REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 23 



the follo^YilJg extracts from two letters received during the year from 

 the engineer in charge : 



The steam launch furnished by the United States Fiah Commission and the copies 

 of the records of that Commission have alone enabled me to liuish the work m 

 Tangier and Pocomoke sounds iu a short time. 



* A- # * * # * 



The charts showing the legal boundaries of the natural oyster beds of about half 

 of the Virginia waters have been published. I should never have been able to 

 accomplish this without the assistance rendered by you. 



The inquiries respecting the food of oysters and the relations of 

 oysters to their environment, by Dr. John P. Lotsy, of Johns Hopkins 

 University, the plans for which were referred to in the last report, 

 were commenced early in July, 1892, and completed the latter part of 

 September. These researches were carried on in the vicinity of 

 Hampton, Va. 



GALVESTON BAY, TEXAS. 



In the early part of the summer of 1892 word was received of a sud- 

 den and extensive mortality among planted oysters in Galveston Bay, 

 Texas, and an inquiry into the causes thereof was requested. One 

 comi^any alone had made plantings on 480 acres of bottom of empty 

 oyster shells and seed oysters a year or so old, the latter growmg 

 rapidly and the beds being in a prosperous condition as late as the 

 close of April, 1892. During May, however, the oysters began to die 

 without apparent cause, and a month later scarcely anything but 

 empty shells were left upon the ground where a yield of over 300,000 

 bushels had been expected the following winter. The mortality was 

 not confined to this particular planting, but was said to have extended 

 also to the wild oysters in other parts of the bay. In August Mr. 

 John D. Battle was detailed to investigate this matter, and at the 

 same time to make a general examination with respect to the oyster 

 resources of the region, to serve as a basis for possible future inquiries 

 on a more extensive scale. Only a short time was spent upon this work, 

 but considerable information was obtained. 



With regard to the question of mortality, the subject was studied 

 ft'om several standpoints. Too great an influx of fresh water has been 

 considered a frequent cause of such destruction. However, the only 

 sources, except seepage and local rainfall, from which a supply of fresh 

 water can reach Galveston Bay are the San Jacinto and Trinity rivers, 

 both of whicli are relatively small as compared with the main body of 

 the bay. The Trinity drains quite an extensive territory, while the San 

 Jacinto does not, but the fresh waters coming from both of these rivers 

 meet and merge into each other and flow over Eedfish Bar into the 

 lower part of Galveston Bay. General inquiries made to ascertain if 

 there had been an unusual rainfall and freshet in these rivers at or just 

 before the period when the mortality on the planted grounds was first 

 noticed afforded negative results. According to the records in the 

 office of the Weather Bureau in Galveston, however, there had been 



