The Portland daily press., 1896-05-02


on Vessel of the Fish Commission,
Capt. Drake, of the U. S. Fish Com
mission steamer Albatross, now sta
sioned on the California coast, commando
a veritable flsherman's paradise, says thu
New York Times. The experiences of
the people aboard this craft have filled
many volumes of government reports
These experiences relate to the wonders
of the deep. They have to do with the
dsh and other specimens at depths OF
miles below the surface of the ocean
which even at this moment puzzle natu-
ralists, and belong to families OF life OF
which scientists know absolutely moth
ing. These strange products from the Do6'
tom Of the ocean are at once surrounded
by mystery of fascinating interest oo6h
DO the scientists and to the ordinary,
everyday layman alike. Anything IN
life's affairs in anyway imbued with the
elements of mystery at once arouses in
creased interest in the minds OF oil oo-
servers. Scientific discoveries during
the last decade have proved this repeated
Nv, Exceptional interest, however, is al
ways attached to the strange and never
before-heard-of things of the deep sea.
The workers on the Albatross long ago
demonstrated to the archaeological world
the existence of fish which swim about
easily ana enjoy life in such great ocean
depths that the volume of water above
them causes a pressure OF not hundreds
but thousands of tons to the square inch.
At the oceans surface it would require
a ships armor of the heaviest type to
withstand such an enormous pressure.
One of these fish that was structuraliy
weak, even in the slightest degree, could
not live for moment in the pressure
sufficient to crush them into shaPeless
mass in twinkling as effectually as
would q hundred-ton trip hammer,
should ii strike them squarely.
At these wonderful depths and amid
the strangest life now known TO man,
the dredge of the Albatross is operated
day and night when the ship is at sea-
The dredge is nothing more or less than
big scoop, which is dragged along the
surface of the ocean floor. So fascinating
is the work that even the oldest seaInen
aboard the Albatross, men who have seen
this dredge hoisted from the sea depths
thousands of times are always as eager
10 see it's contents the last time that it
BONES up to the surface as they were
many years ago.
This fascination is experienced by the
officers as we'll as by the men And it is
fl hi i- toll
that the seamen tell of strange finds are
sufficient to stimulate intense mental
speculation.
Not only does the dredge bring up liv-
ing things, but also things believed to
relate to by-gone ages-matrers of i'm
portanoe to anthropologists, biologists
and others, who learn from the records
imbedded in the earth's crust many les
sons that today she'd most powerful
light on the past, not only concerning
mankind, but also of the animal and
vegeta BILE kingdoms from almost the be-
ginning of life.
The dynamic force of the ocean is the
greatest rsnown. 1t wears away conti-
nents. The pulverizations gradually find
place on the lower levels of the ocean.
Here they are found by the dredge of the
Al atross.
Curiosities abound amid the oceans
debris. Bones of extinct forms of life are
found. Some of these bones are p1z-
Elers. A human skull was once found.
At least in shape it resembled human
skull. Imagine the establishment Of
the finders of this skull when on turnin G
it over they found on what would be
the back of a normal shaped skull SEQ
end face. There were the eyeless sockets
the nasal opening through the bone,
an, imbedded in the upper Jawbone. re-
manned tooth Tor two. These teeth
tsemed to be human molars. This twe
laced skull belonged to whatS
An anthropologist of distinction is
much puzzled over the find. Of course
this singular relic may be freak of ma
sure. 1t was found at depth of several
miles. How long this skull has been
Embedded in the ocean mud is a my stery.
Equally mystifying is the question as to
where the skull came from. 1t opens a
wide field for speculation. The fact
that this skull is that of mature being
S evidence that even if f reak of nature
6 had lived to maturity.
Within a few years in this country sur
geons have been amazed over human
babes possessed of one pair Of legs and
TWO we'll developed bodies joined to the
single pair of legs. But no instance of a
single mature human head having two
normal faces is on record. This skull
from the ocean is reported to be OF enor-
nous size. That, however, IS not
strange. 1t has been demonstrated by
anthropologists that prehistoric men
were beings with large skulls.
This double-faced skull was found oil
the coast of Alaska. 1t may, therefore.
after centuries of rest and of absolutely
perfect preservation in the ice of the
frozen, regions, have foupd it's way by
slow stages out into the open ocean, and
when Its icy casing was melted away by
the warm sea currents the wonderful
SKULL was precipitated into the great