REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 73 



food-fisbes of the country, and of inquiring as to the best methods of 

 remedying the decrease, shoukl this be found to exist. It was not until 

 the second year, or 1872, that the responsible duty of increasing the 

 supply was added to the other functions of the commission. 



In the preceding report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 1879, I 

 have stated at length the i)lans and objects of the commission, and to 

 this I refer for details. I may simply remark here that the division of 

 "inquiry" has been held to involve a complete investigation of aud re- 

 port upon all the physical conditions of the waters of the United States, 

 and the nature, numbers, and general relationships of their inhabitants, 

 together with an account of the relationships of man to the same, in 

 the way of methods and appliances of the fisheries, and the history and 

 statistics of his labors. 



The second division, that of propagation, of course includes the pro- 

 tection of the useful fishes and their multiplication, either by capturing 

 the fish and transferring them from one point to another, or by the pro- 

 cess of artificial impregnation of the eggs and the distribution of the 

 young. 



The work of the inquiry is prosecuted, for the most part, directly un- 

 der my own supervision, from stations at different points along the sea- 

 coast, with a suitable number of assistants (volunteers for the most part) 

 for making the investigations referred to. The specimens collected are 

 placed in the hands of experts, by whom they are properly investigated 

 and monographed, and the results published, with suitable illustrations 

 in the Annual Reports of the Commission. The collections made, usually 

 in very large numbers, are worked up at the same time; the reserve col- 

 lection preserved in the National Museum, aud the dux)licates distributed 

 to the various educational establishments of the country, or exchanged 

 for objects desired by the Museum. 



The propagation division is conducted either at some permanent sta- 

 tions, such as those of the salmon, whiteflsh, and carp, or in temporary 

 establishments, shifting their ground with tne season, as is the case in 

 large part, with the shad stations. 



During the past year two additional subjects have occupied the atten- 

 tion of the Commission; one, the preparation for the international dis- 

 play of the fisheries of the United States at Berlin ; and the other, the 

 continuation of the census of the fisheries, undertaken in behalf of Gen- 

 eral Walker, Superintendent of the Census. Special details in regard to 

 these branches will be found elsewhere. 



ISTewport was the station selected for the prosecution of the work of 

 inquiry into the fisheries in 1880, as representing a point between 

 two previous stations, Wood's Holl and Noank. Since the year 1873 the 

 Commission has been indebted to the Navy Department for a steamer 

 with which to carry on its investigations. This year, however, it was 

 found possible to dispense, in large part, with extraneous aid, the Fish 



