The Portland daily press., 1886-08-13

water constantly changed by means rs mt nj in in
phons When large enough, ehoy ish like
the ocean wherever we choose. AZ nsi' n4 ~
h Ilin aIways return to their birthplace 70
Law their eggs when they can, IL WouluTW VIZ uo
fair to put them all in the water mere VIE ae
ward Sounds fisheries would DC III iuStIy
and fishermen elsewhere Woulu noe ~ - Je the
treated Last winter we sent cou W o,l4
Gulf of Mexico, and in the past we nave se ~
them to almost every part OF Inc A this ser-
coast. We have three fish cars for this SCI
vice. The chief kinds of fish we nave tla HaI
ported have been carp, shad, whitehSh' 0"i
mon and mackerel. +ba
work of nature better than nature can 40 w.
and in the matter of fish. if we could not as
sist nature there would be no need OF nsn
commission. Our aid consists in saving eggSsS
usually lay 100000 eggs. From single
1OO-pound cod there have been known TO De
taken 5000, GOO eggs, but the average is not
over 100000. In the natural process OF fer,
tilization not over 10000 of these are reached
by the fertilizing milt.
At first the cod is nothing but shapeless
bag of gelatinous matter 1t is Six weeks
before the fish is big enough to protect Itself
and evade the attacks OF enemies. When II
is Matched it is only an eighth of an men
long. AS the young cod are the favorlte 1000 q
of all other kinds of sea fish, very few OF
them come to maturity. It is possible that
one or two thousand out of million survive.
In artificial propagation there is practical
ly no loss. Out of 100000 probably $4,000
are saved. If you can furnish to the water
as many fish from one cod as nature can
from 10000 or 100000, it does not take many
fish to make big impression on the fish
supply.
1t is the same thing with the lobster. There
are not today per cent of the Holsters that
there were thirty years ago. 1t is our en-
deavor to make up for this In the case OF
the lobster we take the already fortified
eggs from the female lobster and protect
them till the young are big enough to look
out for themselves. We can go to the lobster
mothers before they are boiled; then the
mothers are thrown into the pot and nothing
| is lost. but the eggs are saved to furnish
more Holsters
We do the same in the South with the blue
| crab. We have been experimenting recently
| in the artificial propagation of the oyster
| and we think we have solved the problem o.
a permanent supply of oysters.
Formerly the work of the commission was
entirely devoted to fresa Tat ats pfSSbba &
of cod. The work was begun in 1879 a
| Gloucester, where we were moderately sue
cessful, but on account of the foul water o.
the harbor only % or 30 per cent. of the egg
were Matched. The water for such pur
| pose as this must be perfectly pure sea wa
ter, and as saline as any in the ocean, no
should it be stagnant. After searching al
along the New England coast from Long Is
| land Sound to EaStport, we decided tina
right here was the very best place for ou
station. Here you see we are on the poin
| of the main land between BuZZard'S Ba,
and Vineyard Sound. The rise of the tide
differs in the two bodies of water, and 81
for the greater part of the day there is
| powerful current running from the bay t,
the sound or the sound to the bay, through
the narrow channel between this point ant
Naushon Island over yonder. Sometimes
think the water boils and bubbles through
here with greater fury than through Hell
Gate before the rocks were blasted out 1t i
8rated almost like soda water and has n
sediment 1t is perfectly saline, for there i
hardly fresh water spring within five mile
of Woods Holl. We have here safe haI
Dor with eighteen feet of water at the doc
at low tide. Moreover, we are handy to tn
railroad station
This i S more than mere Matching station
1t is the headquarters of important study an
research. In the laboratory are desks TO
study the habits of the living fishes TIL
whole force of the establishment mot includ
ing the sailors) is from thirty-fivc to fort
men, and among them are several YER
skilled in natural history. In summer time
too, there come professors and students froI
many colleges to work and learn under Prot
Baird.
In the room on the first floor of the labora
tory building is the Matching apparatu;
which was designed by Capt. Chester, tn
Arctic explorer, who died but few days ag
at Noank Conn; at the time of his death
was superintendent of this station.
In the same room are aquaria, in which ar
curious fish, and other inhabitants of tn
deep. Here, for instance, is an aquarium
with nothing in it apparently but water an
a sandy bottom. If an attendant will get
stick and poke something that looks like
mound in the sand, it will shake and shivel
and you will learn how an English sole be
hayes himself. In another aquarium 20
will see squid, which will not have an
children till she gets so used to her priso
and her surroundings that she becomes pei
fectly contented.
The comedy steamer Albatross was bull
at Wilmington, Del, in 1882, especially flo
the purposes Of the commission She is G
1856 tons register and 1900 tons displacement
and when with full complement carrie
SlXty-eght men and nine officers. Th
steamer is used for exploring the depths c
the sea by means of dredge and soundin
line She has quarters for the naturalist
who, whenever they have finished with on
batch OF discoveries and experiments, go OF
and get material for another
The sounding is done by means of an il
teresting machine which lets out at the raj
of 100 fathoms minute wire, on the en-
of which is a sixty-pound shot and cylir
der. When the shot strikes the bottom a
automatic trip lets it go, and the cylindt
takes sample of the water and the so
down there. A themometric arrangeme1
registers the heat. Depths of 1000 fathon
have been reached from the Albatross; an,
thing between that and 1000 fathoms the
call deep sea sounding; less than 1000 fail
oms is shoal water 1t takes nearly an hot
to make one deep sea sounding.
The dredge is more cumbersome affai
1t is pulled by a wire three-eighths of a
inch in diameter, with breaking tension
$4,000 pounds. TO guard against snappin
the wire should the dredge meet with an
obstruction, there is an arrangement of SIP
raj and rubber springs on the foremost II
dredge brings up from 1900 to 1000 pounds
! material. Though the English steam'
Challenger has made the greater sounding
the Albatross has reached the greater dept
: with the dredge, 2949 fathoms which too
400 fathoms of dredge rope. The Albatro:
is twin screw steamer, and by turning tt
screws in opposite directions can turn roun
in her length; this is necessary sometimes
save the dredge rope from breaking whe
the dredge runs on some obstruction.
The commission has another steamer,
the present time in Chesapeake bay, whiC
is really a floating Matching house. I'll
; naturaliStS live aboard her all the time,
that just as soon as she drops anchor the
are ready for work.
Other work of the commission of purel
natarn IL - Al