INTRODUCTION 



The purpose of the investigation described in the present 

 bulletin is to present facts concerning the amount of the food 

 supply available for fish life in an important fish-producing 

 lake whose physical character and fish are known with some 

 degree of accuracy. For this purpose Lower South Bay, a 

 well known and favorite fishing resort at the west end of 

 Oneida Lake, was chosen for the field operations. This local- 

 tiy is easily and speedily reached from Syracuse by a trolley 

 system having hovn^ly schedules, a feature which renders this 

 bay a favorite place for local fisherman to spend week-end 

 vacations throughout the season. The field work was con- 

 ducted during the month of July, when the weather was favor- 

 able and storms were at a minimum. 



The inspiration for the investigation was received from the 

 work of the previous year and from a study of Petersen's 

 epoch-making quantitative studies of the biota of the marine 

 waters of Denmark, carried on for many years and published 

 in the fascinating series of reports issued by the Danish Bio- 

 logical Station. Several distinguished European ecologists 

 have for many years studied the biota of the various waters 

 of the northern parts of Europe in a quantitative manner. 

 Among these Hensen's papers on the methods of plankton 

 work and on the productivity of the sea ('95, '97), Apstein's 

 studies of the fresh- water lakes of Holstein ('96), and 

 Brandt's papers on the productivity of the sea ('99-'o5) are 

 noteworthy. These studies dealt almost exclusively, however, 

 with the plankton of the sea and lakes, and took little or no 

 account of the biota of the bottom, which is of great impor- 

 tance and furnishes a large part of the food of many fish and 

 other animals. It should be noted, however, that Dahl ('93) 

 studied the animal life of the brackish waters of the low^er 

 Elbe River and determined, by digging, the amount of life per 

 square meter, at low tide. It remained for the Danish 



[17] 



