80 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



was detailed hj the Superintendent, Captain Patterson, to visit Alaska 

 and tlie Arctic Ocean, for the ])urpose of obtaining information in re- 

 gard to the Alaska coast, a work upon which Mr. Dall has been engaged 

 for many years. Permission for Dr. Bean to accompany Mr. Dall was 

 readil^^ obtained from Captain Patterson, and the voyage from San 

 Francisco was niade in the schooner Yulcon, of the Coast Survey, a ves- 

 sel originally built under Mr. Dall's direction for service in the Alaskan 

 waters. 



Mr. William J. Fisher, tidal observer at Kodiak, also contributed im- 

 portant material of the same general character. As the result of these 

 several explorations, over one hundred boxes and packages of natural 

 history collections have been received by the Institution, all more or 

 less incidental to the census inquiries made by the same i)arties. 



One of tlie most important reports of Dr. Bean's investigations was 

 the discovery that cod and halibut of the Alaskan waters were identical 

 with the same species as those in the North Atlantic, and consequently 

 all the conditions of pursuit and preservation used in the east could be 

 emidoyed approiiriately in the western seas. 



BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FISHERY EXHIBITION. 



Among recent organizations in Europe for the purpose of developing 

 home industries, one of the most important is the Deutsche Fisclierei- 

 Verein, founded in 1871, for the purjiose of developing the fisheries 

 of Germany, both inland and maritime, and of introducing improved 

 methods of fish culture and new varieties of fishes. The organization 

 is composed of some of the most eminent naturalists and pisciculturists 

 of Germany, and also includes many personages of the highest rank in 

 the empire who are most interested in the welfare of the State. 



For the purpose of bringing together a display illustrating the meth- 

 ods and results of the fisheries and fish culture of the Old World, ar- 

 rangements were made for holding an international fisheries exhibition 

 in Berlin in the spring of 1880, and invitations were issued about 

 eighteen months before, asking the co-operation of governments, asso- 

 ciations, and persons iiiterested generally. The invitation to the United 

 States to i^articipate was transmitted to the Secretary of State in the 

 winter of 1878-79, but no action was taken by Congress. This was a 

 source of great regret to the German Government, as well as to the 

 immediate promoters of the enterprise, and urgent appeals were made 

 through the German and American ministers for action. A second 

 communication made by the Secretary of State about the beginning of 

 1880 was more successful, a bill introduced by Mr. Deuster, member of 

 the House from Michigan, being readily- passed, appropriating $20,000 

 to enable the United States Fish Commission to make the exhibition on 

 the part of the United States. 



I was called to appear before the Senate Committee on Foreign 

 Eelations on the 10th of February, and explained the x>roposed display, 



