LOG OF THE ARCTURUS 389 



some time, weather permitting. Charlie Fish gave us a r6sum6 of 

 plankton work in the evening. 



Noon position; Lat. 26° 55' N; Long. 49° 13' "W. 



February 28th. Station 9 on the Atlantic Ridge. A sounding in 

 2400 fathoms. The bottom sample was Globigerina Ooze, which showed 

 under the microscope as tiny round, reticulated balls scattered widely 

 in the amorphous particles of mud. Then a series of temperatures 

 and water samples for salinity. Next a vertical haul, which did not 

 amount to much so far as quantity of specimens was concerned. Then 

 five metre nets were put down at depths from 500 to 3000 metres. By 

 that time dinner was ready, so they were left to tow until 6:30. The 

 upper one had twisted on the way down, so the aperture was shut 

 fast, the next two had vanished from the cable entirely, the fourth 

 came right to the surface, almost within reach, then pulled off and 

 sank. The swivels of the lost three had broken or worn through, being 

 too light for this work. The fifth contained a rather good assortment 

 of creatures. 



We are half-way between Africa and America. 



Noon position; Lat. 27° 50' N; Long. 46° 58' W. 



March 1st. Our first really perfect day. Everyone went swim- 

 ming in mid-Atlantic. Much other active outboard work done. Identi- 

 fication and study of specimens already caught occupied the rest of 

 the day. 



Noon position; Lat, 27° 58' N; Long. 46° 54' W. 



March 2nd, All day spent in putting down bottom dredge, and 

 bringing it in again. More than three miles of cable let out. Towed 

 for about an hour, and at 5 p. ar. dredge reached the deck once more. 

 During the towing there was tremendous jerk that actually stopped the 

 ship and made us thankful for the automatic towing device that un- 

 doubtedly saved most of the gear from being torn away. Front bar 

 of dredge bent almost to a semicircle on the obstruction, whatever it 

 was, and among other contents a beautiful glass sponge and large pieces 

 of black lava. 



Noon position; Lat. 27° 53' N; Long. 46° 24' W. 



March 3rd. Lovely day; able to put over small boats for first time. 

 Did surface collecting from them. A very rusty Welsh tramp steamer 

 was sighted about five p.m. She was west-bound but altered her course 

 slightly to cross our bows within a hundred yards. Presume she was 

 curious to see why we were drifting aimlessly about in raid-ocean. 

 She looked a wreck, so we feel we have seen one Sargasso derelict 

 after all. 



Took soundings and when the wire came up we detached several 

 feet of curious red tentacle or tissue, with strands of colorless, sticky 

 stuff which might have been bits of some large Siphonophore, 



From 7 to 9:30 p.m. towed three surface nets astern and took; 



