76 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. lit. No. 1386 



T. Bronte Evermann, Harry Warren, S. S. 

 Chadwick, Leonard Young, Wm. F. Hill, 

 Millard Knowlton, Eobert Gillum, and Dr. 

 C. B. Wilson. The work was carried on 

 mostly in the summer and fall, but something 

 was done each month of the year. 



The Bureau of Fisheries undertook the in- 

 vestigations at Lake Masinkuckee through 

 realizing the importance to fish culture of 

 an exact knowlege of the physical and biolo- 

 gical conditions in the different types of lakes 

 and streams of the country including the 

 small inland lakes of glacial origin like Lake 

 Masinkuckee. With reference to the im- 

 portance of these investigations the authors 

 say: 



With scarcely an exception these lakes teem 

 ■with food and game fishes of the finest quality, be- 

 sides many other species of greater or less im- 

 portance. Many of these lakes are inhabited also 

 by a large number of species of turtles, batra- 

 chians, mollusks and crustaceans, some of which 

 are already used for food or otherwise utilized by 

 man. They are the home also of many other spe- 

 cies of aquatic animals and many species of 

 aquatic plants which are known to serve an im- 

 portant purpose in the economy of the lakes in 

 their relation to food fishes, and of still many 

 other species whose status we do not yet know. 

 The value of exact knowledge concerning this 

 type of lake and the inhabitants thereof is ap- 

 preciated by all biologists and fish culturists and 

 can scarcely be overestimated. 



Lake Maxinkuckee was chosen for special 

 and detailed study principally for the following 

 reasons: it was of suitable size, not being too 

 large for any of its parts to be reached readily 

 from a central station; the tributary waters 

 were not of such large size as to "complicate 

 the problem"; it was a fairly "homogeneous 

 environmental unit"; there are fishing and 

 angling interests there; it appeared to be 

 " typical of the class of small glacial lakes " ; 

 it was easily accessible; and field expenses 

 there were especially small. 



The purposes of this work were chiefly 

 three : (1) "To gain a faii-ly good under- 

 standing of the physical and biological condi- 

 tions obtaining in a typical glacial lake. Ac- 

 Cfurate knowledge of one lake of a type enables 



a study of other lakes of that type to be made 

 more readily and easily." (2) " To study care- 

 fully the physical and biological conditions 

 under which the more important of the 

 species thrive." (3) " To study carefully and 

 fully the habits of as many species of animals 

 and plants of the lake as time permitted." 



The treatment is under two main topics: 

 (1) Physical Features and (2) Biology. Un- 

 der the first are discussed in some two hundred 

 pages the location, size, form, depth, bottom 

 topography, soils, lake tributaries, character 

 of the surrounding country, and weather con- 

 ditions. Under the topic, Biology, are taken 

 up, fii'st, a consideration of the five classes of 

 vertebrate animals represented in the region 

 with a general inti-oductory discussion of 

 each followed by descriptions of the species 

 found, and secondly (in Volume 2) similar 

 discussions of the invertebrates and plants. 



Fish naturally receive most attention and 

 213 pages are given to this group. The ac- 

 count is a useful one, not only for zoologists 

 but for others likely to read or consult the 

 work, since the majority of the 64 species de- 

 scribed are very generally distributed in 

 such lakes, and at least two dozen of them are 

 well known to most anglers. The discussions 

 deal with tlie species found, and for each are 

 given notes on its status in the region and 

 structural details of taxonomic interest, and 

 for most of them facts on behavior, food, 

 enemies, angling, and economic importance 

 are included. 



The data on the food of the fish are im- 

 portant. Although these are chiefly qualita- 

 tive in character, they are of considerable 

 ecological value. Determinations of the per- 

 centages of the different food materials in the 

 digestive tracts may still be made, since it is 

 probable that these were preserved. However, 

 no reference can be found concerning the 

 disposition of the food collections or other 

 collections made during the progress of the 

 survey of the Maxinkuckee region. There 

 is a detailed account with list of species of 

 each collection made at each of the many 

 numbered stations; and it would have been 

 important to have stated where these coUec- 



