no 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. YL, No. 131. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE ALBATROSS. 



The U. S. fish-commission steamer Albatross, ar- 

 rived at Wood's Holl, Mass., July 16, from her first 

 cruise to the important fishing-banks located off the 

 coasts of the maritime provinces, where she had been 

 making extensive Investigations in the interests of 

 the cod and halibut fisheries for about a month. 

 Most attention was paid to the region of the Grand 

 bank, south of Newfoundland, including its northern, 

 western, and southern slopes, and the adjacent waters 

 of Green's and St. Peter's banks. Thence the ex- 

 plorations were continued across Banquereau and 

 Misaine bank, and as far to the westward as LeHave 

 bank. On the homeward passage, a few observations 

 were made along the outer slope of George's bank. 

 Over a hundred hauls were made with the beam-trawl 

 and dredge, and much hand-line fishing was done. 

 An attempt was also made to obtain specimens from 

 the bottom by means of torpedoes exploded in a 

 depth of about forty-five fathoms; but without suc- 

 cess, only two or three cod and liaddock coming to 

 the surface. These experiments clearly proved that 

 only such fish as possess large swim-bladders are 

 likely to float after having been killed at the bottom 

 in this manner. 



The results obtained on this cruise are of great 

 value, and an exceedingly large number of specimens 

 serving to explain the character and resources of the 

 fishing-grounds was secured. These explorations are, 

 in fact, the first of the kind that have been made of 

 the outer banks to the eastward of the meridian of 

 Halifax; and they furnish us with the first connected 

 series of observations that has been obtained regard- 

 ing one of the most important fishing-regions of the 

 world. They are also of especial interest at this time, 

 in view of the probable re-opening of fishery nego- 

 tiations between the United States and Canada. 

 Almost the only previous information we possessed 

 respecting the fauna of the great banks was secured 

 through the agency of the Gloucester fishermen, 

 whose services to the Fish commission since 1878 have 

 already been made known. 



The cruise of the Albatross, just ended, is to be re- 

 garded as scarcely more than a preliminary one, since 

 there are many important problems bearing upon the 

 distribution and migrations of food-fishes over the 

 great banks, which invite a prolonged series of care- 

 ful investigations according to modern methods of 

 research. It was noticed, that, on some portions 

 of the Grand bank, where good fares were being 

 obtained by the fishing-vessels, the bottom was com- 

 paratively barren of life; leading to the conclusion, 

 that, over some areas, the fish must feed mainly upon 

 free-swimming animals above the bottom, and that 

 the true value of a fishing-ground cannot always be 

 determined by means of the dredge. 



As incidental features of the cruise, careful sound- 

 ing observations were made at the reported locations 

 of Hope bank, Watson's rock, and the Jesse Kyder 

 rock, without finding any traces of tlieir existence. 

 Many icebergs were observed south of the Newfound- 

 land coast, and foggy weather frequently interfered 

 with operations. 



Lieut.-Commander Z. L. Tanner, U.S.N. , was in 

 command of the Albatross, with Capt. J. W. Collins in 

 charge of the practical fishery investigations, and Mr. 

 James E. Benedict as cliief naturalist, assisted by 

 Mr. Sanderson Smith, Mr. Willard Nye, jun., and 

 Mr. Thomas Lee. 



REFORM IN GEOGRAPHICAL ORTHOG- 

 RAPHY. 



The absence of system in geographical orthog- 

 raphy, especially in English maps, and the conse- 

 quent confusion and variety that exist in the spelling 

 of foreign names on such maps, have necessarily at- 

 tracted the attention of cartographers of every coun- 

 try. The council of the Royal geographical society 

 has taken the matter up, and proposes what seems 

 to us, on the whole, a very satisfactory set of rules, 

 which will hereafter be used in all the publications 

 of the society. These are in brief as follows : Names 

 of countries in which the Roman alphabet is used 

 will be spelled as by the respective nations. Names 

 familiar in a certain form (ex., Calcutta, Celebes, 

 Mecca) in English literature will be retained un- 

 changed. The true sound of the word, so far as it 

 can be indicated by the system as pronounced by 

 the local population, will be reproduced as the basis 

 of the spelling. In general, the vowels will be pro- 

 nounced as in Italian, and the consonants as in Eng- 

 lish. Only one accent, the acute, to denote stress, 

 will be used. Every letter is pronounced. To shorten 

 the vowel, the consonant following it is doubled (ex., 

 duty, putty). The spelling of Hunter's Monumental 

 gazetteer of British India will be followed for Indian 

 names within its limits. 



These rules are essentially such as have governed 

 American philologists under the lead of George Gibbs 

 for many years, and, while not equal to the refine- 

 ments of the lexicographer, are abundant for daily 

 needs. Those who use maps cannot be bothered by 

 minute shades of difference in pronunciation, which 

 can only be properly studied on the spot where they 

 exist. 



It will be observed that the treatment is far from 

 radical, and eminently practical: the only wonder 

 is, that it has been so long deferred. The time for 

 an international alphabet for map use, whose letters 

 shall have invariable values, which would be the 

 most satisfactory solution, is likely to be long de- 

 ferred on account of certain obvious though unsci- 

 entific objections. The proposal now made is in the 

 right direction, and its principles have to a large 

 extent been adopted already on the admiralty charts, 

 and by leading geographers of various nations. 



THE TELEPHONE IN PARIS. 



We reproduce from La nature a map showing the 

 distribution of telephone subscribers in Paris. This 

 map gives all the offices of the subscribers, represent- 



