DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION. 
Edison 50-candle iiicandesceni lamp, attached to a properly insulated cable, is lowei 
from the lee gangway, 0 feet or more from the ship’s side, Just suflicieiitly to keej 
submerged with the ordinary motions of the vessel. 
Slow-moving forms which are iloatiiig on the surface 
collect in large numbers at the water line as the vessel 
sags slowly to leeward and more active s})ecies gather 
to feed ui)on them. As soon as the light is lowered, 
the latter gather around it, as moths about a caudle, 
sometimes in great swarms, and it is then that the net 
reaps its richest harvests. 
Surface collecting has always been a marked fea- 
ture in the work of the Albatross, und improved methods 
were sought from the first. The opportunities for this 
line of investigation, without interfering with other 
work, were unprecedented, as the net above described 
could be used whenever the vessel was hove to for 
sounding, etc., and the tow net Avas available from the 
time the traAvl was put over the rail until it Avas on 
board again, from half an hour to six or eight hours 
later. Observing this, it seemed that something might 
lie done to develop this field of im[uiry, and various 
devices Avere tried from time to time A\dth greater or 
less success until, on the 8th of May, 1885, the present 
form of surface tow net, devised by the writer, Avas 
first used and liecame a part of the regular scientific 
outfit. 
IMPROVED SURFACE TOAV NET. 
The ring is of g-iuch galvanized iron, 1 teet 11 
inches in diameter; the net has a 1-inch mesh, thread 
21-6 stoAv, barked, 10 feet in length, same size through- 
out, and has a pocket of the same material 5 feet in 
length, which is formed by turning in a portion of the 
upper end of the net, thus doubling the material for 
5 feet from the ring. A small cord is passed around 
the net between the parts, and is ineluded in the turns 
of the lashing Avhich secures the net to the ring. There 
is a drawstring in the lower end of the pocket. 
A mosquito-net lining is secured on the lower inside 
portion of the net, and hangs a foot beloAv it, in order 
that it may have sufficient slack to insure the outer net 
taking the strain of towing. An ordinary surface net 
Avith 12-inch hoop and a silk-gauze bag, 20 inches in 
length, is suspended in the mouth of the larger net 
by four bridles of small stuff secured to the ring ; it 
is intended to collect minute forms that might pass 
through the coarser material of the large net. A 21-inch 
manila rope bridle Avith four legs is secured at e(]ual dis- 69.— improved surface tow 
tauces around the ring, and a 3-inch rope hitched through the bight is used for toAv 
