A geological survey of Panama (1913)

The general plan of the surrey comprises a systematic study of the physiography, stratigraphy and structural geology, geologic history, geologic correlation, mineral resources (including coal, oil, and other fields), petrography and paleontology of the Canal Zone, and of as much of the adjacent areas of the Isthmian region as is feasible.

Descriptions of new mammals from Panama and Mexico

Further study of the collection of mammals taken by the writer while detailed from the Biological Survey, U.S. Department of Agriculture, to the Smithsonian Biological Survey of the Panama Canal Zone has resulted in the discovery of eleven new species and subspecies in addition to those already published...(Document contains 22 pages.)

Report on fresh-water copepoda from Panama, with descriptions of new species

These collections were made by Meek and Hildebrand, in connection with their work on fishes in the seasons of 1911 and 1912, by Goldman in 1912, and by Marsh who was present in Panama for four weeks in 1912 for the express purpose of making such collections. Most of the collections were made within the limits of the Canal Zone. A few collections were made in eastern Colombia, some on Rio Bayana and its tributaries, some on the Chagres and Trinidad outside the Zone and some in the neighborhood of Chorrera and of old Panama... (Document has 33 pages)

Two new subspecies of birds from the slopes of Mount Pirri, eastern Panama

The two subspecies described below were part of the rich collection made by E. A. Goldman in Eastern Panama, during the season of 1912, while engaged in the Smithsonian Biological Survey of Panama. Other new birds from this collection were described in a recent paper...(Document contains 4 pages)

New species of fishes from Panama

The fishes described in the following pages were collected by the authors in the fresh waters of Panama, while engaged in field work on the Biological Survey of the Canal Zone; the ichthyological work of which is being conducted cooperatively by the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum of Natural History and the Bureau of Fisheries. A complete account of all the fishes collected during the past two years on this survey is in the course of preparation. (Document contains 16 pages)

Resúmenes de Conferencias y Mesas

La División de Zoología de Vertebrados de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata y la Secretaria de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación a través de su Proyecto Marino Patagónico, han tomado esta responsabilidad con el convencimiento de la necesidad de contar con nuevos escenarios para el encuentro de profesionales de la especialidad. El intercambio de experiencias desde las distintas especialidades, el reconocimiento de las fortalezas y debilidades para el desarrollo de proyectos, el intercambio de ideas sobre los vacíos de información y la disponibilidad de recursos financieros, constituyen algunos de los elementos esenciales para el fortalecimiento de la investigación y el desarrollo tecnológico nacional y regional. (PDF tiene 28 paginas.)

Biological survey of the Panama Canal Zone (1912)

At first it was intended to confine the collections to the Canal Zone proper, but as the faunal and floral areas extended to the north and south of this region, it was decided to carry the work into the Republic of Panama, a step which met with the hearty approval of that Republic. The work accomplished has been very valuable to science, including collections and observations of vertebrate animals, land and fresh water mollusks, and plants, including flowering plants, grasses and ferns. Special attention will be given during the coming season to vertebrate animals, insects, crustaceans, rotifers and other minute freshwater animals, and also to the microscopic plants known as diatoms. Includes appendix of papers that resulted.

Letter and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz: The 1891 Albatross Expedition

Presented here is another in the list of historic accounts of iconic research cruises of the USFC Steamer Albatross, this a reminiscence of the renowned scientist Alexander Agassiz edited by his son G. R. Agassiz, a chapter from the volume “Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz,” published in 1913. Agassiz made three major cruises in the Albatross in 1891, 1899–1900, and 1904–05, adding greatly to the world’s store of specimens and knowledge of thalasography, his favored term for oceangraphy, and specifically of the Pacific Ocean. Having made important cruises and studies with the Blake in the Caribbean, he sought to do comparable research in the Pacific. His opportunity came in 1890, and with the consent of President Benjamin Harrison, he took charge of this Albatross research cruise, paying much of the expense himself. In contrast with the other ships he had been on, he found the laboratories, equipment, and furnishings to be comparatively luxurious and extremely well appointed for his work. Further, the Albatross was then captained by Lieutenant Commander Zera Luther Tanner who seemed to take as much interest in the oceanographic research as did the scientists, and Agassiz appreciated working with him, too. Little of the original text has been altered, and readers are cautioned that some of the views expressed may reflect unfortunate prejudices of that era toward individuals, nationalities, etc.

