REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 85 



osophical intcrpivtatioii of the law. In makiiij;- liis original plans the 

 Commissioner insisted that to study oidy food fishes would he of little 

 importance, and that useful conelusions must needs lest upon a i»road 

 foundation of investi.gations purely scientitic in character. The life his- 

 tory of species of economic value should be understood from he<iinnin,i^ 

 to end, but no less recitiisite is it to know the histories of the animals 

 and plants upon which they feed or upon which their food is nourished ; 

 the iiistories of their enemies and friends, and the friends and foes of 

 their enemies and friends, as well as the currents, temi)eratures, and 

 other physical phenomena of the waters in relation to mijiration, repro- 

 duction, and firowth. A necessary accomplishment to this division is 

 the amassing of material for research to be stored in the National and 

 other museums for future use. 



"(2) The investigation of the methods of fisheries, past and present, 

 ami the statistics of production and commerce of fishery products. iMau 

 being one of the chief destroyers of fish, his Influence u[ion their abun- 

 dance must be studied. Fishery methods ami apparatus nuist be ex- 

 amined and compared with those of other lands, that the use of those 

 which threaten the destruction of useful fishes may be discouraged, 

 and that those which are inefficient maybe replaced by others more 

 serviceable. Statistics of industry and trade must be secured for the 

 use of Congress in making treaties or imposing tariffs, to show ro pro- 

 <lucers the best markets, and to consumers where and with what their 

 needs may be supplied. 



"(3) The introduction and multiplication of useful food fishes through- 

 out the country, especially in waters under the jurisdiction of the Gen- 

 eral Government, or those common to several States, ncuie ot which 

 might feel willing to make expenditures for the benefit of the others. 

 This work, which was not contemplated when the Commission was es- 

 tablished, was first undertaken at the instance of the American Fish 

 Cultural Association, whose representatives induced Congress to make 

 a si)ecial appropriation for the purpose. 



" His relation to the organizations with which he was so closely iden- 

 tified, the Smithsonian Institution, its ward, the National Museum, and 

 the Fish Commission, can in this place only be incidentally mentioned, 

 and the numerous biographical notices which have appeared since his 

 death have not failed to re\ iew critically the significance of his cojinec- 

 tion with them and his influence upon them. To his friends who knew 

 him best and miss him most it seems pleasanter to dwell upon the rec- 

 ognition which his labors received than upon the labors themselves, his 

 devotion to which shortened his life so many years. 



" Almost every civilized country in the world has paid him n<»nor. 

 In 1875 he receiveil the decoration of Knight of the; lloyal Norwegian 

 order of St. Olaf from the King of Norway and Sweden. In 1878 ho 

 was awarded the silver medal of the Acclimatization Society' of Mel- 

 bourne, and in 1871) the gold medal of the Societe d'xVcclimation of 

 France. In 1856 he received the degree of doctor of physical science 

 from Dickinson College, and in 1875 that of doctor of laws from Co- 

 lund)ian University. A few months before his death, on the occasion of 

 the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Harvard University, the 

 same degree, ad evmUm, was conferred on him as an eminent promoter of 



