54 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. IV., No. 76. 



THE AMERICAN INITIATIVE IN METH- 

 ODS OF DEEP-SEA DREDGING. 



The published records respecting the use of 

 dredges for natural -history purposes carry us 

 back to scarcely more than a century and a 

 quarter ago, when Otho Frederick Miiller, a 

 prominent Danish naturalist, began his studies 

 of the aquatic life inhabiting the coasts of Nor- 

 wa} T and Denmark below the shore-level. The 

 dredge he used, a very simple affair, was, so 

 far as we know, the first one ever devised for 

 the special needs of the naturalist ; and 3'et, 

 with only a single important modification, as 

 to the shape of the frame, it has been handed 

 down to our time as the most efficient appli- 

 ance for the ordinaiy purposes of dredging. 



As described and figured in 1779, it consisted 

 of a plain rectangular iron frame, with all four 

 sides of equal length, and bevelled to sharp 

 edges in front, forming the mouth-piece to a 

 large and open net. Four handles extended 

 forward from the angles, and met in a single 

 ring for the attachment of the drag-rope. The 

 principal defect of this dredge consisted in its 

 very wide mouth, permitting the easy escape 

 of specimens, both while dragging and during 

 the hauling-in. 



Although Miiller 's researches were confined 

 to shallow water, apparent^ not exceeding a 

 depth of thirty fathoms, they established a pre- 

 cedent for subsequent operations, and afforded 

 proof of the value of submarine collecting. 



This new field of exploration did not, how- 

 ever, begin to enlist the active services of 

 working naturalists to any extent until about 

 the third or fourth decade of the present cen- 

 tury, since which time the interest in marine 

 zoological research has rapidly increased, and 

 our knowledge of the sea-bottom has been ex- 

 tended to the deepest known areas. For the 

 first thirty or forty years, the improvement in 

 methods of work scarcely kept pace with the 

 progress of knowledge regarding the inhabit- 

 ants of the sea ; and it is only within the past 

 fifteen years that the methods of deep-sea 

 dredging have been at all perfected. 



To Dr. Robert Ball of Dublin, who was 

 afterwards associated with Professor Edward 

 Forbes in his memorable explorations, has gen- 

 erally been given the credit of having devised, 

 about 1838, the improved form of naturalists' 

 dredge, in nearly the same shape in which it is 

 used to-daj'. However that may be, it was 

 about the } T ear last mentioned that both Euro- 

 pean and American naturalists entered actively 

 into the study of the sea-bottom ; and the his- 

 tory of their various exploits down to the pres^ 



ent time affords an exceedingly interesting 

 chapter upon which the subject of our paper 

 permits us to touch but slightly. 



It may be well to remark, however, that the 

 character and results of European, and espe- 

 cially British, exploration are much more widely 

 and popularly known than are those of our own 

 country. The reason is obvious. The active 

 mercantile pursuits of a }'oung and progressive 

 people have naturally made them less appre- 

 ciative of scientific facts and results than the 

 inhabitants of many older countries, where 

 business interests have fewer claims upon all 

 classes. There has been but a slight demand 

 for popular writings upon such an unpractical 

 subject, and the plodding naturalist has gen- 

 erally been content to record his observations 

 and methods where they were accessible only 

 to his brother-workers. For this reason, 

 American naturalists have not received the 

 credit which is their due, either at home or 

 abroad ; and much of the honor that justly 

 belongs to them has passed into other hands. 



So far as concerns the general public, this 

 is not to be wondered at, when we consider 

 that the only popular accounts of deep-sea 

 dredging explorations obtainable in this coun- 

 try are of English origin. But the same excuse 

 does not hold good for the working naturalists 

 of any country, including our own ; as the 

 progress of American deep-sea research, and 

 the improvements in methods for carrying it 

 on, have in nearly all instances been duly and 

 promptly recorded in the proper channels to 

 insure wide and timely distribution. 



Since the very beginning of activit} T in this 

 branch of investigation, American workers 

 have not been far behind those of an} T Euro- 

 pean countr}' ; and their record is as creditable. 

 Dredging was carried on by the Wilkes U. S. 

 exploring expedition during the early part of 

 its cruise, beginning in 1838 ; and at about this 

 same time a few of our most earnest naturalists 

 were using the dredge at home. The late Dr. 

 William Stimpson, one of the most intelligent 

 observers in this branch, and whose name is 

 closety linked with several important explo- 

 rations, began his career in Boston harbor 

 between 1848 and 1850 ; his first instructions 

 having been received from Dr. W. O. Ayres, 

 who began dredging fully ten } T ears before. 

 Stimpson' s researches were largely conducted 

 under government auspices ; and the collection 

 of submarine specimens resulting from his 

 labors, distributed over many portions of the 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was probably one 

 of the very largest of its kind that had been 

 made, up to the time of its unfortunate destruc- 



