REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 23 
the following extracts from two letters received during the year from 
the engineer in charge: 
The steam launch furnished by the United States Fish Commission and the copies 
of the records of that Commission have alone enabled me to finish the work in 
Tangier and Pocomoke sounds in a short time. 
* x x x # * x 
The charts showing the legal boundaries of the natural oyster beds of about half 
of the Virginia waters have been published. I should never have been able to 
accomplish this without the assistance rendered by you. 
The inquiries respecting the food of oysters and the relations of 
oysters to their environment, by Dr. John P. Lotsy, of Johns Hopkins 
University, the plans for which were referred to in the last report, 
were commenced early in July, 1892, and completed the latter part of 
September. These researches were carried on in the vicinity of 
Hampton, Va. 
GALVESTON BAY, TEXAS. 
In the early part of the summer of 1892 word was received of a sud- 
den and extensive mortality among planted oysters in Galveston Bay, 
Texas, and an inquiry into the causes thereof was requested. One 
company alone had made plantings on 480 acres of bottom of empty 
oyster shells and seed oysters a year or so old, the latter growing 
rapidly and the beds being in a prosperous condition as late as the 
close of April, 1892. During May, however, the oysters began to die 
without apparent cause, and a month later scarcely anything but 
empty shells were left upon the ground where a yield of over 300,000 
bushels had been expected the following winter. The mortality was 
not confined to this particular planting, but was said to have extended 
also to the wild oysters in other parts of the bay. In August Mr. 
John D. Battle was detailed to investigate this matter, and at the 
same time to make a general examination with respect to the oyster 
resources of the region, to serve as a basis for possible future inquiries 
on a more extensive scale. Only a short time was spent upon this work, 
but considerable information was obtained. 
With regard to the question of mortality, the subject was studied 
from several standpoints. Too great an influx of fresh water has been 
considered a frequent cause of such destruction. However, the only 
sources, except seepage and local rainfall, from which a supply of fresh 
water can reach Galveston Bay are the San Jacinto and Trinity rivers, 
‘both of which are relatively small as compared with the main body of 
the bay. The Trinity drains quite an extensive territory, while the San 
Jacinto does not, but the fresh waters coming from both of these rivers 
meet and merge into each other and flow over Redfish Bar into the 
lower part of Galveston Bay. General inquiries made to ascertain if 
there had been an tinusual rainfall and freshet in these rivers at or just 
before the period when the mortality on the planted grounds was first 
noticed afforded negative results. According to the records in the 
office of the Weather Bureau in Galveston, however, there had been 
