May 12, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



259 



overflowing so as to displace the air, and then completely empty 

 it. 



If the water is to be taken from a tap, let enough run to waste 

 to empty the local lateral before sampling ; if from a pump, pump 

 enough to empty all the pump connections; if from a stream or 

 lake, take the sample some distance from the shore, and plunge 

 the sampling vessel a foot and a half below the surface during 

 filling, so as to avoid surface scum. 



In every case fill the demijohn nearly full, leaving but a small 

 space to allow for possible expansion, and cork securely. Under 

 no circumstances place sealing-wax upon the cork, but tie a piece 

 of cloth firmly over the neck to hold the cork in place. The 

 ends of the string may be afterwards sealed if necessary. 



Bear in mind, throughout, that water analysis deals with ma- 

 terial present in very minute quantity, and that the least care- 

 lessness in collecting the sample must vitiate the results. Give 

 the date of taking the sample, as full a description as possible of 

 the soil through which the water flows, together with the imme- 

 diate sources of possible contamination. 



STARFISHES OF THE INDIAN OCEAN. 



BY DE. R W. SHtTFEUJT, TAKOMA, D. O. 



Biological work of a very excellent character has within the 

 last few years been accomplished in the Indian Seas through 

 those employed on board H. M. Indian Marine Survey steamer, 

 "Investigator, " Commander C. F. Oldham, R.N., commanding. 

 Much of this success is due to the labors of Mr. A. Alcock, 

 Surgeon -Captain, I.M.S., and late Naturalist to the Survey. 



Mr. Alcock has recently sent me from Calcutta a copy of his 

 work, entitled " An Account of the Collection of Deep-Sea As- 

 teroidea," from the region just mentioned — it being an extract 

 from the Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Ser. 6, Vol. 

 XL) for February, 1893. From it, it would appear, that since 

 the year 1885 many parts of the Indian Ocean, in waters varying 

 from 100 fathoms to 1,000 fathoms and over, have been very 

 profitably dredged by the naturalists of the " Investigator." 



Mr. Alcock remarks, "A large collection of littoral and shal- 

 low-water forms [of starfishes] has also been made, but these are 

 not here considered. If it be thought objectionable to have sep- 

 arated the deep-water from the shallow-water forms, it may be 

 urged in justification that within the limits of Indian seas, so far 

 as our experience at present goes, there is no instance of the two 

 sections overlapping, and on another ground, that almost noth- 

 ing has been published, and nothing else is promised, about the 

 extremely interesting Asteroidea of the deeper waters of India. 

 Of the basins into which these waters may conveniently be di- 

 vided, the Bay of Bengal proper — the basin best explored by the 

 dredge so far — gives us the smallest number of unknown species. 

 Beyond the limits of the 30-fatbora line it would seem as if the 

 overwhelmingly muddy bottom of the bay presented conditions 

 specially unfavorable to the existence of starfishes; and after 

 parsing this limit we usually dredge nothing until we reach true 

 bathybial conditions in the middle of the bay " (pp. 73, 74). 



On the Andaman side, however, in 561 fathoms of water, they 

 met with Brisinga, and opposite to the Kistna and Godavari 

 Deltas, in 500 to 700 fathoms, where the bottom was of a harden- 

 ing clay, Flabellum (japonicum and laciniatum) , Bathyactis, Phor- 

 mosoma, and Spatangoids, Pentagonaster, again appeared. In 

 the middle of the bay, with a bottom of accumulating Globi- 

 gerinaooze, the well-nigh cosmopolitan forms of Pararchaster, 

 Dj/tasfer, Porcellanaster, Styracaster, Hyphalaster, Paragonaster, 

 Zoroaster, Marsipaster, Hymenaster, and Freyella rewarded the 

 efforts of the dredger. 



Peculiarly favorable to starfish-life is the enclosed basin of the 

 Andaman Sea, which thus far, however, has only been examined 

 up to 600 fathoms. Of twenty-one species here collected, no less 

 than sixteen were new to science, including three very remark- 

 able generic types. Eighteen species were dredged in the Lacoa- 

 dive Sea, and other very interesting localities were examined. 

