minster. The chair will be taken at half-past seven p.m. on each evening. The President, Mr. Joseph Tomlinson, will retire, and will be succeeded by the President-elect, Dr. William Anderson. The following papers will be read and discussed, as far as time permits :-Notes on mechanical features of the Liverpool water-works, and on the supply of power by pressure from the public mains, and by other means, by Mr. Joseph Parry, water engineer, Liverpool (Thursday). On the disposal and utilization of blast-furnace slag, by Mr. William Hawdon, of Middlesborough; communicated through Mr. Charles Cochrane, past-President (Friday).

THE German Mathematical Association (Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung) propose to hold their annual meeting in the autumn of this year at Nuremberg, and at the same time an Exhibition of Mathematical and Physical Models and Apparatus is to be brought together under the auspices of the Government. This Exhibition will resemble that of the Loan Collection, held at the South Kensington Museum in 1876. At Nuremberg the corresponding Germanisches Museum is available for the same purpose. The German Mathematical Association request the concurrence and assistance of those persons and institutes interested in the subject in this country, so as to make the Exhibition as complete and representative as possible.

THE American Institute of Electrical Engineers has passed a resolution declaring its intention to co-operate with "the World's Congress Auxiliary" in the effort to secure the gathering of an International Electrical Congress at Chicago in 1893, and pledging itself to do everything in its power to make the Congress a successful and worthy representation of the best electrical science and practice in all parts of the world. Accord

ing to a prospectus issued by the World's Congress Auxiliary, the Congress will deal with "scientific and technical electricity, telegraphy, telephony, electric light, electric power, and other forms of electrical application, with appropriate chapters and sections for the proper consideration of each."

THE friends of Prof. Baird, the late Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, will regret to hear that his widow, Mrs. Spencer F. Baird, died at her home in Washington on December 23, 1891.

M. DE QUATREFAGES, the well-known anthropologist, died on Tuesday, January 12. He was born in 1810, and studied medicine at Strasburg. Afterwards he became Professor of Zoology at Toulouse, where he had settled as a medical practitioner. In 1855 he was made Professor of Anthropology and Ethnology at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. He had already been admitted to the Academy of Sciences in 1852, and he was an honorary member of many foreign learned Societies, Numerous friends and pupils were present at his funeral, and addresses were delivered by M. Milne-Edwards, and other men of science. The most famous of his writings are his "Crania Ethnica" and "Études des Races Humaines."

MR. W. L. SCLATER, Deputy-Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, has been appointed Curator of the Museum and Lecturer on Biology at Eton College.

In a letter on " A Difficulty in Weismannism," published in NATURE on December 3, 1891 (p. 103), Prof. Hartog quoted some passages from a private letter he had received from Prof. Weismann. To this letter reference was made in a subsequent communication by Mr. A. H. Trow (p. 175). Prof. Hartog has sent us Prof. Weismann's letter, but we do not consider it necessary to print it, as the correspondence is now closed.

AN important and interesting paper on Chinese fibres appears in the new number of the Kew Bulletin. It seems that at Chinese ports there is much confusion as to the origin and classification of

these fibres, different fibres sometimes bearing the same name, while the same product often bears different names at different ports. This confusion is apparently due in part to the fact that European traders have used the terms "jute" and "hemp" in a generic rather than a specific sense; in part to the fact that the duty on "jute" is only "2 mace per picul," whereas "hemps" pay 3 mace. The subject has lately been carefully investigated at Kew, and further inquiry is about to be made at the Chinese ports under the direction of Sir Robert Hart, Inspector-General of the Chinese Imperial maritime Customs. At Kew much help has been derived from specimens sent by the Acting Consu at Chefoo, Mr. Alexander Hosie, a report by whom is included in the paper in the Bulletin. A memorandum on the jute and hemp of China, by Dr. Augustine Henry, is also given. The question is one of considerable practical importance, as the confusion which prevails cannot but tend to hinder the development of trade.

ANOTHER interesting paper in the Kew Bulletin is on Ipoh poison of the Malay peninsula. It consists chiefly of a valuable report by Mr. Leonard Wray, Junior, Curator of the Perak Government Museum, who has sent to Kew an admirable series of specimens. The report is printed in advance of the results of the examination of the presumed poisonous fluids, which has again been undertaken by Dr. Sidney Ringer, F.R. S., Professor of Clinical Medicine, University College, London.

