52 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S, Vol. IX. No. 211. 



presented. As geologists aud as citizeus of 

 no mean countries we ought to present tliis 

 matter clearly to men whose fortunes have 

 come through application of principles dis- 

 covered by obscure workers. Such men 

 are quick to perceive the justice of the 

 claim and usually are ready to pay a rea- 

 sonable interest on the debt. 



The world must advance or retrograde; 

 it cannot stand still. Continued advance 

 in physical comfort and intellectual power 

 can come only through intenser application 

 to investigation along the lines of pure 

 science, which can be made possible only 

 by affording increased opportunities for re- 

 search in our colleges and by the expansion 

 of research funds held by societies such as 

 this. 



John J. Stevenson. 



New York University. 



FISHES OF TEE SOUTH SHORE OF LONG 

 ISLAND. 



Invkstigations carried on by the New 

 York State Museum from July to Septem- 

 ber and continued by the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission until near the close of October, 

 1898, in the waters of the southern part of 

 Long Island resulted in the collection of 

 eighty-four species of fishes belonging to the 

 region. 



The work of collecting began July 2l8t, 

 at Southampton, from which place excur- 

 sions were made to Shiunecock, Mecox and 

 Peconic Bays and to the ocean beach. The 

 writer was assisted by Mr. Barton A. Bean, 

 on behalf of the U. S. National Museum, 

 during the first month of the explorations. 

 Great South Bay was the scene of opera- 

 tions from August 12th until October 19th. 



Fine-meshed seines, agill net of two-inch 

 stretch-mesh and a trawl line with about 

 200 hooks were the principal means of cap- 

 turing the fishes, and a few interesting 

 species were obtained from the haul seines 

 and set nets of fishermen on the ocean 



beach and the pound nets in Great South 

 Bay. 



A noteworthy feature was the absence of 

 many fishes which had been taken during 

 the summer and fall months in previous 

 years. Among them are : Albula vulpes, 

 Etrumeus sadina, Clupea harengus, Pomolobus 

 (EStlvalis, StolephoriiS argyrophanus, Fistularia 

 tabacaria, Sphyrcena borealis, Decapterus punc- 

 tatus, Vomer setipinnis, Trachlnoius falcahis, 

 Trachinotus argenteus, Lagodon rhomboides, Lei- 

 ostomus xanthurus, Acanthocottus ceneus, Hemi- 

 tripterits americamis and Platophrys ocellatus. 

 Two things contributed to this condition, 

 the prevalence of southerly winds, causing 

 rough seas on the ocean beaches, and high 

 water temperature which kept the migra- 

 tory fishes well to the north of Long Island 

 until late in October. A very serious hin- 

 drance to seining in most parts of the bays 

 was the abundance of living and dead sea 

 weeds near the shores, and another great 

 obstacle was found in the sunken stakes 

 scattered by ice and storms from the fences 

 used as sea-weed collectors. 



The sand shark ( Carcharias littoralis) was 

 abundant on the grassy shallows south of 

 Toby's Flat until the middle of September, 

 when it migrated westward. It preyed 

 upon mullet, eels and flatfish, and, on ac- 

 count of its habit of swimming slowly near 

 the surface, was easily captured by spears 

 from a row boat. A young mackerel shark 

 (^Lamna cornubiea), about three feet long, 

 was caught in a gill net set in the ocean ofl^ 

 Southampton. Other sharks secured were 

 the dusky shark ( Carcharhinus olscurus), the 

 smooth dogfish (Miistelus eanis) and the 

 horned dogfish {Squalus acanthias) . 



The skates represented three species, 

 Eaja erinacea, ocellata and eglanteria, all of 

 which were sufficiently common. They 

 were often found feeding in shallow water 

 near the shores, especially in the evening 

 and night. A large male was taken by the 

 hands, on the night of October 17th, in a 



