loo THE OCEAN 



Monaco, — have spent fortunes in fitting out 

 scientific expeditions to add to our knowledge 

 of this strange submarine world. 



For many years the United States Fish 

 Commission carried on a systematic work, ex- 

 ploring the bottom of the North Atlantic, 

 under the direction of the late Prof. Spencer 

 F. Baird and Prof. Addison E. Verrill and the 

 various reports of these and other naturalists 

 are as wonderful as any fairy tale, although 

 told in the dry and matter-of-fact way of prac- 

 tical scientists. 



' The earliest work of the Fish Commission 

 was carried on under the greatest difficulties 

 and small, obsolete, naval vessels or tugs and 

 makeshift apparatus were employed. Even 

 under such conditions the results of the deep- 

 sea work were so remarkable that very soon 

 special vessels were designed and built for the 

 purpose, apparatus was invented and made for 

 the work and laboratories were constructed 

 with every facility and convenience for carry- 

 ing on investigations of the ocean and its life. 



The principal apparatus used in exploring 

 the deep seas are trawls and dredges. The 