DR. BROWN LESTER, who accompanied the Gambia Delimitation Commission, made a botanical collection fairly representative of the flora in the neighbourhood of the River Gambia, a far as the dryness of the season would permit. The specimens have been determined at Kew; and a list of the determinations, with Dr. Brown Lester's brief notes, is given in the Kew Bullitiu, From a botanical point of view, the collection, according to the Bulletin, is not of very great interest; but it is said to afford useful picture of the character and productions of the county traversed.

IN an appendix to the latest number of the Kew Bulletin, a list is given of the staffs of the Royal Gardens, Kew, and of botanical departments and establishments at home, in India, and in the colonies, in correspondence with Kew. On two former occasions a list of the same kind has been issued in the Kew Bulletin; and it has been found of considerable value, as it affords a convenient means for placing on record the offic.al titles and designations of the officers concerned, and renders possible the notification of the changes that take place in the The new list includes an enumeration of several appointments. the officers that have been selected to carry out the recently. organized botanical survey of India, with the districts allotted to each one. There is also a fuller list of officers in charge of gardens in Native States. The organization of the botanical department of the Leeward Islands brings into one group several botanical stations existing in those islands.

the

MM. LABORDE AND RONDEAU have given, in the Actu Mensuelle d'Anthropologie, an account of recent experiments on the poison of the arrows of the Sarro savages, in the Upper Niger valley. Specimens were brought back by Lieutenant Jaime From the physiological experiments performed, it would see that the poison is identical with that of Strophanthus.

SEÑOR F. P. MORENO, who has been investigating some ancient graves in the Argentine l'rovince, Catamarca, has found variouobjects which are likely to be of considerable importance in the study of American archæology. He has secured 86 human skull 400 vases, 420 stone implements, 15 copper implements, and 110 objects made of bone. The skulls are of two different type:, one set resembling those found in the graves at Ancon, P'ers,

nother those of Indians in Chaco and in the south of the Argentine Republic. All are brachycephalic, and many have een artificially distorted. The skulls of the Peruvian type are he later of the two groups. It is evident, however, that before he appearance of the Peruvian element in what is now Catamarca the population were in a much higher position than he Indians of the present day. They built strong fortresses, ike those which are found in Arizona and New Mexico, and he traces of their dwellings indicate a comparatively advanced tage of civilization. Many of the remains remind Señor Moreno of the Mexicans, others seem to show some affinity between the people and the Chibcha, while others are of a quite peculiar character. He has given a provisional account of his results in the Revista de la Plata, 1890-91.

MR. JAMES F. HOBART contributes to the January number of the Engineering Magazine, New York, an interesting article on the paper-making industry. He notes that while in 1881 the United States produced only 5,315,400 pounds of paper, it produced in 1891 not less than 15,219,580 pounds. Even this rate of production is exceeded by Germany. Mr. Hobart, however, thinks there are indications that the United States will lead the world in the production of paper before the end of the century.

THE new number of the Board of Trade Journal contains some extracts from a valuable report by the French Agent at Victoria on the salmon industry in British Columbia. Among the details noted by him is the fact that the best fish are almost always taken on the outflow of the river in the place where the fishermen endeavour to meet the fish on their arrival from the

sea.

A boat is often filled with several hundred fish in a single drift net of from 400 to 500 metres. It is calculated that on certain days the total of the Fraser fishery amounts to not less than 150,000 salmon, which are passed through all the different phases of preserving, and are ready to be forwarded for the market on the same day. An ingenious apparatus used to take the salmon, chiefly on the Columbia River in the United States, is described. A large wheel, fixed at a certain distance from the bank, is put in motion by the current. The blades of this wheel are provided with a network of iron wire intended to raise from the water any large object coming in contact with them. A sort of bar-work starting from the wheel is so placed as to increase the strength of the current in such a manner as to force the fish passing on this side of the river to go in this direction. The salmon, wishing to cross the very rapid stream where the wheel is placed, is raised out of the water by the iron wire on the blades. In the rotary movement the salmon is carried to the centre of the wheel, whence an inclined plane conducts it into vast open reservoirs placed in the stream, where it can be kept alive for some time. A system of pulleys provides for the raising of these reservoirs, the water flows out, and the salmon is carried in boat-loads just as it is required for preparation.

