145 



of the location ; -wlicre may be found the coniparntively 

 "Nvoll preserved dwellinir given away as a marriajxe present 

 from a fond father to his daughter in l()l)(). JMany cour- 

 tesies were also rendered by Mr. William D. Northend 

 and Mrs. E. D. Kimball, who are spending the sunnner 

 at this cool and pleasant retreat. At the close of the 

 rambles lunch was s[)read in an unoccupied cottage owned 

 by Thomas Ryan, Esq. 



The afternoon session was held in a small hall, recently 

 erected by the liberality of the summer residents and 

 friends, at 2.45 o'clock. After the reading of the records 

 of the i)rcceding meeting, the Pkesidknt opened the dis- 

 cussion with allusions to the manner of studying the 

 marine fauna and the various systems of classitication 

 based either upon anatoniical structure, geological peri- 

 ods or geographical distributions. He s[)oke of his own 

 cx[)erience in coUecting s[)ecimens some thirty or forty 

 years since, by an examination of the stomachs of tishes, 

 or i)y the hand dredge from a dory or sail boat, and con- 

 trasted the same with the present method, by which, with 

 the use of a donkey engine in a government steamer, ex- 

 tensive colleetions can be obtained and a vast amount of 

 information elicited. 



Mv. James II. Emerton, of Salem, l)cing called upon, 

 said that durini:: the last month some interestinu: dredg- 

 ings have been made in this neighborhood for J-*rof. 

 Spencer F. Baird, United States Commissioner of Fish- 

 cries. In the year 1871 Prof. Baird was ai)p()inted 

 by Congress to collect information in regard to the sup- 

 ply of tish in the United States waters, to ascertain 

 tlie causes on which the tish supply de[)ends, and to see 

 "what can be done; to inerease its value and [)revent its 

 Avastc. Several state governments had already begun the 



