17G BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



In 1877, the Commissioner and his staff were summoned to Halifax 

 to serve as witnesses and experts before the Halifax Fishery Commission, 

 then charged with the settlement of the amount of compensation to be 

 paid by the United States for the privilege of participating in the fish- 

 eries of the provinces. The information at that time available concern- 

 ing the fisheries was found to be so slight and imperfect that a plan for 

 systematic investigation of th esubject was arranged and partially under- 

 taken. The work was carried on for two seasons with some financial 

 aid from the Department of State. In 1879 an arrangement was made 

 with the Superintendent of the Tenth Census, who agreed to bear a part 

 of the expense of carrying out the scheme in full. Some thirty trained 

 experts are now engaged in the preparation of a statistical report on the 

 present state and the past history of the fisheries of the United States. 

 This will be finished next year, but the subject will hereafter be contin- 

 ued in monographs upon separate branches of the fisheries, such as the 

 Halibut Fishery, the Mackerel Fishery, the Shad Fishery, the Cod 

 Fishery, the Herring Fishery, the Smelt Fishery, and various others of 

 less importance. 



Hundreds and even thousands of specimens of a single species are 

 often obtained. After those for the National Museum have been selected, 

 a great number of duplicates remain. These are identified, labeled and 

 made up into sets for exchange with other museums and for distribution 

 to schools and small museums. This is in accordance with the time- 

 honored usage of the Smithsonian Institution, and is regarded as an 

 important branch of the work. Several specialists are employed solely 

 in making up these sets and in gathering material required for their 

 completion. Within three years fifty sets of fishes in alcohol, including 

 at least ten thousand specimens, have been sent out, and fifty sets of 

 invertebrates, embracing one hundred and seventy-five species and two 

 hundred and fifty thousand specimens. One hundred smaller sets of 

 representative forms are intended for educational purposes, to be given 

 to schools and academies, are now being prepared. 



The arrangement of the invertebrate duplicates is in the charge of 

 Mr. Richard Eathbun; of the fishes, in that of Dr. T. H. Bean. 



Facilities have also been given to many institutions for making 

 collections on their own behalf. 



Six annual reports have been published, with an aggregate of o,C50 

 pages. These cover the period from 1871 to 1878. Many ] tapers relat- 

 ing to the work have been published elsewhere — particularly descriptions 

 of new species and results of special fauna! exploration. 



AN EPITOME OF TTIE HISTORY OF THE COMMISSION. 



1871. 



The Commissioner, with a party of zoologists, established the first 

 summer station at Wood's noil, Mass., other assistants being engaged 

 in a similar work at Cape Hatteras and the Great Lakes. He also 



