Turkestan to Kouldja (45° N., 41° W.), in extreme western Mongolia. Having obtained authority from the Chinese governor of the province to proceed, the party, aggregating 15 in number, left that place September 12, 1889, with Batang, China, as an objective point. On October 5, after a journey of about 450 miles, during which they crossed the Thian-chan ("heavenly") mountains by Narat pass, they camped at Korla, near Bagratch-koul. Here they were warned that they could proceed no farther, and the governor of Ili sent an order to arrest them. The mandarin and other local authorities did not, however, actively oppose their departure, which took place during the night of October 10, the party then consisting of 20 horsemen and 40 pack-animals. On October 28 they reached Kara-douran, the western end of Lob-nor. A side trip by d'Orleans and Dedeken to Lob-nor proved it to be no longer a lake but a series of swamps and sandy islands, with the water nowhere more than four feet deep. Meantime Bonavolot accumulated supplies and replaced from the hardy Mongols the more timid among their camp-followers, the party being reduced to seven, with a few extra men for a short distance.

Quitting Tcharkalik on November 17, they followed the route taken by Carey; but on the advice of the natives they resolved after crossing the Altyn-tagh to go directly southward instead of turning eastward, and thus to attempt a new route, on which they were beset by the usual physical discomforts attendant on travel at great elevations. On these mountain ranges they saw only wild sheep, blue hares, wild horses, crows and partridges. On December 5, just south of a large salt lake (Ouzoun-tchour), they, saw a caravan of Kalmouk pilgrims returning from Lassa by an unknown route, which they refused to make known, and decided to temporarily abandon their idea of reaching Batang and instead to go direct to Lassa by retracing the caravan trail. From this point (about 38° 30' N. and 87° 30' W.) they proceeded directly southward. The region penetrated was unknown, the windsviolent the entire day, the desert treeless and without water, the route lined with the carcasses of camels and their drivers, the only fuel the dung of wandering yaks or caravan camels, and the trail so indistinct that at times they marched by compass. The elevation gradually and steadily increased to 15,000 and even 16,500 feet; the mountain fever became worse, the storms more violent and continuous, and the temperature ranged from 7° (–14° C.), with wind, at midday to 30° below zero (–33° C.) at night. One by one their horses and camels died, and also an old Kirgese who followed them. Extensive glaciers were passed, from which flow on the one side the Salouen and Mekong into Indian ocean, and on the other the Yang-tse to China sea. On January 8, 1890, they skirted a large unfrozen lake named Montcalm, 50 miles long by 12 miles wide, and on January 14 traversed Duplex pass, 20,000 feet elevation. On the 31st they finally ran across a man, a wild Tibetan, small, thin, with enormous lips, long knotted hair, clothed in sheepskin and armed with a saber and flint-lock gun, whom they called "appa" (father); he knew neither Chinese nor Mogul, but spoke Tibetan of which the travelers knew scarcely a dozen words. Other Tibetans, with flocks of sheep, soon appeared and sold them mutton, a little salt, and rancid butter, and then followed on horseback for fifteen days without losing sight of the explorers. Often they were counseled in Mogul by those in authority to turn back.

In the middle of February they reached lake Nam-tso ("heaven"), or Tengri-nor, a large frozen body of water. Out of 40 camels only 15 remained, and, of 20 horses but one survived; three of the party of seven were in desperate state of health, while all were worn out and almost without provisions. They were finally obliged to stop in a mountain pass of the Nindjin-tangla, which led directly to Lassa, then not more than sixty miles distant. On February 17 the Tibetan authorities sent a large party to meet them and ask their intentions. Mistaken for Russians, it took 13 days to convince the authorities that they were French. They received presents from the authorities and obtained costumes from Lassa, but found it impossible to visit the "holy city." After 49 days of negotiation, on April 5, provided with arms, provisions and horses, and also a safe permit from the Talia lama to cross Tibet to Batang by an unknown route, they started eastward, on a course nearlyparallel to and north of Salouen river, reaching Sô and once again seeing houses on April 15. They arrived at Batang early in June, their route some distance west of it having joined the Imperial highway from Pekin to Lassa over which l'Abbe Huc travelled. From Tatsien-lou, where the French Tibetan mission is located, their route turned southward to Red river, which was reached, at Manhoau, on September 21, when their journey practically ended, as Hanoai was reached two days later.

An excellent map of the itinerary, by Prince Henri, accompanies the article.

A. W. G.

Third Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States to the Interstate Commerce Commission, for the year ending June 30, 1890:Washington, Government Printing Office, 1891 (advance copy, pp. 1–100).—This pamphlet, by Professor Henry C. Adams, is issued in advance of the full report, which is promised to comprise about 875 pages. It contains a summary, digest and discussion of the full report.

