592 



SCIENCE. 



NOTES ON THE MORTALITY AMONG FISHES 

 OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. 



Prof. Spencer F. Baird, U. S. Commissioner of Fish 

 and Fisheries, Washington, D, C. : 



Sir: Noticing in the Forest and Stream of 9th instant 

 some answers to queries as to the cause of mortality 

 among fishes in the Gulf of Mexico, I make bold to pres- 

 ent the result of my observations. 



After very heavy rains and overflowing of rivers, the 

 inner bays on the Texas coast suffer a loss of from one- 

 half to three-fourths of their stock of salt water fish, not 

 including mullet, which live as well in fresh as salt water. 

 In fact land-locked mullet in a fresh water pond or tank 

 grow to a weight of nine or ten pounds. 



Last winter, alter a heavy rain and a freeze, all the salt 

 water fish in the Lagnna del Madre (a large sheet of 

 water lying between Padre Island and the mainland) 

 were found dead on the banks. 



We have two causes for the destruction of fish here, 

 vis., too much fresh water and too cold weather. 



In the lagoon above spoken of, in a long drought, the 

 water gets too salty for the fish, and they become covered 

 with sores, and unless relieved by a rain they die from too 

 much salt. 



I have never known any serious mortality among fish 

 on the Gulf coast where there was a tree flow of water, 

 except during violent, storms, when many fish both small 

 and large were beached and killed. 



Very respectfully, 



S. H. JOHNSON. 



Corpus Christi, Texas, June 17, 1881. 



ANGLO-AMERICAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



Commander Cheyne's paper, describing his proposed 

 Arctic expedition in conjunction with Lieut. Schwatka, 

 read before the N. Y. Academy of Sciences, on the 28th 

 ultimo, will be printed in our next issue, with the regular 

 proceedings of the Academy. We understand that Com- 

 mander Cheyne is receiving a strong support from those 

 interested in the subject, and that there is an early pros- 

 pect of his plans taking a definite form. 



The English Arctic Council for the organization of this 

 expedition, meet on the 13th instant, and are awaiting a 

 cablegram, informing them of the prospects of success, 

 for international co-operation. 



Advice to Astronomers. — In Sir William Herschel's 

 work "On the Construction of the Heavens" the following 

 line of conduct for astronomers is indicated: "in an in- 

 vestigation of this delicate nature we ought to avoid two 

 opposite extremes. If we indulge a fanciful imagination 

 and build worlds of our own, we must not wonder at our 

 going wide from the path of truth and nature. On the other 

 hand, if we add observation to observation, without at- 

 tempting to draw not only certain conclusions but also con- 

 jectural views from them, we offend against the very end 

 for which only observations ought to be made. I will en- 

 deavor to keep a proper medium, but if I should deviate 

 from that I could trust not to fall into the latter error. — 

 See Holden's and Hasting s Synopsis. 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORT FOR NEW YORK CITY FOR THE WEEK ENDING DEC. 3, 1881. 



Latitude 40 45' 58" N.; Longitude 73 57' 58" W.; height of instruments above the ground, 53 feet ; above the sea, 97 



feet ; by self-recording instruments. 



BAROMETER. 



THERMOMETERS. 



NOVEMBER 



MEAN FOR 

 THE DAY - . 



MAXIMUM. 



MINIMUM. 



MEAN. 



MAXIMUM. 



MINIMUM. 



maxi'm 



AND 



DECEMBER. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Time. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Time. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



In Sun 



Sunday, 27-- 

 Monday, 28-. 

 Tuesday, 29.. 

 Wednesday, 30 . 

 Thursday, l_. 

 Fiiday, 2.. 

 Saturday, 3.. 



20.Q 3 



3°-345 

 30.204 

 30.026 

 29-754 

 30.284 

 30.131 



30.016 

 3°-39 8 

 30.374 

 30.098 

 30.082 

 30.306 

 30.272 



7 a. m. 

 9 p. m. 

 a. m. 

 a. m. 

 12 p. m. 

 9 a. m. 

 a..m. 



29.848 

 29.976 

 30.098 

 29.908 

 29.518 

 30.082 

 30.088 



6 p. m. 



a. m. 

 12 p. m. 

 12 p. m. 



1 p. m. 

 a. m. 

 6 p. m. 



43-° 

 30.0 

 40.0 

 47.0 

 49-3 

 39-3 

 38.0 



38.3 

 27-3 

 36.6 

 44-7 

 47-3 

 35-7 

 36.0 



5° 

 48 

 49 

 54 

 56 

 44 

 40 



4 p. m. 

 a. m. 

