The hatchery was a great asset to biological research. 

 Some of the hatching tanks, not needed for current hatching 

 operations, were at the disposal of the biologists for keeping 

 animals and for studying the development of marine eggs. 

 Outdoor tanks and live- cars anchored inside the protected 

 area of the boat refuge (fig. 16) were of great convenience. 

 An examination of old plans and photographs of the laboratory 

 will show how much of Baird's thinking, experience, and 

 imagination went into the implementation of his dream. At 

 the time of its opening in 1885 the Fisheries Station at Woods 

 Hole was an excellently equipped institution for marine 

 research, equal to or better than any laboratory of this type 

 in Europe. 



Good docking facilities at the Fisheries Station made 

 possible the full use of the Fish Commission ships. Two 

 large vessels, the Fish Hawk and the Albatross, frequently 

 used Woods Hole as a base of their operation. The ships 

 were not permanently assigned to the station but from time 

 to time were ordered by the Commissioner of Fisheries to 

 proceed to the areas where in his opinion they were needed 

 for conducting sea explorations. It was Baird's plan, however, 

 to use Woods Hole as the home base for the ships, and both 

 the Albatross and Fish Hawk were frequently seen at the 

 Fisheries dock at Woods Hole. 



U. S. S. Fish Hawk 



The Fish Hawk (fig. 20) was a coal-burning steamer of 

 156-1/2 feet overall length. She was registered at 484 tons 

 displacement and had a rig of "a fore-and-aft schooner with 

 pole topmasts. " She was built according to specifications 

 and plans made by C. W. Copland, naval architect of the Light- 

 House Board. It was a special vessel to serve as a floating 

 hatchery for the production of shad, herring, striped bass, 

 etc. , and was capable of being moored almost anyplace where 

 breeding fish could be found in sufficient quantity (Tanner, 1884). 



A considerable portion of the deck space and hull was 

 occupied by hatching equipment and laboratory. The laboratory 

 was 10 feet, 7 inches long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet 3 inches high. 

 It was provided with a laboratory table, specimen case, box 

 for microscope, and the necessary shelves and drawers. Sea 

 water was supplied by a steam pump capable of delivering 

 10, 000 gallons per hour. Hatching equipment consisted of 

 36-inch cone-shaped containers each capable of holding 7,200,000 

 shad eggs. These hatching cylinders were suspended from beams 

 outside of the vessel. 



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