90 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
to its solution. A paper was published supplementing others that 
have previously been published, dealing with this problem. Another 
paper, treating of another phase of the question, has been prepared 
and ig now in press. The problem also has an important practical 
bearing. In our work of conservation it is important to distinguish 
properly, and understand, the interrelationship of the populations 
that make up the economically important fishes, 
INDEPENDENT ACTIVITIES OF THE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES 
WOODS HOLE, MASS. 
During the summer, the U. S. Fisheries Laboratory at Woods Hole 
served as headquarters to Dr. Paul S. Galtsoff, In Charge of Shell- 
fish Investigations, and the acting director and his staff. The 
laboratory facilities of the station were also used by John R. Web- 
ster, of the Bureau’s North Atlantic staff, for studying the effects of 
various types of tags on mackerel. 
As in previous years, the privilege of occupying facilities in the 
laboratory at the Woods Hole Station was extended to a small num- 
ber of private investigators. Following is a list of such persons 
and the problems of their research during their stay at Woods Hole: 
Dr. Hugh M. Smith, former U. 8. Commissioner of Fisheries, tax- 
onomic studies of local fishes; Dr. Joseph M. Odiorne, Colby College, 
behavior of melanophores of Kundulus; Dr. Rastum Malouf, Johns 
Hopkins University, osmoregulative mechanisms in crayfish; Dr. 
Raymond W. Root, College of the City of New York, effect of carbon 
dioxide on the respiratory function of marine fish blood; Dr. Henry 
Brown, College of the City of New York, assistant to Dr. Root; Dr. 
Bolton Davidheiser, Johns Hopkins University, the effects of X-ray 
on males of Sciara. 
BEAUFORT, N. ©. 
Research facilities were provided throughout the year at the 
Beaufort Laboratory for biological studies of marine organisms and 
certain species of fish and shellfish of importance to the commercial 
fisheries of this region. During the summer season 28 investigators 
from other institutions conducted studies here in various fields of 
zoology. The chief investigations carried on by the Bureau’s staff, 
under the direction of Dr. H. F. Prytherch, consisted of experiments 
in controlling the growth and reproduction of oysters; the utiliza- 
tion of improved marsh ponds and canals for intensive cultivation 
of clams and oysters, the propagation of diamond-back terrapin; 
and the rearing and live storage of certain marine fishes held in 
captivity in tidal bays. The fishery research program of the labo- 
ratory has been drastically reduced during the past year because of 
the lack of personnel and the necessity of supervising extensive im- 
provements to the laboratory with funds provided by the P. W. A. 
and the W. P. A. 
Cooperative enterprises —Assistance and advice was given to the 
following agencies on matters pertaining to the marine fisheries and 
related industries of this general region: U. S. War Department, 
Corps of Engineers, concerning the construction of a larger inlet at 
the mouth of the New River, and its possible effect on the local oyster 
