peasant with only a small holding or with no land at all, has already been mentioned.

It is evident from the above survey that Yugoslavia is primarily an agricultural country, producing raw materials in great demand in the manufacturing countries of Western and Central Europe. Her potential wealth from the products of the soil, including her forests, is very great, and the products of her subsoil are capable of considerable development. Her great handicaps in the past have been the long servitude under Turkey, the recent wars, and the hostile attitude of Austria towards the Yugoslavs in the former Austrian lands. Given peace, and the consequent stability, involving, among other things, willingness of foreign countries to invest capital in the country, she should be in a position to obtain the prosperity which her considerable and varied resources entitle her to expect.

REFERENCES.

(1) "Superficies productives et le rendement des plantes cultivées," Ministère de l'Agriculture et des Eaux, Belgrade.

(2) Belgrade Economic and Financial Review. In English. Monthly since October 1923. Belgrade.

(3) CHATAIGNEAU, Y. "La Yougoslavie." Ann. de G., xxx. pp. 81-110.

(4) CVIJIĆ, J. La Peninsule Balkanique. Paris, 1918.

(5) DEDIJER, J. "Les Zones Pastorales dans les Montagnes du Système Dinarique." Bulletin de la Soc. Serbe de G., 1914.

(6) GRAVIER, G. (7) KREBS, N.

1922.

"La Choumadia." Ann. de G., xxx. pp. 271-287.

Beiträge zur Geographie Serbiens und Rasciens." Stuttgart,

(8) MILOJEVIĆ, B. Ž. Kingdom S.H.S.; Administrative Divisions in Relation

to Natural Regions." Geog. Rev., 1925.

(9) MOUSSET, A. "Le Royaume des Serbes, Croates et Slovènes." Paris, 1921. (10) NEWBIGIN, M. I. Geographical Aspects of Balkan Problems." London,

1915.

(11) WRAY. D. A.

"The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Serb-CroatSlovene State." London, 1921.

My thanks are especially due to Dr. Subotić of the School of Slavonic Studies, University of London, for providing me with publications and statistics, and to Miss D. Wilford for drawing the four commodity maps.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL

SOCIETY.

A MEETING of Council was held on October 27 in the Society's Rooms, when 71 new Ordinary Members, 1 Life Member, and 51 Associate Members were elected.

Resignation of Dr. John Horne.-A letter from Dr. John Horne, intimating his resignation from the Council, was read by the Chairman, and received with much regret. The Secretary was directed to write to

Dr. Horne expressing that regret and their high appreciation of his services in the past.

Diploma of Fellowship.-The Diploma of Fellowship was awarded to Mr. George A. Howell, Edinburgh, on the ground of his long connection with the Ordnance Survey, during which time he was engaged in producing original maps of the British Isles on all scales.

Presentations to the Society.-The Secretary was instructed to send to the undermentioned donors the hearty thanks of the Council for their valuable gifts of books and maps :-Mr. George Campbell, Edinburgh; Colonel R. Gordon, Blairgowrie; Mr. John Hume, Edinburgh; Dr. James Watt; and the Corporation Art Gallery and Museum, Bradford.

Medal Award, Aberdeen University. In referring to the award of the Society's Silver Medal at Aberdeen University to Miss Alice Margaret Thomson, the Chairman announced that this Medal had, in the opinion of Mr. John M'Farlane, Lecturer in Geography at Aberdeen University, increased the interest being taken in the subject of Geography. Last year the ordinary graduation class numbered 35; this year it numbers 57. Donation to the Funds of the Society.-Mr. I. Bartholomew made a statement in regard to a donation of £500 to the funds of the Society. Although the donor wishes to remain anonymous, Mr. Bartholomew intimated that the donation was from a very old friend of his late father, Dr. J. G. Bartholomew, in whose memory it was presented. Mr. Bartholomew was instructed to convey to the donor the hearty thanks of the Council for this very generous gift.

LECTURE SESSION, 1925-6.

66

Captain Roald Amundsen lectured on his "Great Polar Flight," in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on September 30. Mr. G. M. Dyott, F.R.G.S., lectured on Adventures amongst the Volcanoes and Backwoods of Ecuador," at Aberdeen on the 3rd, Dundee on the 4th, Edinburgh on the 5th, and Glasgow on the 6th of November.

ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING.

