The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-07-24
FISHES OF THE DEEP.
Results Of the Naturalists'
Dredging Expedition.
PECULIAR FORMS OF SEA LIFE.
The Members u the society Returned
Yesterday Frsm Their Camp
ae Mass Mats.


lamp Mats MATS July - ms
since the last letter PERTAINING 10
natural htstery being done by the AMI
mai marine expedition of the Youas Nat
uralisss Society We have been de-
voting ourselves to shore work almost
entirely Mats Mats hay itself has rrovei
disappointment. The exploration there
required but one day. We took both boats
and oar entire crew 10 the hay ard ex-
antned the shores and rocks In the
throat or entrance Of the bay. Much
sea life WAS present. OF course. but il
consists OF the more common forms found
al along the Sound The seine was twice
drawn with very little success compared
with the success OF the drauxhss made on
tno outer shore az our camp
The points or head rocks at the narrow
entrance or the bay proved much more
attractive and az one OF our lowest tides
We obtained a grea. amount Of good ma
terialS for the natural history labora-
tories OK the university OF Washington. IS
well rs some marine worms. rock pool
nshes. crustaceans. and Jelly fishes that
ara valuable In science on account OF
their having been but few of them ever
taken before. In fact. several Jelly Ashes
have been taken this year that win un-
coubfedly prove rev TO science. Very
little work has been done on the Puget
sound jelly fishes. and II Is altogether
likely that number of new species win
Do found when they are more closely
studied and compared with the forms al
ready known and described. The same
thing Is true with the smaller crusta-
ceans.
Mr.. Kincaid has succeeded through ex-
perimsnts with formaiin. alcohol. giycer-
Inc and other preparations In preserving
most beautifully even so delicate struet-
ure as the Jelly fish. Lack of proper pre-
servatives has been the greatest drawback
IN the work of past years, bat the labor
atory al Mats Mats with Kincaid en-
throned therein as sort OF patient. hard
working king, Is a picture to attract any
lover OF nature.
Here are Jars of the rarest little fishes
bright and sparkling as though stin in the
sea water. sea anemones and holoshuriaEs
with their brilliant tentacles ali expanded.
shells. each one a gem. al classified in
separate Walls. Jelly fishes floating In their
Jars as natural as life. great numbers OF
star fishes OF various kinds cured in for
malin and dried in the sun with every par
ticle OF the bodies intact. chitons cured in
much the same way. except that the
feshy foot has been removed. Large gal
vanized iron tanks are filed with wealth
OF materials that will keep Prof. HiIrs
classes In natural history busy during the
next year.
10 snow the patience required 10 get
perfect specimens of these marine forms
for class room or museum purposes, I will
describe the process OF preparing the COM
monest holothurian. the sea cucumber.
Ths animal Is carefully taken from his
homo under the rocks and kept In a pan
filed With fresh sea water until his beau
fiful biossom-Ike tcntacles are fully ex-
banded. Then Epson salts. or magnesium
sulphate. Is added In small quantities un-
I'll the animal dies In an expanded or
blossofned condition. Then formaiin Is
added in small drops 10 harden and pre-
serve the animal. As soon as the required
hardness OF the tissues Is obtained the ami
NAL Is transformed into It's permanent Jar
OF 2 per cent. formaln. Here another
difficulty must be overcome. The animal
at once settles down to the bottom Of
the jar AMI assumes q wrinkfed position.
J This Is prevented by adding g.ycerine un-
I'll the specific gravity OF the liquid Is In
creased sufficiently 10 cause the animal TO
float midway from top TO bottom OF the
Jar. The specimen is then completed.
This same process is required for the sea
ancmone, with the addition of much great
or care and patience, as the animal Is
more sensitive and much more difficult 10
handle. The EPSON salts simply puts the
animals into a sleep from which they
never awaken. It acts on all sea life much
land animals. This discovery. together
with the use of formalin has increased
the possibilities OF scientific work with
sea forms beyond all computation as COM
pared with the older and cruder methods
Mr.. Kincaid has also experimental with
the use OF sea water instead OF fresh wat .
err for the dilution OF the formalin prepar-
alton. and. for certain Jelly fishes. the re-
sui: is nos only satisfactory, Il Is simply
wonderful The delicate little globes OF
transparent Jelly floats in the Jar and
remains just as beautiful as when taken
from the sea
OF course the best time TO collect on
shore Is at the lowest tides, and for the
last three days the lowest tides have been
at T. and 9 o'clock respectively. whieh has
necessitated a grand scramble at unusn-
ally early hours for some members OF the
party. Prof. HIN encouraged the party ons
morning with the following little poem
which he remembered from his boyhood
days:
II hate a man who loves bis ease,
Who'd bait his hook with bits % cheese
And In the barnyard fish for fieas
Give me the man who never qnails.
who'd bait his hook with tiger sars
And In the breakers fish for whales"
I. is not known yet whether any Of the
fishes caught IA the seine are new species
and this win not be known until the COLI
lection Is carefully worked over. The set
line has not proved successful One ORA w.
back seems TO be the presence OF a number
Of seals in the BAY. A number OF the hooks
have been carried away ard In some cases
the fishes caught would be eaten or tbs
hooks, their heads alone besng left as a
reminder OF their unwilling visit and
their more unwilling departure. A large
number OF the common Gog-fsh were
taken on fhs eef-lins. A considerable sup
ply Of these little sharks are preserved
for laboratory study. as they are one Of
the most interesting forms obtained IN
this vicinity. It's scientific name is sgualna
snekln. and it IL found ali along the west
coast OF America It's brain makes an In
sSresffng study in the laboratory aud the
two sorsai sDines show this little shark
10 be descended from the old geologic
Hays There are only three or four species
OF sharsxs OF the present day which have
retained this characteristic OF th4 old
fossil forms and the dog-hsh Is one Of
them.
ON. series Of the fishes being collected
on TITS expedition by Edwin G. Sfarks os
stanford university. will be ssat 90 the
british Museum and another series will
GO 20 the National Museum at Vienna
besides a quantity fer the laboratories and
museum OF Stanford university.
Plans are already formulating for next
wears expedition. which will most likely
be- on larger scaie. The Young Natural
tsss s9siety ard the University % WASH
sn~taa has succeeded 80 wei IN these ex-
petitions that the work win be pushed on
each year
This "a the last DAY In our camp and all
are busy packing ap a. We expect the
steamer early tomorrow morning. ard
rks tire osd-fashfoned camper ~. al ex-
recs 10 go home for rest after our outing.
= s. ~.