THE U.S. Consul at Bordeaux gives, in a recent report, some interesting information about the wines of the Medoc district. He notes that this district, between the sea on the one hand and the Garonne and Gironde Rivers on the others, is called Medoc (quasi medio aqua), because nearly surrounded by water. It is the northern termination of the extensive tract of sand-hills and marsh-land called "Les Landes," extending from Bayonne north, which changes to a bank of gravel on approaching the left bank of the Garonne, and contains some of the most precious vineyards in the world. The soil is of light pebble, and, indeed, on the spots where some of the best wine is produced it appears a mere heap of quartz mixed with the most sterile quality of earth. The best wine is not produced where the bush is most luxuriant, but on the thinner soils, where it is actually stunted, and where weeds disdain often to grow. Here the vine retains the sun's heat about its roots after sunset, so that its

juices are matured as much by night as by day. The accumulation of sand and pebbles of which this soil is composed is apparently the spoils of the Pyrenean rocks, brought down by the torrents tributary to the Garonne and other great rivers, and deposited in former ages on the borders of the sea. At a depth of 2 or 3 feet from the surface occurs a bed of indurated conglomerate, which requires to be broken up before the vine will grow.

THE latest publication issued by the Meteorological Council contains the harmonic analysis of hourly observations of air temperature and pressure at British Observatories. The computations as originally undertaken were designed to supply the analysis of the hourly observations made at Greenwich Observatory which were published in 1878; but subsequently it was determined to extend the investigation so as to include the observations made at the seven Observatories maintained by the Meteorological Office for a series of twelve years. The onerous work of calculation has been considerably diminished by means of the mechanical analyzer designed by Sir William Thomson, and by special formulæ, tables, and a slide rule prepared by General R. Strachey, Chairman of the Council. A drawing of the scale, and an explanation of its application, are given in the preface to the work.

THE Meteorological Council have just issued a useful publication entitled "Ten Years' Sunshine in the British Isles, 1881-90." The observations have been taken at forty-six stations, well distributed over the country-except for Scotland and Wales. At the great majority of stations the instrument used is the Campbell-Stokes sunshine-recorder, which focusses the sun's rays, by means of a glass ball, on to a card fixed in a brass frame. The instrument records only bright sunshine, which burns the card when no mist is present, or no cirrus or other clouds obstruct the rays. The tables show that December is the most sunless month of the year. Jersey stands first on the list of stations, as it does in nearly all other months of the year, having 23 per cent. of possible duration, while Dublin has 21 per cent., and St. Ann's Head 20 per cent., and London has a miserable record of 2 per cent. A great increase is noticeable in February, when Jersey has the greatest amount, viz. 31 per cent., and London the least, 9 per cent. In April, London begins to compare more favourably with other places situated in the suburbs, and May is the sunniest month of the year, while June and July are by no means as sunny as might be expected. August is a good month, except in the north-west of Ireland and Scotland. September and October exhibit a considerable decrease, and November is the only month in which the Channel Islands are not the most sunny part of the British Isles. The sea-coast generally is more sunny than in land parts, while large manufacturing cities, such as Glasgow, compare badly with stations in their neighbourhood. In the late autumn, Ireland generally receives more sunshine than the most of England.

It is useful, in relation to meteorology, to note the date of commencement of various harvest operations. A French Abbé, M. Buvé, has recently suggested a consideration of the quantity of sugar produced in certain plants as a means of determining the meteorological elements concerned in this process. The physiology of the sugar beet is now pretty well known; and, according to M. Marié Davy, one may estimate pretty closely the yield of this plant by means of calculations from the heat and illumination to which it has been subject. Conversely, the Abbé points out, we might determine the heat and light received, through the quantity of sugar produced. Fiscal operations, determining the yield of sugar, would facilitate the process. Again, it is suggested that the yield of honey might be considered in the same relation-the quantity of it in flowers depending greatly on sunshine, wind, rain, &c., while the state of the

atmosphere favours or hinders the work of bees. The summers of 1889 and 1890 are cited as presenting a marked contrast with regard to both beet-sugar and honey, in correspondence with weather-conditions; the earlier year was a highly prosperous one, the latter quite the opposite.

