return to Europe with large ethnological collections.

The Government of the province of Cordova, in the Argentine Republic, has granted funds for establishing a network of meteorological stations over the province, and appointed Prof. Doering head of the service. The value of the undertaking is enhanced by the great diversity of position among the stations, on pampas, wooded plains, mountains, and salt lakes, and in their varied elevations ranging from 240 to 9,425 feet above the sea. An international commission is at work surveying the boundary between Brazil and the Argentine Republic; and the question of boundary between the Argentine Republic and Paraguay threatens to come up if it should prove that the Araguay-Guazú is the main lower stream of the Pilcomayo, for the line is defined to be the Great Chaco to the Pilcomayo; and in that case the Argentine Republic would lay claim to the territory between the Pilcomayo and the Araguay-Guazú. According to older Spanish geographers, the latter stream is the largest arm of the lower Pilcomayo, but recent attempts to establish the fact have not been fully carried out.

By an ordinance of March 12, 1887, two new provinces were formed in Chili, Malleco and Cautin, thus bringing what remains of Araucania into administrative relations with the rest of the country. The chief town of Malleco is Angol; it is divided into three departments, Angol, Collipilli, and Traiguen, named by their principal towns. The chief town of Cautin is Temuco, and it is divided into two departments, Temuco and Imperial. These towns have 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants and will soon be reached by railway.

According to the report of Captain Serrano, who was sent out by the Chilian Government, the Palena is a much larger stream than it has been supposed and represented on the maps, having a breadth in its lower reaches of 800 metres, and being navigable for a long distance. Many new species of plants and a few of insects were found by the expedition. It also confirmed the report that the high chain of the Andes is not here the water-shed between the Atlantic and Pacific; but that this is formed by a table-land about 500 metres in height lying east of the Andes. The streams upon it rise in small lakes and pass through narrow defiles in the Cordilleras, and thus reach the Pacific. The land on the eastern slope of the mountains west of this water-shed is well adapted for grazing. This makes necessary a new settlement of the boundary between Chili and the Argentine Republic, which, according to the treaty of 1881, is to follow the watershed, and, in case of any difficulties arising from this line being indistinct or not understood, to be settled by a commission appointed by the governments of the two countries.

Lieut. C. Moyano reports to the Argentine authorities the results of a recent journey to

the sources of the streams south of the Santa Cruz. He finds that the waters of the Pacific penetrate forty-five nautical miles eastward of the Cordilleras and form harbors in East Patagonia, and that the Argentine lake is connected with the lake lying south of it. This agrees with the observation of Moreno and Moyano in 1877, but was disputed by Rogers and Ibar after their journey in 1880. Lieut. Moyano finds reason to believe that all the Patagonian lakes are connected. As to the fitness of the country for colonization, he says: "The coast region has scanty but peculiar vegetation, which can be utilized for the feeding of cattle, sheep, horses, and goats. A few tracts in the lowlands and river-valleys are adapted for farming. The central region is less suitable for these purposes; for, besides the poverty of vegetation, it seems to be impossible to maintain cattle there during the winter, which is uncommonly severe, owing to the height of the table-lands and the distance from the sea. The mountain region, beginning at the first spurs of the Cordilleras, is marked by vast, dense forests of antarctic beeches, and is rich in plants adapted for grazing. I think it well suited for that purpose; the presence of thousands of wild horses indicates that the protection of the forests offsets the cold produced by the elevation. As to the prospects for mining, though I have found traces of coal and iron at many points, yet they were so far from the highways as not to be of any value at present. I have not found other minerals, but I believe the mountain region is rich in many that a specialist could discover." The lieutenant named three mountains, "Monte Andrade," 5,808 feet high, after the poet of that name; "Monte Guido," 4,200 feet, after the poet and scholar; and "Monte Guerrico," 4,495 feet, for Colonel Martin Guerrico, to whom many young marine officers are greatly indebted for instruction.

