Mr. J. E. S. Moore addressed the Society in Edinburgh on the 28th February on "Some unknown Countries north of Tanganyika and the Mountains of the Moon." Colonel Wardlaw Ramsay occupied the Chair.

MEETING OF COUNCIL.

At a Meeting held on the 19th February, the following business was transacted:

Five new Members were elected, viz. :

Mrs. E. D. Gray.

William Boyd, M.A.

James W. Hunter, M. A.

Gilbert Cossar.

John Couper.

The following gentlemen were elected Corresponding Members for the Session 1900-1901:

Count F. L. Pullé, Bologna.

Dr. M. A. Stein, Punjab.

Sir William Garstin, K.C.M.G., Egypt.

A. A. Dobson, C.E., Argentina.

J. Bryant, New South Wales.

Prof. James E. Talmage, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Salt Lake City.

Wm. Anderson, F.G.S., Government Geologist, Pietermaritzburg.

Dr. J. C. Branner, LL.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., California.

Prof. Salisbury, Chicago.

Prof. R. Credner, Greifswald, Prussia.

M. Marcellin Boule, Paris.

Prof. G. K. Gilbert, Washington.

Prof. W. E. David, B.A., F.R.S., Sydney, New South Wales.

Dr. Gunnar Anderson, Sweden.

Rev. James Henderson, M.A., Livingstonia.

Dr. Alex. Roberts, D.Sc., F.R. A.S., F.R.S.E., Lovedale.

Rev. James Dewar, M.A., Natal.

Rev. John Ross, Manchuria.

Rev. Dr. Husband, C.I.E., Rajputana.

James Stirling, Victoria.

A Resolution was passed expressing the Council's sense of the loss sustained by the Society through the death of Sir Thomas Clark, Bart. A copy of the Resolution was ordered to be communicated to his family.

Mr. Bartholomew intimated that Mrs. Bruce had undertaken to endow a Livingstone Gold Medal for the Society, in memory of her father, Dr. Livingstone; the medal to be awarded as the Council may determine. The Secretary was desired to express to Mrs. Bruce the cordial thanks of the Council for this generous proof of her continued interest in the Society and its work.

Dr. J. Y. Simpson and Mr. D. Livingstone Bruce were appointed Members of Council, under Law XVI., to fill vacancies.

SCOTTISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.

The following letter, dated 9th February 1901, has been received by the Secretary:

"DEAR SIR,-I had an interview with Mr. Bruce yesterday evening relative to the proposed Scottish Antarctic Expedition, when I agreed to become a subscriber to the funds of the Expedition to the extent of £500, provided that it receives sufficient financial support to enable it to start.-Yours faithfully,

"GEORGE A. COOPER."

MEETINGS ARRANGED FOR MARCH.

Mr. J. E. S. Moore will address the Glasgow Branch on the 1st March on "Some unknown Countries north of Tanganyika and the Mountains of the Moon."

Mr. Alexander Hosie, British Consul at Newchwang, will address the Aberdeen Branch on the 4th March on Manchuria."

Mr. Arthur Gulston, Chief Superintendent of the Elswick Shipyard, Newcastle-on-Tyne, will address the Society in Dundee on the 6th March and in Edinburgh on the 7th March on the "Baltic and Arctic Voyages of the Ice-breaker Ermack in 1899."

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Clarke Memorial Medal. The Royal Society of New South Wales has awarded to Sir John Murray, K.C.B. (President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society), the Clarke Memorial Medal, in recognition of his many and longcontinued services in the cause of science, and especially in recognition of the invaluable results of his labours in connection with the Reports of the Challenger Exploring Expedition.

University of Oxford: School of Geography. The report for the year 1900 states that the School was opened in October 1899, but the work of the first term was merely of a preliminary character. The attendance of students during 1900 was as follows:

Hilary Term, 95. Of these, there were 59 men from 15 colleges, and 33 women from 5 colleges or halls; the remainder were students not belonging to the University or the Association for the Education of Women. Of the 95, CO attended only the Reader's lectures, and 25 only the lectures in Ancient Geography, while 6 received laboratory instruction, and attended all, or nearly all, the lectures.

Easter Term, 16. Of these, there were 13 men from 6 colleges, and 2 women from 2 halls. Of the 16, 6 attended only the Reader's lectures, and 5 only the lectures in Ancient Geography, while 4 received laboratory instruction, and attended all, or nearly all, the lectures.

Michaelmas Term, 100. Of these, there were 70 men from 12 colleges, and 28 women from 5 colleges or halls. Of the 100, 93 attended only the Reader's lectures, while 5 received laboratory instruction, and attended all, or nearly all, the lectures.

Among the students who were not members of the University were 1 from Sweden and 1 from the United States.

