CXL REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



gave special attention to the rearing of newly hatched lobsters. No 

 branch of our fisheries seems to be more in need of intelligent treat- 

 ment at the present time than the lobster industry. Notwithstanding 

 stringent protection laws and extensive fish-cultural operations, the 

 supply of lobsters along the entire coast is steadily diminishing, and 

 during the past three or four years has been especially limited. It is 

 ai^parent that, unless active measures are taken to increase production, 

 the animal will, in a few years, become practically exterminated. The 

 eggs stripped from the female readily develop and hatch in McDonald 

 jars with little loss, but the young quickly perish under the unnatural 

 conditions in the hatchery. Therefore, the planting of the young as 

 soon as possible after hatching has heretofore been necessary, owing 

 to repeated failures to carry them through the early molts. If, how- 

 ever, the young could be artificially reared until they reach the fourth 

 stage, when in structure and habits they are similar to the adults, they 

 would be much more likely to flourish after their liberation, and the 

 chances of rehabilitating the industry would be greatly improved. 

 Before the close of the year a food was found which the young lobsters 

 readily devour, inclosures were designed within which they seemed to 

 flourish, and a larger number of young were carried to advanced stages 

 of development than ever before. The problem, however, of rearing 

 lobsters on a large scale still remains unsolved, although Dr. Bumpus 

 believes that investigation along the lines recently followed will result 

 in perfecting a practical method of lobster-culture. 



For several years the aquaria at the station had apparently been 

 infected with a parasitic organism which attacked the fish, produced 

 bubbles of gas, around which the tissues wasted away, and ultimately 

 caused death. This is not an uncommon affection in aquarium speci- 

 mens. Prof. F. P. Gorham made a careful bacteriological examination 

 of the water of the aquaria and of the tissues of the fishes, but found 

 no organism that could be held responsible for the disease. Further 

 observations convinced him that the condition was due to diminution 

 in the pressure to which the fish were subjected when transferred from 

 the deep water of the bay and sound to the shallow water of the tanks. 

 He was able to produce and cure the disease experimentally by using 

 small closed receptacles in which the pressure could be regulated. His 

 observations are published in the Bulletin of the Commission for 1899. 



Mr. L. E. GrifiQn began a study of the life-history of the squid {Loligo 

 pealii), an article of great importance as bait in the commercial fish- 

 eries. The eggs of the squid are easily fertilized artificially, and the 

 young appear to flourish in the hatchery. 



The laboratory furnished Prof 0. J. Herrick with the material and 

 facilities that enabled him to trace the origin and distribution of the 

 cranial nerves, and Dr. Ira van Gieson was provided with material for 

 use in elucidating certain problems relative to the structure and func- 

 tions of nerve cells. While these neurological researches and other 

 similar investigations carried on at the laboratory have no immediate 



