44 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
in the middle of August following. The work was in charge of Prof. 
Barton W. Evermann, assisted in the fall of 1892 by Mr. Lewis M. 
McCormick, of the United States National Museum, and in 1893 by Prof. 
U. O. Cox, of the State Normal School, Mankato, Minn.; Mr. Cloud. 
Rutter, of Long Pine, Nebr., and Prof. R. G. Gillum. of the State 
Normal School, Terre Haute, Ind. 
An account of the results of this inquiry must be deferred until the 
next annual report, to which it properly belongs, only a brief mention 
being made in this connection of the work accomplished during the 
fiscal year 1892-93. During October, 1892, many of the streams and 
springs among the Black Hills and in their vicinity were examined, 
some of the places visited being Belle Fourche, Spearfish; Rapid City, 
and Hot Springs, S. Dak., and Newcastle, Wyo. As the cold weather 
came on the party started eastward through Nebraska, making obser- 
vations at Ravenna, Lincoln, Crete, and South Bend, in that State, and 
subsequently at Ames, Cedar Rapids, and Spirit Lake, in Iowa. During 
June, 1893, the investigations were confined to the southern part of 
South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska, streams being visited in the 
vicinity of Mitchell, Chamberlain, Scotland, and Springfield in the 
former State, and of Niobrara, Verdigris, and Creighton in the latter. 
As is customary in inquiries of this kind, very complete and detailed 
observations were made, relating not only to the character and richness 
of the aquatic fauna, but also to the fitness or requirements of the waters 
with respect to stocking, their physical and other conditions, and to the 
relative advantages afforded by different localities for the carrying on 
of fish-cultural operations, the latter involving the consideration of 
several important factors, such as the water supply, transportation 
facilities, and to a certain extent the proximity of natural breeding- 
grounds, etc. Large collections of fishes and of other aquatic animals 
were made, a study of which will add greatly to our knowledge of the 
natural history of the regions examined. 
WISCONSIN. 
During the season of 1892 the physical and biological features of 
lakes Geneva, Delavan, and Winnebago, in Wisconsin, were investi- 
gated by Prof. S. A. Forbes, assisted by several of his students in the 
State University of Illinois. The main part of the work on lakes 
Geneva and Delavan was accomplished during May, but visits were 
also paid to the same lakes in July, August, and September following. 
Lake Winnebago was studied during the middle part of June. The 
contour of the bottom of these lakes was determined by means of 
soundings; temperature observations were made at the surface and at 
different depths, and sketch maps were prepared to illustrate their 
physical characteristics. The biological work consisted in dredging, 
the constant use of the surface tow net, and in collecting along the: 
