108 
to the purposes of the library. This change 
gave great satisfaction to the investigators, who 
were in greater number than usual. The work 
carried on included some chemical determina- 
tions of the connective tissue of the ocean sun- 
fish, with a view to its value in making glue, 
and of lobster chitin in the hope of discovering 
for it a commercial use; diseases of fishes, anat- 
omy of the star-fish, and of the alimentary 
tract of the flounder; photography and sketch- 
ing of living marine forms. A series of publi- 
cations has been planned which is to embrace 
all the invertebrate groups of the region. The 
Beaufort, N. C., laboratory completed the first 
year of its existence and concerned itself, among 
other things, with the breeding conditions of 
some fishes, sponges and parasitic crustaceans, 
the latter including a barnacle (Dichalaspis) on 
the gills of the common blue crab; spawning 
habits of certain food-fishes; life history of 
brittle stars ; effects of abnormal conditions on 
the development of oyster eggs and those of 
other molluses ; the development of a common 
annelid (Axiothea) which forms’part of the food 
of bottom-feeding fishes, and the food of the 
hog-fish and croaker. An observation is made 
on the inferior flavor of the hog-fish taken at 
Beaufort, which reduces its value as a food-fish 
as compared with the same species taken, for 
instance, at Norfolk. One cause of the undesir- 
able flavor is traced to the interesting form 
Balanoglossus. The Beaufort laboratory is 
happily located for the purposes of marine bi- 
ology, and now that a permanent establishment 
has been authorized by Congress continuous 
systematic studies on broad lines may be antici- 
pated. 
In accordance with the direction of the last 
Congress, a special lobster and clam “investi- 
gation, for the purpose of remedying the 
marked decline in these fisheries, has been in- 
stituted. With the lobster, efforts are directed 
toward methods of rearing the larve through 
the early defenseless stages before liberating. 
With the clam it is apparently feasible to 
apply the methods of planting which are so 
extensively used with the oyster. The work 
has begun during the past summer and is pro- 
ceeding satisfactorily. 
Some work on yariation in the common 
SCLENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 316. 
mackerel, begun in 1898, with a view to the 
question of its separation into geographical 
races—a fact demonstrated by an English in- 
vestigator, Mr. Walter Garstang, for British 
mackerel—was continued during the summer 
of 1899, and confirms Mr. Garstang’s observa- 
tion of a marked difference between American 
and British mackerel. As for recognizable 
American races the material examined, as far 
as it goes, tends to show that such do not 
exist. The data, however, from the extremes 
of the range of the species are not yet com- 
. plete. 
Collections of aquatic fauna and general 
biological observations have been carried on in 
Cobbosseecontee and Sebago Lakes in Maine, 
in Seneca Lake, New York, in Lake Mattamus- 
keet, N. C., in West Virginia, in the Wabash 
Basin, Indiana, and in California, Oregon and 
Arizona. The biological survey of Lake Erie 
was carried on as usual throughout the summer, 
with headquarters at Put-in Bay, plankton stud- 
ies forming an important part of the work. 
The collections made by the Fish-Hawk expedi- 
tion to Porto Rico in 1899 have been distributed 
to specialists in the various groups. The re- 
port on the fishes was issued during the last 
days of the year, the others are approaching 
completion and it is probable that all will be 
published during the next fiscal year. 
Dr. H. F. Moore submits an outline of the 
recent extensive cruise of the steamer Albatross 
in the South Seas. This expedition left San 
Francisco in August, 1899, Mr. Alexander 
Agassiz in charge of the scientific work, assisted 
by a party of seven, four of whom represented 
the Commission. The Albatross cruised for 
over six months among the South Sea Islands, 
visiting the Marquesas, Paumotus, Society, 
Tonga, Fiji, Ellice, Gilbert, Marshall and Caro- 
line Islands and Guam. Accounts of the 
voyage have appeared in these columns. In 
the Tonga group the trawl was used in 4,173 
fathoms, the deepest trawl haul ever made. The 
work of the party concerned the zoology, geo- 
logy, ethnology and botany of the island groups, 
the director devoting himself to the coral for- 
mations. The officers of the vessel made sur- 
veys and nautical observations. The Albatross 
reached Yokohama in March of the present 
