April 19, 1906] 



NA TURE 



United States, the Philippine Islands, and Japan. 

 The ship was in command of Commander Belknap 

 so far as Manila, where he was relieved on account 

 of illness by Lieut.-Commander H. M. Hodges. 



As previous surveys had established a satisfactory 

 route so far as the Sandwich Islands, the work of 

 the Nero began at Honolulu, whence the ship sailed 

 on May 6, 1899. The instructions were to follow 

 as nearly direct lines as practicable from Honolulu to 

 Midway Island, thence to Guam, and from Guam to 

 Luzon; also from Guam to Japan. Soundings were 

 to be taken on the outward voyage at intervals of 

 10 miles and 2 miles alternately; temperatures of the 

 air, and surface and bottom of the sea to be re- 

 corded ; currents noted ; samples of bottom to be col- 

 lected and preserved. The return course was planned 

 to cross the primary route zigzag at angles of forty- 

 five degrees, the sides of the zigzags to be 20 miles 

 in length, and soundings to be taken at the apices. 

 When it is stated that this plan, modified by circum- 

 stances chiefly as regards intervals between sound- 

 ings and detours from the main line in order to 

 develop marked irregularities in the contour of the 

 ocean bed, was effectively carried out, we may agree 

 that the belt 14 miles wide and more than 6000 miles 

 in length has been examined with a thoroughness, 



Fig. 1.— Diatom ooze obtained at a depth of 2788 fathoms in latitude 

 14 24 N., and long. 135' 31' E. Ccscinoiiiscus rex, Wallich, magnified 



at least in so far as soundings are concerned, which 

 is unequalled by any survey hitherto made of an 

 ocean tract. 



The chief interest as regards depths centres about 

 the region between Guam and Midway Islands. 

 About half-way between the two a plain more than 

 3000 fathoms from the surface is interrupted by what 

 is apparently a range of mountains, extending over 

 three degrees of longitude, and rising in places to 

 720 fathoms from the surface. From the western 

 limit of the plain, some 300 miles from this mountain 

 range, the contour is quite irregular until Guam is 

 reached. Extensive detours to north and south of 

 the direct course showed a mountainous region, with 

 peaks rising to 689 fathoms below sea-level and 

 valleys descending to a depth of more than 5000 

 fathoms. Four soundings below the 5000-fathom line 

 were made in an abyss to which the name " Nero 

 Deep " was given, with the record of 5070, 5101, 

 5160, and 5269 fathoms. The last sounding is, of 

 course, the deepest on record, being only 66 feet less 



NO. I903, VOL. 73] 



than 6 statute miles. Its position was lat. 

 12 43' 15" N., long. 145 49' E., or 75 miles E.S.E. 

 of the island of Guam. 



From Guam to Yokohama the soundings indicated 

 a continuous range of mountains connecting the 

 Ladrone Islands with the Bonin group. 



Another result of importance obtained by the Nero 

 is the discovery of diatom ooze as a bottom deposit 

 in tropical waters. Many distinct patches of character- 

 istic diatom ooze were found on the line, especially 

 between Guam and Luzon. Along a line about 300 

 miles in length, lat. 14 28' to 14 50' N., and 

 long. 136° to 130 30' E., diatom ooze was brought 

 up at thirteen stations from depths between 2432 and 

 3547 fathoms. Again, between Guam and Midway 

 Islands ooze of a similar kind was obtained at three 

 stations. In all the specimens examined the diatoms 

 belong almost exclusively to a single species, identified 

 by Prof. Mann as Coscinodiscus rex, Wallich. We 

 reproduce the figure given in the plates accompanying 

 the paper of " diatom ooze from station 746 (lat. 

 14 24' N., long. 135 31' E.), 2788 fathoms. Mag- 

 nified 15 diameters." 



We are unable to do more than direct attention to 

 the two most remarkable discoveries made by this 

 expedition. It is scarcely necessary to add that the 

 table of 2074 soundings, with details of bottom de- 

 posits, and a large number of temperature observ- 

 ations, forms in itself an even more valuable con- 

 tribution to oceanography than the two " records " 

 we have mentioned. 



AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN INDIA. 1 



THE publication of the first annual report of the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture of India is 

 little short of an epoch-marking event. As I have said 

 elsewhere, agricultural research has not been wholly 

 neglected in India in the past. Much excellent work 

 has been done by able men working under conditions 

 which were never encouraging. But it has been fitful 

 and uncoordinated, and always at the mercy of un- 

 instructed and unsympathetic officials, whose one 

 canon of criticism has been the solvency of the annual 

 balance-sheet. 



India now possesses what it may be hoped before 

 the century has run out will be regarded as the 

 Rothamsted of the East ; and the characteristic irony, 

 I might almost say cynicism, of the British race is 

 content that it should owe its foundation in great 

 part to the large-minded munificence of an American 

 gentleman. 



The outcome will not be found to-day or to-morrow, 

 but only after years of patient work. The Govern- 

 ment of India must not be impatient for immediate 

 results or querulous about current expenditure. That 

 must needs be capital invested, and the return will be 

 the eventual increase of the wealth and prosperity of 

 the population of India. 



It now possesses for the first time a real agri- 

 cultural "headquarters staff." The various _ experts 

 charged with particular features of the biological 

 campaign are no longer scattered, but are brought 

 tog-ether in one institution, where they can work in 

 sympathetic partnership. A glance through the pages 

 of this report is sufficient to reveal the enormous area 

 of the field before them. It may be prudent at the 

 start to make a sustained attack on a few problems 

 rather than to nibble at many. 



W. T. Thiselton-Dyer. 



1 Annual Report of the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the year 

 1904-05. (Calcutta: Government Central Press, 1906.) Price is. 21L 



