vicinity of Woods Hole, were visited and their location recorded. 

 There was no difficulty in obtaining the owners' permission to 

 examine these installations and to collect the needed specimens. 

 Altogether 106 species of fish were secured, photographed, and 

 preserved for the Nationsd Museum. Of this number 20 or more 

 species had not previously been known from Massachusetts waters 

 (Baird, 187 3). Information gained in this manner was supplemented 

 by the testimonies of various fishermen who presented their ideas 

 either for or against the use of traps and pounds. Among them 

 was Isaiah Spindel, who at the request of Baird, prepared a descrip- 

 tion of a pound net used at Woods Hole and explained its operation. 

 In the following years Spindel became an influential member of the 

 group of local citizens who supported Baird' s plan of establishing 

 a permanent marine station at Woods Hole. 



The ship Moccasin under the command of J. G. Baker was 

 engaged in taking samples of plankton animals, in determining the 

 extent of beds of mussels, starfish, and other bottom invertebrates, 

 and in making temperature observations. 



One of the principal collaborators in the studies conducted at 

 Woods Hole in 1871 was A. E. Verrill (fig. 6) of Yale University, 

 a professor "Whom Baird appointed as his assistant and placed in 

 charge of the investigations of marine invertebrates. Dredging for 

 bottom animals during the first summer was carried out on a 

 relatively small scale from a chartered sailing yacht MoUie and a 

 smaller vessel used in the immediate vicinity of Woods Hole. 

 Extensive collections were made by wading on tidal flats exposed 

 at low water. 



Zoological work attracted considerable interest among the 

 biologists of this country. Many of them stopped at Woods Hole 

 for greater or lesser periods and were encouraged by Baird to 

 use the facilities of the Fish Commission. The group included 

 such well known men as L. Agassiz, A. Hyatt, W. G. Farlow, 

 Theodore Gill, Gruyure Jeffries of England, and many others. 



The first year's work extended until the early part of October. 

 Before returning to Washington, Baird commissioned Vinal N. 

 Edwards (fig. 7) of Woods Hole to continue the investigation as far 

 as possible. By the end of the first year a general plan of study 

 of the natural histories of the fishes and the effect of fishing on 

 fish populations was prepared with the assistance of the well-known 

 ichthyologist, Theodore N. Gill. His old "Catalogue of the fishes 

 of the Eastern Coast of North America from Greenland to Georgia", 

 (Gill, 1861) was revised and the next text including the recently 

 collected data concerning the Massachusetts fishes, appeared in 

 the First Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries 

 (Gill, 187 3). The plan of investigation suggested by Gill was 

 adopted by Baird (Baird, 187 3) as a guide for the work of his 

 associates for the purpose of "securing greater precision in the 

 inquiries." The plan is composed of 15 sections, such as 



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