IN the Report, just issued, of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, on the fisheries of the great American lakes in 1885, it is noted that in Lake Michigan there is no fishing through the ice in the southern end of the lake, but that in the northern end, especially in Green Bay and along the north shore, this fishery is extensive. For twenty years it has given employment to a very large number of men living in the neigh bourhood of Green Bay, and many fishermen from other localities have found work there during the winter months. During the winter season the bay used to present greater activity than the surrounding land, hundreds of shanties and temporary huts being built for shelter. Dealers drove about from place to place on the ice to purchase the catch, and merchants sent waggons with provisions for the fishermen. At the height of the season it was not uncommon for the fishermen to bring their families out to the fishing quarters, where they would remain for some weeks, all hands helping to keep the nets in repair. For several years this fishery, owing to the diminished quantity of white-fish, has been less extensive, and the fishermen engaged in it at present generally live at home, owning a horse and sleigh, which enable them to visit their nets daily.

At a recent meeting of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, Baron von Mueller advocated strongly the protection of insectivorous and native birds in the colony. He thought that this object might be attained, not only by putting a comparatively heavy tax upon guns and by more strictly enforcing the present laws, but by the initiation of some scheme which would enlist the sympathy and co-operation of all persons interested in the subject. He suggested that a distinctive badge might be worn by members if such a union were ever formed.

THE Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux Arts de Belgique has issued its Annuaire for 1892. It contains, besides much information as to the organization and activity of the Academy, biographical sketches of deceased members, with remarkably good portraits.

AN interesting memoir is contributed by Dr. Merz, of Zurich, to the current number of the Berichte, concerning the compound of nitrogen and magnesium, generally known as magnesium nitride, Mg,N. Magnesium, like boron, appears to possess a somewhat powerful affinity for nitrogen. Some years ago Deville and Caron, during their distillations of magnesium for the purpose of obtaining the pure metal, observed the presence of small transpar ent crystals, containing only magnesium and nitrogen, upon the surface of the distilled metal. More recently, Briegleb and Geuther have shown that nitride of magnesium in an amorphous form may be prepared by heating magnesium filings in a porcelain boat placed within a porcelain tube traversed by a stream of nitrogen. Dr. Merz now describes two extremely simple methods of obtaining the nitride, suitable for lecture demonstration, and also some further properties of this interesting substance. A quantity of finely-powdered and carefully dried magnesium, about two grams in weight, is placed in a wide piece of combustion tubing about twenty centimetres long, closed at one end. Attached to the open end of this tube by means of a wide caoutchouc connection is a narrower tube closed by a caoutchouc stopper, through which passes the nitrogen delivery tube. A short side-tube blown upon the narrower tube carrying the stopper serves for the exit of the gas, and is connected by narrow caoutchouc tubing with a long vertical tube bent round parallel to itself, the open end of which dips beneath

The air is first displaced

the surface of some coloured water. from the whole apparatus by means of pure dry nitrogen, and when this is accomplished, the combustion tube containing the magnesium, laid nearly horizontally, is heated by means of a triple Bunsen burner. After two or three minutes have elapsed from the attainment of a red heat, the speed of the current of nitrogen may be slackened by means of a screw clip placed somewhere in tube, attaining a height of ten feet, if the tube is so long, in a its path, when the coloured water will rapidly rise in the vertical couple of minutes, thus exhibiting in a graphic manner the rapid absorption of the nitrogen by the magnesium. On allowing the experiment to proceed for upwards of an hour, almost the whole of the magnesium is converted to nitride, the small remainder reacting with the glass, and producing a black mirror of silicon. Magnesium nitride obtained by this method is a light, volumirous, friable, and yellowish-gray-coloured substance when cold but reddish-brown while hot. When exposed to the air, smells strongly of ammonia, owing to its decomposition by the moisture present. When a little water is poured upon it, great rise of temperature occurs, together with hissing, increase in volume, and evolution of steam, just as when quicklime is slaked Ammonia is also evolved in large quantities, and white ma nesium hydrate remains. The decomposition by means of wate is most effective when performed at the bottom of a large flask which rapidly becomes filled with ammonia gas; the moment a little hydrochloric acid is introduced upon a feather or othe convenient carrier, the flask becomes filled with dense fumes o ammonium chloride. Dr. Merz further shows that the nitride may likewise be obtained by heating magnesium in a current of dry ammonia to a temperature considerably lower than tha which is required in the case of free nitrogen, and very much lower than that employed by Briegleb and Geuther in some similar experiments made by them. As soon as this temperature is attained, a brilliant incandescence occurs, and the flame may be removed; hydrogen is evolved in a rapid stream, and 95 per cent. of the magnesium is converted in three or four minutes to nitride.

THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Green Monkey (Cercopithecus callitrickus (†), a Sooty Mangabey (Cercocebus fuliginosus ? ) from West Africa presented by Canon Taylor Smith; a Moustache Monker (Cercopithecus cephus 8) from West Africa, presented by Mi Alfred Lloyd; a Silver-backed Fox (Canis chama) from Damaraland, South Africa, presented by Mr. E. Aubrey Hart: two Virginian Opossums (Didelphys virginiana) from North America, presented by Mr. John Brinsmead, F.Z. S.; a Com mon Jay (Garrulus glandarius), British, presented by Mr. Charles Faulkner; a Great Titmouse (Parus major), a Coa Titmouse (Parus ater), a Blue Titmouse (Parus cærule), British, presented by Captain Salvin; a Bonham's Partridge (Ammoperdix bonhami) from Western Asia, deposited; 4 Bronze-winged Pigeon (Phaps chalcoptera ?) from Australia, purchased.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. MOTION OF STARS IN THE LINE OF SIGHT.-Prof. H. C describes the method used at Potsdam for determining th Vogel, in Monthly Notices R.A.S. for December 1891, fully velocity of stars in the line of sight, and states the chief result that have been obtained since the work was begun in 1887. L order to insure great stability with the smallest possible weight. the frame of the spectroscope is made of cast steel. The camer is also constructed of steel, and the dark slides are of brass: bility would have been secured if aluminium had been ner may be worth remarking, however, in this connection, that st instead of steel and brass, and this with a little more than one third the weight. A spectroscope similar to Prof. Vogel's, bu

with an aluminium frame, has been made for the Observatory at Kensington, and gives every satisfaction. The comparison spectrum used at Potsdam has been furnished by a Geissler tube placed directly in the cone of rays of the refractor, at a distance of 40 cm. from the slit, the tube being at right angles to the optical axis of the refractor and the slit. The slit is set parallel to the line of the diurnal motion, and width is given to the spectrum by making the driving-clock move slightly slower or faster than its proper rate. A uniform exposure of one hour has been employed, the proper intensity being obtained by changing the rate of the driving-clock, so that the error increases with increase of brightness. The photographs are measured with the aid of a microscope having a sliding apparatus on its table, movable by a fine micrometer screw. One revolution of the screw corresponds to a difference of wave-length of o°324 μμ, which, expressed in miles per second, is 139 13. After describing the methods of measuring the displacement of lines in stars of different types of spectra, Prof. Vogel brings together the results which have formed the subject of several previous communications. It is said that the probable error in the determination of the radial velocity of a star of Class II. is 1'34 miles per second, and for stars of Class I., ± 2.31 miles. Measurements have been made independently by Prof. Vogel and Dr. Scheiner, and each star has been observed on the average 3.3 times, wherefore it is concluded "that the probable -error of the definitive values for both spectral classes will amount to less than one mile." A list of the observed velocities of forty-seven stars will soon be published. The mean motion in the line of sight is 10'6 English miles per second; six stars have a velocity less than 2 miles per second, and five greater than 20 miles. a Tauri heads the list with a velocity of about 36 miles per second. Fifteen of the stars have a positive, and thirty-two a negative motion.

ORTHOCHROMATIC PLATES FOR ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY.—MM. Fabre and Andoyer photographed the eclipsed moon at Toulouse Observatory on November 13, 1891 ; and some of the pictures obtained were exhibited by them at the meeting of the Paris Academy of January 11, with a note on the method of production. Collodion-bromide and collodionchloride plates were employed, both kinds being treated with eosin and cyanin to render them orthochromatic. The former kind of plate was found to be relatively more sensitive to red and yellow rays than the latter, although both were stained with the same dyes. It is proposed, therefore, to use collodionbromide orthochromatic plates to obtain photographs of Mars, Jupiter and the red spot, and coloured stars.

