THE PLANKTON OF FRESH WATER LAKES, 



ADDRESS OF THE EETIEING PRESIDENT, C. DWIGHT MARSH, A. M. 



Professor of Biologu, Ripon, Wis. 



For some years I have been interested in the subject of the 

 fauna of our fresh water lakes. This interest was first aroused 

 in regard to the animals of the deeper parts of the lakes. The 

 results of the explorations of the depths of the ocean were just 

 becoming known. I had read in the older works that while the 

 sea was densely populated along shore, and had what has be- 

 come to be known as a ^'pelagic" fauna and flora in the open sea, 

 remote from land, the depths were a barren region utterly de- 

 void of both animal and vegetable life. But later it had been 

 shown that there was, even in the greatest depths, a fauna, not 

 very abundant to be sure, but of great interest because of the 

 strange peculiarities of some of the forms. With others I was 

 profoundly interested in this work, and it lead me to conjecture 

 whether there was not a field for investigation in the deeper 

 waters of our lakes. At that time very little had been done in 

 the way of any systematic study of the deeper waters of the 

 lakes. I think the only extensive work on the subject was 

 ForeFs "La faune profonde des lacs Suisses," published in 1885. 

 Professor Forel had begun his researches on the deep water 

 fauna of Lake Leman in 18 GO, and had published various no- 

 tices in the intervening years. In this country, so far as I 

 know, the first publication in regard to the deep water fauna 

 of lakes was in the first volume of the Transactions of the Wis- 

 consin Academy, in a paper by Dr. Lloy, of Racine. He de- 

 tailed how he had become interested in the food of the whitefish, 

 and had examined their stomachs, finding animals that seemed 

 new to science. A company v^as made up for a dredging expe- 

 dition consisting of Dr. Hoy, Dr. Lapham, Professor Stimpson, 



