FOREIGN RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS 141 



division of scientific investigation into researches 

 of " purely scientific " and " economic " interest ; 

 but it is better that the catholic spirit, as ex- 

 hibited in the work of the Kiel Kommission, 

 should prevail, than that scientific research should 

 be narrowed and limited as has unfortunately 

 been the case in England. 



The American Fish Commission 



The United States Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries resembles the German Kiel Kommission 

 in many ways. It is not an administrative body 

 in the sense of a British fisheries authority, being 

 concerned only with the acquirement and applica- 

 tion of scientific knowledge. Like the German 

 organisation also, it is not part of any public 

 department, and is responsible only to Congress. 



The Fish Commission was established in 1871, 

 and the original resolution of Congress defined 

 its duties as follows : " To prosecute investigations 

 on the subject [of the diminution of valuable 

 fishes], with the view of ascertaining whether 

 any, and what, diminution in the number of the 

 food-fishes of the coast and the lakes of the 

 United States has taken place ; and, if so, to 

 what causes the same is due ; and also whether 

 any, and what, protection, prohibitory or pre- 

 cautionary measures should be adopted in the 

 premises, and to report upon the same to 



