October 24, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



599 



lems comes usually from specialists. Indeed, 

 only in rare instances is the signifioance of the 

 results of scientific research apparent to farm- 

 ers, since newly discovered facts are seldom 

 ■directly applicable to agricultural conditions. 

 The suggestive or the indirect value of reports 

 of new work is usually of paramount economic 

 importance ; it is the purpose of the Journal of 

 Agricultural Research, therefore, to record in- 

 vestigations bearing directly or indirectly upon 

 economic conditions of agriculture." Accord- 

 ing to the foreword the journal for the first 

 few issues will contain papers from the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture only. The later numbers, 

 however, will probably include articles pre- 

 pared and submitted by investigators in the 

 state agricultural colleges and experiment sta- 

 tions. The book is highly technical in char- 

 acter and will not be circulated except among 

 scientific specialists. 



OCEANOGSAFBIC CRUISES OF THE U. S. 

 FISSEBIES SCHOONER "GRAMFVS" 



191S-1913 



Js the advance of the modern science of 

 oceanography the coastal waters of the east- 

 ern seaboard of the United States have re- 

 ceived little attention. But the introduction 

 of new fishery methods, and the frequent re- 

 ports of a diminution of food fishes along our 

 coast add an economic to the purely scientific 

 need for a close study of the physical features, 

 and plankton, of our waters, such as has long 

 been prosecuted in the North Sea by the 

 nations bordering upon it. A beginning has 

 been made along these lines by the U. S. 

 Bureau of Fisheries, with the cooperation of 

 the Museum of Comparative Zoology. And 

 during the past two summers the Fisheries 

 schooner Grampus has been detailed, in my 

 charge, for oceanographic cruises which have 

 so far extended from ISTova Scotia to Chesa- 

 peake Bay, a brief outline of which is given 

 liere. In both years Mr. W. W. Welsh, 

 of the bureau, has acted as my assistant. 



In a sailing vessel, which the Grampus is 

 primarily in spite of a small auxiliary gaso- 

 line engine, oceanographic work is neces- 

 sarily carried on under difficulties. But 



there was no .steamer available. And fortu- 

 nately we have enjoyed such exceptionally 

 fine weather on both cruises that we worked 

 to better advantage than might have been ex- 

 pected. Such operations as require the vessel 

 to be stationary for any length of time, for 

 example current measurements, were usually 

 performed from a dory at anchor, though oc- 

 casionally, if the sea was too rough, we 

 anchored the vessel herself for this purpose. 

 For hoisting purposes a gasoline winch was 

 installed on deck. The equipment of the 

 Grampus consisted, in 1912, of ISTegretti and 

 Zambra reversing deep-sea thermometers, a 

 Sigsbee and a stopcock water bottle; an Ek- 

 man current meter, a closing net for hori- 

 zontal towing, described elsewhere,^ quanti- 

 tative nets of the Hensen pattern, a variety 

 of ordinary tow nets, large and small, of 

 various grades of silk, and an eight-foot 

 beam trawl. 



In 1913 we added a second current meter, 

 two more stopcock water-bottles, a Helgoland 

 " shear board " tow net, which proved to be 

 the most efl:ective of our nets, a three-foot 

 tow net of the Michael Bars pattern and a 

 Lucas sounding machine. On the other hand, 

 we discarded the Sigsbee water bottle, which 

 proved unreliable, and substituted an otter 

 trawl for the beam trawl, a change which 

 proved very advantageous. 



In 1912 our cruise lasted from July 8 until 

 August 31. We chose the Gulf of Maine as 

 our first field of work partly because of its 

 important fisheries, partly because it was 

 nearly virgin ground so far as sub-surface 

 temperatures, salinities and plankton were 

 concerned, but chiefly because, being a par- 

 tially isolated area, a comparatively complete 

 survey could be made in the time at our dis- 

 posal. The stations were planned to include 

 Massachusetts Bay, the deep basin off Cape 

 Ann and Cape Cod, the coastal waters and 

 off-shore banks along the coast of Maine, and 

 a line from Cape Elizabeth to Cape Sable, 

 while a week was spent trawling in and near 

 Casco Bay in cooperation with the Harpswell 



1 7nt. Rev. Hydroiiol. Hydrogr., 5: p. 576, 1913. 



