Jan. 29, 1885] 



NA TURE 



295 



will afford every possible facility to those who may work 

 them. 



Not less complete are the arrangements for the collec- 

 tion of specimens an1 for the observations on depth, 

 surface and bottom temperatures, and other physical 

 features. 



Two steamers have been built for the FUh Commission 

 — the Fish Hawk in 18S0, and the Albatross in 1883. 



The Fish Hawk, a steamer of 484 tons of displace- 

 ment and 20571 tons measurement, was built particularly 

 for use in the hatching of shad-eggs. Although unsuit- 

 able for long voyages or rough weather, she has proved a 

 valuable boat for short trips and for dredging down to a 

 depth of about 700 fathoms, having been well furnished 

 with modern apparatus. Already much important work 

 has been accomplished in the vessel in her subsidiary 

 capacity, as is proved by the publications of the Fish 

 Commission and Prof. Verrili's articles in Science, &c. 

 {Science, vol. i. 1883, pp. 443, 531, and vol. ii. 1883, p. 

 153)- 



Last year the new steamer Albatross was specially con- 

 structed for deep-sea trawling. The extreme length of 

 the vessel is 234 feet, the breadth of beam, moulded, is 

 27A feet ; the registered net tonnage is 400 tons, and the 

 displacement, on a 12-foot draught, 1000 tons. She is 

 most perfectly fitted with all those improvements in col- 

 lecting and observing tackle which considerable expe- 

 rience has proved to be the best ; but improvements and 

 adaptations are continually being suggested. A full and 

 illustrated account of the vessel is given by Mr. R. Rath- 

 bun in Science, vol. ii. 18S3. pp. 6, 66. Suffice it now to 

 mention that the comfort of the staff is as well pro- 

 vided for as their scientific necessities, and a complete 

 system of electric lighting enables the laboratory work to 

 be carried on at all hours. The main laboratory is 20 

 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 7 feet 10 inches high, and is 

 situated amidships : above this is a well-lighted deck 

 laboratory. 



So far we have very briefly detailed the mere appliances 

 for the collection and preservation of specimens. A short 

 sketch of the mode of work might prove interesting. 



The steamers are manned by naval officers and crew, a 

 plan which serves the double purposes of lessening the 

 expenses of the Commission and of spreading an interest 

 in marine zoology throughout the navy. The officers 

 have proved themselves to be most zealous in the work, 

 and have cordially assisted the civilian staff in every 

 possible manner ; several important improvements in 

 dredging and sounding apparatus have originated from 

 some of them. 



The sailors, too, take a personal interest in their occu- 

 pation, and occasionally bring rare forms to the natural- 

 ists, which they have themselves caught in a hand-net. 



Before an expedition, Prof. Baird consults with Prof. 

 V'errill on desirable localities to explore, and instructions 

 are given to the Commander, who also has charge of the 

 mechanical portion of the dredging operations. 



Mr. Benedict is the naturalist in charge of the vessel, 

 and he is responsible for the specimens directly they 

 arrive on deck : usually one or two naturalists work under 

 his directions, the arrangement being that each is 

 responsible for one or more groups of animals. 



The contents of the trawl are subjected, immediately on 

 their arrival on deck, to a process of sifting through a 

 series of sieves of different sized meshes, and most of the 

 animals are forthwith preserved. Numerous methods of 

 conservation have been tried, but it is found that, under 

 the special circumstances, alcohol is the best for general 

 purposes. In some instances the jars have to be kept in 

 ice to preserve the tissues whilst the alcohol is slowly 

 penetrating : picric, chromic, osmic, and other acids and 

 reagents, are used when deemed necessary. As a general 

 rule, pelagic forms are killed by picric acid. All but the 

 largest and smallest animals are put into glass-capped 



" butter- " and " fruit-jars," which are secured by a screw- 

 down metal cap. Various devices are resorted to for 

 large specimens ; the smallest are placed in homceopathic 

 vials. 



Each dredging " station " has its serial number, and a 

 full record of the position, depth, bottom and surface tem- 

 peratures, with other details, is kept, and a label, bearing 

 the number of its station, with certain other information, 

 is put into each bottle of specimens. Mr. Benedict has 

 a small hand-press on board, and he often prints such 

 labels whilst the trawl is out. So far as opportunity pre- 

 sents, the species or groups are roughly sorted on board, 

 and are then ready for identification in the laboratory. 

 Excepting in the case of large quantities of common 

 species, all the specimens from each haul are retained. 

 Surface skimmings are similarly treated. 



All the material so obtained passes through Prof. 

 Verrili's hands, and he distributes certain groups to 

 specialists to be worked out after he has described those 

 forms which interest him. The zoological work of the 

 Commission is so well known that it would be superfluous 

 to even enumerate the naturalists on the staff. 



After having been duly entered, the specimens, if 

 properly named, are broken up into sets, of which the first 

 naturally goes to the National Museum at Washington, 

 the second to Prof. Verrill, the third to the Museum of 

 Practical Zoology at Harvard University, Cambridge, 

 Mass., and the remaining sets are variously distributed or 

 kept in the stores as duplicates. 



The Marine Laboratory is only officially open during 

 the summer months. During the remainder of the year 

 most of the officers are at Washington employing then- 

 time in identifying specimens, drawing up reports, and 

 other routine work. 



The biological portion of the work of the Commission 

 is not merely restricted to the collection and identification 

 of species ; careful drawings are being made of every 

 form collected, with a view to illustrating the entire fauna 

 of that coast. The numerous papers of Prof. Verrill, Dr. 

 Ryder, and others, prove that anatomical and embryo- 

 logical investigations are not neglected ; life-histories are 

 studied, and all possible data are collected on the influ- 

 ence of environment on organisms. It is intended, when 

 the new building is completed, that the physiology of 

 marine forms shall receive a due share of attention. 



One object of the Commissioner is to thoroughly study 

 the fauna of the American waters, fresh and salt, and 

 encouragement and facilities are given to all the officers 

 to follow their personal bent, of course paying a due re- 

 gard to routine work. Naturally, at present, the officers 

 are more engaged in the recording of species, since this 

 pioneering work is the necessary precursor to morpho- 

 logical investigation ; but the lines of the Commission are 

 laid on too broad a scale to limit the original research of 

 any officer. Alfred C. Haddon 



ANCIEXT AIR-BREATHERS 



AX T'HILE the records of the life of the sea have been 

 * » preserved in abundance from early geological 

 periods down to the present time, the chronicles ot the 

 living things of the land are comparatively scanty. The 

 early history of land-animals has therefore a peculiar in- 

 terest, heightened by the rarity of the evidence from 

 which the history must be compiled. Considerable pro- 

 gress, however, has recently been made in this department 

 of investigation. Within a few years, discoveries of the 

 remains of scorpions and insects have successively been 

 made in older and older strata, till now they have been 

 disentombed almost simultaneously from older Pa'aeo- 

 zoic rocks in three different countries of the old world 

 Scorpions, which appear to be the most ancient type of 

 air-breathing arachnids, have been found to be compara- 

 tively abundant in the lowest Carboniferous strata. The 



