THE WORK OF THE "ALBATROSS" 241 



THE WORK OF THE "ALBATROSS" IN THE PHILIPPINES 



By albert L. BARROWS 



NOROBOFT, CAU 



THE Albatross is an iron, twin-screw steamer of a thousand tons 

 displacement, built for the United States Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries in 1883 to enlarge upon the work of fishery investigation and 

 deep-sea exploration begun on a small scale by the Fishhawk, a wooden 

 steamer of some two hundred tons burden. Since the spring of 1888, 

 the Albatross has been in Pacific waters, where she has made trips to 

 Hawaii and Japan and through several groups of the Polynesian Islands, 

 in addition to many seasons spent among the salmon fisheries of Alaska. 

 For the past two years and a half this ship has been in the PhQippines, 

 making as complete a collection as possible of Philippine fish. The 

 normal complement of the Albatross is about seventy-five oflBcers and 

 men, detailed from the United States Navy, but during her stay in the 

 Philippines a large portion of the crew was temporarily replaced by 

 Filipino recruits ; the uniform of the American sailor is highly attract- 

 ive to many a Filipino youth. The collecting operations on this cruise 

 have been in charge of a resident naturalist with two assistants, 

 beside two Filipino helpers in the laboratory routine and seamen 

 detailed to the fishing boats. The National Museum has also placed 

 representatives on board, and two Japanese artists have been employed 

 for a part of the trip. In addition to the work of the ship, a special 

 agent of the Bureau of Fisheries has been detailed on shore to compile 

 data on the present supply of fishery products and the demand for them 

 in the Philippines. 



The work-room, through which all the specimens are passed, is 

 situated amidships on the main deck. Drawing tables for the artists 

 are hinged to the walls under the ports, and the ship's scientific library 

 is contained in cases along the fore and after bulkheads. A small 

 aquarium of slate and glass is fastened above the sink, and at the side 

 of this there is a battery of four hatching jars. On the deck below this 

 main laboratory is the storeroom, from which open the photographic 

 dark-room and the sick-bay. The smaller specimens, after being sorted, 

 labeled and packed into jars and bottles, are stowed away in lockers here 

 and the larger fish are kept in copper tanks of alcohol. Most of the 

 supplies and collecting gear are stowed in the laboratory hold below 

 this storeroom. 



The oceanic work of the Albatross is based upon the soundings taken 



VOL.LXXVIII. — 17. 



