1896.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 3S 



theless, be given. Accordingly the following abstract has been 

 prepared, based upon the above accounts by the members of the 

 party. 



THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ZOOLOGICAL EXPE- 



DITION OP 1896. WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF 



THE WORK OF COLLECTING IN PUGET 



SOUND AND ON THE PACIFIC 



COAST. 



The project of the Department of Zoology of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, to send an expedition to the waters of Puget Sound, 

 had its origin in a visit to that region by Professor Edmund 

 B. Wilson during the summer of 1895. Dr. Wilson had at that 

 time undertaken a reconnaissance of the coast of the Pacific 

 States in the interests of the University of California, which had 

 then in view the location of a permanent seaside laboratory. 

 The report which he brought back of the zoological conditions 

 of the Pacific Coast, and of Puget Sound in particular, was in 

 every way a favorable one : the fauna was rich, comparatively 

 little studied and especially interesting to the morphologist or 

 embryologist, and much valuable material could be secured with 

 even the ordinary means of collecting. 



During the early spring of the present year Professor Osborn 

 brought the matter of a collecting trip to Puget Sound to the 

 attention of certain members of the board of Trustees of Co- 

 lumbia and expressed his belief that the project was one which 

 was well worthy of being fostered on the part of the Universit}'. 

 By their aid over one-half the expenses of the expedition was 

 subscribed ; the remainder was met by its members. 



By the month of April the organization of the party had been 

 arranged : it was to consist of six members, and it was then 

 hoped that Professor Wilson would be able to undertake the 

 leadership ; but his place was finally taken by Dr. Bashford 

 Dean. The responsibility of the work of the party came» 

 however, to be almost equally divided, Mr. Gary N. Calkins 

 undertaking the collection of the Protozoa and Coelenterata, Mr. 

 N. R. Harrington the Echinodermata, Annelida and Crustacea, 

 Mr. B. B. Griffin the Platodes, Nemertea, Mollusca and In- 

 secta, and Dr. Dean the Protochordata and Chordata. 



Transactions N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. XVI., Sig. 3, January 22, 1897 