 Little, however, was added to our knowledge of the life-habits of 

 the deep-sea starfishes, though "like some of the common reef- 



forms they must sometimes live in swarms, as, for instance, 

 Zoroaster oarinatus, of which over a score have been taken at 

 one haul, Pontaster hispidus, of which about fifty have been 

 dredged at the same time, and Nyniphaster florifer, of which a 

 150 have come up on the tangle-bar." 



The food of these deep-sea types seems mainly to be moliusks, 

 prawns, and amphipods, and in some cases they gorge themselves 

 with GZo&igreriwa-ooze. "A curious case of symbiosis, which 

 has been observed too often to be a merely accidental association, 

 occurs between Dictyaster xenophilus and an annelid." 



Mr. Alcock's work forms a brochure of about fifty pages, with 

 some good figures on plates, and throughout the whole he has 

 followed the classification of Mr. Sladen, now well-known to the 

 students of the Asteroidea, through their reading of it in those 

 classical volumes, the " Challenger Reports," to which it was 

 contributed. 



THE USE OF POISONS AS FUNGICIDES AND INSECTICIDES. 



BY L. B. TAFT, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MICH. 



Although copper sulphate has been used for many years for 

 the destruction of the smut spores of wheat and oats, it is only 

 about ten years since it was first employed upon fruit and similar 

 crops as a fungicide, and for fully one-half of this period it was 

 only used in an experimental way. 



Its effects have proven so beneficial, however, that the fruit- 

 growers, of the State of Michigan alone, will this year use sev- 

 eral tons in combatting the various diseases that infest their 

 crops. 



The amount in time and materials expended in the use of fungi- 

 cides in the United States must then reach many thousands of 

 dollars, and it is very desirable that as much light as possible be 

 sectired upon the time and number of the applications that are 

 necessary to obtain the best results, as well as upon the mixtures 

 that will be most effective and economical. It has been clearly 

 shown by many experiments that, to be most effective, the appli- 

 cations must be made early in the season, before the disease has 

 obtained a foothold ; but, as the number of sprayings required to 

 hold the disease in check will depend upon such conditions as 

 character of crop, season, and location, and the prevalence of 

 the disease, it is doubtful if anything more than a, general rule 

 can be given, and this must be modified to suit the conditions. 



Experiments have demonstrated that very small amounts of 

 the salts of copper will destroy the spores of fungi, and have 

 shown that the original formula for most of the fungicides were 

 deficient in water, or, in other words, the mixtures were unneces- 

 sarily concentrated. Although, as now used, the strength has 

 been greatly decreased, the limit has by no means been reached. 

 The amount of copper sulphate in Bordeaux-mixture has been 

 reduced from sixteen to six pounds for twenty-two gallons of 

 water, and the experiments of the writer tend to show that for 

 many diseases one or two pounds are fully as beneficial. 



Two or three years ago most writers recommended some form 

 of ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate, but, after a thor- 

 ough trial, most fruit-growers have come to consider Bordeaux- 

 mixture preferable to any of the ammonia-containing mixtures. 

 The ammonia solutions were commended as being cheaper and 

 easier to apply, but, in fact, the Bordeaux-mixture of the same 

 strength is much less expensive ; if properly strained it is not 

 likely to clog the pump or nozzles ; it is less easily washed from 

 the plants; and it is not only less likely to injure the foliage, but 

 it allows the arsenites to be used at the same time, thus forming 

 a combined fungicide and insecticide, and the lime also prevents 

 all injury from the arsenic. 



For these reasons the Bordeaux-mixture is preferable, and its 

 use should be commended. 



This lime-mixture covers the plants with a sort of whitewa.-h, 

 and, although this is in one way objectionable, in another, from 

 the consumers' standpoint at least, it is preferable to some of the 

 clear solutions, which, although they contain fully as much poi- 

 son, are not very noticeable upon the plants. 



Fruits sprayed within a few days of the time of gathering 

 would in one case not be saleable, and in the other, although 



