88 Proceedings of Societies. = ——« [ZOE 
manner, but the severe criticisms of Dr. T. A. Gill eventually drove 
him out of the work. Sas aaa 
Dr. W. P. Gibbons, of Alameda, about the year 1854, became » 
interested in the most unique feature of the ichthyology of the Pacific 
—viviparous fish. Some twenty species of viviparous surf fish are 
known from the Pacific Coast of America, and with the exception of 
two others found in Japan, form a unique group. Dr. Gibbons de- 
scribed all the species he knew, but at about the same time Prof. 
Louis Agassiz received specimens which he also described. Much 
difficulty and confusion has thus resulted in regard to the priority 
of names, although in the majority of instances it has been determ- 
ined that Agassiz had priority of date. Agassiz also published the 
first descriptions of many species of fish from Washington and 
Oregon, although he never visited the coast himself. 
Dr. Charles Girard, who was connected with the Smithsonian In- 
stitution, also described a number of the viviparous fish, which 
served to increase still further the difficulty of establishing priority 
of names. 
Allusion was next made to the work of Dr. J. G. Cooper, who was 
present at the meeting. Dr. Cooper began work in 1856, on the 
fishes collected on the Geological Survey, mostly from the southern 
part of the State, and much of the early investigations in that region 
were due to him. He described, among other things, the most 
vicious of the sting-rays from the harbor of San Diego, naming it 
after a young boy who had the honor of being the first person 
known to be stung by it. 
The Pacific Railrord> survey was finished early in the fifties, and 
the fishes were described by Dr. Charles Girard, a pupil of Agassiz. 
Despite his unusually good facilities in the way of specimens and 
books, he did no really good work. He described a vast majority 
of the fishes of the coast, but in a very wooden way which proved a 
great set-back to the study of ichthyology. Girard indeed did all 
a man could do to make it difficult to determine the trout. 
Andrew Garet was at the Academy at about this time, but he did 
no work on the fish of this coast excepting the description of one 
new species from Mexico. He contributed some valuable additions - 
to our knowledge of the fishes of the Sandwich Islands, however. 
George Suckley, a surgeon in the War Department, was stationed 
in Washington and Oregon, and supplemented the work of Girard 
