184 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



points along the north shore of South America, besides gath- 

 ering a large amount of valuable information regarding that 

 coast, and, when lost with his ship, was proceeding to correct 

 as many as possible of the discrepancies and errors known 

 to exist in the charts of the island of Cuba. 



Commander Schley, U.S.N., is engaged in the U.S.S. Essex 

 in running a line of deep-sea soundings from Liberia, by way 

 of St. Helena, to Rio de Janeiro, a work which will give an 

 entirely new cross-section of the South Atlantic Ocean. 



The work of determining by telegraph the differences of 

 longitude between points in the West Indies and the United 

 States having been completed, and the results published by 

 the Hydrographic Office, the same officers of the United 

 States Navy have commenced the measurement in the same 

 way between Lisbon and Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Monte 

 Video, and Buenos Ayres, connecting at the latter point with 

 the chain of longitudes measured by Dr. B. A. Gould from the 

 Cordoba Observatory. 



Under the superintendence of the United States Coast Sur- 

 vey the survey of the Gulf of Mexico is steadily progressing. 

 Lieut.-Commander Sigsbee, U.S.N., in the steamer ISlake, to 

 whom this extensive work is confided, has during the past 

 season run 6600 miles of soundings, with an average of one 

 sounding for every six and three-tenths miles, and using for 

 all depths over one hundred fathoms the wire sounding-ma- 

 chine devised by himself. Serial temperatures from surface 

 to bottom were taken at two hundred and twenty-two locali- 

 ties, while surface and bottom temperatures were taken at 

 many more. Large numbers of specimens of bottom have 

 been obtained for examination, as well as numerous speci- 

 mens of water from various depths. 



During the coming season Lieut.-Commander Sigsbee will 

 extend the survey to that part of the Florida stream between 

 the Florida reefs and the coast of Cuba, and will be accom- 

 panied by Professor Alexander Agassiz. 



On the Atlantic coast the Coast Survey have prosecuted 

 hydrographic surveys on the coast of Maine, on the south 

 side of Long Island and in Long Island Sound, in the Cur- 

 rituck, Albemarle, Pamlico, Core, and Rogue sounds, in the 

 Florida channel, and in the Indian and St. Johns rivers, Flor- 

 ida. 



