572 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 537. 



and experiments were made to determine 

 suitable methods of staining. 



X. Sullivan, Ph.D., instructor in 

 chemical physiology, Brown University, in- 

 vestigated the physiology of digestion in 

 the common dog-fish. 



Francis Bertody Sumner, Ph.D., instruc- 

 tor in zoology. College of the City of New 

 York, and director of the laboratory, was 

 occupied with (1) work upon the biolog- 

 ical survey of the marine fauna and flora 

 of the vicinity of Woods Hole (see above), 

 (2) the card catalogue record of local spe- 

 cies {see above), (3) experimental and 

 statistical studies of various fishes with 

 reference to adaption and selection. In 

 the experimental part of this work. Dr. 

 Sumner was assisted by Mr. D. W. Davis, 

 in the biometrie part by Messrs. Davis, 

 Metcalf, Morse and some other assistants. 



E. E. Watson, student in Iowa Univer- 

 sity, was engaged in biometrie studies of 

 various local crabs. 



Chas. B. Wilson, A.M., professor of biol- 

 ogy. State Normal School, Westfield, Mass., 

 carried on studies of parasitic copepods, 

 both living and preserved material being 

 used. Many interesting facts relating to 

 the ecology of these parasites, some of pos- 

 sible economic value, Avere discovered. In 

 a number of cases the life history was 

 traced partially or completely. A consid- 

 erable number of new species were found. 

 Professor Wilson likewise prepared an ex- 

 tensive set of records of local parasitic 

 copepods for incorporation into the faunal 

 catalogue. 



Commissioner G. M. Bowers, Dr. B. W. 

 Evermann, chief of the Division of Scien- 

 tific Inquiry, and Mr. E. L. Goldsborough, 

 assistant in that division, likewise spent 

 portions of the summer at the station ; and 

 the hospitality of the laboratory was ex- 

 tended to ]\Ir. Chas. R. Knight, the well- 



known animal painter, and to Mr. S. F. 

 Denton, the illustrator and taxidermist. 



Francis B. Sumner. 



ALBATROSS EXPEDITION TO THE EASTERN 

 PACIFIC* 



II. 



We left Callao for Easter Island Satur- 

 day afternoon, December 3; as far as 90° 

 west longitude we remained in the Hum- 

 boldt current, as we could readily see from 

 the character of the temperature serials 

 and from the amount of pelagic life we 

 obtained from both the surface and the 

 intermediate hauls. This current also af- 

 fected the bottom fauna, which was fairly 

 rich even as far as 800 miles from the shore 

 while we remained within the limits of the 

 northern current. As soon as we ran out- 

 side of this the character of the surface 

 fauna changed; it became less and less 

 abundant as we made our way to Easter 

 Island, the western half of the line from 

 Callao becoming gradually barren. This 

 current also affected the deep-sea fauna to 

 such an extent that towards Easter Island, 

 at a distance of 1,200 to 1,400 miles from 

 the South American continent, our trawl 

 hauls were absolutely barren; the bottom 

 for the greater part of the line was covered 

 with manganese nodules on which were 

 found attached a few insignificant siliceous 

 sponges, an occasional ophiuran, and a few 

 brachiopods or diminutive worm tubes, the 

 same bottom continuing to Sala y Gomez 

 and between there and Easter Island. Sala 

 y Gomez and Easter Island are connected 

 by a ridge, on which we found 1,142 fath- 

 oms near Sala y Gomez, and 1,696 fathoms 

 between that point and Easter Island. The 

 ridge rises rapidly from about 2,000 fath- 

 oms, the general oceanic depth within about 



• Extract from a letter of Mr. Alexander Agassiz 

 to Hon. George M. Bowers, U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sioner, dated Chatham Island, Galapagos, January 

 6, 1905. 



