1914] Work at the Beaufort Laboratory 95 



larly crabs aud shrimps, of Beaufort harbor ; but through press 

 of other work he was not able to complete his study of these 

 forms. Dr. Hay is carrying on this investigation and will before 

 long have an amply illustrated paper, which will enable any one 

 to identify the crabs and shrimps of the region. These forms are 

 of such general interest to fishennen and amateur collectors 

 and naturalists that the paper will be extensively used by visi- 

 tors to our coast. 



Dr. J. J. Wolfe, Professor of Biology in Trinity College, • 

 was engaged in botanical work for the Bureau. Few people 

 except naturalists are aware of the immense number of minute 

 plants and animals that float at or near the surface of the sea. 

 This flora and fauna, kno^vn as the plankton, constitute the food 

 of most young fishes, and in every quarter of the world some 

 efl^ort is being made to determine just what forms are present, 

 and to learn something about their movements and propagation. 

 Dr. Wolfe is occupied in a study of the microscopic plants, 

 especially the diatoms. Another investigator. Dr. Edmund- 

 son, of the University of Oregon, was engaged in a study of the 

 microscopic fauna, the jirotozoa. These are groups which have 

 practically never been studied along the South Atlantic coast 

 and so their study should yield fruitful results. 



Dr. H. V. Wilson, Professor of Zoology in the University 

 of jSTorth Carolina, was engaged in a study of the Philippine 

 sponges. Some years ago the Bureau of Fisheries undertook 

 an extensive survey of the waters in the neighborhood of the 

 Philippine Islands. Large collections of the various zoological 

 groups were made, and the collections of these groups were 

 handed out to numerous specialists to be reported on. The 

 collection of sponges is very large and contains representatives 

 of all the sub-divisions of the grouj:). It was upon a study of 

 these forms that Professor Wilson was engaged. 



The work of Mr. L. F. Shackel, of the St. Louis School of 

 Medicine, was with the ship-w;orms. Among the animals that 

 are destructive of property along our coast none is more trouble- 

 some than the ship-worm. This is really not a worm at all but 

 a bivalve mollusc. In very young stages they begin to burrow 



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