26 PKOCEEDINGS or THE 



during the first ten years of tlie labours of the Fisli Commission, 

 amounting to 1800 in the year 1880. Of course, the knowledge 

 of marine fishes, their distribution and life-history, was similarly 

 advanced ; and the Commission was greatly encouraged by the 

 experience that the fishermen took a lively interest in the objects 

 of the official department, rivalling among tliemselves in the way 

 of making observations and adding to the collections. There 

 were in 1880 at least thirty fishing-vessels which never went to 

 sea without having thermometers and collecting-tanks on board. 

 The assistance of men who twice daily set lines from 10 to 14 

 miles in length, with hooks six feet apart, in water from 200 to 

 300 fathoms deep, is not to be despised ; and the Commission 

 owed to them many a valuable specimen, the capture of which 

 had to be placed on record as one o£ the rare occurrences of the 

 species. 



The work of the Commission received fresh impetus in 1880, 

 when a steamer of 484tons, the'Fishhawk,' specially constructed 

 for the objects of the Commission, was permanently attached to 

 it ; and when, moreover, Dr. Baird was fortunate enough to 

 obtain the selection of Lieut. Z. L. Tanner as her Commander, 

 to whose skill, ingenuity, and devotion a large share of the 

 success of the operations is to be attributed. Deep-sea work 

 was now seriously taken in hand. Tanner proceeded to the inner 

 edge of the Gulf-Stream, which he explored between Lat. 39° 30' 

 and 40° 22', and Long. 68° 45' and 72°, in depths down to 

 787 fathoms. In 1881-82 he made 15 trips from headquarters, 

 during which he employed the trawl, beside other apparatus, 

 481 times, 114 hauls being from deep water. Now also greater 

 accuracy was introduced in determining the positions of the 

 stations, and in taking the soundings and series of temperatures. 

 As on the European side of the Atlantic, so here a steep slope 

 from the 100-fathoms line to a depth of 1200 fathoms proved to 

 be the ground on which an extremely rich fauna flourishes. The 

 specimens of some species of Salpa or Starfish amounted some- 

 times to tens of thovisands in a single haul. Professor Verrill *, 

 who reported in several papers on this fauna, accounts for this 

 richness, both in the number of species and in the surprising 

 abundance of individuals, by the uniformity of the temperature 

 in the respective deeper zones, by the abundance of food carried 

 northwards by the Gulf-Stream for the lower animals, and by 

 the abundant supply of Molluscs and Crustaceans for fishes. 



A curious occurrence engaged the attention of the Commission 

 about this time. In 1879 a singular fish was discovered off 

 Long Island about the 100-fathoms line, which, from its size, 

 abundance, and table qualities, it was hoped would become a 

 marketable fish of some importance. It was called Tile-fish 

 {Lopholatilus cJiamceleonticeps). It was searched for and easily 



* Notably in Am. Journ. Sci. vols. 22-24, and U.S. Fish Commiss. Eeport 

 for 1882. pp. 641, 1045. 



