DREDGING AND OTHER RECORDS OF THE STEAMER ALBA- 

 TROSS, WITH BIBLIOGRAPHY RELATIVE TO THE WORK OF 

 THE VESSEL. 



Compiled by C. H. Townsend, 

 Chief of Division of Fisheries, U. S. Fish Commission. 



PREFACE. 



The ivcords of observations connected witli the dred<j:in^, sound in^r, 

 and other operations conducted on board the Albatross since the first 

 voj'age of the vessel in 1883 have been published in full from year to 

 year in the reports of the Ignited States Fish Commission ; but being 

 scattered through a series of bulky volumes, many of wliich can no 

 longer be supplied, it has ])ecome desirable to bring them together 

 in order to secure complete data respecting these opei-ations. The 

 writer, on account of his familiarity with the work of the ship, having 

 served as naturalist during most of the cruises from 1886 to 1900, has 

 been requested to compile the records and bibliography. 



There has been a demand for the station records of the Albatross, 

 not only as an aid in identifying the large collections of the vessel 

 placed in the hands of specialists for study or deposited in museums, 

 but as a reference book for use in connection with the numerous 

 reports which have already appeared relating to them. In certain 

 papers based on Albatross material localities are referred to by station 

 numbers only, which the complete dredging records presented here- 

 with will render intelligible. 



The dredging records include data connected with 1,786 hauls of 

 the dredge, beam trawl, etc., at all depths from the shore down to 

 4,173 fathoms (the deepest), and cov er areas extending from the Banks 

 of Newfoundland along both coasts of North and South America to 

 Bering S^a, Avith limited areas in the tropical Pacific and the region from 

 Japan to Kamchatka. The data accompanying the serial numbers 

 of the stations show the date, position, depth, temperature of surface 

 and bottom, the character of bottom, and the instrument used. 



The hydrographic records are included here as an aid in the identi- 

 fication of specimens of bottom deposits. As the 4,000 or more sound- 

 ings made by the vessel have alread}^ found their way upon the various 

 charts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, their i)ositions have not been 

 platted on the accompanying maps in connection with those of the 



dredging stations. 



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