4* REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



A t Halifax, as at Salem, there were numerous visitors to the labora- 

 tory and the vessel, and the aggregate of the work accomplished at the 

 two stations was much greater than that of any previous season. 



The work at Salem was greatly facilitated by help rendered by the 

 officers and members of the Peal)ody Academy of Science and of the 

 Essex Institute ; the rooms, libraries, and collections of these establish- 

 ments being freely at the service of the Commission, as also the special 

 knowledge of the scientific members. Among these may be especially 

 mentioned. Dr. A. S. Packard, jr., Mr. Caleb Cook, Mr. J. H. Emerton, 

 Mr. A. L. Kingsley, Mr. John Eobinson, and Dr. Henry M. Wheatland. 

 A similar ser%dce was rendered at Halifax by the members of the Xova 

 Scotia Institute of Science, among them Dr. Honeyman, curator of the 

 museum, Mr. J. Matthew Jones, Mr. Morrow, and Mr. William Gossip. 

 To Prof. H. Y. Hind, of Windsor, Nova Scotia, the acknowledgements 

 of the Commission are specially due for furnishing for its use a number 

 of the newly-de\dsed deep-sea thermometers of Messrs Negretti & Zam- 

 bra, and for aid in other directions. To the authorities, both of the 

 Dominion and of the Pro\ince of IS'ova Scotia, and especially to the 

 Hon. J. Burpee, minister of customs, the Commission is also indebted 

 for many valuable courtesies, and especially in having the steamer and 

 her apparatus iilaced on the same footing with Her Majesty's vessels 

 of war, by means of which all necessary supplies were obtainable free 

 of duty. Under this provision, all the alcohol required for the preser- 

 vation of si)ecimens was secured at a very moderate price, and all suj)- 

 phes and apparatus needed from the United States were imported duty 

 fi'ee. Hon. W. F. Whitcher, Commissioner of Fisheries, Canada, also 

 issued a j)ermit authorizing Mr. Milner to make collection of specimens 

 of fish for the United States Fish Commission in i)arts of Canada where 

 the use of the seine is at present forbidden. 



GENERAL RESULTS OF THE SEA- WORK OF 1877. 



The field-work prosecuted by the United State Fish Commission during 

 1877, as usual, produced the usual variety of results, both theoretical 

 and practical. The information obtained is believed to be of much 

 value, although of greatest importance in connection with corresponding 

 observations of other years, the digests of which are in preparation, 

 and will be published as a series of final reports. 



Perhaps the most important single fact ascertained by the Commis- 

 sion was that of the occurrence, off the whole coast of New England, 

 of a large flounder {Glytoceplialus cynoglossus), known in Europe as the 

 Pole or Craig, and in the most extraordinary abundance, and, strange to 

 say, entirely unknown to the fishermen. It i^roved to be most excellent 

 as food, and, indeed, quite similar in gastronomic excellence to the Tur- 

 bot, possessing, like that fish, a large amount of the same gelatinous 

 fat along the fins, which gives the Turbot its peculiar excellence. 