 4 p. m. 



3 P- m - 



4 p. m. 



3 P- m- 

 3 P- m - 



43 

 43 

 45 

 49 

 52 

 40 

 38 



7 p. m. 

 a. m. 

 7 P- m- 

 3 P m. 

 12 in. 

 a. m. 

 3 P- m. 



35 

 27 

 28 

 37 

 43 

 36 

 35 



7 a. m. 

 9 a. m. 



6 a. m. 

 9 a. in. 



12 p. m. 



7 a. m. 

 5 a- m - 



33 

 25 

 27 

 37 

 40 



34 



33 



7 a. m. 

 9 a. m. 



6 a. m. 

 9 a. m. 



12 p. m. 



7 a. m. 

 5 a. m. 



103. 



96. 



95- 

 103. 



69. 

 104. 



76. 



Mean for the week — _. 30.097 inches. 



Maximum for the week at 9 p. m., Nov. 28th 30 398 " 



Minimum " at 1 p. m., Dec. 1st 29.518 " 



Range 880 



Dry. Wet. 



Mean for the week 40.9 degrees 37.9 degrees. 



Maximum for the week, at 4 pm., Dec. 151.-56. " at 12 m 1st, 52. " 

 Minimum " 9 am., Nov. 28th 27. " at 9 am 28th, 25. " 

 Range " " - 29. " 27. " 



WIND. 



HYGROMETER. 



CLOUDS. 



NOVEMBER 



AND 



DECEMBER. 



DIRECTION. 



VELOCITY 

 IN MILES. 



FORCE IN 

 LBS. PER 

 SQR. FEET. 



FORCE OF VAPOR. 



RELATIVE 

 HUMIDITY. 



CLEAR, O 

 OVERCAST. IO 



7 a. m. 



2 p. m. 



9 P- m. 



Distance 

 for the 

 Day. 



9 



Time. 



s 



rt 



6 

 d 



E 

 d 



B 



rt 

 r~ 



80 

 88 

 77 

 100 



85 

 80 

 70 



6 

 d 

 n 



E 

 d 



B 



« 



B 

 d 







E 

 ■ d 

 o> 



Sunday, 27. 

 Monday, 28. 

 Tuesday, 29. 

 Wednesday ,30- 

 Thursday, 1. 

 Friday, 2. 

 Saturday, 3. 



w. s. w. 



n. 

 n. n. e. 

 w. s. w. 



e. 

 n. w. 

 e. n. e. 



w. s. w. 

 n. 



s. w. 

 w. s. w. 

 w. 



n. e. 

 n. n. e. 



w. s. w. 

 e. s. e. 



w. 

 s. s. e. 

 n. w. 

 e. 



n. n. e. 



278 

 204 

 31 

 58 

 184 

 141 

 •38 



8 



9 

 i 

 i 



il \ 

 3i 

 2* 



I.30 pm 

 0.50 am 

 1 30 pm 

 3.00 am 

 7.30 pm 

 3.00 am 

 10.40 am 



.162 

 .136 

 .124 

 • 238 

 .309 

 .170 

 .149 



■143 

 .101 

 .179 

 •245 

 .362 

 .142 

 .203 



• 215 

 .119 

 .241 

 .321 

 .241 

 .173 

 .207 



42 

 58 

 55 

 65 

 87 

 5' 

 82 



69 



68 



»3 

 86 



83 

 72 

 90 



O 



O 



O 

 IO 

 IO 



i cir. 

 5 cir. cu. 



4 cir. cu. 







8 cu. 

 2 cir. 

 10 



5 cir. 

 10 



8 cu. 

 



5 cu. 



IO 





 



IO 



RAIN AND SNOW. 



DEPTH 



OF RAIN AND SNOW 

 IN INCHES. 



Time 



of 

 Begin- 

 ning. 



Time 



of 

 End- 

 ing. 



Dura- 

 tion, 

 h. m. 



Amount 

 of waterj 



9.30 pm 

 am 



12 pm 



3 P"» 



2.30 

 15.00 



.01 

 •51 



8.30 pm 



12 pm 



3-3° 



.01 



Total amount of water for the week 53 inch. 



Duration of ram 21 hours, 00 minutes. 



Distance traveled during the week 1,034 miles 



Maximum force 18}^ !bs. 



DANIEL DRAPER, Ph. D. 

 Director Meteorological Observatory of the Department ot Public Parks, New York. 