The Annual Business Meeting was held on November 5 in the Society's Rooms, Professor J. Y. Simpson, D.Sc., Chairman of Council, presiding.

In speaking of the Forty-first Annual Report of Council, which appears on p. 382 of this issue, Professor J. Y. Simpson stated that, largely owing to the very successful inauguration of the Lecture Session, the total number of members had now increased considerably beyond the number stated in the Report, and approached the highest point reached in the history of the Society. The Report was adopted on the motion of Mr. C. B. Boog Watson, seconded by Mr. R. S. Alexander.

The Financial Report (see pp. 380-81) was submitted by Dr. James Currie, Hon. Treasurer, and on the motion of Mr. A. J. Lethem, seconded by Mr. W. M. Milroy, was adopted.

The list of office-bearers recommended by the Council for election for the current session was also submitted, and on the motion of Mr. David M'Nally, seconded by Mr. J. Y. Erskine, all were elected.

The following are the appointments so made :-The Right Hon. Viscount Novar, G.C.M.G., elected President in room of the Right Hon. Lord Salvesen, P.C., who retires; Professor J. Y. Simpson, D.Sc., F.R.S.E., re-elected Chairman of Council; the previous Vice-Presidents re-elected, and Mr. Ralph Richardson, W.S., F. R.S. E., and Dr. George G. Chisholm elected additional Vice-Presidents; Mr. Alan G. Ogilvie, O.B. E., M.A., B.Sc., elected an Honorary Secretary in room of Mr. Ralph Richardson, W.S., F.R.S. E., resigned.

The following members of Council, who retire by rotation, were re-elected:-W. B. Blaikie, LL. D., F.R.S.E.; H. R. G. Inglis, F.R.S.G.S.; H. M. Cadell, B.Sc.; Colonel Sir Duncan A. Johnston, R. E., K.C.M.G., C.B.; R. T. Skinner, J.P., M. A., F.R.S. E.; A. O. Cooke; Right Hon. Lord Cassillis, J.P., D.L.; Andrew Houston (Glasgow); Principal J. Yule Mackay (Dundee); John Clarke (Aberdeen).

The following gentlemen were elected to fill vacancies on the Council:-Douglas Guthrie, M.D.; George C. Ligertwood, M.A.; W. B. Wilson, W.S.; A. E. Maylard, M.B., B.S., F.RS. E.; George G. Chisholm, LL.D., F.R.S.E.

Mr. John M'Farlane, M.A., M.Com., was elected chairman at Aberdeen in room of Mr. James Fiddes, resigned.

Before vacating the chair on the election of Lord Novar to the office of president, Professor J. Y. Simpson referred briefly to the long series of past presidents, and particularly to Lord Salvesen, the retiring president. He spoke also of the work of Lord Novar in Australia, of his services to afforestation in Scotland, and of his term of office as Secretary for Scotland, and on behalf of the members expressed the great satisfaction of the Society in having induced him to accept the office of president.

In taking the chair, Lord Novar said that it was a great pleasure to him to succeed so many brilliant men, and referred to his own long membership of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Of recent years, however, he had had more to do with Australian geographical societies than with the Scottish one, and had more and more come to appreciate the kind of work which could be done by such bodies. He referred especially to the subject of map-making, and to the association of that great mapmaker, the late Dr. J. G. Bartholomew, with the Society, which had just received a donation of £500 as a tribute to his memory.

Mr. Ralph Richardson, in acknowledging his election as one of the vice-presidents of the Society, referred shortly to its early history. He said that one summer afternoon in 1884 four well-known citizens of Edinburgh called upon him unexpectedly in his office in Castle Street. These were Mr. A. L. Bruce, a man of extraordinary energy; his wife, the daughter of the illustrious David Livingstone; Mr. John George Bartholomew, the eminent cartographer; and Mr. H. A. Webster,

Librarian of the University of Edinburgh. They asked him to assist them in forming a Scottish Geographical Society, and to be its first Honorary Secretary. He accepted office and the Society was inaugurated at a public meeting held in Edinburgh on October 28, 1884, the Lord Provost, Sir George Harrison, being in the chair. The Society, whose first president was the Earl of Rosebery, proved a success from the start, and remained a success after forty-one years of existence.