Lieut. del Castillo undertook an expedition to examine the harbors mentioned by Moyano. He says that with comparatively little expense the Gallegos can be connected with the harbors of the Pacific; that the pampas of the Gallegos are habitable in winter, and in every respect adapted to the raising of cattle; and that there are coal-beds of immense value in that region.

More favorable views of the fitness of Terra del Fuego, also, for cultivation are expressed by recent travelers-among them Ramon Lista and Julius Popper-and that it is particularly suitable for a grazing country. The discovery of gold on the shore of the Strait of Magellan has awakened a sudden interest in the island. M. Lista says that the mountain-chain in the Argentine part of the island should bear the name of its discoverer, Bartolomé Nodal. The Indians encountered were timid, but not unfriendly when reassured. Some of them were painted, or had their hands and arms colored white with clay, and all had their hair cut and

greased with a reddish ointment. They wore cloaks of silver-fox fur. They would not allow themselves to be measured, but were induced to dance at the sound of the trumpet. They keep great numbers of dogs, which they use in hunting. The foxes are greatly prized on account of their fur. The island is infested with great numbers of rodents, and the woods and shores are visited by vast flocks of the wild goose, plover, duck, snipe, ibis, and par

rot.

Seals and penguins frequent the coast. Polar Regions.—Dr. Alexander Bunge and Baron E. von Toll report a close examination of the New Siberian Islands begun in April, 1886. The island of Liakov was found to be rich in bone fossils. On the island of New Siberia, Baron von Toll made a special examination of the mountain known to travelers as the "wood-mountain," which was found to be a beautiful tertiary profile, with carbonized treetrunks and a rich collection of leaf impressions and fruits like the tertiary flora of Greenland and Spitzbergen, as described by Oswald Heer. Besides the fossil remains of the mammoth, rhinoceros, and musk-ox, Dr. Bunge discovered in Liakov remains of two species of oxen, deer, horses, and some smaller animals.

Lieuts. Ryder and Block have closed for the present their survey of the western coast of Greenland for the Danish Government, having carried it as far as from 72° to 74° north latitude. The winter of 1886-'87 was uncommonly severe, and occasioned destitution among the Greenlanders. Sickness among the dogs and scarcity of food for them prevented much use of sledges. In April an exploration was made of the ice-fiords and glaciers of Augpadlartok, one of the chief parts of the undertaking. Not until the end of June had the ice so far opened that a boat-voyage could be taken northward, and even then it was with difficulty that a point fifteen miles north of the last town of the Danish district could be reached. Seen from a mountain height, the sea presented an unbroken surface of ice, and the summer was so far advanced that a breaking-up of the ice could not be expected in time for anything more to be accomplished, as the travelers were due at Upernavik for the return to Europe. Besides making the coast survey and a close examination of the great ice-fiords and inland lakes, they have made astronomical and physical observations, and gathered anthropologic and natural science collections.

Expeditions were undertaken this summer by Mr. McArthur, a former official of the Hudson Bay Company, who proposed to go north by land to King William Land, winter there, and resume his explorations in the spring so far as the west coast of Grinnell Land, and by Col. Gilder, of New York, whose plan was to go northward by sledge, with Esquimau attendants from Wager River. He expects to reach Fury and Hecla Straits in the spring, and Lancaster Sound by autumn.

An expedition to the antarctic regions has

been planned by the Australian colonies, and it is understood that the English Government will contribute £5,000 on condition that an equal amount is raised in Australia.

Atlantic Ocean. - Prince Albert of Monaco took with him this summer Prof. Pouchet and Prof. Guerne, the zoologist, in his yacht "Hirondelle" for an excursion in the northern Atlantic. They spent three weeks in the Azores, where Prof. Guerne studied the fauna in the lakes of the extinct crater.

The falling-off of the whale-fisheries in antarctic waters threatens the very existence of the people of the solitary island Tristan d'Acunha, who are descendants of the garrison kept there while Napoleon was a prisoner in St. Helena, with a few shipwrecked men that have made their home there since. Their chief means of support-the supplying of whalers with fresh meat and potatoes-is falling off; and, moreover, the island is infested with rats from a wrecked ship, that make the raising of grain impossible, and greatly injure the potatocrop. Relief was sent to them in August, 1886, and it is now proposed to remove the entire population to St. Helena or Cape Colony, though it is to be feared that they will become homesick, like the people removed thirty years ago from Pitcairn to Norfolk Island, and take the first opportunity to return. In August, 1886, the island had 97 inhabitants, of whom only 23 were men.

