78 



BULLETIN : MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



The second expedition to obtain vertebrate remains from deep-sea 

 dredgings in the Pacific was the "Albatross" of 1899-1900. Its 

 initial line from San Francisco to Tahiti converges toward that run by 

 the " Challenger " from Hawaii to the same island ; thence the course 

 lay westward to the Fiji Islands, and thence in a general northwesterly 

 direction to Japan. Between California and Tahiti eleven deep-sea 

 dredgings were made by the " Albatross," four of which yielded verte- 

 brate remains. During the remainder of the voyage three deep-sea 

 hauls were made, only one of which (at Station 183, between Cook 

 Islands and Tonga) yielded such remains. The discovery of Cetacean 

 bones by this Expedition at Stations 2, 13, and 17 is interesting, these 

 being the only instances in which this class of remains has been found 

 north of the equator in any ocean. ^ Dolphins, Ziphioids and the pygmy 

 sperm whale (Kogia) were included amongst the number. The nature 

 and amount of material, together with indications of the depth and 

 bottom characters are given for the several stations along this cruise in 

 the following table.''^ 



List of " Albatross " Stations Yielding Vertebrate Remains. 



1 This statement should perhaps be qualified so as to exclude recent burials in 

 deposits now forming along the coasts of continents. Bones of the Manatee, for 

 example, were dredged by Pourtales as early as 1868 at depths between 100 and 

 400 fathoms off tiie coast of Florida. These bones are externally much corroded, 

 and their substance has been transformed into an amorphous mass of calcite. 

 Mention of them will be found in L. F. de Pourtales's contributions to the Fauna of 

 the Gulf Stream at great depths. Bull Mus. Com. Zoiil., 1869, 1, p. 123. 



'^ Descriptions of this material have been published as follows : Agassiz, A., Pre- 

 liminary Report and List of Stations, with remarks on the Deep-Sea Deposits 

 by Sir John Murray. Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1902, 26, p. 1-114. Eastman, 

 C. R., Sharks' Teeth and Cetacean Bones from the Red Clay of the Tropical 

 Pacific. Ibid., 1903, p. 179-191. 



