Fresh-Water Biological Stations: America's 



Example. 



By D. J. SCOUEFIELD. 



About two years ago Prof. Anton Fritsch, the veteran Bohemian 

 naturalist, called the attention of biologists in this country {Nat. 

 Sci. March 1897, p. 169) to some of the work being done on the 

 Continent in connection with the establishment of fresh-water biological 

 stations. It is now proposed to supplement Prof. Fritsch's article, 

 and thereby of course to enforce its moral that England is altogether 

 behind the times in the matter of fresh- water biological stations, 

 by giving a few details of the progress made in America in this 

 respect. 



It was in 1893 that the first serious attempt was made in the 

 United States to undertake detailed fresh -water biological work on 

 modern lines. In the summer of that year a small party of enthusiastic 

 naturalists, under the able leadership of Prof. J. E. Eeighard, and sup- 

 ported by the Michigan Fish Commission, established a temporary 

 biological station on Lake St. Clair. The work of the party was 

 directed towards the elucidation of the biology of the lake in all its 

 phases, with the practical end in view of discovering the actual facts 

 concerning the environment of the white fish, the yield of which in 

 the great lakes had been steadily diminishing, in spite of a large outlay 

 for artificial propagation. The outcome of the two months' work, 

 although not leading at once to any very definite practical result, was 

 very valuable from a scientific point of view, as may be seen by a 

 reference to the papers on the plankton and the different groups of the 

 fauna and flora of the lake published in the Bulletin of the Michigan 

 Fish Commission (see Nos. 8, 13, 16, and 17 of list appended). 



The next year (1894) saw a very considerable increase in the 

 amount of attention paid to fresh-water biology in America. The 

 enlightened Michigan Fish Commission again enabled a temporary 

 biological station to be maintained ; on this occasion at Charlevoix, 

 for the investigation of Lake Michigan. Excellent work was accom- 

 plished here by Prof. H. B. Ward and his companions, and a summary 



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