CXXXVIII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES. 

 WOODS HOLE, MASSACHUSETTS. 



Announcement was made iu the last report of tlie appointment of 

 Dr. H. C. Bumpus as director of the laboratory and of the intention 

 of the Commission to keep the laboratory open throughout the year 

 for the accommodation of those persons who might desire to carry on 

 investigations in fall, winter, and si)ring. The year ending June 30, 

 ]899, was one of the most successful in the history of the laboratory, 

 and tlie investigations were much encouraged by the Commissioner, 

 who was present at the station during a large part of the summer. The 

 laboratory assistants were Prof. E. W. Tower, Mr. G. H. Sherwood, 

 Mr. E. E. Tyzzer, and Mr. Vinal N. Edwards. The regular employees of 

 the station, under the direction of Mr. E. F. Locke, rendered frequent 

 and valuable assistance. The following abstract of the investigations 

 and of the incidental work carried on at the laboratory is taken chiefly 

 from the report of the director. 



The already large equipment of the laboratory was supplemented by 

 new apparatus, instruments, glassware, etc., and a stock of chemicals 

 for carrying on physiological, histological, and microscopical research; 

 additional rooms were provided for investigators; an excellent camera, 

 especially adapted for taking life-size photographs of water animals, 

 was provided, and the photographic rooiii was replenished. The appa- . 

 ratus for the collecting of fishes and other animals was increased by 

 a 250-foot purse seine, a 5-foot beam-trawl, 10 deep-sea traps, and 3 

 complete sets of trawl lines. One of the most important adjuncts of 

 the laboratory was a flsh-trap or pound net. In previous years the fish- 

 traps in Buzzards Bay had furnished valuable data relative to the 

 migrations, breeding, and abundance of fish, besides providing material 

 for laboratory work; but in 1898 the laws of Massachusetts prohibited 

 the operation of these traps. In order that the interests of the labora- 

 tory might not be curtailed, and the important record of the move- 

 ments of fish might not be broken, the Commission in 1898 purchased 

 one of the largest of the traps and obtained permission to operate it 

 from the State Fisheries Commission. In the spring of 1899 a similar 

 trap was secured for use in Vineyard Sound. 



During the year the steamer Fish Hawk and the schooner Grampus, 

 together with several steam launches and the various small boats at the 

 station, were available for use in connection with the laboratory. The 

 trustees of the Marine Biological Laboratory again placed their launch 

 at the disposal of the Commission at a time when it was much needed. 



An essential part of a biological laboratory is a library, and the 

 director has taken special interest in the establishment of a creditable 

 collection of works of reference and technical papers relating to biology. 

 For the purpose of increasing the usefulness of the library, the Fish 

 Commission sent circular letters to men of science, both in this country 

 and abroad, asking them to contribute reprints of the i)apers they had 

 published, or to exchange such reprints for publications of the Com- 



