984 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 756 



Among the topics of investigation may be 

 mentioned : chemical analyses of the tissues 

 and the eggs of certain marine organisms, 

 the natural history of the sea-mussel and 

 other mollusks, the reactions of marine or- 

 ganisms to light and to chemical stimuli, 

 hybridization in fishes, the parasites of 

 fishes, taxonomic studies of coelenterates, 

 bryozoa and Crustacea, and various other 

 problems in general physiology, ecology, 

 cytology and embryology. 



The season was marked by an endeavor 

 to bring about more intimate social rela- 

 tions among the investigators of the Fish- 

 eries Laboratory themselves, and between 

 the latter and those of their neighbor, the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory. With this 

 object in view, several informal "smokers" 

 were held in the course of the summer, and 

 by general agreement these occasions were 

 regarded as highly successful, both in the 

 furtherance of friendly cooperation among 

 the local scientific colony and the stimulus 

 given to individual efficiency. At the close 

 of September, Woods Hole was visited by 

 a considerable delegation from the Fourth 

 International Fisheries Congress, which' 

 had just concluded its formal session at 

 Washington. The visitors were conveyed 

 to Woods Hole from Wickford, R. I., upon 

 the steamer Fish Hawk, leaving for Boston 

 by rail on the same day. The delegation 

 included some distinguished fisheries ex- 

 perts and men of science from Europe, 

 Asia and North and South America. 



At the present writing, the long-heralded 

 report upon the local biological survey is 

 very nearly completed and with little doubt 

 will be ready for publication by the close 

 of the present summer. The following sec- 

 tions of this laborious work are now fin- 

 ished: (1) The list of organisms (so far as 

 identified) which were taken at each of the 

 424 dredging stations. This station record 

 covers over 750 manuscript pages and in- 



cludes about 450 species of animals and 

 about 90 species of plants. (2) Maps show- 

 ing the distribution of all of those species 

 which were taken at ten or more of the 

 dredging stations.^ There are more than 

 200 of these representing the fauna, about 

 40 representing the flora. Other charts 

 have been prepared, showing character of 

 bottom, water temperature and density at 

 various seasons, geographical relations, etc. 

 (3) The census of the local marine fauna 

 and flora, based upon the survey dredgings 

 and upon all other available data. The 

 resulting annotated list occupies about 700 

 manuscript pages and records the occur- 

 rence of some 1,400 species of animals and 

 over 250 species of plants. (4) The gen- 

 eral account of the project, with summar- 

 ized results, discussion, etc. This has only 

 been finished in the rough. A final draught 

 will be made during the next few months, 

 thus completing the report. A brief dis- 

 cussion of the work, containing some of the 

 more important general conclusions, was 

 prepared by the writer for the Fourth 

 International Fisheries Congress, and is 

 being published in the proceedings of that 

 congress. 



In response to an appeal from the health 

 board of Salem, Mass., the director of the 

 laboratory was instructed by the commis- 

 sioner to detail one of the investigation 

 staff to visit that city for the purpose of 

 inquiring into the cause of a serious mor- 

 tality among the fishes in that neighbor- 

 hood. Dr. C. L. Alsberg was chosen for 

 this mission, and proceeded at once to the 

 seat of the trouble. He found that enor- 

 mous numbers of fishes, chiefly herring and 

 whiting, had been stranded along the water- 

 front of the city, causing serious diseom- 



' This basis of selection has not been adhered to 

 strictly either for animals or for plants. In the 

 case of the plants the number of such species 

 woultl in reality considerably exceed that given. 



