TRANSPLANTING OF LOBSTERS TO THE PACIFIC COAST. 
455 
yard Sound, farther to the eastward, has the same range of temperature. The region 
adjacent to Block Island, the Elizabeth Islands, and Martha’s Vineyard, is the most im- 
portant one for lobsters south of Cape Cod, and here the range of surface temperature 
as observed at Brenton’s Reef and Vineyard Sound light-ships is from about 32° to 
69° Fahr. 
At Pollock Rip light-ship, off the southern end of Cape Cod, the range is reduced 
to from 32° to 62° Fahr., and in the Gulf of Maine we find the same range by combin- 
ing the results of observations at all stations, although in some places tbe maximum 
is only 54° Fahr. 
For comparison with these observations we have continuous records for only two 
localities on the Pacific coast; namely, San Francisco, California, and Cape Disap- 
pointment, at the moufh of the Columbia River. At the former place the surface 
range is from about 51° to 61°, the bottom temperature being seldom more than a 
degree lower at any time ; at the latter the surface temperature ranged from 40.5° to 
65.75° and the bottom from about 42° to 65° The higher maximum at Cape Disap- 
pointment is due to the fact that the observations were taken in shallower water on 
the inner side of the cape, in the vicinity of Fort Canby ; they are also limited to a 
period of two years, while at San Francisco the records extend through six years. 
The lobsters transplanted to the Pacific coast in 1888 and 1889 were ail obtained 
in the Vineyard Sound region, and chiefly in the vicinity of Vineyard Sound light- 
ship. The shipment of 1888 was mostly planted at Monterey, California, about 75 
miles south of San Francisco, the balance g'ing to the vicinity of Trinidad light-house, 
in the same State, about 200 miles north of San Francisco. The water temperature 
at Monterey is probably not very different from that at San Francisco, while Trinidad 
light-house is intermediate in position between San Francisco and Cape Disappoint- 
ment. At both of these observing stations the records indicate ranges of temperature 
falling within those of the New England coast, and therefore presumably favorable 
to the existence of lobsters. 
In order to furnish the means of readily comparing the New England water tem- 
peratures with those of northern California we have introduced a graphic chart (Plate 
LXX) on which the temperature curves for San Francisco and the Vineyard Sound 
light-ship are plotted conjointly. The description of the chart will be found at the end 
of this introduction. By reference to the chart it will be seen that the temperature is 
far more equable at San Francisco than in Vineyard Sound, having a range of only 
about 10° in the one case and of over 30° in the other, The yearly range at San Fran- 
cisco corresponds to that in Vineyard Sound from May 20 to the last of June and from 
the first part of October to the middle of November, seasons during which the lob- 
sters are on the in-shore grounds, the former being also the regular hatching season. 
In case lobsters become coloni zed on the coast of northern California it will therefore 
be interesting to observe if tbe more eqnable temperature of that region has any influ- 
ence in bringing about a chr age in their customary habits. Will their off-shore migra- 
tions be less pronounced and their breeding season prolonged ? Another matter which 
this temperature comparison suggests is as to whether the more severe cold of the 
Eastern winters is essential to their welfare or not. There is nothing to prove the case 
one way or the other, but the fact that lobsters seek shelter from the extreme cold 
would rather indicate that they might not suffer from its absence. An additional ques- 
tion of interest to the biologist concerns the effect upon the existing fauna of the intro- 