Observations made by M. J. Thoulet in the Gulf Stream tend toward the conclusion of Mr. Findlay that, after the stream reaches the vicinity of Newfoundland, its volume and depth are no longer great enough to exert any considerable influence on climate, and therefore the causes of the mild climate of Western Europe must be sought elsewhere.

Miscellaneous.-Major-General von Tillo gives the lengths of the longest eight rivers of the world as follows:

At the Brussels International Exhibition next year, a department will be devoted to geography and kindred sciences. It is desired that contributions be sent in of maps and atlases of all kinds, globes and spheres, statistical works and diagrams, general treatises, instruments, and articles for explorers.

Geography in Education.-Prof. Anton Stauber, of the Real Gymnasium of Augsburg, has taken the prize of 25,000 francs offered by the King of the Belgians for the best essay on the means of popularizing geography and improving its position in education of all degrees.

A committee met in England near the beginning of the year to consider the propriety of attempting to have geography placed among

the subjects of study in the national universities. In consequence of their efforts it was decided to establish a readership of geography for five years at Oxford, and Mr. H. J. Mackinder, M. A., was appointed. Mr. Mackinder arranged eleven courses, comprising eightyeight lectures, to be given under the extension scheme from October, 1887, to April, 1888, before about 2,700 students. It is expected that, in view of the growing interest taken in the subject, a similar course will be established at Cambridge.

By a new ordinance of the German Educational Department, the subject of geography has been raised to the first rank in the higher schools of Germany; that is, it may be taken as one of a teacher's two specialties in connection with either a scientific, linguistic, or historical subject. The subjects of examination for a teacher wishing to take the facultas docendi in geography are laid down. There are three grades, for lower, middle, and higher classes. For the lower the teacher must have an elementary but exact knowledge of mathematical, physical, and political geography; for the middle, not only this, but acquaintance with the history of exploration and important trade-routes. For the higher, the candidate must have in addition to the foregoing a knowledge of the important geological conditions of the earth's surface, and of the political geography of the present, the politico-historical geography of the chief civilized peoples, and the leading facts of ethnography; also, a readiness in the construction of maps.

It has been decided to found professorships of geography at the Russian Universities, and a chair was to be established at the St. Petersburg University in the autumn of 1887.

GEORGIA. State Government.-The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, John B. Gordon, Democrat; Secretary of State, Nathan C. Barnett; Treasurer, R. U. Hardeman; Comptroller-General, William A. Wright; Attorney-General, Clifford Anderson; Commissioner of Agriculture, J. T. Henderson; Railroad Commissioners, Alexander S. Irwin, C. Wallace, L. N. Trammell; Chief-Justice of Supreme Court, L. E. Bleckley; AssociateJustices, M. H. Blanford and Samuel Hall, succeeded by T. J. Simmons.

Legislative Session.-The session of this year was an adjournment of the November-December session of 1886. It continued from July 6 to October 20, a period of 107 days, which, with the 50 days consumed by the first session, makes the longest legislative record in the history of the State. Fully nine tenths of the legislation was local or special. The principal acts of the first meeting were those fixing the tax-rate and making the regular biennial appropriation. For 1887 the levy is as follows: For general purposes, 2.6 mills; for completing the State capital, 85 of a mill; for the sinking fund, 32 of a mill; total, 3.77 mills. For 1888 the State capitol tax is 2 of a mill less. A

poll-tax of one dollar per capita is devoted to educational purposes, while a long list of specific taxes upon the professions, traveling agents, peddlers, corporations, and other business enterprises, go into the general fund of the State. Among the specific appropriations are the following: For interest on the public debt, 1887, $509,943; for 1888, $507,575; for work upon the capitol building in 1887, $258,734; in 1888, $200,000-the last two sums forming a part of $1,000,000 to be expended upon the structure; for the Academy of the Blind, $19,000; for the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, $15,000; for the Lunatic Asylum, $175,000; for the State universities, $8,000 eachthe last three amounts being payable annually. Other acts passed at this session were as follow:

