BIGELOW: COAST WATER EXPLORATION OF 1913. 235 



temperatures of the water close to the coast south of New York are 

 likewise well known for all months in the year (Rathbun, 1887) owing 

 to the extensive series of temperatures taken at various light-houses 

 and light-ships, notably " Winter quarter Shoal," and " Five fathom 

 bank " oflF Cape May from 1881-1885. At the former, on July 25, i. e., 

 about the time the Grampus passed there, the temperature was 74° 

 in 1881, 72° in 1882 and 1883, 69° in 1884, and 74° in 1885. Our 

 records, a few miles away, July 21, were 74°-75°. But by July 30, 

 a surface temperature of 76° close to the light-ship was noted. At 

 "Five fathom bank" the temperature, on July 25, 1881, was 71°; 

 73° in 1882; 71° in 1883; 74° in 1885: on July 21, 1913, it was 

 73°-74°, a few miles to the east, rising to 77° close to the light-ship 

 on July 31. Off Sandy Hook, July 19, the surface temperature was 

 71° in 1881 and 1882;' 74° in 1883; 65.5° in 1884; 69° in 1885. On 

 July 17, 1913, it was 68°-69°. On Nantucket Shoals, 40° 54' N., 

 69° 49' W., i. e., some seventeen miles north of the present location of 

 the light-ship, the surface temperature, July 10, ranged from 55° to 60° 

 for the five-year period. On July 9, 1913, it was probably about 56°, 

 i. e., about the same; but the Grampus did not visit this exact spot; 

 and the surface temperature varies with the greater or less violent 

 tides over the shoals. 



The general summer temperature of the water over the outer 

 part of the continental shelf is now well known for the region south 

 of Martha's Vineyard, thanks to Verrill (1880-1884b) and Libbey 

 (1891, 1895). 



In July and August, 1881, the surface temperature south of Marthas 

 Vineyard was slightly cooler than in 1913, from 63° over the forty 

 fathom curve, to 66° over the fifty fathom curve, and 72° over the 100 

 fathom curve (Verrill, 1881, 1884b), whereas on July 11, 1913, a few 

 miles further east, it ranged from 65°-67° between the forty and the 

 seventy-five fathom curves. Over the 100 fathom curve, on the other 

 hand, the 1913 temperatures are a little the lower (69°-70°, as against 

 72°). Unfortunately Verrill's data for 1882 are not directly compar- 

 able, because taken in August. But during that month the surface 

 water outside the sixty fathom curve south of Marthas Vineyard 

 was constantly warmer than 70°, /. e., about as much warmer than the 

 year before for that month, as 1913 was warmer than 1881 in July. 

 In 1889 Libbey (1891) took an extensive series of surface temperatures 

 south of Block Island and Marthas Vineyard, affording the most 

 complete temperature survey of a limited locality yet attempted off 

 the American coast. Any analysis of these records would require a 



