580 Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



From the nature of the subject but little microscopical work was either 

 attempted or necessary. Experience teaches that the compound microscope 

 should be brought into daily use late in a course in botany. E. E. Bogue. 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College, Stillwater, O. T. 



Summer Work at the U. S. Fish Commission Laboratory, Wood's 

 HOLL, Mass. — The hatching season at the U. S. Fish Commission Laboratory 

 in Woods Holl usually ends about June 15, with the completion of the lobster 

 work, and from this time until the hatching of cods' eggs is begun, about October 

 1st, the laboratory is practically given over to the investigators, who assemble 

 there from various portions of the country, attracted by the opportunities 

 afforded for the study of marine forms. 



During the past summer, owing to the fact that the commission steamer Fish 

 Hawk has been stationed at Woods Holl, special advantages for work in certain 

 lines have been afforded. Frequent dredging trips have been made, not only in 

 the neighborhood, but also in some cases to a considerable distance from 

 Woods Holl. Opportunity has thus been given to determine the nature of the 

 bottom fauna in various locations. 



The schooner Grampus was also at the commission for a portion of the 

 summer, and during that time made a number of trips to the waters bordering 

 the Gulf Stream, in order to determine the boundaries of the region occupied by 

 the tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps). These fish, first found in 1879, 

 became for a time extinct, so that from 188*2 to 1892 no fish were taken, although 

 careful search was made in their former habitat. After this disappearance of 

 ten years, scattered specimens were again found, but it was not until August of 

 last year that the fish were taken in abundance. At that time, as a result of 

 several trips, over 3000 pounds of fish were caught. The expeditions this season 

 have been equally successful, seeming to indicate that the tilefish have returned 

 to their old location. The region in which they are at present found lies ofif the 

 southern coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, in water ranging from 70 

 to 100 fathoms in depth. 



Dr. H. C. Bumpus, the director of the scientific work of the commission, has 

 been conducting experiments upon the rearing of young lobsters, with the aim of 

 finding some method by which they may be kept alive in confinement for a consider- 

 able period. At present it is necessary to liberate the lobster fry almost as soon as 

 hatched. The result of the work carried on this season seems to indicate that 

 the lobster can be kept for a considerable time before being liberated, and thus 

 the mortality of the young lobsters be greatly decreased. This will be of 

 immense practical value in the effort which is being made to prevent the 

 extinction of the lobster along our eastern coast. 



In addition to this work, some thirty or more investigators have been carry- 

 ing on various lines of research at the commission during the summer. 

 University of Nebraska. Frank E. WatSON. 



American Microscopical Society. — The twenty-first annual meeting was 

 held in Columbus, Ohio, August 17, 18, and 19. Though not largely attended 



