ii MARINE AND FISHERIES 



5 GEORGE v., A. 1915 



Professor Willey, of McGill University, deals with St. Andrews' Plankton, 

 and Professor Bailey, of the University of New Brunswick, treats of the Diatoms 

 in the Bay of Fundy waters. The paper on certain diseases of fish, completed 

 by Dr. J. W. Mavor, is of special scientific and practical value. Comparatively 

 little has been done in this difficult field of research, although our sea-fishes and 

 fresh-water fishes often perish in vast numbers, no doubt owing to some epidemic 

 of disease about which little is accurately known. The study of fish diseases is 

 the readiest method of coping with this serious loss. Last season, 1913, it may be 

 mentioned that the herring fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence suffered serious 

 loss by the death of vast numbers of fish from some such cause. Dr. Mavor's 

 fame as a specialist, and the unique character of his paper on the Sporozoa 

 of New Brunswick fishes, gives it unusual importance and it will be welcomed 

 by all interested in our fish and fisheries, and by scientific men generally. 



Dr. Huntsman's paper on a new Crustacean, a Caprellid, not previously 

 described or determined, is of special value. Much remains to be done in the field 

 of Crustacean research in Canada. Mr. J. D. Detweiler gives a list of New Bruns- 

 wick Mollusca, this being another of those contributions, published by the Board, 

 which will aid in the preparation of a complete marine f aunistic list for our At- 

 lantic Coast. 



The paper on the fungi collected at St. Andrews by the late Miss Van 

 Home, aided by Miss Adaline Van Home, has a melancholy interest for the MS. 

 was handed to the late Professor Penhallow for publication. Neither Professor 

 Penhallow nor Miss Mary Van Home survived to see the paper printed. 



The relation between the fisheries and the land fungi may not appear to be 

 very intimate, though it is well known that insects abound, and, indeed, feed upon 

 decayed fungi, and insect food is important from a fishery point of view. 



The report by Professor A. T. Cameron, University of Manitoba, calls for 

 special mention on account of its important commercial bearing. It has long 

 been known that a valuable chemical product is present in certain seaweeds, and 

 Dr. Cameron has completed an original research, in which he has studied no less 

 than twenty species of marine plants, including the giant Pacific Kelps. He 

 studied six species of sponges; five species of jelly fish and fourteen higher 

 forms in order to determine the amount of Iodine present in them, and at the 

 conclusion of his paper, he adds an Appendix on the commercial aspect of the 

 Kelp beds on the Pacific Coast as a source of Iodine production. Mr. A. B. 

 Klugh, (Queen's University) rendered Dr. Cameron assistance in this work. 



Two papers by Mr. Stock and Mr. Martin of the University of Toronto, 

 treat of some Parasites (Copepods) of certain Bay of Fundy fishes, and on the 

 effect of freezing upon living fish. Both are of the nature of preliminary reports 

 and they are of very special interest. 



Since the last issue of the Biological Contributions, the Board has been de- 

 prived by death of two esteemed colleagues, Professor Penhallow and Rev. George 

 W. Taylor, both of whom devoted much time and labour to the work of the Bio- 

 logical Stations and contributed substantially to Biological Science in Canada. 



Ottawa, Jan. 1914. 



