January 21, 1892] 



NATURE 



285 



number of ventral tentacles. With these were numerous speci- 

 mens of an interesting species of Euphronides. In this haul I 

 was specially struck with the Elasipoda, and the great variety in 

 the consistency of the skin in individuals of one and the same 

 species ; it varied in different individuals from extreme tenuity 

 to a comparatively tough gelatine-like consistency. On care- 

 fully sifting the mud, we found a number of interesting Fora- 

 minifera, and of delicate and minute Gasteropods and Lamelli- 

 branchs, fragments of the shell of an Argonauta, and two species 

 of a huge ribbed Dentalium. Among the Star-fishes were 

 specially noticeable a large Brisinga, a long-armed Cribrella, 

 and several species of Astropecten. The usual types of Worms 

 were found in the mud at these greater depths. In addition 

 to a number of Macruroids, we obtained a pink Amphionus, 

 a large black Beryx-like fish, a fine Nettastoma, and a 

 couple of species of Lycodes. The usual surface species of 

 Stomias and of Scopelus also came up in the trawl. Among 

 the Crustaceans were a fine lot of Arcturus, of Colossendeis, of 

 Glyphocrangon, and of a Caridid with a deep blue patch on the 

 base of the carapace, making the strongest possible contrast to 

 the dark crimson colouring of the rest of the body. Blue is a 

 very unusual colour in the deep-sea types, although the large 

 eggs of some of the deep-sea Macrurans are often of a light blue 

 lint. 



We brought up in the trawl at various times, and subsequently 

 also in the Tanner net, from depths of less than 200 fathoms, the 

 same gigantic Ostracod which I mentioned in one of my previous 

 letters, several specimens of Atolla, ^and fragments of a huge 

 Periphylla, which must have been at least 15 inches in diameter. 

 Also a most interesting new type of Bougainvillia, remarkable 

 for having eight clusters of marginal tentacles, but only four 

 chymiferous tubes. 



We continued our experiments with the Tanner tow-net. On 

 April 16, about 120 miles from Acapulco, we sent the net to tow 

 at a depth of 175 fathoms, and after towing for about twenty 

 minutes, sent the messenger to close it. On examining the 

 bottom part of the net, which came up tightly closed, we found 

 it to contain practically the same things as we obtained in the 

 surface net at the same spot. 



On two occasions we sent the net to be towed at depths of 

 800 fathoms and of 700 fathonrs, the depths at these points 

 being in one case 905 fathoms and in the other 773 fathoms. At 

 the greater depth, the water shoaled somewhat while towing, as 

 the closed part of the net came up partly filled with fine silt ; 

 while during the second haul, the twisting of the swivel wound 

 the straps of the weights round the rope, and the net came up 

 open, but must have dragged very close to the bottom, as it 

 contained a fine specimen of Nettastoma, and some Penseids, 

 which we supposed to be deep-sea types. Otherwise the net 

 contained only the customary surface species of Sagitta, Ptero- 

 pods, Copepods, Schizopods, Tunicates, and Fishes. These 

 two hauls were made about the middle of the Gulf of California, 

 at a distance of some fifty miles in a south-westerly direction 

 from Guaymas. 



On April 23, a few hours before reaching Guaymas, we made 

 one more attempt with the Tanner tow-net, at a depth of 620 

 fathoms, sending the net to be towed at a depth of from 500 to 

 570 fathoms. We found in this case in the bottom part of the 

 net, which came up tightly closed, a Scopelus, a Penseid, and 

 a Hyalea, while the upper open part of the net contained the 

 same surface species we had obtained before. 



My experience in the Gulf of California with the Tanner self- 

 closing net would seem to indicate that in a comparatively closed 

 sea, at a small distance from the land, there may be a mixture 

 of the surface species with the deep-sea bottom species, a condi- 

 tion of things which certainly does not exist at sea in an oceanic 

 basin at a great distance from shore, where the surface pelagic 

 fauna only descends to a comparatively small depth — about 200 

 fathoms — the limits of the depth at which light and heat pro- 

 duce any considerable variation in the physical condition of the 

 water. The marked diminution in the number of species below 

 200 fathoms agrees fairly with the results of the National 

 Expedition. 



