REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XIII 



year the Grampus continued her fishing trips in Massachusetts Bay and 

 oft" Cape Ann, carrying- several cargoes of live fish, principally cod, in 

 good condition, to the Wood's Holl station. 



In December, Mr. Charles H. Townsend, an assistant of the Com- 

 mission, was sent to the western part of the Caribbean Sea for the pur- 

 pose of studying the fisheries of that region in the interests of the 

 American fishermen. One of the objects of his trip was to ascertain 

 if that region was to any extent the winter home of pelagic fishes 

 which resort to the eastern coast of the United States in summer. His 

 work extended iuto 1887. Free transportation as far as Swan Island 

 was furnished by Mr. J. M. (Hidden, president of the Pacific Guano 

 Company. 



The Wood's Holl station was occupied in the interests of scientific 

 inquiry from early in July until the middle of October, becoming dur- 

 ing this period the headquarters for the steamer Albatross. The Com- 

 missioner, Professor Baird, was iu attendance during the entire season, 

 and personally directed the work as in previous years. Prof. A. E. 

 Verrill was in charge of the laboratory, assisted by Mr. Bichard Rath- 

 bun. The regular force of workers in the biological laboratory was 

 constituted as follows: Prof. S. I. Smith, of Yale College; Prof. John 

 A. Ryder, of Washington; Mr. Sanderson Smith, of New York; Prof. 

 Leslie A. Lee, of Bowdoin College; Prof. Edwin Linton, of Washing- 

 ton and Jefferson College ; Prof. B. F. Koons, of the Storr's Agricult- 

 ural School; Mr. J. H. Blake, of Cambridge, as artist; Mr. Peter 

 Parker, jr., of Washington; Miss K. J. Bush, and Miss. C. E. Bush, 

 assistants of Professor Verrrill ; and Mr. x\. H. Baldwin and Miss M. J. 

 Rathbun, assistants in the National Museum. The chemical and phys- 

 ical laboratory was in charge of Dr. J. H. Kidder, and the aquaria were 

 managed by Mr. William P. Seal, of Philadelphia. Tables in the bio- 

 logical laboratory were also occupied by the following college repre- 

 sentatives: Prof. S. F. Clarke, of Williams College; Prof. E. B. Wilson, 

 of Bryn Mawr College, and Dr. A. T. Bruce, of Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity. Mr. Vinal N. Edwards, a permanent observer and collector 

 for the Fish Commission in the Yiueyard Sound region, worked in con- 

 junction with the summer party, and assisted it in various ways. 



Although acting as superintendent of the station during the summer, 

 Professor Ryder was able to devote much time to the problems of lob- 

 ster and oyster culture, which were then being carried on, especially 

 with reference to the care and rearing of the young. During the 

 spring hatching season for cod and lobsters he also made elaborate 

 studies of the development of those two species from their earliest 

 stages. The other naturalists were mostly engaged in preserving, 

 assorting, and studying the large collections brought in by the steamer 

 Albatross from its several cruises to the fishing grounds. Much field 

 work was also done in the neighboring region, in continuance of the 

 investigations of former years, for the purpose of obtaining inforina- 