Lord Novar then proposed from the chair that a resolution of thanks to Lord Salvesen for his services as president be drafted and sent to him, and this resolution was carried unanimously. The meeting, which was well attended, then terminated.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

EUROPE.

Derivation of Oslo.-In connection with the note on the new name of Christiania on p. 230 of the July issue of this Magazine, Prof. W. Werenskiold, of the Geographical Institute, Oslo, writes to point out that there is no justification for the form Oslö, used in the article there quoted. The suffix lo occurs in many Norwegian place-names, and means a flat, low-lying meadow along a lake or river. It occurs also, in another form, in the Flemish Waterloo.

POLAR.

Aerial Navigation in the Arctic. In the Geographical Journal for July and August, there are reports by Mr. F. G. Binney and others on the results of the Oxford University Arctic Expedition, 1924. Apart from details, the most interesting general point arises out of the use of a seaplane, as an experiment definitely intended to test the possibilities of aircraft in Arctic exploration. In addition to Mr. Binney's narrative, which contains a stirring account of a fourteen hours' drift in the disabled machine without drinking water, Capt. F. Tymms, the observer, discusses the general question of aerial navigation under Arctic conditions, and in the July issue there is also a brief editorial discussion of Captain Amundsen's polar flight, containing some notes written by Mr. Binney.

Both Capt. Tymms and Mr. Binney are of opinion that Spitsbergen (Svalbard) is bound to be of great importance in connection with Polar flying. Both lay special emphasis on its accessibility. The former points out that "if commercial aviation over the Arctic ever comes, and this will not be in the immediate future," Spitsbergen must be of great importance, both because it lies almost on the direct route from Europe to the Pacific shores of America and Asia, and because the coal-mining industry will probably lead to the development of harbours, and to the provision of those resources of civilisation upon which aviation depends so much.

One great difficulty in regard to Arctic flying is the question of a landing surface. For a regular aeroplane service one of the most puzzling

problems is how to start from one kind of surface and alight on another. In Spitsbergen, Captain Tymms considers, land must be excluded. Restricted areas of tundra near sea-level are, it is true, snow-free for a short period during summer, but the ground is usually too soft and wet to be practicable. The question of a permanent, levelled landing-ground may thus be dismissed. The remaining surfaces are water, snow and ice. Water is available for a period of some weeks, but no seaplane could rely upon finding open water north of Spitsbergen, and would have therefore to rely upon some other form of under-carriage. snow-covered ground or ice the machine would have to be fitted with skis, but in Spitsbergen itself snow is not always available in summer. Landing on ice bare of snow would require wheels, but it is unlikely that ice-surfaces sufficiently smooth for their use would be found. Α possible arrangement for a polar flight would be an under-carriage with skis on the top of the floats and an arrangement by which the floats could be dropped after taking off from the water.

For

Other difficulties arise in connection with the magnetic compass. The sluggishness due to the reduced value of the earth's horizontal magnetic force Captain Tymms does not regard as a great difficulty, but in Spitsbergen it was found that the declination changed much more rapidly than in Europe, and its values in polar regions are unknown. Captain Amundsen got over this difficulty by means of a sun compass, which ought to be very useful for Arctic flights in summer.

GENERAL.

Spitsbergen and Norway.-After long delay, due to various causes, Norway assumed sovereignty of Spitsbergen in August this year. The old Norse name of Svalbard has been adopted by Norway for the whole of her new Arctic territories, including Bear Island, Spitsbergen, and adjacent islands, North East Land and Giles Land. The names of the various islands are unchanged, but the translation into Norwegian of familiar names of bays, capes, etc., on the map of Spitsbergen is threatened. It has been decided that "Svalbard is part of the kingdom of Norway," the Odelsting rejecting by a small vote the alternative. wording that "Svalbard is subject to the sovereignty of Norway." Claims to mining estates are now undergoing investigation with a view to registration. The Norwegian Government hopes to keep the annual cost of administration of Svalbard within Kr. 240,000. The exports of coal are growing. In 1924 the total was about 400,000 tons and in 1925 the amount is estimated at rather more than that figure. With the exception of a few cargoes to Archangel, practically all the coal is now being shipped to Norwegian ports. The last few seasons have given excellent shipping facilities.

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY.

A New Periodical.-Beginning with March of the present year, Clark University, Massachusetts, is publishing a quarterly magazine

VOL. XLI.

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