No. 557] NOTES AND LITERATURE 



315 



oceanography, and is thus comparable with Agassiz's "Three 

 Cruises of the Blake" of 1888. 



The first thing which strikes one upon reading this account of 

 the cruise of the Michel Sars, however, is the enormous advance 

 which has been made since Agassiz wrote his well-known work. 



The book is written in that plain, honest English which the 

 readers of Darwin learned to love so well. It is difficult to re- 

 view because so crowded with facte of the highest interest, and 

 it sparkles with that rare enthusiasm which characterizes the 

 writings of those happy men of science to whom years and 

 knowledge bring no lessening of youth's enthusiasm. At times 

 the language seems quaint, for most of the chapters were written 

 by students to whom English is not a native tongue ; but this only 

 adds to the readableness of the book. Indeed, it is a work which 

 people of general culture as well as specialists may read with 

 sustained interest from cover to cover. It is a fitting monument 

 to the life-work of the great "Naturalist of the Challenger Ex- 

 pedition," Sir John Murray. 



The historical chapter, and that upon the depths of the ocean 

 are by Sir John Murray. Physical oceanography is written by 

 Dr. Helland-Hansen, the phytoplankton by Professor Gran, the 

 bottom fauna by Professor Appellof, and the narrative,, equip- 

 ment, fishes of the sea bottom, pelagic animals and general biol- 

 ogy are by Dr. Hjort, there being ten chapters in the book. 



The signal success of this expedition was due to two factors : 

 a corps of able, enthusiastic students already distinguished by 

 high achievement in these studies, and the possession of excep- 

 tionally good apparatus provided through the generous support 

 of the Norwegian government and of Sir John Murray. 



Thus the ship carried a huge otter trawl, and a Petersen fish 

 trawl, so efficient that in one haul they captured nearly as many 

 individual fishes as the Challenger discovered in its twenty-five 

 hauls between 1,500 and 2,000 fathoms. There were also large 

 vertical closing nets 3 meters wide and 9 long, and hauls were at 

 times made with ten nets and trawls out at various depths at one 

 and the same time. The collections were thus exceptionally rich 

 in species, some new and many rare forms such as Spirula, 

 Melanocetus krechi, a remarkable genus allied to Gastrostomy. 

 new Leptocephali, many larval fishes with telescopic eyes and a 

 specimen of the giant squid. 



But the results, important as they may be, will not be chiefly 

 memorable for the new species and interesting forms discovered, 

 for the intensive studies of the physics and chemistry of the sea, 



