14 BULLETIN 71, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



formerly known only from isolated stations and has shown the incor- 

 rectness of the determination of many species of this region as iden- 

 tical with species characteristic of the fossil beds of Europe. 



SOURCES OF MATERIAL. 



TJ. S. Fisheries steamer Albatross. — The greatest part of the work 

 of making known the ocean bottom of the North Pacific has been 

 done by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross. For the 

 last twenty } r ears the Albatross has been in the Pacific Ocean and 

 has occupied several thousand dredging and hydrographic stations. 

 In the present work these will be referred to in the usual manner, as 

 " station D5056" or "H3228," etc. Of the Albatross material, that 

 from a considerable number of stations was available from the work 

 of the earlier years. These stations were chiefly along the Pacific 

 coast of the United States, British Columbia, and Alaska. During 

 the early part of 1891 dredging operations were carried on off the 

 coast of California, Mexico, and Central America, and out to the 

 Galapagos Islands. The material collected was worked up by Goes 

 and is recorded in his paper already referred to. Later, in 1891 and 

 continuing into 1892, the Albatross was engaged in a cable survey 

 between California and the Hawaiian Islands. About 550 stations 

 were occupied and a mass of material from a definite line across that 

 part of the Pacific was gathered. As is the case in so many parts 

 of this ocean basin, the depth for much of the distance surveyed was 

 too great for the existence of many Foraminifera, the majority of 

 the soundings consisting of typical red clay. In certain parts of the 

 area, however, Foraminifera were fairly common. 



In 1902 the Albatross made an exhaustive dredging trip in the 

 vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands. Much of the bottom material was 

 unfortunately destroyed, but the remainder formed the basis of the 

 paper by Doctor Bagg on the Foraminifera of this region. Fortu- 

 nately, the cable survey of 1891 and the work of the Nero furnished 

 new material from a number of stations in this area, and this has 

 been available for the present work. 



In 1906 the Albatross made an extended voyage of exploration in 

 the northwestern Pacific, a region practically unknown up to this 

 time. Material from this voyage, especially from about the islands of 

 Japan, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, etc., has been available 

 in this work and has added very greatly to the knowledge of what 

 may be termed the "cold-water fauna" of the North Pacific. Many 

 other species were also added from the very interesting region off the 

 southern coast of Japan where the Challenger made a few hauls with 

 such satisfactory results. Some of the Albatross dredgings cover the 

 identical areas where the Challenger dredged, and it is interesting 

 to find again in the Albatross material certain of the rare species 