Lectures. The following courses of lectures were delivered during the year :By Mr. Herbertson

(1) "River Basins and Shore Lines" (eight lectures).

(2) "Mountain Types" (eight lectures).

(3) "The Geographical Cycle" (eight lectures).

By Mr. Dickson

(4) "The Atmospheric Circulation" (sixteen lectures).

(5) "The Climatic Regions of the Globe" (eight lectures).

By the Reader

(6) "The Natural Regions of the Old World" (five lectures).

(7) "The Development of Geographical Ideas" (seven lectures).

(8) "The Historical Geography of the British Isles" (seven lectures).

(9) "The Historical Geography of the Romance and Teutonic Countries of Continental Europe" (fourteen lectures).

(10) "The Historical Geography of North America, Australia, and the Cape (fourteen lectures).

By Mr. Grundy

(11) "The Historical Topography of Greece and the Greek World" (sixteen lectures).

(12) "The Geographical Development of the Roman Empire" (eight lectures). Laboratory Instruction.-Hilary and Easter Terms. Instruction was given in the laboratory and in the field during about 260 hours, and was attended by 4 men and 3 women. The rudiments of surveying were taught in the field, and the rudiments of cartography and elementary practical astronomy in the laboratory. The students giving the whole or a large portion of their time to the study of Geography were required to write periodical essays for the Reader.

Michaelmas Term. The course for the diploma having been organised, the laboratory instruction has, during this term, partaken of a more definite character. The following classes have been held :

:

(1) "Cartographical study of the extra-European parts of the world," by Mr. Herbertson. (2) "The Figure of the Earth, and Terrestrial Magnetism," by Mr. Dickson. (3) Weekly essays for the Reader.

During this term work has been in progress from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. each weekday. Mr. Dickson has been in charge on Monday mornings, Mr. Herbertson on the other five days. The Reader has given informal instruction on Wednesday and Friday mornings. The laboratory has also been open from 4 to 6 P.M. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when Mr. Herbertson has been in charge.

Equipment. The three rooms on the upper floor of the Old Ashmolean Building, which have been assigned to the School, have proved to be excellently adapted for the purpose. The apparatus and maps purchased some years ago, out of a grant of £100 made by the University, have been handed over to the School, and a further sum of about £120 has been spent on the most urgently needed additions to the plant. A collection of recent maps has been commenced, and, for the greater convenience of teaching, is being arranged according to regions. It is hoped that this collection, when sufficiently complete, may enable the staff of the School to give help to graduate and other scholars in Oxford who may be engaged upon special study or research.

Diploma.-A University Statute establishing a diploma in Geography in connection with the School has been passed by Convocation without opposition. There will be an annual examination conducted by three examiners, of whom one will be the Reader. Candidates, who may be of either sex, and need not be members of

the University, will be required before admission to the examination to show that they have received a good general education, and have attended a prescribed course of lectures and study at the School, extending over one academic year. The first examination for the diploma will take place in June 1901.

While the Diploma Statute was being drafted, inquiries were addressed to a considerable number of important public schools, with a view to ascertaining whether the holders of such a diploma as was proposed would be welcomed as teachers. Favourable replies, in not a few cases conveying cordial approval, were received from thirty-two public schools for boys, and twenty-seven high schools for girls. It appears, therefore, that there should be no difficulty in placing a considerable number of teachers who, in addition to a good general education, have received special training in Geography.

The annual examination for a scholarship, of the value of £60, open to members of the University of Oxford who have taken honours in one of the final schools, was held in October 1900, and the Rev. E. C. Spicer, of New College, was elected. The scholar is required to study for a year in the School of Geography with a view to obtaining the diploma.

Among the more important donations have been (1) Kretchmer's great Atlas, in sheet, presented by the Berlin Geographical Society; (2) a series of maps of the United States, by the U.S. Geological Survey; (3) a complete set of the publications of the Royal Geographical Society (with the exception of a few volumes which are out of print), by the Society; (4) a complete set of the publications of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, by the Society; (5) a set of Stanford's Compendium of Geography, and other books, by Mr. Edward Stanford; (6) a series of maps printed without names, by Mr. J. G. Bartholomew.

The following are among the more urgently needed appliances :

An Eidograph; a set of Petermann's Mitteilungen, including the Ergänzungshefte; a set of the Annales de Géographie, including the bibliographical volumes; a set of the Geographisches Jahrbuch; a set of the Geographische Zeitschrift; a set of the Meteorologische Zeitschrift; the Challenger Reports-the volumes containing the Narrative (2), the Summary of Results (2), and the Physical and Chemical Reports, including 52 maps of Pressure and Temperature (1); Vivien de St. Martin's Dictionnaire de la Géographie Universelle; a set of Davis's Physiographical Models; a set of Heim's Models; and a large Globe, after Reclus's model.

