The Productk'ity of Fish Food hi Oneida Lake 19 



bottom sampler similar to Petersen's was devised by this 

 author for obtaining material from unit areas. This sampler 

 covers a larger area (5 dm. square or about 400 square inches, 

 20 inches square) than the Petersen dredge and seems almost 

 too large for practical work. The area of about half that size 

 ( 10 inches square) would seem preferable. This lake was very 

 carefully studied, and temperatures, degrees of transparency, 

 chemical characteristics, submerged vegetation, and types of 

 bottom material are discussed at length. Plant detritus, 

 apparently similar in character to the dust-fine-detritus of 

 Petersen, is stated to be present. It is to be regretted that 

 only the first part of this very interesting paper is available 

 to me. The aims of Ekman are apparently similar to those of 

 the present writer and it would be of great interest to compare 

 the results of quantitative studies of those two lakes, one a 

 deep lake (Sweden) and the other a comparatively shallow 

 body of water. 



In America, while much biological work has been done on 

 the qualitative side of fresh waters, few quantitative studies 

 have been made aside from that of the plankton (Birge, Marsh, 

 Kofoid, etc.) and a rich and. almost virgin field lies before the 

 ecologist who has the opportunity to carry on this important 

 line of investigation. Such studies not only advance the tech- 

 nical or scientific side of aquatic biology but also the economic, 

 so that both general and applied science advance side by side. 

 For example, in the present report the quantitative studies 

 revealed several new species of algce, a new insect, and five 

 new mollusks, besides indicating the relative abundance of the 

 dififerent species under varying physical conditions ; at the same 

 time many facts were ascertained about the animals used by 

 fish as food. Aquatic studies to be of the greatest value, at the 

 present time, must be so complete that they will furnish data 

 for answering a vast number of questions, both economic and 

 scientific. 



The area of Oneida Lake studied quantiatively embraces 

 two localities. The larger locality, and the one containing the 

 greater amount of quantitative data, embraces the territory 

 of Lower South Bay, an area of 881 acres. The limits of this 