The more I see of the Albatross the more I become convinced 

 that her true field is that of exploration. She is a remarkably 

 fine sea boat, and has ample accommodation for a staff of work- 

 ing specialists such as would be needed on a distant expedition. 

 The time will soon come when the Fish Commission will hardly 

 care to continue to run her, and I can conceive of no better use 

 for so fine a vessel than to explore a belt of 20' latitude north 



NO. 1 160, VOL. 45] 



and south of the equator Jin the Pacific, from the west coast of 

 Central America to the East Indian Archipelago. 



The success of the Albatross thus far has depended entirely 

 upon the zeal, energy, intelligence, forethought, and devotion of 

 Captain Tanner, if I may judge of the past by the present. He 

 never spares himself, and he is always ready to make the most of 

 the time at his disposal for the benefit of the special object he 

 has in charge. He looks after every haul of the trawl himself, 

 and will not allow anyone else to jeopard in any way the 

 material of the vessel, or the time it requires to make a haul. 

 That responsibility he assumes himself, and it constitutes his 

 daily work. In looking over the records of the Albatross during 

 her voyage from New York to San Francisco, I am struck with 

 the amount of work which has been accomplished. It would 

 be but a just return to Captain Tanner if Congress would make 

 the necessary appropriations to work up and publish all that he 

 has brought together, not only on that cruise, but also what has 

 been left untouched thus far of the immense collections made 

 by him in the Caribbean, and off the east coast of the United 

 States, to say nothing of his explorations in the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia, on the coast of California, on the coast of Alaska, and in 

 the Behring Sea, from which he has accumulated endless and 

 most interesting material, which no other ship could get together 

 unless she had another Tanner in command. 



We reached Guaymas on April 23, in the afternoon, and I 

 parted from the ship with great regret, but more than satisfied 

 with the results of this expedition. 



Allow me, in concluding, to thank you most cordially for 

 having given me the opportunity to join the Albatross on this 

 extended cruise, and for your kindness in urging the President 

 to allow the vessel to be detailed for this work. 



As soon as it may become practicable, I shall send you a full 

 resume of our work, accompanied with sketches of the Tanner 

 tow-net and a detailed chart of the route we followed. 



Very respectfully yours, 



Alexander Agassiz. 



THE ORIGIN OF THE ASS, THE CAT, AND 

 THE SHEEP IN CHINA. 



A T a recent meeting of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic 

 '^ Society in Shanghai, Dr. Macgowan, a well-known 

 Chinese scholar, read a paper on the probable foreign origin of 

 the ass, the cat, and the sheep in China. He said that the 

 Chinese, in their numerical co-ordination of concrete and abstract 

 nature, give the "six domestic animals" as the horse, ox, goat, 

 pig» dog, and fowl ; which seems to indicate that when that 

 formula was framed, neither cat, sheep, nor ass had been 

 domesticated there. When familiar beasts were selected to 

 denote years of the duodenary cycle, to the "six domestic 

 animals " were added the rat, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, and 

 monkey, to complete the dozen, as if the ass, sheep, and cat 

 were too little known to meet the object in view, which was 

 the employment of the most familiar representations of animated 

 nature for the duodendary nomenclature. Still more striking is 

 the absence of the ass, sheep, and cat from the twenty-eight 

 zodiacal constellations, which are represented by the best- 

 known animals. 



With regard to the ass, there is ample reason to regard it 

 as being excluded from the list of domestic animals 

 because it was not archaic. The hybrid mule is of com- 

 paratively modern origin in China, dating back only about a 

 score of centuries. A miscellany of the Sung era states that 

 "the mule was not seen during the Hsai, Shang, and Chou 

 dynasties ; that it was a cross between the ass and horse from 

 Mongolia. It is regularly bred in the north, and is worth in 

 the market twice as much as the horse ; it is popularly reported 

 that its bones are marrowless, which is the reason of its inability 

 to produce its kind." Again, it is recorded in a Ming cyclo- 

 paedia : " The mule is stronger than the horse, and is not a 

 natural product of China ; in the Han era it was regarded as a 

 remarkable domestic animal." Is it likely that, if the ass existed 

 during the three ancient dynasties, there was no crossing with 

 the horse ? 



With regard to the cat, Dr. Macgowan proceeded to state 

 that there was a quotation from a standard work which dls- 



