Forty- first Annual Meeting 15 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 



.1//'. President and Members of ttic American Fisheries Society: 



I have prepared no written report, but I will endeavor to tell you 

 briefly of some of the more important occurrences during the past year 

 which, in my judgment, may be termed to be one of the most important 

 years in the Society's history. 



hirst, mention should be made of the incorporation of the Society 

 under the laws of the District of Columbia. Some will recall that 

 this matter of incorporation has been coming up for quite a number of 

 years, including the meeting at New York last year. As a result, we 

 looked into the laws of a number of the states and finally, upon an 

 examination of the code of the District of Columbia, found that the 

 laws there were well suited to our purposes. It is provided by the code 

 of the District that any five persons, a majority of whom shall be 

 legal residents, may have the privilege of incorporating for the conduct 

 of business pertinent to a learned society. 



Largely through the efforts of Dr. H. M. Smith, articles of incor- 

 poration were drawn under date of December 16, 1910, setting forth 

 the name, objects and purposes of the Society. They were recorded 

 April 15, 1911. As the report of the last meeting did not appear until 

 after the articles of incorporation were complete, it was possible to 

 print the copy in the proceedings, and this was done, the idea being to 

 continue it each year. 



It will be noted- that there were seven signers of the articles, five 

 of whom are legal residents of the District of Columbia. It was thought 

 proper to add the name of Mr. Seymour Bower, who presided at the 

 meeting in Xew York when the matter came up, and also the name of 

 Mr. W. E. Meehan, who held the office of President during the current 

 year, thus making seven in all. 



Another matter, decidedly in the nature of an innovation, has been 

 the adoption of a membership certificate. This has been possible 

 through the generosity of one of our members, the Hon. Daniel 15. 

 Fearing, of Newport, R. I., who stood the entire expense. The work 

 was done by Tiffany & Company, of New York. One of these hand- 

 some certificates was mailed to each new member elected at the last 

 meeting. They were lettercl by a draftsman at a cost of about 30 

 cents each. 



As an appropriate addition to the certificate of membership the 

 old seal of the Society has been revived. It was originally a conven- 

 ti'onal design of three crossed fishes which did not represent any par- 

 ticular species. They looked more like mackerel than anything else; 

 but inasmuch as when the Society was founded its members were inter- 

 ested primarily in brook trout, we thought it advisable to have a likeness 

 of the fontinalis appear on the new seal. The date of organization, 

 1870, appears, likewise the date of incorporation, 1910. 



