88 Proceedings of Societies. [zoe 



manner, but the severe criticisms of Dr. T. A. Gill eventual])'- drove 

 him out of the work. 



Dr. W. P. Gibbons, of Alameda, about the year 1854, became 

 interested in the most unique feature of the ichthyology of the Pacific 

 — viviparous fish. Some twenty species of viviparous surf fish are 

 known fi^om the Pacific Coast of America, and with the exception o' 

 two others found in Japan, form a unique group. Dr. Gibbons de- 

 scribed all the species he knew, but at about the same time Prof. 

 Louis Agassiz received specimens which he also described. Much 

 difficulty and confusion has thus resulted in regard to the priority 

 of names, although in the majority of instances it has been determ- 

 ined that Agassiz had priority of date. Agassiz also published the 

 first descriptions of many species of fish from Washington and 

 Oregon, although he never visited the coast himself 



Dr. Charles Girard, who was connected with the .Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, also described a number of the viviparous fish, which 

 served to increase still further the difficultv of establishing priority 

 of names. 



Allusion was next made 10 the work of Dr. J. G. Cooper, who was 

 present at the meeting. Dr. Cooper began work in 1S56, on the 

 fishes collected on the Geological Survey, mostly from the southern 

 part of the State, and much of the early investigations in that region 

 were due to him. He described, among other things, the most 

 vicious of the sting-rays from the harbor of San Diego, naming it 

 after a young boy who had the honor of being the first person 

 known to be stung by it. 



The Pacific Railrord survey was finished early in the fifties, and 

 the fishes were described by Dr. Charles Girard, a pupil of Agassiz. 

 Despite his unusually good facilities in the way of specimens and 

 books, he did no really good work. He described a vast majority 

 of the fishes of the coast, but in a very wooden way which proved a 

 great set-back to the study of ichthyology. Girard indeed did all 

 a man could do to make it difficult to determine the trout. 



Andrew Garet was at the Academy at about this time, but he did 

 no work on the fish of this coast excepting the description of one 

 new species from Mexico. He contributed some valuable additions 

 to our knowledge of the fishes of the Sandwich Islands, however. 



George Suckley, a surgeon in the War Department, was stationed 

 in Washington and Oregon, and supplemented the work of Girard 



