Apbil 23, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



677 



Muscatine and Davenport. Just above the high- 

 way the ground rises into a low bluff near the 

 base of which are beautiful locations for the 

 director's residence and such other residences as 

 may be required. The laboratory proper will 

 doubtless be located on the lower land just below 

 the public highway. 



It is the intention of the Bureau of Fisheries 

 to make this in every respect a well equipped 

 biological laboratory where any and all problems 

 concerning the aquatic life of the streams and 

 lakes of the upper Mississippi Valley may be 

 studied. The primary and most important pur- 

 pose of the station will be the carrying on of 

 experiments and actual culture in connection with 

 the artificial propagation of the Unionidse or 

 fresh-water mussels. The shells of various species 

 of fresh-water mussels are now being used exten- 

 sively in the manufacture of pearl buttons. The 

 industry centers at Muscatine and Davenport, 

 between which two cities the biological station 

 will be located. The business now utilizes more 

 than 50,000 tons of these shells and produces an 

 output of $6,000,000 worth of buttons and by- 

 products annually. Naturally this heavy drain 

 upon the supply of shells will soon lead to the 

 depletion of the beds unless something can be 

 done toward the artificial propagation of the 

 species. Drs. Lefevre and Curtis, of the Univer- 

 sity of Missouri, have fortunately developed, 

 purely through scientific investigation, methods 

 by which several of the species can be propagated 

 very successfully, and it is the intention to carry 

 on mussel-cultural work of this kind very exten- 

 sively at the Fairport station. 



In addition, however, to the mussel-cultural 

 work, it is the intention to equip this laboratory 

 in such a way as to furnish adequate facilities 

 for the study of the various species of fishes and 

 other aquatic animals and aquatic plants of the 

 upper Mississippi basin, and it is believed that 

 this will appeal to the biologist of that region as 

 well as of the entire country. 



The personnel provided consists of (a) director, 

 (5) superintendent of fish-culture, (c) two scien- 

 tific assistants, (d) one shell expert, (e) one 

 engineer, (f) two firemen and (g) two laborers. 

 C!onstruction work on the station will begin early 

 in July and it is hoped that the station may be 

 ready for work by November. 



The following communications were presented: 



Chickens icithout Feathers: R. H. Chapman. 



Illustrations were shown of fowls that had failed 

 in normal feather development. The birds were 



observed at Delhi, N. Y., during the summer of 

 1908. About 500 chicks of the barred Plymouth 

 Rock variety were incubator hatched during June. 

 They were all apparently normal for a short time, 

 but about ten per cent, failed to grow the usual 

 covering. The photographs shown were taken in 

 November and the birds were about four months 

 old, and included the fully feathered as well as 

 naked birds. The death rate among the freaks 

 was high, though some of them lived until the 

 cold weather set in. The onlj' clew to an explana- 

 tion given was the fact that the parents of the 

 chicks had been persistently inbred for some four 

 years. The phenomenon has been previously ob- 

 served at farms in Virginia but never in such a 

 large proportion of the hatching. 



R4sumS of a Study of the Madreporaria of the 



Eaioaiian Islands: T. Watland Vauqhan. 

 The Recent Grinoids and their Relation to Sea 



and Land: A. H. Clabk. 



The speaker discussed the distribution, ecology 

 and coloration of the recent crinoids, following 

 closely his paper on the subject published in the 

 Geographical Journal (London) for December, 

 1908; he said further that the predominating 

 purple or violet in the littoral species may be a 

 factor of great importance in their economy, for 

 many of the small organisms upon which they 

 feed are strongly attracted by the violet rays of 

 the spectrum, and hence would tend to swim 

 toward a purple or violet crinoid, placing the 

 latter in the economically advantageous attitude 

 of attracting to itself, instead of having to pursue 

 its food. XJintacrinus was cited as an instance of 

 a purely pelagic derivative from the common 

 comatulid stock; in life it probably floated with 

 its globular body upward and its arms dependent 

 downward, just like the similarly built jelly-fish 

 of recent seas; it lived in great masses, as do 

 many recent medusae, and this was probably an 

 advantage, for these masses would shade the 

 water immediately beneath them, and many of the 

 small lucifugous organisms would take refuge in 

 this shade, only to be picked up and eaten by the 

 Vintacrinus. The occurrence of crinoids in large 

 masses of individuals all of which are of approxi- 

 mately the same size was explained by the in- 

 ability of the young of the mass to obtain a food 

 supply when shaded by the arms of the adults; 

 hence the young can not survive unless drifted to 

 some distance from the parents. 



The 457th meeting was held March 20, 1909, 

 with President Palmer in the chair. The program 

 consisted of an illustrated discussion of " Camp- 



