SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 81 



and the introduction of transparent labels will add much to the 

 satisfaction of visitors in examining the collections. 



A number of minor repairs have been inaugurated and are 

 being carried on with the Aquarium force without extra expense. 

 It is hoped that additional funds from the bond issue which has 

 been asked for will be provided for the extensive improvements 

 contemplated, especially in the machinery, which is dangerously 

 out of repair. The extremely high price of coal precluded the 

 possibility of making any extensive improvements from the bal- 

 ance of the maintenance fund for 1902. 



There has been much trouble with rusted-out pipes, but so 

 far repairs have been made with the Aquarium force. 



Suitable arrangements have been made in the attic under a 

 large skylight for the raising of aquatic plants to be placed in 

 the exhibition tanks among the fishes. Store-rooms have also 

 been constructed in the attic, which has resulted in a gain of 

 space on the main floor for ofiice purposes. 



It is proposed to line the exhibition tanks with rockwork, but 

 this improvement has been delayed owing to the difficulty in 

 procuring the proper kind of rock for that purpose. Work of 

 this kind is much needed, as the present lining of white tiles 

 in the tanks is altogether unnatural, and a scheme of furnishing 

 the tanks with more natural backgrounds is being worked out 

 in detail. 



The Salt-Water Collections. — The large and valuable collec- 

 tion of tropical fishes from the Bermudas is maintained in the 

 Aquarium under rather unfavorable conditions, the salt-water 

 supply, pumped constantly from New York Bay, being subject 

 to daily fluctuations in density. A set of Hilgard's Ocean 

 Salinometers has been purchased and a record of the changes 

 in density is now being kept on forms prepared for the purpose. 

 This is being done in conformity with the records kept by the 

 U. S. Coast Survey and the Fish Commission, and will be in- 

 teresting as showing the varying conditions under which these 

 fishes live. The observations already made show that these fishes, 

 from the pure sea w-ater of the Bermudas, are living in water 

 which at some conditions of the tide is quite fresh, varying from 

 8 to 12 by the salinometer when it should be nominally 28. While 

 fishes and crustaceans appear to flourish in this brackish water, 

 it is not adapted to many forms of invertebrates, and impor- 

 tant collections of the latter received in December from the 

 coast of Massachusetts have been lost on this account, none of 