Authorizing the probate of foreign wills, if the testator was at the time competent to make a will under the laws of Georgia.

for the ports of the State. [This is a general pilotage Defining the powers of commissioners of pilotage law, giving the commissioners power to grant, suspend, or revoke licenses to pilots; to make rules governing those engaged in pilotage; to regulate the fees to supervise the business. All vessels to whom a to be charged; to inflict penalties; and in other ways licensed pilot offers his services are compelled to pay a pilotage fee whether the offer be accepted or not.]

Authorizing the city of Macon to issue $20.000 of bonds and to apply the proceeds of their sale in the construction of a public market-house.

Authorizing the city of Atlanta to issue new bonds at 4 per cent. or at a lesser rate, to retire certain maturing 6-per-cent. bonds.

At the midsummer session the most notable action was that upon the Glenn bill, so called, prohibiting coeducation of the races. The provisions of this bill, which applied to every public and private educational institution in the State, made it a penal offense for any teacher of a school for colored children to admit white pupils, or for any teacher of white pupils to admit colored children, the penalty being a fine of $1,000, or imprisonment not over six months, or work in the chain-gang not over twelve months. The measure was reported favorably to the lower house by its committee on education, and passed that body almost unanimously, only two votes (those of the only colored members of the body) being recorded against it. The bill was apparently directed against a few white teachers at the Atlanta State University for colored students, who had instructed their own children among the regular pupils of the institution. Senate yielded in a measure to numerous protests, and amended the bill by restricting its application to schools receiving aid from the State, and by making the only penalty a prohibition of the teacher from receiving any public funds of the State, and of the pupils from ever becoming teachers in the public schools. These amendments the House refused to accept, no compromise was reached, and the bill was dropped. A subject of fruitful discussion at this session was the State road, otherwise known as the Western and Atlantic

The

Railroad, a lease of which from the State will expire in 1889. Resolutions advising its sale at the end of the lease were rejected, as also those recommending a new lease upon lower terms. The only action taken declares that the State shall not be liable for any betterments made by the lessees, provides for a commission to appraise the road, to ascertain its present condition, to keep it constantly under inspection during the remainder of the lease, and to report promptly to the Governor any attempt of the lessees to depreciate its value, in which case the Governor is authorized to take immediate possession in behalf of the State, and to assume the management of its operations. A bill increasing the number of Supreme Court judges from three to five was among the most meritorious acts of the session. Another bill regulates the business of insurance in the State, making the ComptrollerGeneral an Insurance Commissioner, and requiring companies to secure a license from him before soliciting business. Other acts of this session were as follow:

Providing for the levy and sale of personalty when the title is retained in the vendor.

Authorizing the sale of the Governor's mansion and penitentiary lots in Milledgeville.

Empowering grand jurors to levy a special tax for school purposes.

A bill to prevent the running of excursion trains, steamboats, and sailing-vessels on Sunday.

To rescind and revoke the license of any foreign corporation in this State which shall remove any case from the courts of this State to the United States courts, except to the Supreme Court of the United States. Amending the practice in equity as to granting injunctions.

Regulating the catching of oysters.

Regulating the inspections and sale of naval stores. Giving the Methodist Historical Society access to the State records at all times, and directing the Governor to send the secretary of the society copies of the journals of the General Assembly.

Providing payment for maimed Confederate soldiers, so as to conform to the amendments to the Constitution adopted at the last election. The bill includes those who were disabled, though their limbs were not aimputated. It makes an annual payment of $30 for an arm or leg above the elbow or knee, and $20 for an arm or leg below elbow or knee.

Codifying and revising all the present commonschool laws, and perfecting the machinery of the common-school system.

Authorizing the payment of the six months' interest on the Atlantic and Gulf railroad bonds.