geographical distribution was already known, and is now extended to the Eastern Pacific. This was naturally to be expected from the fact that the district we are exploring is practically a new field, nothing having been done except what the Albatross herself has accomplished along the west coast of North and South America. The Chailenger, as you will remember, came from Japan to the Sandwich Islands, and from there south across to Juan Fernandez, leaving, as it were, a huge field, of which we are attacking the middle wedge. As far as we have gone, it seems very evident that, even in deep water, there is on this west coast of Central America a considerable fauna which finds its parallel in the West Indies, and recalls the pre-Cretaceous times when the Caribbean Sea was practically a bay of the Pacific. There are, indeed, a number of genera in the deep water, and to some extent also in the shallower depths, which show far greater affinity with the Pacific than with the Atlantic fauna. Of course, further exploration may show that some of these genera are simply genera of a wider geographical distribution; but I think a sufficiently large portion of the deep-sea fauna will still attest the former connection of the Pacific and the Atlantic.

I am thus far somewhat disappointed in the richness of the deep sea fauna in the Panamic district. It certainly does not compare with that of the West Indian or Eastern United States side. I have little doubt that this comparative poverty is due to the absence of a great oceanic current like the Gulf Stream, bringing with it on its surface a large amount of food which serves to supply the deep-sea fauna along its course. In the regions we have explored up to this time, currents from the north and from the south meet, and then are diverted to a westerly direction, forming a sort of current doldrums, turning west or east or south or north according to the direction of the prevailing wind. The amount of food which these currents carry is small compared with that drifting along the course of of the surface fauna. Except on one occasion, when, during a the Gulf Stream. I was also greatly surprised at the poverty calm, we passed through a large field of floating surface material, we usually encountered very little. It is composed mainly of Salpæ, Doliolum, Sagittas, and a few Siphonophores-a striking contrast to the wealth of the surface fauna to be met with in a calm day in the Gulf of Mexico, near the Tortugas, or in the main current of the Gulf Stream as it sweeps by the Florida Reef or the Cuban coast near Havana. We also found great difficulty in trawling, owing to the considerable irregularities of the bottom. When trawling from north to south, we seemed to cut across submarine ridges, and it was only while trawling from east to west that we generally maintained a fairly uniform depth. During the first cruise we made nearly fifty hauls of the trawl, and, in addition, several stations were occupied in trawl

PACIFIC.

THE Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, published in June, contains three letters from Prof. Alexander Agassiz to the Hon. Marshall McDonald, United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, on the dredging operations off the west coast of Central America to the Galapagos, to the west coast of Mexico, and in the Gulf of California. The operations, which were in charge of Prof. Agassiz, were carried on by the U.S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross, Lieutenant Commander Z. L. Tanner, U.S.N., commanding.

I.

Steamer "Albatross," Panama, U.S. of Colombia, March 14, 1891. MY DEAR COLONEL MCDONALD,-We returned yesterday from our first trip. The route extended from Panama to Point Mala, and next to Cocos Island; from there we ran in a southerly direction, then north-westerly to Malpelo Island, and back to the hundred-fathom line off the Bay of Panama. spent several days trawling off the continental plateau of the Bay. This trip being rather in the nature of a feeler, I cannot tell you just what I think it means. But I believe I can to some extent conjecture probabilities from what has been accomplished.

We

I have found, in the first place, a great many of my old West Indian friends. In nearly all the groups of marine forms among the Fishes, Crustacea, Worms, Mollusks, Echinoderms, and Polyps, we have found familiar West Indian types or east coast forms, and have also found quite a number of forms whose wide

Mexico, off the West Indies, and in the Caribbean, my attention had already been called to the immense amount of vegetable matter dredged up from a depth of over 1500 fathoms, on the lee side of the West Indian Islands. But in none of the dredgings we made on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus did we come upon such masses of decomposed vegetable matter as we found on this expedition. There was hardly a haul taken which did not supply a large quantity of water-logged wood, and more or less fresh twigs, leaves, seeds, and fruits, in all possible stages of decomposition. This was especially noteworthy in the line from the mainland to Cocos Island, and certainly offers a very practical object-lesson regarding the manner in which that island must have received its vegetable products. It is only about 275 miles from the mainland, and its flora, so similar to that of the adjacent coast, tells its own story. Malpelo, on the contrary, which is an inaccessible rock with vertical sides, and destitute of any soil formed from the disintegration of the rocks, has remained comparatively barren, in spite of its closer proximity to the mainland.

