REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. a 
which is solid with naphthalene, was probably due mainly to tar 
acids. 
2. The creosote light oils are definitely poisonous for the borers. 
Benzol is the most and xylol is the least toxic. The toxicity of toluol 
lies between these two. 
3. The tar acids are all highly poisonous to the borers. Their 
toxicity steadily increases with rise in molecular weight; that is, ar- 
ranged in order of increasing toxicity, they are: Phenol, the cresols, 
and the naphthols. The three isomeric cresols, which exert practi- 
cally the same degree of toxic action, are about twice as poisonous as 
carbolic acid; while the two naphthols, also equally toxic, are 10 or 
more times as poisonous as phenol. 
4. 'Tar-base fractions all show a high toxicity for the borers. and 
this toxicity increases with rise of boiling point of the fractions. 
Pure quinoline, boiling at 239° C., is several times as poisonous as 
pyridine, with a boiling point of 115° C. The toxicities of the tar 
bases are fairly comparable with those of tar acids of approximately 
the same boiling points. 
5. In comparison with the tar acids or bases or even the lighter 
hydrocarbon oils, the solid hydrocarbons of creosote are only very 
slightly toxic. Arranged in the order of decreasing effectiveness, 
they are naphthalene, phenanthrene, acenaphthene, and anthracene. 
Naphthalene is perhaps five times as toxic as anthracene. 
It has apparently been assumed that the more poisonous a creosote 
oil is the more effectively will it prevent attacks of marine borers. It 
will be noted, however, that the conclusions drawn from these direct 
toxicity tests, especially with reference to creosote and its fraction- 
ates, are diametrically opposed to the conclusions drawn from the 
sevice tests above; that is, the highest boiling fraction, which was 
the least poisonous, stood up the best in actual service. It has been 
pointed out that the principal object is to prevent an original attack 
ot the larval shipworm when it is of but microscopic size. Heavy 
treatments with a proper type of creosote will still prove inadequate 
as long as areas of superficially treated sapwood, heartwood, knots, 
etc., are left exposed for the lodgment of shipworm larve. 
The investigators conclude that a proper creosote oil for marine 
work should contain a large proportion of constituents boiling above 
320° C., as well as considerable amounts of high-boiling tar acids 
and bases. 
Marine alge of the Pacific Coast—Through the cooperation of a 
specialist from the University of California, marine alge have been 
collected on the Pacific Coast from Grays Harbor, Wash., to Sitka, 
Alaska. Many new forms were discovered and the range of species 
previously known was extended. Of about 875 species previously 
reported on the Pacific Coast of North America from Mexico to 
Bering Sea about half are now represented in a collection prepared 
for the Bureau which will be deposited in the National Museum. 
Interest in the marine alge arises from the intimate relations ex- 
isting between them and the fishes and shellfishes; from the signifi- 
cance of marine plants as ultimate sources of organic material in 
the sea, and thus as an indirect source of food for fishes; and from 
the fact that the alge are resources useful in some cases for human 
food and in others as the basic material for potash, iodine, gelatin, 
