BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 175 



In connection with the work of fish-culture much attention has been 

 paid to embryology. The breeding times and habits of nearly all of our 

 fishes have been studied, and their relations to water temperatures. 

 The einbryological history of a number of species, such as the cod, shad, 

 alewife, salmon, smelt, Spanish mackerel, striped bass, white perch, 

 and the oyster, have been obtained under the auspices of the commis- 

 sion, by Messrs. Brooks, Ryder, Scheeffer, Rice, and others. 



The introduction of new species in water in which they were previously 

 unknown is of special interest to the student of geographical distribution. 

 Through the agency of the commission the German carp has already 

 been placed in nearly every State and Territory, although the work of 

 distribution has onlyjust begun, and the tench (Tinea vulgaris) and the 

 golden orfe (Id us melanotics) have been acclimated; the shad has been 

 successfully planted in the Mississippi Valley and on the coast of Cali- 

 fornia, and the California salmon in the rivers of the Atlantic slope. 

 The maraena, or lake whitefish, of Europe has been introduced into a 

 lake of Wisconsin. It is not my purpose to speak of the great success 

 in restocking with shad and salmon several rivers in which the supply 

 was almost exhausted, and in planting the Schoodic salmon in numer- 

 ous lakes. As an act of international courtesy California salmon have 

 been successfully introduced into New Zealand and Germany. The 

 propagation work has increased in importance from year to year, as may 

 be seen by the constant increase in the amount of the annual appropria- 

 tion. A review of the results of the labors of the commission in increasing 

 the food supply of the country may be found in the annual reports, the 

 rude appliances of fish-culture in use ten years ago have given way to 

 scientifially devised apparatus, by which millions of eggs are hatched 

 where thousands were, and the demonstration of the possibility of stock- 

 ing rivers and lakes to any desired extent has been greatly strengthened. 

 This work was for six years most efficiently directed by the late Mr. 

 James W. Milner, and is now in charge of Maj. T. B. Ferguson, also 

 commissioner for the State of Maryland, by whom has been devised the 

 machinery for propagation on a gigantic scale, by the aid of steam, 

 which is now so successfully in use. 



The investigation of the statistics and history of the fisheries has per- 

 haps assumed greater proportion than was at first contemplated. One 

 of the immediate causes of the establishment of the commission was the 

 dissension between the line and net fishermen of Southern New England 

 with reference to laws for the protection of the deteriorating fisheries of 

 that region. The first work of Professor Baird, as Commissioner, was 

 to investigate the causes of this deterioration, and the report of that 

 year's work includes much statistical material. In the same year a 

 zoological and statistical survey of the great lakes was accomplished, 

 and various circulars were sent out in contemplation of the preparation 

 of monographic reports upon the special branches of the fisheries, some 

 of which have already been published. 