John Nathan Cobb (1868–1930): Founding Director of the College of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle

John Nathan Cobb (1868–1930) became the founding Director of the College of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, in 1919 without the benefit of a college education. An inquisitive and ambitious man, he began his career in the newspaper business and was introduced to commercial fisheries when he joined the U.S. Fish Commission (USFC) in 1895 as a clerk, and he was soon promoted to a “Field Agent” in the Division of Statistics, Washington, D.C. During the next 17 years, Cobb surveyed commercial fisheries from Maine to Florida, Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska for the USFC and its successor, the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. In 1913, he became editor of the prominent west coast trade magazine, Pacific Fisherman, of Seattle, Wash., where he became known as a leading expert on the fisheries of the Pacific Northwest. He soon joined the campaign, led by his employer, to establish the nation’s first fisheries school at the University of Washington. After a brief interlude (1917–1918) with the Alaska Packers Association in San Francisco, Calif., he was chosen as the School’s founding director in 1919. Reflecting his experience and mindset, as well as the University’s apparent initial desire, Cobb established the College of Fisheries primarily as a training ground for those interested in applied aspects of the commercial fishing industry. Cobb attracted sufficient students, was a vigorous spokesman for the College, and had ambitions plans for expansion of the school’s faculty and facilities. He became aware that the College was not held in high esteem by his faculty colleagues or by the University administration because of the school’s failure to emphasize scholastic achievement, and he attempted to correct this deficiency. Cobb became ill with heart problems in 1929 and died on 13 January 1930. The University soon thereafter dissolved the College and dismissed all but one of its faculty. A Department of Fisheries, in the College of Science, was then established in 1930 and was led by William Francis Thompson (1888–1965), who emphasized basic science and fishery biology. The latter format continues to the present in the Department’s successor, The School of Aquatic Fisheries and Science.

Charts of Maryland oyster survey, 1906-1912

Historical survey maps of Maryland oyster bars, crab bottoms, and clam beds, by county and watershed. PDF includes two index maps and forty-two survey maps scanned from microfilm.

Bibliografía ictiológica del Delta del Paraná.

El Delta del Paraná es una región inconmensurable, mágica, llena de misterios y leyendas cuyos primeros registros históricos comienzan a partir del Siglo XVI (Athor, 2014). Liborio Justo en la introducción de “El Carapachay dice…”durante siglos, el Delta fue para la capital del país, a pesar de su vecindad, una tierra incógnita en la que jamás puso su atención, ni se preocupó en conocer ni ocupar, no obstante los beneficios que de ella recibía” agregando, ”…la primacía en la descripción del Delta del Paraná, desde el punto de vista literario, corresponde a Marcos Sastre quien, según Sarmiento fue el primer hombre culto que aplicó el raciocinio a la realidad y vio en las islas terrenos adaptables a la industria”. Este autor también comenta que, Santiago J. Albarracín (pariente de Sarmiento) dice “Apareció el Sr. Sarmiento y fue el primero de los publicistas que emprendió la propaganda de hacer poblar las islas”. Por sus características lo podríamos considerar como un “laboratorio a gran escala”, ya que en su “interior” suceden fenómenos físicos y biológicos que lo hacen único, en un área relevante de la Región Neotropical. No obstante, salvo casos puntuales, recién a partir de 1990 se han incrementado y tienen la continuidad necesaria diferentes líneas de investigación, principalmente, desde el Grupo de Investigaciones sobre Ecología de Humedales. Este fue dirigido en un principio por la ya fallecida Ana I. Malvárez y hoy se encuentra dentro del Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental (3iA) de la UNSAM liderado por Rubén Quintana. En este número, prosiguiendo con la política de difusión que hemos venido realizando hace más de treinta años desde el Instituto de Limnología “R. A. Ringuelet” (ILPLA) y la División Zoología Vertebrados del Museo de La Plata, aportamos una bibliografía ictiológica sobre esta particular área de nuestro territorio. Como dato histórico y curioso, podemos mencionar que el primer aporte formal en el Delta, sobre este grupo de vertebrados, surge desde la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, a través de un trabajo publicado en 1913 por el arqueólogo y etnógrafo Luis M. Torres del Museo de La Plata. Sin embargo, a pesar de nuestra experiencia en búsqueda de información, quizá pueda haber quedado algún incunable o trabajo moderno en un “agujero negro”. Si se diera esta situación, pedimos las disculpas del caso.