The most interesting things we have found up to this time are representatives of the Ceratias group of Fishes, which the naturalists of the Albatross tell me they have not met before on the west coast of North America. The Crustacea have supplied us with a most remarkable type of the Willemoesia group. The paucity of Mollusks, and also of Echini, is most striking, although we brought up in one of the hauls numerous fragments of what must have been a gigantic species of Cystechinus, which I hope I may reconstruct. We were also fortunate enough to find a single specimen of Calamocrinus off Morro Puercos, in 700 fathoms, a part of the stem with the base,

showing its mode of attachment to be similar to that of the fossil Apiocrinidæ. The number of Ophiurans was remarkably small as compared with the fauna of deep waters on the Atlantic side, where it often seems as if Ophiurans had been the first and only objects created. The absence of deep-sea corals is also quite striking. They play so important a part in the fauna of the deeper waters of the West Indies, that the contrast is most marked. Gorgoniæ and other Halcyonoids are likewise uncommon. We have found but few Siliceous Sponges, and all of well-known types. Star-fishes are abundant, and are as well represented in the variety of genera and species as on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus. I may also mention the large number of deep-sea Holothurians (Elasipoda) which we obtained, as well as a most remarkable deep-sea Actinian, closely allied to Cerianthus, but evidently belonging to a new family of that group. We found the usual types of deep-sea West Indian Annelids, occasionally sweeping over large tracts of mud tubes in the region of green mud. Although we dredged frequently in most characteristic Globigerina ooze, I was much struck with the absence of living Globigerina on the surface. Only on two occasions during a calm did we come across any number of surface Globigerinæ and Orbulinæ. On one occasion the trawl came up literally filled with masses of a species of Rhabdamina closely allied to R. lineata. Thus far, no pelagic Algæ have been met with.

It is interesting to note that at two localities we came across patches of modern greensand similar in formation to the patches discovered off the east coast of the United States by the earlier dredgings of the Coast Survey, of Pourtalès, and of the Blake. Having always been more or less interested in pelagic fauna, and having paid considerable attention to its vertical distribution during my earlier cruises in the Blake, I was naturally anxious to reconcile the conflicting statements and experiences of the naturalists of the Challenger and Gazelle on one side, and my own observations on the other. Both Murray and Studer contended that, in addition to the deep-sea and pelagic faunæ, there was what might be called an intermediate fauna, with characteristic species, having nothing in common with the other two; while I maintained, on the other hand, from my experiments in the Blake, that there was no such intermediate fauna, but that the pelagic fauna might descend to a considerable depth during the daytime to escape the effects of light, heat, and the disturbing influence of surface winds, and that this surface fauna on the Atlantic side-off shore in deep water -did not descend much deeper than 150 to 200 fathoms. In order to test this point, Dr. Chun, under the auspices of the Naples Station, made an expedition to the Ponza Islands. Dr. Chun applied to a tow-net an apparatus for closing it, similar to the propeller in use on our thermometer and water-cups. He towed to a depth of 1400 metres, if I am not mistaken, but never at any great distance from the mainland or from the islands of the Gulf of Naples, and came to the conclusion that the pelagic fauna existed all the way to the bottom. At the time, I considered his experiments inconclusive, and was, of course, anxious to repeat them in a strictly oceanic district, in great depths, and at a considerable distance from shore. I had an apparatus constructed by Ballauf, of Washington, similar to that used by Dr. Chun. Unfortunately, in testing it we found the pressure of the tow-net against the propeller shaft so great as to make the machine useless, or, at any rate, most unreliable. Thanks to the ingenuity of Captain Tanner, we overcame these obstacles. He devised a net which could be closed at any depth by a messenger, and which worked to perfection at 200, 400, 300, and 1000 fathoms, and had the great advantage of bringing up anything it might find on its way up above the level at which it was towed. The lower part of the bag alone was closed by a double set of slings pulled by two weights liberated from a bell crank by a messenger. We found that, in towing the net at 200 fathoms for twenty minutes, we got everything in any way characteristic of the surface fauna which we had fished up with the tow-net at the surface. In addition to this, we brought up five species of so-called deep-sea Fishes, Scopelus, Gonostoma, Beryx, and two others, which had thus far been brought up in the trawl, and considered characteristic of deep water. Also a peculiar Amphipod, and the young of the new species of Willemoesia mentioned above. We then tried the same net at 300 and 400 fathoms, and in neither case did we bring up anything in the closed part of the bag, while the upper open part brought up just what we had found previously at a depth of 200 fathoms, plainly showing that in this district the surface fauna goes down

