containing all the type specimens and any unique forms had 

 been deposited with the National Museum in Washington, D. C. 

 The second set of duplicates was given to the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology of Harvard University. Verrill completed 

 the study of the Fish Commission collection only in 1908 and, 

 according to the information given in his biography, he sold 

 his set of duplicates to the Peabody Museum of Yale University. 



Verrill' s work provided a basis for our knowledge of 

 bottom invertebrates in the immediate vicinity of Woods Hole 

 and the adjacent areas extending to the 100-fathom line or 

 farther offshore to some extent. His report upon the invertebrate 

 animals of Vineyard Sound and the adjacent waters with an account 

 of the phj^sical characters of the region, published in 1871, has 

 not lost its scientific value to the present day, and remains a 

 major source of information about bottom communities of this 

 area. Likewise, are his "Report on the Cephalopoda of the 

 Northeastern Coast of America" (Verrill, 1882), "Results of 

 the E. colorations made by the Steamer ' Albatross ' off the Northern 

 Coast of the United States" (Verrill, 1885), and "Notice of a 

 Remarkable Marine Fauna Occupying the Outer Banks off the 

 Southern Coast of New England, and of some Additions to the 

 Fauna of Vineyard Sound" (Verrill, 1884). In the latter paper 

 he describes the rich fauna in the region about 105 miles along 

 the 100 fathom line between latitudes 35° 40' and 40° 22' N. and 

 longitudes 69° 15' and 71° 32' W. According to his conclusion, 

 the number of species and the abundance of individuals in this 

 area "is due very largely to the annual uniformity of the temp- 

 erature enjoyed at all seasons of the year, at all those depths 

 that are below the immediate effects of the atmospheric changes. 

 The region .... is subject to the combined effects of the Gulf 

 Stream on one side and the cold northern current of the other, 

 together with the gradual decrease in temperature in proportion 

 to the depth. " 



He describes also the effects of the Gulf Stream in bringing 

 "vast quantities of free- swimming animals which furnish an 

 inexhaustable supply of food for many bottom animals". After 

 Verrill' s time, the study of bottom invertebrate communities 

 on the offshore areas along the New England Coast was discontinued 

 and was resumed only in 1954, in connection with recent investi- 

 gations of groundfishes of Georges Bank. Verrill' s conclusion 

 about the condition responsible for the abundance of life along the 

 100-fathom line in an area south of Woods Hole shows a highly 

 developed power of observation and the ability of the author to 

 visualize a general ecological picture from the multitude of 

 detached observations. Verrill never lost sight of the forest 

 because of the trees. 



His work on cephalopods contains the descriptions of 

 gigantic squids, Architeuthis and their allies. Their existence 



48 



