FOREWORD. 
The present paper by Messrs. George and Wilson on Sponges of Beaufort (N. C.) 
Harbor and Vicinity is one of a series of papers dealing with the different groups of 
animals and plants inhabiting the waters in the neighborhood of the U. S. Fisheries 
Biological Station at Beaufort, N.C. Soon after the Beaufort laboratory was established 
for practical service to the fisheries, it was determined that one of the essential founda- 
tions for such service was an exact knowledge not only of the directly useful fishes and 
shellfishes, but of all animals and plants inhabiting the region and necessarily having 
some relation to fishes and shellfishes as food, as enemies, as competitors, or as affecting 
_ their existence in other ways. A series of sympathetic studies was therefore started 
simultaneously with the beginning of activities in practical fishery experiment work. 
While none of the sponges of the Beaufort waters are now known to have a positive 
economic value, some of them are encountered as direct or indirect enemies of oysters. 
Other species have served as a basis for experimental work which may have a bearing 
upon sponge culture in other waters. A final appraisal of the significance of the sponges 
in such waters can not, however, be made in the present stage of our knowledge. This 
report contributes to the desired foundation of knowledge, and its publication by the 
Bureau is desirable. 
H. M. Smiru, 
Commissioner of Fisheries. 
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