The Fourth Italian Geographical Congress will be held in Milan from the 11th to the 14th of April 1901. This Congress is triennial, having met for the first time in Genoa in 1892; the last meeting was at Florence in 1898. The Executive Committee, to whom applications for membership must be made, is at the Biblioteca Nazionale di Brera, Milan.

Gerlache's Expedition to Kerguelen Land.-Captain de Gerlache, the leader of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, is sailing for Kerguelen, as the representative of a French company. He is to carry 1500 sheep from the Falkland islands in the sailing ship which accompanies his steamer. It is anticipated that the conditions in Kerguelen will be favourable for the acclimatisation of the sheep. Meteorological and zoological observations will be made, the latter by MM. Ronnier and Perez.-Mouvement Géographique.

The Kane Medal has been awarded by the Philadelphia Geographical Society to Dr. Donaldson Smith, in recognition of his important explorations in East Africa.

He

The late Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto was born in 1846. received a military education; and his first active service, in 1869, was on the lower Zambesi, where he became strongly attracted to African exploration. In 1877 he was attached to Lieutenant Capello's expedition to the upper Kunene and the Kwango, but he shortly afterwards disagreed with his leaders, and while Capello and Ivens went northward, Serpa Pinto travelled eastward to Lialui, where he was deserted by his carriers. Descending the Zambesi, he reached the mission of M. Coillard in October 1878 in a destitute condition; but with the assistance of the eminent missionary he was enabled to reach Pretoria, then in the hands of the British, in February 1879. The account of this journey was published in the work How I crossed Africa (1881). The Portuguese explorer undertook two more important expeditions in Africa, first in the region between Mozambique and Nyasa (1884-1886), and second, on the Shiré river (1890). His death took place at Lisbon in December of last year. In 1881 he received the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.

The Bressa Prize. The Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin announces that the prize of 9600 francs, founded by Dr. Cesar Bressa for the most notable and useful discovery or writing in geography or other sciences, will be awarded at the close of the year 1902.

The late Luciano Cordeiro, who died at Lisbon on December 22, 1900, was one of the most eminent of Portuguese geographers. He was born at Mirandella in 1844. After serving for a short time in the navy, he devoted himself to geographical and literary pursuits, and was appointed to the chair of philosophy and literature at the Military College. In 1875 Cordeiro founded the Lisbon Geographical Society, and served it as secretary until his death; the Society awarded him a gold medal in 1887 in recognition of his distinguished services to science and to his country. To the Boletim he communicated many papers, dealing chiefly with the history of Portuguese explorers and colonists, exploration and colonisation; among other works were Memorias do Ultramar, the story of Portuguese enterprise in the Congo and Angola in the sixteenth century, essays on Vasco da Gama, Diogo d'Azambuja, and Diogo Cão, and the Annotacões Historicas, on which he was engaged at the time of his death. Luciano Cordeiro was a man of great energy and wide interests. In addition to his geographical work and historical work he published a book of critical essays, Livro de Critica (1869), founded the Revista de Portugal e Brasil (1873), and for a time edited the daily Jornal de Commercio, and later, the Diario de Lisboa. As a member of the Chamber of Deputies he urged the vigorous maintenance of Portuguese rights in Africa, and was appointed to represent Portugal at the Berlin Congress.

Ordnance Survey of Scotland. The following maps were issued in the month of December 1900:-Parish Maps (Scale 1:2500), revised, with houses ruled, and with areas (Price 3s. each). Aberdeenshire.-Bourtie, XLVI. 5, 6, 11, 14; Chapel of Garioch, XLV. 1, 2; Clatt, XLIII. 2; Cruden, XXXIX. 1, 2, 3, 4; Culsalmond, XLIV. 3, 4; Daviot, XXXVI. 15; xlv. 2, 3; xlvi. 5; Ellon, xxxvii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ; XXXIX. 1; Fyvie, xxxvI. 15; xxxvII. 1, 2; xLv. 3; Insch, XLIV. 2, 3; Keithball and Kinkell, XLVI. 14; Kennethmont, XLIII. 2; Logie Buchan, XXXIX. 1, 2; Meldrum, xxxvii. 9, 10, 13, 14; xlvi. 5, 6; Methlick, xxxvII. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 XXXVIII. 1; Öyne, XLIV. 3, 4; Rayne, XLIV. 4; XLV. 1, 2; Rhynie, XLIII. 2; Slains, XXXIX. 2, 3; Tarves, XXXVII. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14; xxXVIII. 1, 5; xlvi. 6, 11; and Udny, XLVI. 11, 14; XLVII. 5, 9. Clackmannanshire.— Alloa, cxxxIII. 12; Alva, cxxxIII. 12; cxxxiv. 5, 13; Clackmannan, cxxxiv. 11,