TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT. 91 



"The New York Aquarium will supply small fishes and marine inver- 

 tebrates for stocking aquaria in your school. It will be necessary for 

 you to provide an aquarium jar or tank, and send here for a supply of 

 sea-water. When everything is in readiness the specimens, with marine 

 plants, will be delivered at the school house. It is important that you 

 first visit the laboratory here, where instruction in caring for aquaria 

 can be had at any time. Sea-water can be sent by express to tliose for- 

 warding carboys for that purpose." 



A limited amount of fresh-water life has also been supplied. 



The material furnished has gone not only to public schools, 

 but to normal and high schools, and to the colleges and universi- 

 ties of the City. The Aquarium has limited the free distribution 

 of specimens to City institutions, although there have been many 

 applications from outside Greater New York. 



Classes accompanied by teachers have continued to visit the 

 Aquarium, the total number of pupils for the year being 6,300. 

 All parties from schools visiting the Aquarium are provided with 

 a guide to enable them to see the collections to the best advantage. 



The total number of educational institutions to which specimens 

 have been sent for class work or aquaria since January 16, 1903, 

 is approximately 300. 



Mr. Spencer of the Acjuarium staff has personally managed 

 all work of this kind, including the adjustment of the aquaria in 

 each school. 



WORK OF THE COLLECTOR. 



This has included not only the collection of hundreds of speci- 

 mens of local fishes and invertebrates for exhibition, but the 

 gathering of great quantities of salt-water minnows and shriinps 

 used as live food. The surplus sea-shore forms obtained in 

 abundance by the Collector, Mr. J. J. DeXyse, have as usual been 

 given freely to school teachers for class room purposes and the 

 stocking of school aquaria. Nothing collected for the Aquarium 

 is wasted, even dead specimens, when in good condition, being 

 sent to the natural history museums or used as food for seals or 

 alligators. 



THE LABORATORY. 



One of the laboratory rooms was placed at the disposal of the 

 Metropolitan Sewerage Commission, which used it throughout 

 the year in its investigations respecting the pollution of the 



