160 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI 



The different parasites affecting fishes are of 

 course also treated. Thus, of curstaceans, cope- 

 pods from Vancouver IslTnR Tr.? describeR in zhe 

 1906-10 volume, and from zhe Bay of Fundy in 

 the 1911-14 volume. An interesting tap.^-worm 

 (Cestod) from Black Bass is described in the 1911- 

 14 volume; while the primitive parasites (Spo- 

 rozoa) affecting fishes at the Atlantic coast are 

 recorded in the same volume (Fasc. I), and in that 

 for 1914-15. 



Results of an investigation into the different 

 kinds of bait used by fihsermen at the Atlantic 

 coast will be found in the 1906-10 volumes; 

 while the 1917 volume contains a long, illustrated 

 report on the investigations of the herds of sea- 

 lions frequenting the Pacific coast of Canada, a 

 rather controversial subject, as the fishermen claim 

 that much damage to the fisheries (particularly to 

 the salmon) is done by these seals. 



Fishes and fisheries in a stricter sense are of 

 course treated in a number of articles and reports. 



Thus the 1911-14 volume contains a long 

 account of the freshwater fishes of Georgian Bay, 

 Ont., illustrated by plates; while the freshwater 

 and marine fishes* of Prince Edward Island are 

 recorded in the 1906-10 volume. In the 1917 

 volume an annotated lift of the fishes ofund in 

 the vicinity of Magdalen Islands and the Nova 

 Scotia coast opposite will be found. 



Treatises dealing with the appearance, life- 

 history, and economic value of certain fishes are 

 well represented. Thus, besides a description of 

 a new Cottoid fsculpin) from Departure Bay, 

 B.C.. in the 1916-10 volume, the Pacific Halibut- 

 fisheries are traeted in the 1914-15 volume; and 

 the biology, etc., of the various kinds ^Spring-, 

 Coho-, Sockeye-, Dog-. Humpback-) of Salmon 

 occurring in British Columbia will be found ni 

 four articles in the 1915-16, 1917, 1918-20 volumes. 

 Of fishes occurring at the Atlantic coast of Canada, 

 the utilization of the Selachians fdog-fish, etct.)is 

 discussed in the 1917 volume; the aggs and larvae 

 of Halibut in the 1914-15 volume; and the life- 

 history fas learned from scale examinations) of 

 the Cod, Hake, and Haddock, and the migration 

 of Eels also in the 1914-15 volume. The 1915-16 

 volume contains an article about the colour- 

 pattern of cod-fishes; the 1917 volume another 

 about the growth of the Pollock; and the biology 

 of the Mutton-fish (Zoarces anguillaris } is gtreated 

 in the 1918-20 volume. 



To enumerate the names of the different authors 

 is hardly necessary; they are practically all 

 Canadian workers, and their writings mostly 

 embody the re.sults of their own inve.stigations at 

 the two Cthree; Biological Stations; often they 

 are authorities upon the particular subject they 

 write ablut. After the acquisition of the large 

 motor-launch. Prince, specially constructe and 

 fitted out for marine investigations, it has been 

 possible to utilize it for research work far away 

 from the St. Andrews station, where the main 

 body of workers stay during the summer and have 

 smaller boats at their disposal. Thus the work 

 goes on, during the summer, both in the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, along the outer coast of Nova Scotia, 

 and in the Bay of Fundy; and now everything is 

 running smoothly. Each ot the two stations is in 



•In the table of contents the title of thin paper is given as 

 NoUb on the Fauna (nhiniUl he Fiiihes) of Tiynish, P.E.I. 



charge of an efficient curator of scientific standing 

 and is well patronized by workers from all over 

 Canada. It is well to remember the great and 

 successful work accomplished by the former 

 chairman and present secretary-treasurer of the 

 Biological Board of Canada, Prof. E. E. Prince, 

 Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, who has the 

 main credit ofr the creation and proper functioning 

 of this institution. 



As chairman of the Board he arranged for the 

 upkeep of the biological stations and the selecting 

 of the workers, and also for the planning and 

 carrying out of the investigations; as individual 

 worker in research studies at the stations he 

 showed the way and inspired his colleagues; 

 finally in the onerous work of gathering in and 

 editing his reports resulting from the investigations 

 he was tireless in his endeavour to make the vo- 

 lumes published worthy of Canadian Science. 

 The important work of making outsiders appre- 

 ciate the work being done by the Board for the 

 benefit of one of the principal resources and 

 industries of Canada has also largely devolved 

 upon him. 



It is perhaps worth mentioning that the Biolo- 

 gical Board of Canada, the establishment of which, 

 in 1898, has been recorded in the Ottawa Naturalis 

 for May, 1902, p. 46, is made up of a dozen repre- 

 sentatives from the principal universities in 

 Canada; and though in the course of time certain 

 of its members have been replaced by others the 

 charactre and purpose of the Board is the same 

 as formerly. Marine Biology, Anatomy, Physio- 

 logy, Botany, Geology and Chemistry are all ably 

 represented upon the Board; and though its 

 members serve without pay, and only meet 

 occasionally, it is decidedly one of the most useful 

 and successful institutions established by the 

 Canadian Government during the last thirty 

 years' 



If it is true that the value of a particular Depart- 

 ment is not measured by the number of people 

 employed in it, nor by the amount of printed 

 matter emanating from it; but by economic and 

 efficient administration, and by the courageous 

 and intelligent tackling of great practical and 

 scientific problems, resulting in important contri- 

 butions to our knowlecge of the resources of the 

 country, then the Biological Board of Canada 

 occupies a place in the front rank. Similar 

 institutions in the United States are supported by 

 private means, and the same is mainly the case 

 with the biological stations in Europe. In other 

 countries instruction of university-students is an 

 important part of the work; in Canada however 

 the effort is devoted solely to original research by 

 post-graduates, and thus the result is more im- 

 mediate. 



Is it too much to hope that the various provinces 

 of Canada, who are so insistent upon the resources 

 within their borders, to a far greater extent than 

 hitherto will recognize their responsibilities as to 

 the scientific investigation and development of 

 them? Investigations of the many important 

 bodies of fresh water in southern Canada could 

 at least be done by the provinces at reasonable 

 expense, as shown by the Universities of Toronto 

 and Manitoba, leaving the Great Lakes and the 

 sea (where international cooperation is often 

 necessary), and the arctic territories to the 

 Dominion Government. — F. J. 



