XLVIII EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The presence of these specialists was also important in connection 

 with the work on the official report upon the exhibition and on the 

 present state of the fisheries of Europe, which is now being prepared in 

 accordance with the provision of the act of Congress directing our par- 

 ticipation, and which I shall have the honor of submitting within a few 

 months. This report, in addition to the narrative and descriptive part 

 and a general review of European fishing, written by Mr. Goode, will 

 contain special reports by Mr. Earll, upon European fish-culture and 

 the herring and sardine fisheries ; by Captain Collins, upon trawl-net 

 fishing, the cod and mackerel fisheries of Europe, and upon fishing 

 vessels and boats ; by Mr. Clark, upon the European methods of pre- 

 paring fishery products and upon the world's commerce in fishery 

 products } by Mr. Cox, upon the English fish trade ; by Mr. Hitchcock, 

 upon the scientific apparatus ; and by Lieutenant McLellan, upon life- 

 saving appliances. 



During the exhibition Mr. Earll visited the Scotch herring-fisheries 

 and the fish-cultural establishment of Sir James Maitland at Stirling, 

 and Captain Collins visited various fishing stations upon the south coast 

 of England, having during a previous visit, at the close of the Berlin 

 Exposition, made a trip upon a Grimsby trawling cutter and studied 

 the trawl-net fishery from a practical standpoint. Mr. Goode's atten- 

 tion, in his leisure time, was, by my direction, devoted chiefly to studying 

 methods of museum management in the great establishments of En- 

 gland ; he also made a flying trip to Paris to study the museum methods 

 there, having three years previously visited those of Germany and 

 Italy. Dr. Bean visited the natural-history museums of Liverpool, 

 London, Paris, Geneva, Vienna, and Berlin, to make certain comparisons 

 required in connection with the fishery work. 



An international anglers' tournament was held June 11th at Welsh 

 Park, Hendon, under the direction of the Fishing Gazette. On this 

 occasion Mr. Eeuben Wood won two of the prizes, (1) for amateur fly- 

 casting with single-handed fly rod, and (2) for amateur fly-casting with 

 a salmon rod, the distance cast in the first instance being 72^ feet, in 

 the latter 108 feet, the wind being considered an unfavorable one. On 

 the 4th of July a trial of life-saving appliances took place in the Ser- 

 pentine, Hyde Park, in which several American devices proved satis- 

 factory. 



The exhibition was formally closed October 30th by the Prince of Wales, 

 and the work of packing the collections for shipment was at once taken 

 up by Messrs. Earll, Chester, and Cox, the other members of the party 

 having returned to their posts in Washington before the close of the 

 exhibition ; and before the end of the year the entire collection, in all 

 between 500 and 600 tons, cubic measurement, had been returned to 

 Washington, and the work of setting it up in the permanent fisher- 

 ies gallery of the National Museum had been begun. Many important 

 accessions to the collection were received during the exhibition, chiefly 