Education. In 1886 there were enrolled in the public schools 319,724 pupils, 196,852 being white, and 122,872 colored. The per cent. of white youth of school-age enrolled was 74-13, the per cent. of colored youth being 50-52. Of the total number of youths of school-age, white and colored, 62.84 per cent. are enrolled in these schools. The institutions of higher education supported by the State are reported to be doing good work. An extra appropriation, aggregating $17,000, was made by the Legislature of this year for repairs upon the State University buildings at Athens, and at the branch colleges at Dahlonega, Milledgeville, and Thomasville.

Convicts. Attempts were made this year to improve the condition of the convict camps, and to abolish in part the camp system, but the Legislature took no action except to pass a bill rewarding good behavior by diminishing the length of sentence. It provides that for continuous good conduct on the part of the convict two months shall be deducted from his sentence the second year, and three months each succeeding year to ten, inclusive; after ten, four months each year. An investigation was had by the Governor during the summer into the conduct of the lessees at several of the camps, against whom charges of excessive punishment of convicts and of requiring excessive labor were preferred. The Governor found these charges sustained with respect to penitentiary companies numbered two and three, and imposed a fine of $2,500 upon each.

Railroads and Water-ways.-During the year, eight different lines of railroad were in process of construction, and 231 miles were completed. This is a considerable increase over previous years. The Legislature granted incorporation to more than forty new companies, some of which were prepared to begin construction before the end of the year. The city of Atlanta will reap a large share of the benefit from this new impulse in railroad building, three different lines being already nearly completed to that place, and a fourth and most important one, connecting it with Knoxville, Tenn., and thence construction. At the same time improvements with all points in the West, being sure of early have been made on many of the rivers of the State under the direction of the General Government. On the Ocmulgee a good navigable channel has been obtained between Hawkinsville and the junction of the Oconee. The Oconee is being dredged to secure a uniform depth of three feet at low water as far up as Milledgeville. The work is more than half completed. Nearly $100,000 has been expended on Flint river, resulting in a completed high-water channel from the mouth of the river up to Albany, a completed low-water channel of the projected depth from the mouth to Tea-Cup shoal, and a partially completed high-water channel over the river between Albany and Montezuma. The expenditure on the Chattahoochee has been $188,857, and it has resulted in securing a fair navigable channel between Chattahoochee and Eufaula at all seasons, and between Eufaula and Columbus at all times except during the prevalence of extreme low water. Improvements on Coosa river have cost $417,896, and have opened a good channel from Rome to Greensport. To develop the Coosa coal-fields in the vicinity of Broken Arrow, is the primary object of this work. The Tallapoosa, Oostenaula, and Coosawattee rivers have also been improved.

Prohibition. As the local-option law permits an election upon this question in any county once in two years, on petition of a sufficient number of voters, contests similar to those of 1885 took place in the autumn of this year in

nearly all the large counties. Strenuous efforts were made by the friends of license to recover the ground swept from them by the tide of prohibition sentiment at the previous election, but outside of Atlanta they were attended with only slight success. In that city, after a spirited contest, in which the young men bore a conspicuous part on each side, the Prohibitionists were defeated by 1,122 votes out of a total vote of 9,244. The majority against license in 1885 was 225 out of a total of about

7,000 votes. Of the enforcement and effect of prohibition in the city during the year a local

paper says:

In consideration of the small majority with which prohibition was carried, and the large number of people who were opposed to seeing it prohibit, the law has been marvelously well observed. Prohibition has not injured the city financially. According to the assessors' books, property in the city has increased over $2,000,000. Taxes have not been increased. Two streets in the city, Decatur and Peters, were known as liquor streets. Property on them has advanced from 10 to 25 per cent. The loss of $40,000 revenue, consequent on closing the saloons, has tended in no degree to impede the city's progress in any direction. Large appropriations have been made to the waterworks, the public schools, the Piedmont fair, and other improvements. The business men have raised $400,000 to build the Atlanta and Hawkinsville Railroad. The number of city banks is to be increased to five. The coming of four new railroads has been settled during the year.

