﻿OCEANOGRAPHY 
  — 
  STETSON 
  223 
  

  

  Louis 
  Agassiz' 
  interests 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  natural 
  history 
  were 
  exceed- 
  

   ingly 
  catholic, 
  and 
  oceanography 
  was 
  but 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  many 
  matters 
  

   which 
  came 
  in 
  for 
  a 
  share 
  of 
  his 
  attention. 
  Throughout 
  his 
  lifetime 
  

   his 
  relations 
  with 
  A. 
  D. 
  Bache 
  and 
  Benjamin 
  Pierce, 
  the 
  superintend- 
  

   ents 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Coast 
  Survey, 
  were 
  most 
  cordial, 
  and 
  his 
  

   suggestions 
  for 
  projects 
  which 
  could 
  be 
  carried 
  out 
  from 
  Government 
  

   vessels, 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  their 
  regular 
  surveying 
  duties, 
  were 
  always 
  wel- 
  

   come. 
  The 
  man 
  who 
  was 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  actual 
  dredging 
  was 
  L. 
  F. 
  

   Pourtales, 
  one 
  of 
  Agassiz' 
  associates 
  who 
  had 
  followed 
  him 
  from 
  

   Switzerland 
  to 
  America 
  in 
  1848 
  and 
  who 
  2 
  years 
  later 
  became 
  an 
  assist- 
  

   ant 
  on 
  the 
  Survey. 
  Today 
  he 
  is 
  comparatively 
  obscure, 
  although 
  he 
  

   was 
  the 
  pioneer 
  of 
  deep-water 
  dredging 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  and 
  antedated 
  

   the 
  first 
  English 
  cruises. 
  In 
  1869 
  he 
  published 
  a 
  short 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   sediments 
  of 
  our 
  east 
  coast 
  continental 
  shelf, 
  which 
  is 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  

   the 
  first 
  paper 
  on 
  modern 
  marine 
  sediments 
  to 
  appear 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  

   (U. 
  S. 
  Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey, 
  1869, 
  appendix 
  No. 
  11, 
  pp. 
  220-225). 
  

   Although 
  Agassiz 
  was 
  primarily 
  a 
  zoologist, 
  his 
  interest 
  in 
  geological 
  

   matters 
  was 
  always 
  keen, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  report 
  to 
  Pierce 
  on 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  

   Bibb 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  and 
  off 
  Florida 
  and 
  Cuba 
  appear 
  the 
  following 
  

   observations 
  (1869, 
  pp. 
  368-370), 
  which 
  are 
  of 
  interest 
  considering 
  

   the 
  date 
  : 
  

  

  From 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  of 
  the 
  deep 
  sea 
  bottom, 
  I 
  am 
  already 
  led 
  to 
  infer 
  that 
  

   among 
  the 
  rocks 
  forming 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  stratified 
  crust 
  of 
  our 
  globe, 
  from 
  the 
  

   oldest 
  to 
  the 
  youngest 
  formation, 
  there 
  are 
  probably 
  none 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  formed 
  

   in 
  very 
  deep 
  waters. 
  If 
  this 
  be 
  so, 
  we 
  shall 
  have 
  to 
  admit 
  that 
  the 
  areas 
  now 
  

   respectively 
  occupied 
  by 
  our 
  continents, 
  as 
  circumscribed 
  by 
  the 
  200-fathom 
  curve 
  

   or 
  thereabout, 
  and 
  the 
  oceans 
  at 
  greater 
  depth, 
  have 
  from 
  the 
  beginning 
  retained 
  

   their 
  relative 
  outline 
  and 
  position 
  ; 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  

   cretaceous 
  and 
  tertiary 
  formations 
  along 
  the 
  low 
  ground 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Alleghany 
  

   range 
  is 
  another 
  indication 
  of 
  the 
  permanence 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  trough, 
  on 
  the 
  margin 
  

   of 
  which 
  these 
  more 
  recent 
  beds 
  have 
  been 
  formed. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Geologists, 
  and 
  

   especially 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  school 
  of 
  Lyell, 
  have 
  again 
  and 
  again 
  assumed 
  the 
  slow 
  

   rising 
  of 
  extensive 
  tracts 
  of 
  land 
  from 
  beneath 
  the 
  water 
  and 
  taken 
  all 
  sorts 
  

   of 
  loose 
  materials 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  as 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  former 
  submersion. 
  But 
  since 
  

   the 
  dredge 
  has 
  been 
  applied 
  to 
  exploration 
  of 
  the 
  deep, 
  and 
  a 
  great 
  variety 
  of 
  

   animals, 
  in 
  a 
  profusion 
  rivaling 
  that 
  of 
  shoal 
  water, 
  have 
  been 
  brought 
  up, 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  no 
  observer 
  is 
  justified 
  in 
  considering 
  extensive 
  deposits 
  of 
  loose 
  

   materials 
  as 
  marine 
  in 
  which 
  no 
  trace 
  of 
  marine 
  organic 
  remains 
  are 
  found. 
  

  

  He 
  made 
  his 
  last 
  cruise 
  in 
  the 
  Coast 
  Survey 
  steamer 
  Hassler 
  around 
  

   the 
  Horn 
  from 
  Boston 
  to 
  San 
  Francisco 
  in 
  1872 
  shortly 
  before 
  his 
  

   death. 
  

  

  Oceanography 
  is 
  such 
  an 
  extensive 
  field 
  of 
  research 
  that 
  few 
  individ- 
  

   uals 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  finance 
  their 
  own 
  investigations. 
  Alexander 
  

   Agassiz 
  was 
  one 
  outstanding 
  example; 
  the 
  Prince 
  of 
  Monaco 
  was 
  an- 
  

   other. 
  Agassiz' 
  early 
  cruises 
  were 
  made 
  from 
  1877 
  to 
  1880 
  in 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  Coast 
  Survey 
  steamer 
  Blake. 
  It 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  these, 
  

  

  