12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



Japan on September i8. A preliminary account of his findings has 

 been submitted, and the elaborate report is now in preparation. 



It thus appears that the Department of Biology for more than 

 40 years has cooperated with the various Government departments 

 which have had the investigation of the important fur-seal problem 

 in hand, having had members of its stafif detailed for the purpose 

 during six seasons, viz. : in 1882, 1883, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1922. 

 Moreover, after their return, they prepared elaborate reports which 

 are among the most valuable contributions to the literature on the 

 subject. The numerous publications on the history of the Asiatic 

 Seal Islands, due to the cooperation of the Museum, form practi- 

 cally the only available information about these islands which are of 

 so great importance both scientifically and economically. 



Investigations on the life history of the lobster. — Under the date 

 of May 20, 1918, the Department of Commerce requested the detail 

 of a member of the Museum force to the Bureau of Fisheries for 

 the purpose of investigating the life history of the spiny lobster of 

 the Pacific Coast. In this connection it was stated that, while the 

 spiny lobster on the west coast possessed considerable economic 

 importance as an article of food, it had been " so steadily declining 

 in numbers on the coast of California that the market supply was 

 chiefly by importation from the coast of Mexico, and that an elucida- 

 tion of the life history of the form would undoubtedly be a proper 

 step in arriving at and termination of the measures of protection or 

 propagation necessary to insure the conservation of the species." 



This detail became effective for three months beginning August i, 

 during which period important collections were made, and several 

 interesting facts established. Brief preliminary reports of the work 

 were published, but the final summary is not yet completed. 



The Geographic Society of Baltimore Expedition to the Baha- 

 mas. — This expedition was conceived and conducted by Mr. George 

 B. Shattuck, then of Johns Hopkins University, and sailed from Bal- 

 timore on June i, 1903. Among the Government and other experts 

 detailed for the purpose of studying the natural history, soil, sani- 

 tation, diseases, etc., of the islands were Messrs. B. A. Bean and 

 J. H. Riley of the National Museum. The cruise extended over a 

 period of nearly two months, but opportunities for collecting natural 

 history specimens at individual landings were very brief. A general 

 report upon the expedition was published by the Society, including 

 a list of all the birds recorded from the Bahamas, contributed by 

 Mr. Riley. The Museum paid for the subsistence of its two repre- 

 sentatives. 



