The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-09-13
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For II years the work of studying
and collecting specimens of the rare
varieties of fish in the Bermuda
waters has been carried on by zoolo-
gists of the United States, and now
1t is proposed to establish perma
nent station to carry on this work so
that within a few years every city OF
considerable size in this country
should be able to have an aquarium
fish life for the entertainment and edl-
fication of the many who would visit
such place. In fact such permanent
station would in time prove as yalu-
able to America as the famous
Naples station in the Mediterranean
is for Europe. According to the plans
now under way the station will be es-
tablished at the Flats, at the juno
ton of the Harrington reefs, where
the fish abound, and Castle Harbor,
which affords a remarkably fine col
lecting ground. Contributions for the
station have been made by several
Americans The colonial government
of Bermuda is friendly toward the
project and the prospects for the sta
ton seem very bright.
The success of the work thus far
during the IL summers in which tenn
porary stations have been maintained
has surpassed the expectations OF the
biologists who entered the field as an
experiment. The scientific results
have been remarkable, in some re-
spects epochal. The collections have
trebled the known number of crusta-
noderms (the species including the
star fishes, sea urchins, etc. and
greatly increased the numbers in 9th
er lines. Moreover, the work at the
station has given great impetus to
similar biological work generally, as is
evidenced by the fact that dur
ing the last II years the number OF
known forms of marine animal life has
quadrupled.
Nor has the work been lacking in
its practical side of immediate inter
est to the layman. Since Prof. Charles
l.. Bristol, of New York university,
first began his collecting expeditions
to Bermuda in 1896 about 1900 live
fish, unknown in American waters,
have been brought from Bermuda
to enrich American aquariums. No
table collections have been shipped to
the New York city aquarium, to the
Pan-American exposition at Buffalo,
and the st. Louis exposition, to the
aquarium of the United States fish
commission at Washington, and to the
Detroit aquarium.
The collections have included a
wide variety of the gorgeously hued
finny denizens of the Bermuda waters,
ugly members of the octopus family,
and great morays, some of them sutfi-
GENTLY like the traditional sea serpent
to satisfy the most exacting seaside
hotel keeper.
incidentally, Prof Bristol has per-
fected the methods of shipping the
live tropical fish, which, on journeys
to the north, are extremely delicate
freight. Before Prof Bristol began
making his expeditions, the losses in
shipping fresh fish alive from Ber-
muda northward were so great as to
make such shipments practically pro-
hibitive. Only two unsuccessful at
tempts were made to bring the fish
north, and they were never repeated.
When the fish were carried beyond
the northern edge of the gulf stream
into the cold coast waters, they died
in great numbers. In the first expe-
ditions of Prof. Bristols party, the
losses were cut down to IL or Is per
cent. Now large consignments of fish
are shipped north with an average
loss of only three per cent. OF 300
fish shipped to st. Louis and trans
ferred in tank cars from New York,
only six died. Last year, 300 were
shipped to Detroit from Bermuda,
with a loss of ten. These records are
remarkable when it is considered that
the United States fish commission, in
shipping live fish, is satisfied to de-
liver two-thirds of them alive.
New York university began its ex-
peditions to Bermuda under the sug-
gestion of Prof. John ]. Stevenson,
who perceived while visiting there in
1896, the great facilities for biological
investigations. Prof. Stevenson inter-
ested alumni of the university in the
project and generously contributed
himself in order to make the first ex-
petition, in 1897, possible. Prof. Bris-
toll managed the expedition and a
small party of students accompanied
him.
The first expedition was thorough
success and served to develop tIe pos
sibi:ities for scientific study in Ber-