900 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 362. 



the records of the work of the Albatross for 

 eighteen years, for this vessel has never been 

 out of commission since she was turned over to 

 the Fish Commission, all necessary repairs hav- 

 ing been made during intervals between the 

 various cruises. The Bering Sea controversy 

 and the war with Spain interrupted the regular 

 work of the vessel for several years, but with 

 these exceptions she has been almost continu- 

 ously engaged in investigating fisheries and 

 fishing grounds, in deep-sea sounding and 

 dredging, and in other branches of hydro- 

 graphic work. 



The dredging and trawling records run from 

 1883 to 1900 and include data of 1,786 hauls of 

 the dredge and trawl, from depths of less than 

 100 fathoms down to the maximum of 4,173 

 fathoms, the deepest water in which a dredge 

 has been used. Three charts, bearing the 

 serial numbers of stations, show the extensive 

 area covered by these operations. 



The record of hydrographic soundings shows 

 the date, latitude and longitude, depth and 

 character of bottom, in 4,032 soundings, but as 

 the figures have been used in various charts no 

 map of these is given. 



Then follow records of the surface and inter- 

 mediate tow nets, miscellaneous records and 

 records of serial temperatures. All these will 

 not only aid in identifying the large collections 

 placed in the hands of specialists or deposited 

 in museums, but make intelligible many refer- 

 ences contained in papers on the Albatross col- 

 lections in which localities are referred to by the 

 station number only. 



The chronological bibliography relative to the 

 work of the Albatross between 1884 and 1901 

 comprises 233 titles, and a list is appended of 

 63 papers now in course of preparation. 

 Finally we are given a list of something like 

 2,000 new species, largely of deep-sea fishes 

 and crustaceans, which have been described 

 from specimens obtained by the Albatross and 

 which give some idea of the amount of material 

 secured. Those who are familiar with the mag- 

 nificent volumes of the Challenger report may 

 be surprised to learn that the zoological mate- 

 rial on which they are based is in every way 

 much less than that procured by the Albatross, 

 but the Challenger material has had the advan- 



tage of being systematically worked up and 

 published in consecutive volumes, and in a man- 

 ner to show it to the best advantage. The Al- 

 batross has probably obtained a hundred deep- 

 sea fishes where the Challenger obtained one, 

 a statement that may be illustrated by saying 

 that a single haul of her trawl brought up many 

 more specimens of Macrurus than were secured 

 by the Challenger in her entire cruise. In a way 

 this wealth of material has been truly an em- 

 barrassment of riches, for its accumulation, and 

 particularly its care, have occupied the time of 

 those who might otherwise have been engaged 

 in its study ; nevertheless, we can but hope that 

 the scientific work of the Albatross may proceed 

 in the future as it has in the past. 



F. A. L. 



BICHMOND MAYO-SMITH. 



The Council of Columbia University adopted 

 the following resolution on the death of Pro- 

 fessor Mayo-Smith : 



The members of the University Council have 

 learned with profound regret and unfeigned 

 sorrow of the sudden death of their long-time 

 friend and colleague. Professor Richmond 

 Mayo-Smith, the chief of the Department of 

 Political Economy in this University. 



During his zealous, devoted and successful 

 service of twenty-four years in this institution, 

 he founded the department over which he has 

 presided and developed it to so high a point of 

 excellence that it has few equals in this country 

 or in the world. He was, moreover, the chief 

 promoter, if not the founder, of the science of 

 statistics in this country. His published works 

 upon this most difficult subject have brought 

 exact and orderly knowledge into a domain 

 where, before, uncertainty and confusion pre- 

 vailed, and have earned for him honor and 

 gratitude from the scientific world. 



His activity went, however, beyond the limits 

 of his own department. As a member of the 

 University Council from the date of its establish- 

 ment to the moment of his death, and of 

 several of its most important committees, he 

 contributed largely and ably to the formation 

 of the policies of the University as a whole, and 

 to the present organization of this complex in- 

 stitution. 



