July 18, 1884.] 



SCIENCE. 



57 



hundred and eight pages and forty-one plates, 

 describing the sounding and dredging appli- 

 ances used by the Blake, and which, for the 

 greater part, were devised or improved during 

 her dredging cruise. So far as her dredging 

 appliances are concerned, the credit for changes 

 made belongs mostly to Mr. Sigsbee and Mr. 

 Agassiz ; the former having been in command 

 of the expedition, and the latter in charge of 

 the natural-history operations. 



During the seventh decade, European ex- 

 plorers were not idle, and numerous deep-sea 

 expeditions were fitted out. Most notable 

 among these was the cruise of the British ship 

 Challenger around the world between 1873 and 

 1878. Her scientific results were most inter- 

 esting ; but the older methods of deep-sea work 

 were not greatly altered, although the practi- 

 cability of using the beam-trawl successfully in 

 the deepest water was fully demonstrated. 



In 1881 the French government inaugurated 

 a series of submarine explorations in the At- 

 lantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea ; for that 

 purpose fitting out a small naval vessel, the 

 Travailleur, and placing the management of 

 affairs in the hands of a competent scientific 

 staff, under the directorship of Prof. A. Milne- 

 Edwards. These investigations were contin- 

 ued by the same vessel during 1882, the appli- 

 ances and methods of work having apparently 

 been patterned after those generally recognized 

 in Europe. In 1883 a larger vessel, the Talis- 

 man, was assigned to the work, and operations 

 were established on a much grander scale than 

 before. 



For an account of these explorations, de- 

 scriptive of the methods of work and general 

 results, we are indebted to the last volume 

 of La Nature, a French journal of the char- 

 acter of Science, which began in a January 

 number the publication of a series of articles 

 by one of the naturalists who accompanied 

 the steamer. 1 Coming from such an authorita- 

 tive source, we are led to regard these papers 

 almost in the light of a semi-official report, 

 and look to them for at least a correct state- 

 ment regarding the origin of their methods 

 of work, inasmuch as these matters are dis- 

 cussed in some detail, and with evident pride 

 at the completeness of the outfit. That the 

 outfit was complete, no one who is at all 

 posted on the subject can den}' ; for nearly all 

 of the man}- improvements introduced by the 

 coast-survey and fish-commission prior to 1880 

 are most faithfully copied, and most heartily 



1 For an abstract of the portion relating to the apparatus em- 

 ployed, see Science, No. 62. 



praised for their perfect adaptation to the re- 

 quirements of research. 



We glance through the several pages of the 

 report for at least some slight acknowledg- 

 ment on behalf of American inventive skill ; 

 but beyond a brief statement to the effect that 

 the hoisting-engine " was of the same type as 

 that employed by Mr. Agassiz," and that he 

 also " used with good results the common 

 form of beam-trawl," we are left to infer that 

 the entire outfit was of French origin ; and 

 such must be the impression of every one who 

 reads these papers. In fact, in several in- 

 stances, credit is explicitly bestowed on French 

 inventors for certain of the appliances which 

 do not differ in any essential features from the 

 corresponding American patterns. 



What is to be gained by thus appropriating 

 to the credit of a nation what properly belongs 

 to another and a friendly one, by all the rights 

 of international courtesy, it is difficult to un- 

 derstand, and especially so in this age of sup- 

 posed enlightenment, when every important 

 discovery is carried with lightning rapidity to 

 all parts of the civilized world. The field of 

 marine research is sufficiently broad to engage 

 the entire attention of all the naturalists who 

 have yet entered it ; and the frequent mani- 

 festations of jealousy on the part of foreign, 

 and especially French investigators, which 

 often result in wholly ignoring the works of 

 an able American author, can but retard prog- 

 ress instead of aiding it. 



Proofs of the superior excellence of Ameri- 

 can methods of deep-sea research may be 

 found in every important scientific library of 

 Europe as well as this country ; and at the two 

 most prominent international fisheries exhibi- 

 tions of the world, — those of Berlin in 1880. 

 and London in 1883, — all of the American 

 appliances were displayed, and received the 

 highest awards. They have therefore been 

 made sufficiently well known to establish their 

 merits before the scientific world ; but, as no 

 descriptions of them have yet been published 

 for the benefit of the general public, we pro- 

 pose in future numbers of Science to give ac- 

 counts of their construction, and of the causes 

 which lead to their introduction. 



Richard Rathbtjn. 



SPECIAL MANURES FOR PARTICULAR 

 CROPS. 



The fact that the percentages of nitrogen and of 

 the several ash ingredients vary quite widely in dif- 

 ferent plants (legumes being rich in nitrogen, cere- 



