4* REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AXD FISHERIES. 



At Halifax, as at Salem, there were numerous visitors to the labora- 

 tory and the vessel, and the aggregate of the work accomplished at the 

 two stations was much greater than that of any previous season. 



The work at Salem was greatly facilitated by help rendered by the 

 officers and members of the Peabody Academy of Science and of the 

 Essex Institute 5 the rooms, libraries, and collections of these establish- 

 ments bemg treely at the service of the Commission, as also the special 

 knowledge of the scientific members. Among these may be especially 

 mentioned. Dr. A. S. Packard, jr., Mr. Caleb Cook, Mr. J. H. Emerton, 

 Mr. A. L. Kingsley, Mr. John Eobinson, and Dr. Henry M. Wheatland. 

 A similar service was rendered at Halifax by the members of the Nova 

 Scotia Institute of Science, among them Dr. Honeyman, curator of the 

 museum, Mr. J. Matthew Jones, Mr. Morrow, and Mr. William Gossip. 

 To Prof. H. Y. Hind, of Windsor, Nova Scotia, the acknowledgements 

 of the Commission are sx)ecially due for furnishing for its use a number 

 of the newly-devised deep-sea thermometers of Messrs Negretti & Zam- 

 bra, and for aid in other directions. To the authorities, both of the 

 Dominion and of the Province of Nova Scotia, and especially to the 

 Hon. J. Burpee, minister of customs, the Commission is also indebted 

 for many valuable courtesies, and especially in having the steamer and 

 her apparatus placed on the same footing with Her Majesty's vessels 

 of war, by means of which all necessary supplies were obtainable free 

 of duty. Under this provision, all the alcohol required for the preser- 

 vation of specimens was secured at a very moderate price, and all suj)- 

 plies and apparatus needed from the United States were imported duty 

 free. Hon. W. F. Whitcher, Commissioner of Fisheries, Canada, also 

 issued a permit authorizing Mr. Milner to make collection of specimens 

 of fish for the United States Fish Commission in parts of Canada where 

 the use of the seine is at present forbidden. 



aENERAL RESULTS OP THE SEA- WORK OF 1877. 



The field-work prosecuted by the United State Fish Commission during 

 1877, as usual, produced the usual variety of results, both theoretical 

 and practical. The information obtained is believed to be of much 

 value, although of greatest importance in connection with corresponding 

 observations of other years, the digests of which are in preparation, 

 and will be published as a series of final reports. 



Perhaps the most important single fact ascertained by the Commis- 

 sion was that of the occuiTcnce, oft' the whole coast of New England, 

 of a large flounder {Ghjtocephalus cynoglossus), known in Europe as the 

 Pole or Crafg, and in the most exti-aordinary abundance, and, strange to 

 say, entirely unknown to the fishermen. It proved to be most excellent 

 as food, and, indeed, quite similar in gastronomic excellence to the Tur- 

 bot, possessing, lilvc that fish, a large amount of the same gelatinous 

 fat along the fins, Avhich gives the Turbot its peculiar excellence. 



