7o6 DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN 



The tow-net collections during the ' Challenger ' expedition 

 gave frequent illustrations of this fact by the dead animals 

 collected in such positions off the coast of North America, off 

 the Cape of Good Hope, in the North Pacific, and elsewhere. 

 Dr. O. Fischer records a remarkably large number of bacteria 

 on the borders of such meeting currents. This destruction of 

 life is not limited to minute pelagic organisms, but occasionally 

 affects animals which live at the bottom of the sea. Some 

 remarkable instances of this kind have been observed between 

 depths of 50 and 100 fathoms off the eastern coast of the United 

 States. 



" Lieutenant-Commander Tanner, commanding the United 

 States Fish Commission steamer ' Albatross,' reports that ' on 

 the morning of July 20, 1884, in lat. 37 47' N., long. 74' 15' W., 

 near the loo-fathom line, we passed numerous dead octopods 

 floating on the surface. This unusual sight attracted immediate 

 notice and no little surprise among those who knew their habits, 

 as it was not suspected at first that they were dead. We 

 lowered a boat and picked up three or four specimens, which 

 we were unable to identify, but in general appearance they 

 resembled Alloposus mollis (Verrill) of unusually large size. 

 These dead cephalopods were seen frequently on the 100- 

 fathom line and outside of it, from the position given above to 

 the meridian of Montauk Point, a distance of 180 miles. 

 They were less numerous, however, as we went to the north- 

 ward and eastward. Several dead squid were seen also, and 

 two specimens were picked up with a scoop-net.' 



" A still more remarkable instance of this kind is furnished 

 in the well-known case of the destruction of the tile-fish 

 [Lopkolatilus ckajucsleonticeps) in the same locality in the spring 

 of 1882. In the months of March and April 1882, vessels 

 arriving at Philadelphia, New York, and Boston reported 

 having passed large numbers of dead or dying fish scattered 

 over an area of many miles, and from descriptions and the 

 occasional specimens brought in, it was evident that the great 

 majority of these were tile-fish. Naturally, these fish were not 

 evenly distributed over all the area in which they were seen, 

 some observers reporting them as scattering, and others as at 

 times so numerous that there would be as many as fifty on the 

 space of a rod square. As one account after another came in, 

 it became apparent that a vast destruction of fish had taken 

 place, for vessels reported having sailed for forty, fifty, and 

 sixty miles through floating;- fish ; and in one case, the schooner 



