REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 97 



tions from various collegiate establishments which desired to utilize 

 the expected opportunities in the interest of education. An appropri 

 ate strij> of ground was thus secured and presented by the donors to the 

 United States for use by the Commission. After the State of Massa- 

 chusetts had formally ceded its jurisdiction the donation was accepted 

 and an appropriation made for the necessary buildings. A concur- 

 rent appropriation, in the interests of commerce and navigation, for the 

 construction of a harbor of refuge, and expended by the Engineer 

 Bureau, was found to embrace all the requirements for locality, and 

 the station as now organized comprises a hollow basin of about an acre 

 in extent, in which pens and inclosures for fish can be made; and a 

 wharf outside forming a suitable landing-place for coaling vessels, etc. 

 An abundance of fresh water, and in addition an unlimited supply of 

 salt water, complete the desiderata. 



The building for the accommodation of persons connected with the 

 Commission is completed, and was occupied during the past summer, 

 and the fish-hatchery and laboratory will be ready for the season of 1885. 



The work of hatching codfish is now under way, with promise of entire 

 success. 



The inquiries of the Commission in connection with the occurrence oq 

 the coast and their distribution of useful fishes, mollusks, &c.; its in- 

 vestigations into the character of the sea-bottom, and its suggestions as 

 to its ability to support sea fishes, furnish large numbers of specimens 

 of a great variety of species. These are carefully investigated by spe- 

 cialists connected with the Commission, and minutely detailed and 

 described in its reports. After making selections for the benefit of the 

 National Museum the duplicates are assorted, labeled, and made up 

 into sets for distribution to colleges and academies. The number of 

 sets already distributed amounts to several hundreds, the specimens in 

 each set being carefully identified and labeled. No more acceptable 

 contribution could be made to a college or academy, in view of the ab- 

 solute impossibility of obtaining such objects from any other source, 

 even without regard to cost. 



The opportunities afforded at the sea-coast stations of the Commission 

 for scientific research have, for many years, induced the presence ol 

 some of the most distinguished specialists in natural history and biology 

 in this country, and many more persons apply for a share in the benefits 

 than can be accommodated, although the material collected is usually 

 in suflicient abundance for the needs of a large number of inquirers. 



In order to utilize the surplus material and facilities of the Wood's Boll 

 station in the interest of such parties it was thought desirable to obtain 

 control of a tract of about two acres of ground immediately adjacent to 

 the premises of the Commission, and in every way suitable for the erec- 

 tion of supplemental buildings, in which outside students could be ac- 

 commodated and find the necessary facilities for work without interfeP' 

 ing with the operations of the Commission. A friend of science accordiuglf 

 S. Mis. 33 7 



