Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-01-15

the faculty determined to give the girls a | chance There were five professors in the crowd. and the rest were students. The yes sel was commanded by a capable navigator. | The expedition was absent three months and brought back enough material to fill a | freight car. In the stuff were sharkskins, turtle skeletons birds of the land and sea, specimens of vegetation and all sorts of | things that inhabit the ocean depths.
 | A large share of the spells was packed in alcohol in great tanks and soldered tight. | Many crinods were found. This is an ex- ceedingly rare animal, growing on the bot tom of the ocean on long stalk and look ing like a chrysanthemum It would hardly become the rage as floral decoration, how ever, as single specimens are often worth $60 apiece. The Hawkeyes cruised in the waters along the north coast of Cuba, | among the Tortugas and the Bahamas.
 A dredging outfit is not at all compli- | cated. A dredge consists of rectangle of iron, with a lip on two opposite sides, so | that the sand or mud will be scooped up. | Arms are placed on the other two sides, to which is fastened the rope by which the machine is dragged. A net covers the bot tom and suspends below it, fine enough to retain almost all the material, but still let the water pass through easily aud relieve | as much strain possible. The tangle DdTS dr0 du HI lpOTItuU dtlulUtOll bO uuo uleil- | sils of a modern dredging expedition. Hemp is untwisted, or teazed out, as the | process is called, and tied to an iron bar, | from which it hangs like a fringe. The | bar used by the party on the Emily was 5 | feet long, and pieces of rope feet in length were fastened to it. The tangle bar drags along the bottom of the sea, and the trailing strands of rope gather in their meshes great variety of objects
 The Emily used wire rope with which to haul the dredge and tangle bars. The rope was wound around q drum and kept well oiled, so that the metal would not corrode. The dredge is usually brought to the side of the vessel with a donkey engine, but the Iowa scientists did the work with their hands, manipulating crank. The dredge is put over the side and suffered to trail astern. A practiccd hand on the rope can tell when the machine is on the bottom, as the line vibrates when the dredge strikes an inequality. To dredge 200 fathoms, al most 300 fathoms of line are let out. The vessel moves 4 ,owly along, and in half an hour the hauling in is commenced. If this is done by hand, the labor is very fatiguing, as the strain on the dredge and the weight of the water are immense.
 When the dredge arrives at the surface, it is lifted over the side and is carefully sorted. Basket fish and stars and other sea forms are clinging to the arms and the last few feet of the rope and are picked off. The contents are dumped on piece of can vas, and the animals, etc., to be preserved are placed in tubs of sea water that have been prepared. Sometimes the dredge is turned inside out, and sometimes the bag unlaces at the bottom.
 The vessel is put on anothertack, so as to keep within prescribed area, and the dredge is thrown over again. Alcohol tanks are placed on the deck, and the ma terial from the last haul is carefully labeled with the number of the station and put in pickle. A book is necessary, in which each haul is numbered, the latitude and lonCi tude and the date written. The location of each haul is called station. Marine vege- tation is dried, and sea urchins are treated very often in the same way.
 Scientists greatly enjoy deep sea dredg- ing. The same excitement attends this operation as fishing There is always a chance that the dredge will bring up something strange, that we will catch a prize Out of the mouth of the dredge tumble funny fishes, grotesque crabs. sea horses and host of things that you have never before seen and never would have seen if you had not been present at their capture. As regards the casual observer, hauls made at 200 and 300 fathoms are much more interesting than those made at 2,000 and 1000, because atthe greater depths the mass of material is ooze, and the ami mals are soft and flabby and burst as soon as the pressure of the water is lessened. Three miles of salt water is a heavy weight.
 ED l.. SABIN.