It appears that the total railroad mileage on June 30, 1890, was 163,597, an increase of 5,838 miles during the year. The increase came mainly from southeastern and western states. This mileage was owned by 1,797 distinct corporate bodies, but entirely controlled in one way or another by only 747 companies. To illustrate the extent to which consolidation of railroad property has gone, it may be stated that 47.5 per cent of all railroad mileage is controlled by but forty companies, and that 65.4 per cent is controlled by seventy-five companies. The greatest mileage controlled by one company is 6,053, operated by the Southern Pacific company.

The total capital and bonded debt of railroad companies was $9,871,378,389, or $60,340 per mile. Stock and bonds were about equal in amount. Mr. Adams estimates the value of railroad property by capitalizing at 5 per cent the dividends and interest on bonds paid during the year, reaching as a result $6,627,461,140, or about2/3of the nominal capital and bonded debt. The justice of this method may fairly be questioned. A comparison of the ruling prices of dividend-paying stocks with the rate per cent of the dividend shows that 5 per cent stocks are above par and that 4 per cent stocks average nearly par.Moreover, it is well known that many railroads are built and operated, not for their own immediate earnings but to give value to other property of the companies, notably to lands, from the sale or lease of which the companies derive profits. Again, many railroads are built, not for present but for future profits, after they shall have induced settlement of their territory; and, furthermore, numerous branch roads have been built as defensive measures to prevent rivals from occupying territory; and in many cases earnings are used in betterment of property instead of distributing it as dividends. In all these cases the roads have value, although they are not paying dividends.

Taking all these matters into account, it does not appear that the railroad stocks of the country have, collectively, been watered to any great extent, if by "watering" is meant expanding nominal values above actual values.

Concerning dividends paid on stock, Mr. Adams presents a table showing that 63.76 per cent of all stock paid no dividends; that but 6.47 per cent paid less than 4 per cent; that 25.26 per cent paid from 4 to 8 per cent, the remainder paying above 8 per cent. It appears that in the northeastern states much the highest dividends were paid, while in the west, so far as dividends are concerned, the stockholders have to wait for future developments.

The total passenger mileage for the year was 11,847,785,617, a slight increase over the previous year. The total freight mileage was 76,207,047,298, an increase of nearly 10 per cent over that of the previous year. The gross earnings of the year were $1,051,877,632, and the operating expenses $692,093,971, leaving as the income from operations $359,783,661. The income from other sources was $126,767,064, and the total deductions from income were $384,792,138, leaving as the net income $101,758,587, out of which there was paid as dividends on stock $89,688,204.

The magnitude of the railway interests of the country is set forth in the above enormous figures. It is still further emphasized by the fact that nearly three-quarters of a million men are in the employ of this industry. Assuming that each such employé supports two others besides himself, it is seen that the railroad interest supports two and a quarter millions, or more than one thirtieth of the inhabitants of the country.

H. G.

BBE

, C

LEVELAND

, cited on isostaths,

—, Record of communication by,

viii

— — — discussion by,

viii

BORIGINES

of South America,

CADEMY OF

CIENCES

, Russian, Quotation from records of,

212

DAMS

, H

ENRY

C., Review of report on railway operations by,

255

DELUNG

, J. C., Geographic work by,

211

—, Quotation from, on de l'Isle's map,

212

213

214

DMIRALTY BAY

FRICA

, Area of,

—, Conquest and division of,

—, Natural divisions of,

238

—, Population of,

238

— (The Heart of); E. C. Hore,

238

GASSIZ GLACIER

, Ascent of,

147

— — named,

of St. Elias range,

175

LASKA

(An expedition to Mount St. Elias,); I. C. Russell,

—, Boundaries of,

237

—, Early works concerning,

206

—, Report of committee on exploration in,

248

LLEN

, J

AMES

, cited on isostaths,

LPENSTOCKS

, Necessity for,

165

LPINE

glaciers,

176

180

LTON

, E

DMUND

, Contribution to exploration fund by,

LVORD

, H. E., Remarks by, at field meeting,

MAZON

, Discovery of the,

—, Sketch of the,

MENDMENT

to by-laws proposed,

xii

NDES

, General description of the,

NEMOMETER

formula devised by C. F. Marvin,

NGOT

, A., Reference to work of,

NTIQUITIES

of Peru,

RCHANGELICA

, Mention of,

114

RGENTINE

EPUBLIC

, Sketch of,

SIA

, Exploration in,

253

TREVIDA

, Mention of the,

105

URIFEROUS

sands from Yakutat bay,

196

VALANCHES

145

155

AIE DE

ONTI

— named by La Pérouse,

AKER

, M

ARCUS

, cited on early eclipses,

220

— — — Mount St. Elias,

232

—, Explorations by,

—, Reference to bibliography by,

—, Record of discussion by,

viii

ASE

INE

, Measurement of,

ATES

, H. W., Quotation from, on South America,

EAR

, Meeting with the,

109

ELCHER

, S

DWARD

, Explorations by,

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