October 24, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



595 



of style and be just as well, if not better, 

 understood. He will also be more agreeable 

 to " quite a few " of Science's readers I have 

 no doubt, among whom is 



Henry K. White 

 Catonsville, Maryland, 

 September 25, 1913 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 A Biological Survey of the Waters of Woods 

 Hole and Vicinity. Section I., Physical 

 and Zoological, by Francis B. Sumner, 

 Eaymond C. Osburn and Leon J. Cole. 

 Section II., Botanical, by Bradley M. 

 Davis. Section III., A Catalogue of the 

 Marine Fauna, by Francis B. Sumner, 

 Eaymond C. Osburn and Leon J. Cole. 

 Section IV., A Catalogue of the Marine 

 Flora, by Bradley M. Davis. Department 

 of Commerce and Labor. Bulletin of the 

 Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XX5I., 1911. 

 Washington, Government Printing OiEce. 

 1913. 



This bulletin is issued in two parts, each a 

 separate volume; Part I., 544 pages, of which 

 54 contain introductory explanations and 

 physical data, the remainder giving the results 

 of the dredging operations carried on by the 

 bureau, supplemented by some observations on 

 conditions in shallower water, where dredging 

 was not necessary. In this part 274 charts and 

 maps are included. The second part con- 

 tains 316 pages, numbered continuously with 

 the first part. It consists of catalogues of the 

 marine animals and plants, with localities, 

 etc., bibliographies of works referring to the 

 region in question, and ends with what appears 

 to be a complete index. The present notes 

 refer to the botanical parts, which occupy 147 

 pages, as against 620 pages for the zoological; 

 but some reference is necessary to the intro- 

 ductory part. 



The region under consideration includes 

 Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay; the main 

 body of the information on which this work 

 is based was obtained by dredgings in the 

 years 1903, 1904 and 1905, and a few in 1907, 

 from the government steamers, Fish HawTc, 

 Phalarope and Blue Wing. In all 458 stations 



were dredged, of which a list is given, showing 

 date, location, depth and character of bottom. 

 Charts 225 to 227 also show these data graphic- 

 ally. At each station a record was kept of 

 the species brought up by the dredge, so that 

 the data as to distribution may be considered 

 as fairly complete. The result of this, as 

 regards 38 species of algse, is shown on charts, 

 identical outline charts of the region, one for 

 each species, with a star showing each station 

 where the species was found. No verbal de- 

 scription can express as clearly as do these 

 charts the area inhabited by a species, and 

 their value is especially shown when one com- 

 pares the eight similar charts in the zoological 

 section, showing, not distribution of species, 

 but temperature, density, etc. Compare, for 

 instance, chart 228, Chcetomorpha melago- 

 nium, a northern plant, occurring here only in 

 the colder waters by Gay Head and Cutty- 

 hunk; chart 237, Laminaria digitata, also 

 northern, about Gay Head only; chart 241, 

 Grifflthsia Bornetiana, almost entirely in the 

 warmer waters near shore; chart 242, Oriffith- 

 sia tenuis, a common plant of the Mediter- 

 ranean and Bermuda, here reaching its north- 

 ern limit, and here recorded only in the ex- 

 treme northern portion of the chart, where 

 shallow water and distance from the open sea 

 give a higher temperature than in the more 

 southern part of the bay or in the sound.' 



With these chart 261, Grinnellia americana, 

 is in strong contrast, showing an almost uni- 

 versal distribution for this beautiful and char- 

 acteristically American species. 



The dredgings on which the charts were 

 based were all made in the months of July, 

 August and September; that different results 

 would have been obtained by dredgings in 

 other months is quite possible, especially as 

 regards annuals, but probably the difference 

 would be less than what is found between tide 

 marks, or just below low- water mark; at such 



^ G. tenuis also occurs just east of the region 

 represented in the charts, but only in such bodies 

 of water as Waquoit Bay, which are very shallow, 

 connected with the sea by a narrow channel, and in 

 which in summer the temperature of the water is 

 quite higt. 



