REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 67 



furnished hj Dr. Brewer. At the time of his death, he left behind the 

 manuscript of the water-bird i)ortion of the same history. This is now 

 in the hands of Mr. Alexander Agassiz, and will probably be published 

 soon as one of the remaining portions of the work. 



Dr. Brewer had been throughout his life one of the chief supporters 

 of the Boston Society of Natural History, of which, indeed, he was 

 one of the founders, occupying year by year important posts in con- 

 nection with the society; and his influence upon it cannot easily be over- 

 estimated. 



After giving up his editorial connection with the Boston Atlas and 

 Traveller, Dr. Brewer eutered into business as a publisher and book- 

 seller ; and retiriug from this a, lew years ago, he spent a year and a 

 half in travelling in Europe, in the course of which he visited all the 

 ornithological and oological establishments, and arranged special con- 

 nections between their owners or the curators. Partly as the result of 

 this visit, and partly of long-continued and persistent efforts, he became 

 possessed of one of the linest general collections of eggs in the world, 

 but especially rich in the Xorth American si)ecies. These collections he 

 caused to be passed over at his death to the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology of Cambridge, where they are safely preserved, and constitute 

 one of the most striking features of that great nuiseum. 



The death of Mr. James AV. jMilner, which occurred at his residence, 

 AYaukegan, Illinois, on the Gth of January, 1S80, was a serious loss to 

 the science of fish-culture. Mr. JMilner had been connected with the 

 United States Fish Commission as assistant commissioner for many 

 years past, having been in its service indeed, from the first year of its 

 organization. He commenced his labors, as a collector of statistics in 

 regard to the fisheries of the great lakes, the results of which appear 

 in the rei)orts of the commission. In later years he had had charge 

 more particularly of the division of the propagation of food-fishes, in 

 the course of w hich he invented or brought into use man^^ important 

 practical discoveries. In the course of his visits to different parts of 

 the country he also took occasion to make extensive collections in 

 natural history for the National Museum, all of which are recorded in 

 its catalogues. 



Mr. Milner's illness was induced by a severe cold (taken in the spring 

 of 1878,) which assumed a malarial tendency, and required his return to 

 Lake Michigan for recuperation. He again assumed charge of his work 

 in the autumn of that year, organizing the arrangements for the hatch- 

 ing of codfish by the United States Fish Commisl^iou at Gloucester, in 

 the months of October and November. His increasing indisposition, 

 however, made it necessary for him to go to some other locality, and he 

 returned to AVashington, and after spending a short time he went to Flor- 

 ida, where he remained during the winter. 



He returned to Waukegan in the spring of 1879; but this season was 

 exceptional!}" raw and trying on the lakes, and by the direction of his 



