882 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1042 



breadth of the continental shelf between Cape 

 Cod and Chesapeake Bay, with a repetition of 

 the Gulf of Maine stations; and for 1914 we 

 planned to continue our survey eastward from 

 Cape Cod, as far as Cape Breton and Cabot 

 Straits, to connect with the observations taken 

 by the TJ. S. revenue cutter Seneca during the 

 preceding spring. Special attention was to 

 be devoted to George's Bank, important 

 oceanographically because of its position as a 

 rim between the cold water of the Gulf of 

 Maine and the Gulf Stream ; to the effect of St. 

 Lawrence water on the physical characters of 

 the coast water in general, and on the Gulf 

 Stream; and to the possible influence of the 

 Labrador Current on our coasts. Experience 

 has shown that the coastal water, bounded as 

 it is by the coast on one hand and the Gulf 

 Stream on the other, is best studied by suc- 

 cessive sections normal to the coast; and our 

 stations were located with this end in view. 

 We were able to carry out this program as far 

 as Halifax. But the European war forced us 

 to relinquish the stations further east; and 

 the time thus released was devoted to repeating 

 our Gulf of Maine stations, and to running a 

 section from Marthas Vineyard to the Gulf 

 Stream for comparison with the preceding 

 year. 



The general program of work for each sta- 

 tion consisted of serial temperatures and water 

 samples, at suiSciently small vertical intervals 

 to afford satisfactory salinity and temperature 

 sections (3 to 7 according to the depth) ; a 

 vertical haul with the Hensen quantitative 

 net, especially instructive for copepods, less 

 so for larger and more active organisms; sur- 

 face hauls with the fine (No. 20) and coarse 

 (No. 5) silk nets; and hauls at intermediate 

 depths with one or more of the large nets, 

 according to depth. When two were used they 

 were attached simultaneously to the wire rope, 

 the Helgoland net usually at the lower, the 

 " Michael Sars " net at the higher level. In 

 addition, the surface temperature was taken 

 hourly throughout the cruise; and the color 

 of the sea frequently recorded by the Forel 

 scale. Current measurements occupy so much 

 time that we obtained only one complete 



record of an entire tide from the ship at 

 anchor. 



Since 1912 considerable additions have been 

 made to the outfit of the ship; and this year 

 we were provided with six stopcock water- 

 bottles, an Ekman reversing water-bottle, three 

 Ekman current-meters, a Lucas sounding- 

 machine, and twelve reversing deep-sea ther- 

 mometers of the latest type, especially valuable 

 because by their use the probable error of the 

 temperature readings was reduced from .15° 

 to .03° F. Another refinement of apparatus 

 was the attachment of the thermometer 

 frames to the stopcock water-bottles, allow- 

 ing the two sets of instruments to be used 

 simultaneously in series, thus shortening the 

 time for each set. We also carried a very com- 

 plete set of horizontal and quantitative plank- 

 ton nets, besides the usual trawls, fishing gear 

 and harpoons; in short, we can at least con- 

 gratulate ourselves on a thoroughly modern 

 oceanographic outfit. 



Our first section, across the Gulf of Maine 

 and the western end of George's Bank, to the 

 Continental Slope, occupied us from July 19 

 to July 21. Being then well within the sweep 

 of the Gulf Stream, as shown by the tempera- 

 ture and plankton, we skirted the outer edge 

 of the Bank to about longitude 66° 10' W., 

 whence we drew a second section across the 

 Bank, to the deep basin of the Gulf. It would 

 have been of interest to have extended the work 

 to the abyssal depths further off shore; but 

 our gear limited our observations to the upper 

 500 meters. 



We next drew a section across the deep 

 gully known as the " Eastern Channel," be- 

 tween George's and Brown's Banks, of great 

 oceanographic interest because it is the only 

 connection between the basin of the Gulf 

 below the 100-fathom contour, and the deeps 

 of the Atlantic ; occupying stations successively 

 in the gully, on Brown's Bank, in the channel 

 north of the latter, and on the coastal bank off 

 Cape Sable. On July 25 the Grampus an- 

 chored in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. 



Two days later we made a current station 

 a few miles off that port, anchoring the vessel 

 in 30 fathoms of water, and taking measure- 



