166 proceedings: biological society 



tion to the consumer through exploitation by the Bureau of Fisheries. 

 He then described the dogfish and its habits destructive to other fish 

 and the losses caused by it to fishermen. He told of the efforts now- 

 being made by the Bureau of Fisheries to market the dogfish as a 

 food. Under the name of grayfish it is now being successfully canned 

 and marketed by some of the New England fisheries and, during the 

 winter months when salmon are unattainable, by some of the salmon 

 canneries on the Pacific coast. The canned meat not only consti- 

 tutes one of the cheapest forms of protein now available, but the livers 

 of the dog-fish yield a valuable oil; the oviducts, eggs; and the skin a 

 leather which has many possibilities. Discussion by Messrs. Ames, 

 Bean, and Doolittle. 



W. L. McAtee: Showers of organic matter. Under this heading 

 Mr. McAtee gave a review of the various apocryphal and authentic 

 instances in which hay, grain, various insects, encysted animalcules, 

 worms, frogs, toads, fishes, and birds had fallen from the sky. The 

 explanation was offered that the objects had been carried aloft by 

 violent currents of air. 



The 565th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of 

 the Cosmos Club, Saturday, February 10, 1917; called to order at 8 

 p.m. by President Hay; 30 persons present. 



Two formal communications were presented: 



H. F. Taylor: A mortality of fishes on the ivest coast of Florida. 

 During the months of October and November, 1916, by some ob- 

 scure cause, vast numbers of fishes were killed in the region mentioned. 

 It appears to be a recurrence of the phenomenon observed in 1844, 1854, 

 1878, 1880, 1882, 1883 and 1908. Of the dead fishes 63 species, repre- 

 senting 37 families, were identified. The animals killed were confined, 

 with the exception of king crabs, sea urchins, and sponges, to the class 

 Pisces. Various suggested causes were examined; foul Everglade water, 

 diseases, and volcanic eruptions are inadequate explanations. Evidence 

 at hand seems rather to show that the cause of mortality was the 

 release of occluded bottom gases by small seismic disturbances, or 

 possibly by abnormally large numbers of Peridinii. Mr. Taylor's pa- 

 per was illustrated by lantern slide views of the region involved and 

 of strips of shore showing the large numbers of stricken fishes. His 

 paper was discussed by Messrs. Hay, Bartsch, Goldman, Radcliffe, 

 and others. 



Paul Bartsch: Changes in the avifauna about Burlington, Iowa, 

 1885 to 1917. From 1885 to 1893 Dr. Bartsch was resident of Bur- 

 lington and an enthusiastic bird collector. In the ideal conditions 

 found for birds at Burlington he had recorded 275 species. Since 

 1893 he has been a sporadic visitor to Burlington but has always re- 

 tained his interest in the local avifauna. Passenger pigeons, Caro- 

 lina parakeets, whooping and sandhill cranes, and trumpeter swans 

 were found about Burlington, but are no longer seen. The same is 

 true of the Mississippi kite, the swallow-tailed kite, wild turkey, and 



