.46 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Owing: to the deatli of Dr. Slack, wlio was in charge of the station 

 on the Dehl^Yare, very little was done on that river. On the Hudson a 

 very considerable number of shad was obtained and distributed, apart 

 from those introduced into the river by the State commissioners them- 

 selves. The greatest amount of the work, however, was done at South 

 Hadley Falls, on the Connecticut River. The fish here being very 

 abundant, many young fish were hatched and distributed, mainly under 

 the direction of Mr. James W. Milner, to various localities in many 

 States, extending as far west as Minnesota, south to Texas, and east 

 to Maine, the total number thus supplied amounting to over two millions. 



The operations in regard to salmon were still more satisfactory, being 

 carried on at two establishments; one on the McCloud River, in Cali- 

 fornia, under the charge of Mr. Livingston Stone, and the other on the 

 Penobscot River, in Maine, under Mr. Charles G. Atkins. The former 

 furnished six millions of eggs, of which one million were hatched and 

 placed in the Sacramento River, the others being transported to hatch- 

 ing-houses in the East, and the young subsequently placed in the waters 

 of the New England and jMiddle States, in addition to those of Mary- 

 land, Virginia, West Virginia, IS^orth Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and low^a. 



The establishment at Bucksport, on the Penobscot, has also yielded 

 over three million eggs. These have not yet been distributed, as they 

 are not sufficiently far advanced, but they will be planted principally in 

 the waters of the New England, Middle, and more northern of the 

 Western States. 



The importance of these measures for the artificial propagation of 

 fish maj^ be readily understood from the fact that the actual results 

 from one pair of shad or salmon, treated artificially, fully equal those 

 from one hundred, and, according to some, one thousand pairs, when 

 left to perform this function naturally. 



Deep-sea soundings. — Professor Baird has made a series of observations 

 on temperatures of the sea-water at different depths, the results of which, 

 will be published in his report as United States Fish Commissioner. 



The Institution has received, for investigation, from the Bureau of 

 Navigation, Navy Department, under Commodore Ammen, a large 

 number of specimens of deep-sea soundings, collected in the Pacinc 

 Ocean by the officers of the United States steamship Tuscarora, Com- 

 mander G. E. Belknap. These specimens have been referred for micro- 

 scoi)ic examination to Prof. Ilamilton L. Smith, of Ilobart College, 

 Geneva, N. Y., who has undertaken the investigation, and will report 

 the result as soon as the work is finished. 



Polaris Artie Exploration. 

 During the past year Dr. Einil Bessels has been engaged at the Smith- 

 sonian Institution iu working up that part of the scientific material 

 which was saved from the collections of the voyage of the Polaris in the 

 years 1871-73. The results of the investigations will be given in three 



