REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. BLS 
projected contemplates much more than a catalogue in the sense of a 
mere list of species; certain data of practical or scientific interest are, 
when available, recorded for each animal and plant form. In order to 
admit of indefinite expansion, the whole record will be put in the 
form of a card catalogue, with eleven cards for each species. A fair 
start has already been made in this work, many of the principal reports 
and synopses having been abstracted, and records of about 750 species 
having been entered. 
Biological survey of Vineyard Sound.—The Fish Hawk arrived at 
Woods Hole on the 19th of July and remained until September 10, 
during the greater part of which period she was at the disposal of the 
laboratory. It was thought that the admirable facilities for dredging 
possessed by this vessel could be put to greatest advantage by carrying 
out a systematic survey of the bottom of Vineyard Sound, a task 
which had not been undertaken since the days when Professor Verrill 
and his associates gathered the material for their reports on the inver- 
tebrate fauna of these waters. 
Accordingly, dredgings were made at intervals of three-fourths of 
a mile along parallel lines crossing the sound, these lines being 1 mile 
apart. Various sorts of dredges were employed, according to the 
character of the bottom; the usual physical data—density of water, 
character of bottom, temperature, etc.—were recorded for each station, 
and material for a sara record of the biological data was preser ae 
In all, 82 stations were occupied in Vineyard Sound, ranging from 
Nobska Point to Gay Head. It is intended that these dredgings shall 
be continued and supplemented by thorough work upon the shore life. 
of this region, thus completing a biological survey of these waters. 
The relation which such a survey would bear to the catalogue above 
discussed is obvious. 
In addition to the above dredgings, a trip was made to Crab Ledge, 
a shoal about 7 miles east of Chatham, on Cape Cod, where 7 stations 
were occupied. 
Miscellancous investigations.— The results of the following investi- 
gations, which were conducted wholly or in part at the laboratory 
during the summer of 1903, will be embodied in special reports to be 
published by the Bureau: 
1. The stomatopoda of the Albatross Hawaiian Saunas 2. Brachyura of the 
Woods Hole region. By Robert Payne Bigelow, Ph. D., instructor in biology, Mas- 
sachusetts Institute of Technology. 
Studies upon carp. By Leon J. Cole, Austin teaching fellow in zoology, Harvard 
University. 
The food of certain fishes of little or no food value. By Irving A. Field, Denison 
University. 
Causes of certain fish diseases. By Frederic P. Gorham, Ph. D., associate pro- 
fessor of biology, Brown University. 
