XX EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Professor Gaingee has kindly offered to continue his investigations on 

 this subject, Avith a special view of 'determining the feasibility of con- 

 structing a compact machine, which may be of service in bringing fresh 

 to land, the specimens taken on board the Fish-Hawk. His article on 

 the subject I hope to publish in a future report. 



One object to which the Fish Commission has devoted much atten- 

 tion has been the bringing together of as complete a series as possible 

 of all the various marine animals of North America, including in this 

 group the seals and cetaceans. Among the least known forms are the 

 larger varieties of porpoise, grampus, and whales, the opportunities for 

 examining the latter being exceedingly scanty. Little can be seen of a 

 whale in the water, whether dead or alive, and when stranded the flac- 

 cidity of the body distorts its shape to such au extent as to cause the 

 fish to lose its natural appearance ; nearly all the sketches of whales 

 have been made from several different presentations of the animal j and, 

 therefore, although fairly accurate, are not absolutely precise. Some of 

 these sketches have been used for a basis of reconstruction or models of 

 small size for the National Museum. Information having been re- 

 ceived by telegram on the 12th of April, from Provincetown, of the 

 stranding of a whale in good condition in Provincetown Bay, I dis- 

 patched Mr. Joseph Palmer, the modeler of the National Museum, to 

 see whether he could not obtain a mold in plaster of the animal from 

 which a cast might be made. He accordingly proceeded to Cape Cod, 

 obtaining in Boston a sufficient amount of plaster in barrels for his pur- 

 pose. On arriving at Provincetown, by the help of Mr. Small and other 

 citizens, he was enabled to take a mold of the animal (a hump-back 

 about 30 feet long) in sections, which he brought back with him to 

 Washington, and which has been stored in the armory building, to be 

 used in the construction of a papier inache' reproduction at the proper 

 time. 



The preparation of a series of casts in plaster and papier machC of 

 the larger fishes, begun several years ago, has been continued by Mr. 

 Palmer and his assistant; the painting, as before, having been executed 

 by Mr. A. Zeno Shindler and Mr. John H. Eichard. 



8. — STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES, EXCLUSIVE OF THOSE TAKEN IN 

 CONNECTION WITH THE CENSUS. 



In the summer of 1878, when the Fish Commission had its headquar- 

 ters at Gloucester, an arrangement was made with Mr. George J. Marsh, 

 in behalf of Mrs. Rogers, for the rental of a wharf and the necessary 

 buildings at Fort Point for the service of the Fish Commission. These 

 served as its headquarters during the season of 1878, and as the station 

 for the codfish hatching during the winter of 1878-79. A satisfactory 

 arrangement was made with Mr. Marsh for continuing the lease of the 

 premises for 1879, the necessity for such a station being quite urgent 

 both as the central point from which the statistics of the Gloucester 





