226 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



ncnt breeding-grounds of this locust extend in one direction 

 across the entire breadth of the United States, and even pass 

 northward to the Upper Saskatchewan; and in the other 

 reach from the Sierra Nevada to the limits between plain 

 and prairie east of the Rocky Mountains. If this be true, 

 the district outside their breeding-grounds which they peri- 

 odically invade is a belt of country lying east of it, about 

 five degrees in width, and less than half as large as their 

 natural territory. 



The results attained by the commission during its first 

 year show conclusively the wisdom of its appointment, and 

 lead us to believe that it will be continued until the com- 

 plete history, habits, and distribution of this insect are 

 known. Only in this way can we expect to cope with so 

 terrible an enemy. 



The only other government commission coming within our 

 field is that of Fish and Fisheries, and of this it is simply 

 necessary to say that with its headquarters at Salem, Mass., 

 and subsequently at Halifax, it covered its usual routine of 

 research in marine zoology and ocean physics on the coasts 

 of Massachusetts and Nova Scotia. 



In this connection, however, mention should be made of 

 the Smithsonian explorations, on account of the intimate re- 

 lations of this institution to the government. 



The natural-history exploration of Alaska has for a long 

 time been a special object of interest with the Institution, 

 and as early as 1865 it induced the Western Union Tele- 

 graph Company, then at work in this region, to add to its 

 corps several skilled naturalists and collectors. Their la- 

 bors were directed by the Institution, and the results have 

 become part of the history of the progress of American sci- 

 ence. With the acquisition of Alaska in 1867, the special 

 operations of the Institution were renewed ; and, by the 

 hearty co-operation of various departments of the govern- 

 ment, additional results of great value have been secured. 



The most important contributions of late years have been 

 those furnished by Mr. Henry W. Klliott, special agent of the 

 Treasury Department, on the Pribylov Islands; by Mr. Will- 

 iam II. Dall, of the United States Coast Survey; and by 

 Messrs. Turner and Nelson, attached to the Signal Service 

 of the War Department. Mr. Lucien M. Turner, stationed 



