512 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1404. 



contains the vast amount of detail usually 

 included. 



In addition to the foregoing specific value 

 this map is of general interest at present as 

 showing the relation between the United 

 States, its possessions, and the Far East and 

 as including those areas around which present 

 problems in the North Pacific Ocean are 

 centered. It extends from New York and 

 Panama to Singapore and Calcutta, from 

 Alaska and Siberia to the Hawaiian Islands 

 and includes a part of South America and a 

 portion of Australia. Through its lateral 

 center it extends over 180°. 



The distinctive feature of the map is that 

 these localities are here pictured in practi- 

 cally their true relation as to distances, areas, 

 and comparative angular direction of coast 

 line. The property of true scale along a great 

 circle tangent to the forty-fifty parallel 

 of north latitude at the central meridian of 

 the map was chosen. This great circle is ap- 

 proximately the shortest distance between 

 San Francisco and Manila, and in close 

 proximity to it lie practically all the impor- 

 tant points of interest such as the Panama 

 Canal, Mexico, our Pacific Coast, Alaska, the 

 Philippine Islands, Japan, and the coast of 

 China. This is accomplished through the 

 use of the transverse polyconic projection, 

 which is the regular polyconic or American 

 projection turned from its normal vertical 

 axis to a lateral great circle axis. 



THE STEAMER " ALBATROSS " 



The Fisheries Service reports that the 

 steamer Albatross has been taken to Woods 

 Hole (Mass.) and on October 29 was there 

 put out of commission, the naval crew being 

 released. This action was made necessary by 

 a lack of sufficient funds to operate the vessel 

 on a scale that would yield results commensu- 

 rate with the basic cost of maintenance. It 

 is hoped that by another year it may be pos- 

 sible to restore the vessel to active service 

 and assign her to work on fishing grounds 

 on the Atlantic coast awaiting attention. 



The Albatross, which for nearly forty years 

 has been an important unit of the Bureau 



of Fisheries, was the first vessel especially 

 designed for deep-sea exploration and was 

 equipped with the most approved apparatus 

 and appliances for the work. These have 

 been renewed, modified, or extended as the 

 occasion aro&e. The vessel was built under 

 the supervision of Commander Z. L. Tanner. 

 United States Navy, from designs prepared 

 by the naval architect, Charles "W. Copeland. 

 She was launched at Wilmington, Del., in 

 1882, and, excepting brief interruptions, has 

 been constantly employed until the present 

 time. The fact that after all these years she 

 is now in excellent condition is a tribute to 

 her construction, the quality of the material 

 used, and the care which she has had. 



The Albatross was engaged in investiga- 

 tions off the Atlantic coast from Newfound- 

 land to the West Indies until 1888, when she 

 was sent through the Straits of Magellan to 

 the west coast, and during the next 30 years 

 was engaged in investigations, surveys, etc., 

 in the Pacific Ocean, particularly in Alaska. 

 During the long period of the fur-seal con- 

 troversy the Albatross formed part of the 

 naval patrol of Bering Sea and was used by 

 the commission created for the investigation 

 of the fur seals. In 1891 the vessel was em- 

 ployed in surveying a cable route to the Ha- 

 waiian Islands, in 1899 and 1900 in a voyage 

 to the tropical Pacific and Japan, in 1902 in 

 investigations about the Hawaiian Islands, 

 and from 1907 to 1910 in a comprehensive 

 survey of the fisheries and aquatic resources 

 of the Philippine Islands. In the War with 

 Spain and in the World War the Albatross 

 was taken into the naval service, returning 

 to the Atlantic coast in 1917. 



MULFORD EXPLORATION IN BOLIVIA 



The latest message received from Dr. Eusby, 

 the director of the Mulford Exploration, was 

 dated August 30 and was written from Huachi 

 on the Bopi Eiver in Bolivia. Dr. Rusby 

 arrived at Huachi on August 23 and he and his 

 party spent some time making collections in 

 the vicinity and making excursions into sur- 

 rounding territory. During their stay there 

 four members of the party made a trip up the 

 Cochabamba Eiver. 



