hel REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
and other products useful in the arts and industries. The marine 
alge, although the use of certain groups has recently been greatly 
increased, may in general be regarded as neglected resources in the 
United States. 
WORK AT THE FISHERIES LABORATORIES. 
The use of the marine laboratories at Beaufort, N. C., and Woods 
Hole, Mass., for naval purposes has necessarily restricted the work of 
the Bureau thereat. During the early part of the fiscal year, before 
the Beaufort station had been turned over to the Navy, the labora- 
tory served as a base for practical experiments in the preservation of 
fish by methods of salting and smoking, and for propaganda both 
among fishermen of the near-by coast and among consumers in the 
interior of the State, directed at better utilization of the local fish 
supply for food. 
At this station also there was completed early in the year the field 
work of the investigation pertaining to the use of creosote oils for 
the protection of wood against marine borers, the results of which 
are referred to elsewhere. The Bureau has now entirely discontinued 
its operations at this place, with the exception of experiments in per- 
fecting the culture of the diamond-back terrapin. 
The Woods Hole, Mass., laboratory was employed during the early 
part of the fiscal year for experiments and investigations relating to 
the preparation of fish and bacteriological studies of fish tissues. 
Further attention was given also to the nutrition of oysters, the 
parasites of fishes, and the food of young fishes in local waters. 
At the marine station at Key West, Fla., two buildings of small 
size have been constructed, one affording necessary living accommo- 
dations for some of the employees, and another space for the pumping 
equipment and for a provisional laboratory. These, with the canal 
and pool for water supply largely completed during this and the pre- 
ceding year, are regarded as among the most essential requirements 
for the effective prosecution of work. The difficulties of obtaining 
labor and materials and the very high prices prevailing have made it 
unavoidable that progress in construction should be slow. Under the 
present conditions and with the limited funds available, further con- 
structions are not contemplated. In spite of the inadequate equip- 
ment, an effective beginning of the scientific work of this station has 
been made. Useful information has been gathered regarding the 
fishes of the region, and the studies and experiments with the spiny 
lobster have yielded information that is interesting and promising of 
practical usefulness. 
At the Fairport, Iowa, laboratory the investigation of mussel 
problems and the various studies relating to fish-cultural work, else- 
where referred to, were continued with satisfactory progress. The 
results of mussel propagation are given in another place. The Bu- 
reau suffered a severe loss at this station through the accidental de- 
struction by fire of the main laboratory building in the early morning 
of December 20, 1917. Besides the building there were lost a library 
which, though small, had been assembled with much care, and val- 
uable scientific records and natural history specimens. Fortunately 
the water-supply system and the smaller buildings remained un- 
harmed, so that many phases of the important work of the station 