to a depth of 200 fathoms, and no farther. Next came our single attempt to bring up what might be found, say within 100 fathoms of the bottom, and Captain Tanner's net was towed at a depth of 1000 fathoms where the soundings recorded 1100. Unfortunately, we deepened our water while towing only twenty minutes to over 1400 fathoms, so that we failed in our exact object. But we brought up in the closed part of the bag tw #3 species of Crustacea, a Macruran and an Amphipod, both entirely unlike anything we had obtained before. I hope in the next cruise to follow this up, and determine also the upper limits of the free-swimming deep-sea fauna. In the upper part of the bag (the open part) we brought up a couple of so-called deepsea Medusa, which must have been collected at a comparatively moderate depth, judging from their perfect state of preservation. I can hardly express my satisfaction at having the opportunity to carry on this deep-sea work on the Albatross, While of course I knew in a general way the great facilities the ship afforded. I did not fully realize the capacity of the equipment until I came to make use of it myself. I could not but contrast the luxurious and thoroughly convenient appointments of the Albatross with my previous experiences. The laboratory, with its ingenious arrangements and its excellent accommodations for work by day and by night, was to me a revelation. The assistance of Messrs Townsend and Miller in the care of the specimens was most welcome, giving me ample time to examine the specimens during the process of assorting them, and to make such notes as I could between successive hauls, while paying some attention also to the work of the artist, Mr. Westergren. He has found his time fully occupied, and we have in this trip brought together a considerable number of coloured drawings, giving an excellent general idea of the appearance of the inhabitants of the deep waters as they first come up. These drawings can be used to great advantage with the specimens in making the final illustra tions to accompany the reports of the specialists who may have charge of working up the different departments. We left Panama on February 22, and returned to Panama after an absence of twenty days.

II.

"Albatross," Acapulco, April 14, 1891.

We have reached the end of our second line of explorations After coaling we left Panama, and reached Galera Point, where we began our line across the Humboldt Current, which was to give us a fair idea of the fauna of that part of the coast as far as the southern face of the Galapagos. With the exception of three good casts, the trawling on that part of the sea bottom proved comparatively poor, nor did the sea face of the southern slope of the Galapagos give us anything like the rich fauna I had expected. Theoretically, it seemed certain that a sea face like that of the Galapagos, bathed as it is by a great current coming from the south and impinging upon its slope, and carrying upon its surface a mass of animal food, could not fail to constitute a most favourable set of conditions for the subsistence and dévelopment of a rich deep-sea fauna.

In the deeper parts of the channel between Galera Point and the southern face of Chatham Island, we found a great number of Elasipoda, among them several genera like Peniagone, Batho dytes, and Euphrosyne, represented by numerous species. The Star-fishes of this, our second cruise, did not differ materially from those collected during our first trip, but we added some fine species of Freyella, Hymenaster, Astrogonium, Asterina, and Archasteridae to our collections. Among the Sea-urchins on two occasions we brought up fine hauls of a species of Cystechinus with a hard test, many specimens of which were in admirable state of preservation. Among the Ophiurans nothing of importance was added, unless I may except a lot of Ophiocreas attached to a Primnoa, and a pretty species of Sigsbea attached to a specics of Allopora, from the south side of Chatham Island.

The Gorgonians were remarkably few in number, which i undoubtedly due to the unfavourable nature of the bottom we worked upon. Nearly everywhere except on the face of the Galapagos slope we trawled upon a bottom either muddy composed of Globigerina ooze, more or less contaminated with terrestrial deposits, and frequently covered with a great amount of decayed vegetable matter. We scarcely made a single haul of the trawl which did not bring up a considerable amount of decayed vegetable matter, and frequently logs, branches, twig›, seeds, leaves, fruits, much as during our first cruise.