458 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
proved entirely satisfactory, and the results of both trials were eminently successful, 
A loose packing of moist rock-weed was placed about the lobsters, which were carried 
in open trays, and the temperature of their surroundings was kept as nearly as possi- 
ble between 42° and 45° Fahr. The shipment consisted of both males and females, 
and both sexes were planted in each locality. The lobsters were in excellent condi- 
tion when returned to the sea, and unless some mishap shall befall them, they will 
probably be heard from again. In addition to the adult lobsters, 102,000 active 
embryos were planted off Monterey and 2,000 in San Francisco Bay. 
The accounts of the five shipments are given below. 
EXPLANATION OF THE CHART COMPARING THE TEMPERATE RE AT SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AND 
VINEYARD SOUND, MASSACHUSETTS. 
This chart represents by curved lines the average surface aud bottom temperature at San Francisco, 
California, for six years (1878, and 1882 to 1886, inclusive) and the surface temperature at Vineyard 
Sound light-ship, Massachusetts, for seven years (1881 to 1887, inclusive!. The San Francisco temper- 
atures are shown by the continuous lines, the heavier line corresponding to the surface temperature and 
the lighter one to the bottom temperature. Only surface temperatures were taken at the Vineyard 
Sound light-ship, as indicated by the line composed of dashes. 
The construction of the chart scarcely requires explanation. It is divided by the heavy vertical 
lines into ten-day periods, with the exception of one flfteeii-day period at the end of the year. The 
interspaces between the horizontal lines represent, each, one degree Fahrenheit. The temperature 
curves are drawn with reference to the lighter vertical lines in the middle of each ten-day period, 
and are based upon the mean reductions of ten days’ observations in each year. At San Francisco one 
observation was taken daily, so that each point with reference to which the curves are drawn repre- 
sents sixty observations for the six years. In the case of Vineyard Sound light-ship, however, where 
two observations were taken daily for the seven years, each point is the equivalent of one hundred aud 
forty observations. 
The temperatures at Vineyard Sound light-ship for January, February, and the first part of March 
are omitted on account of the occasional erroneous reading of the thermometer during that period. 
Vineyard Sound light-ship is anchored on the western side of the southern entrance to Vineyard 
Sound, Massachusetts, about 2^ miles southwest by west of Cuttyhuuk Island, in a depth of 15 fathoms. 
The temperature observations were taken by the light-house keepers. Important lobster fisheries have 
been carried on in this region for many years. At San Francisco the observations were made by an 
observer of the Signal Service at different wharves along the bay front, as follows: Foot of Vallejo 
street, foot of Washington street, foot of Jackson street, and foot of Broadway, the depth of water 
varying from 15 to 42 feet according to the locality and the state of the tide. 
FIRST TRIAL— JUNE, 1873. 
The first attempt to carry live lobsters to the Pacific coast was made in June, 1873, 
under the supervision of Mr. Livingston Stone, and in the joint interests of the State 
of California and the United States. The lobsters, one hundred and sixty-two in 
number, formed but a small part of the shipment, which consisted of several species 
of fresh-water aud marine’fishes from the eastern side of the continent. A fruit car, 
furnished by the Central Pacific Railroad Company, was specially fitted up for the 
purjiose with a large stationary fresh- water tank, a large ice chest, and tbe means of 
carrying an abundance of salt-water. The lobsters were contained in six large cases 
at one end of the car, but the manner of storing and caring for them is not described 
in Mr. Stone’s report. The specimens were obtained partly at the Boston market aud 
partly at Wood’s Holl, Massachusetts. The car left Charlestown, New Hampshire, 
where most of the fish had been brought together for convenience of shipment, June 3. 
