84 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



ialist who uses them bears testimony to their extreme accuracy aud 

 merit. 



"Oi' the total number of papers enumerated in tlie list, 13 relate to 

 mammals, 80 to birds, 43 to rei)tiles, 431 to lishes, Gl to invertebrates 

 (these being chiefly reviews), 10 to plants, 88 to geogra])hical distribu- 

 tion, 40 to geology, mineralogy, and palaiontology ; 45 to anthropology, 

 31 to industry aud art, and 109 to exploration and travel. 



"While the number of new species described does not necessarily 

 afford any clew to the value of the work accomplished, it may not be 

 uninteresting to refer to it as an indication of the pioneer work which 

 it was necessary to do even in so i»rominent a group as the vertebrates. 

 1 note among ummmals 41), birds 70, reptiles 180, lishes 50. Forty-nine 

 of 220, or nearly one-fourth, of the mammals discussed in the Mammals 

 of North America were there described for the tirst time. In the cata- 

 logue of serpents not more than 00 per cent, had been uamed, aud in 

 preparation for studying the specimens each was carefully ticketed with 

 its locality, and then the 2,000 or more individuals were thrown indis- 

 criminately into one great i)ile, aud the work of sorting them out by 

 resemblances was begun. Not the least valuable have been the numer- 

 ous accurate tigures of North American vertebrates, prepared under 

 Professor Baird's supervision. These include representatives of 170 

 species of mammals and 100 S2)ecies of re[)tiles, besides uiany hundreds 

 of birds. 



''On the 9th of February, 1874, Congress passed a joint resolutiou 

 which authorized the appointment of a Commissioner of Fish and Fish- 

 eries. The duties of the Commissioner were thus delined: ' To prose- 

 cute investigations on the subject (of the diminution of valuable fishes) 

 with the view of ascertaiuing whether any and what diunnution in the 

 number of the food-lishes of the coast and the lakes of the United 

 States has taken place, and, if so, to what causes the same is due; and 

 also whether any and what protective, prohibitory, or precautionary 

 measures should be adopted in the premises, and to report upon the 

 same to Congress.' 



"The resolutiou establishing the office of Commissioner of Fisheries 

 required that the person to be a|)poiuted should be a civil officer of the 

 Government, gf proved scientific and practical acquaintance with the 

 fishes of the coast, to serve without additional salary. The choice was 

 thus practically limited to a single man. Professor Baird, at that time 

 Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was appointed, and, 

 at once entering upou his duties, soon developed a systematic scheme 

 of investigation. 



" The Fish Commission now fills a i)lace tenfold more extensive and 

 useful than at first. Its work is naturally divided into three sections : 



"(I) The systematic investigation of the waters of the United States 

 and the biological and physical problems whicii they present. The 

 scientilic studies of the Commission are based upon a liberal and phil- 



