798 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 232. 



our ambassadors communicated with the 

 British, French and German authorities 

 for tlie purpose of having the representa- 

 tives of those governments instructed to ac- 

 cord special privileges to the Albatross. The 

 President has cordially approved the assign- 

 ment of the vessel to this work. 



In a recent letter Professor Agassiz refers 

 to his explorations in the Bahamas, the 

 Bermudas, Cuba, Florida, the Fiji Islands, 

 the Australian Great Barrier Eeel', the 

 Sandwich Islands, the Bay of Panama, the 

 Galapagos Archipelago and the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia, and then says : 



The expedition uow proposed I consider the most 

 important one I have undertaken since the cruise of 

 the ' Blake ' in 1877-80. It covers an area of the Pa- 

 cific which has not as j'et been touched, as nothing is 

 knovpn of the line San Francisco to Tahiti, Tahiti to 

 Fiji, Ellice and Jaluit, and Marshall Islands to Hon- 

 olulu ; and most important results should he ob- 

 tained with a vessel so admirably fitted for the work 

 as the Albatross. In addition to the deep-sea work, 

 we expect to visit many of the atolls and elevated 

 reefs aboundinf^ along our track, and hope to throw 

 additional light on the debatable theory of coral reefs. 

 The proposed Albatross expedition is one which, with 

 fair success, is sure to be creditable to this country. 

 Since the great exploring expedition of Wilkes this 

 government has done but little in the greater field of 

 oceanic exploration as a whole, though the minor ex- 

 peditions undertaken in connection with the work 

 of the Coast Survey and the Fish Commission have 

 beea among the most satisfactory explorations of lim- 

 ited areas of our coast. 



It is the intention to have the Fish Com- 

 mission and the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology jointly publish the reports embody- 

 ing the results of the expedition. 



Hugh M. Smith. 



U. S. Commission op Fish and Fisheries. 



THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF IRRIGATION. 



The appropriation for the irrigation in- 

 vestigations in charge of the Office of Ex- 

 periment Stations, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, having been increased at the recent 

 session of Congress from $10,000 to $35,000, 

 of which sum $10,000 was made immedi- 



ately available, these investigations are 

 being further developed and the work in 

 connection with them is being more thor- 

 oughly organized. The scope of the inves- 

 tigations has been more accurately defined 

 in the last appropriation act. As there 

 stated, funds are provided " To enable the 

 Secretary of Agriculture to investigate and 

 report upon the laws and institutions rela- 

 ting to irrigation, and upon the use of irri- 

 gation waters, with special suggestions of 

 better methods for the utilization of irriga- 

 tion waters in agriculture than those in 

 common use, and for the preparation, print- 

 ing aud illustration of reports and bulletins 

 on irrigation ; aud the agricultural experi- 

 ment stations are hereby authorized and 

 directed to cooperate with the Secretary of 

 Agriculture in carrying out said investiga- 

 tions in such manner and to such extent as 

 may be warranted by a due regard to the 

 varying conditions and needs of the re- 

 spective States and Territories, and as may 

 be mutuiilly agreed upon." 



The first bulletin prepared in connection 

 with these investigations, which has re- 

 cently been issued, contains a discussion of 

 the irrigation laws which control the diver- 

 sion and use of water from the Missouri 

 Eiver and its tributaries, by Professor 

 Elwood Mead, including papers on the 

 water laws of Colorado and Nebraska, by 

 the engineers of these States. Other bulle- 

 tins of a similar character are in prepara- 

 tion. 



For the present the investigations on the 

 use of irrigation water will be largely con- 

 fined to the determination of the actual 

 amount of water used by successful farmers 

 in difi'erent parts of the irrigated region on 

 different soils and in the growing of differ- 

 ent crops. 



A temporary organization for the admin- 

 istration of these investigations has been 

 effected by the appointment of Professor 

 Elwood Mead as irrigation expert in charge, 



