32 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The purchase and shipment of various supplies for other stations of 

 the Commission were attended to by Mr. Worth, and numerous services 

 were rendered for other departments of the Central office. The number 

 of shipments of freight handled at the station was CIS. The shad eggs 

 collected at Bryan Point are hatched in Central Station, as well as eggs 

 of trout, salmon, whitefish, pike-perch, etc., from distant stations of the 

 Commission. This is the shipping-point also for the fish produced at the 

 Fish Ponds in Washington, as well as for those hatched in the station. 



A special carp-distribution pail, devised in October, 1893, has two small 

 rings soldered midway between the ears of the handles. The openings 

 in the rings and ears provide a ready means of fastening on the lids. 



The cement used in repairing aquaria at the station is made accord- 

 ing to the following formula: Putty, 4 pounds; litharge, 1 pound; red 

 lead, 1 pouud. The litharge and lead are kneaded into the putty. If 

 the mixture should be too dry, linseed oil is added, drop by drop, until 

 the desired consistency is secured. The cement may be darkened by 

 asphaltum or lampblack. It requires several days to set. 



For drilling glass, a file is fastened in a handle and the free end is 

 ground on three faces with a £-inch bevel to a sharp point. " Bor- 

 tine" or " glass-bore" is used as a lubricant in drilling. 



In February, 1894, the office of the Commission was moved to the 

 Atlantic Coast Line Building, corner of Sixth street and Pennsylvania 

 avenue, and the first floor of the Central Station was used for storage 

 during the repairs to the roof and upper floors. The work was com- 

 pleted and the office reinstated late in June. 



In February, 1894, arrangements were made to discard the open 

 water supply tank at the west end of the third-story hall. A safety 

 valve was first connected with the iron piping supplying the hatching- 

 tables, and was found available as a temporary expedient during the 

 hatching of some whitefish eggs. This was soon afterwards replaced 

 by a 3-inch Watson water-pressure regulator, which proved entirely 

 satisfactory. The regulator may be found useful at Alpena and other 

 stations taking water by gravity. 



In the spring of 1894, Superintendent Worth prepared 173 photo- 

 graphic prints from negatives of fishery and fish-culture subjects made 

 for the World's Columbian Exposition, and these were sent to Dr. 

 Ernst Ehrenbaum, Kgl. Biologische-Anstalt, Helgoland. Of similar 

 illustrations, 36 were prepared and forwarded to Dr. Nicolas Borodine, 

 Uralsk, Bussia. Illustrations and explanations of the methods of the 

 Commission in shad culture were also furnished to Mr. C. B. Hudson. 



On June 27 the superintendent commenced an examination of the 

 McDonald patent fishway at the Great Falls of the Potomac Biver to 

 determine its condition and the number of fish ascending. A prelimi- 

 nary report was made, which was approved, and formed the basis of 

 operations and expenditures. 



The application of air for oxygenizing water in which living fishes 