Farmers' Convention.-There was held at Atlanta in August an important and interesting interstate convention of farmers, at which all the Southern States were represented, and at which the causes and remedies of the existing agricultural depression in that region were discussed at length. Between 200 and 300 delegates were in attendance. The following are some of the resolutions adopted:

Whereas, The cotton States of the South need capital to develop their resources, and the farmers the facilities for borrowing money at a low rate of interest; therefore, be it

Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention it is expedient that the National banking act be so amended as, first, to repeal the tax now existing on the issue of State bank circulation; second, by repealing the clause of said act that prohibits national banks from accepting land as security for the loan of

money.

Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Washington be requested to use all efforts in their power to advance the Department of Agriculture to the dignity of a Cabinet position.

Whereas, It appears, and really is a fact, that great depression exists throughout the whole cotton-growing region; and, whereas, we believe it to be the duty of

this convention to ascertain the cause and to find a remedy; therefore, be it

Resolved, 1. That we believe the cause to be twofold, to-wit: first, undue taxation; second, the raising of too much cotton, thereby neglecting to produce home supplies.

Resolved, 2. That we believe the remedy for the first is the united efforts of our public servants in the Legislatures and in Congress, and this convention earnestly request both these bodies to grant us relief. Among the many evils under which the agriculture of the South is laboring, and among the serious obstacles to its progress, is the crop-lien and chattel-mortgage system, now being a part of the business methods

of large portions of the States here represented; therefore, be it farmers throughout the South the pressing importance Resolved, That this convention urges upon the of bringing to bear upon the Legislature of their respective States all legitimate influences which may tend to give speedy relief to our farmers and final abolition to this pernicious and ruinous system. We desire that Congress shall pass a law returning through the States, to those entitled to the same, the money unjustly collected on what is known as the cotton tax.

Whereas, Certain corporations and individuals have from time to time combined and conspired to destroy or to depreciate the value of some of the agricultural products of the cotton States by such speculation or gambling as that usually termed "dealing in futures," operations of the American Oil Trust Company in their with the prospective cotton-crop as a basis, and by the well-nigh successful effort to crush out all competition either in the purchase of seed, or the sale of the prod

ucts thereof; therefore

Resolved, That the influence of the entire agricultural population of all the States here convened be brought to bear upon the legislative powers of our respective States to secure the enactment of such laws as will properly define these crimes and furnish commensurate penalties therefor.

The cotton-crop of Georgia for 1887 was estimated at 890,900 bales, raised upon 2,950,000 acres. A severe cold and frost, which visited the State early in March, did great injury to growing fruits, wholly destroying the crop in some sections.

GERMANY, an empire in central Europe, founded on treaties concluded between the North German Confederation and the Grand Duchies of Baden and Hesse on Nov. 15, 1870, the kingdom of Bavaria on Nov. 23, 1870, and the kingdom of Würtemberg on Nov. 25, 1870. The ratifications of the treaties were exchanged on Jan. 29, 1871, at Berlin. For these treaties was substituted, by the decree of April 16, 1871, the Constitution of the German Empire, which went into force on May 4, 1871. The headship of the empire belongs to the Prussian

crown.

The hereditary dignity of German Emperor was accepted by King William I of Prussia at Versailles on Jan. 18, 1871, in a proclamation addressed to the German people. The confederation of states forming the empire is invested with sovereign imperial power, exercised by the crown of Prussia and by the Federal Council, composed of representatives of the confederated states. The imperial power, in the exercise of certain functions, requires the consent of the Reichstag or parliament, composed of representatives freely elected by the German people. This assembly exercises also in certain regards a right of control.

The Emperor William was born March 22, 1797. The heir-apparent is Prince Frederick William, born Oct. 18, 1831. The next in the line of succession is his son, Frederick William, born Jan. 27, 1859, whose eldest son, named also Frederick William, was born May 6, 1882. (See illustration on page 321.)

The Chancellor of the Empire is Prince Otto von Bismarck, who is also President of the Council of Ministers of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Commerce in the