Septbmbee 21, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



437 



ried on the work by experimental methods, 

 Mr. Pieters' duties at "Washington not per- 

 mitting him to continue it. Mr. Pond ex- 

 pects to conclude his work by the end of 

 the next academic year. 



ZOOLOGICAL WORK. 



1. Collections. — During the first two sea- 

 sons extensive collections were made of the 

 invertebrate fauna of the Lake, also collec- 

 tions of the contents of fish stomachs and 

 of the parasites of the aquatic vertebrates. 

 During the past summer a camping party 

 was sent about the shore of the Lake for the 

 purpose of making these collections. Some 

 of the material has been distributed to spe- 

 cialists, but no reports have as yet been re- 

 ceived. Pending this, collecting has been 

 discontinued. 



2. Pkmkton Worh. — This has been carried 

 on by myself with the cooperation of Dr. 

 H. B. Ward of the University of Nebraska. 

 Apparatus has been devised for measuring 

 the actual flow of water through the plank- 

 ton net. This apparatus is now being rated 

 at the hydraulic laboratory of the Univer- 

 sity of Ohio, at Columbus. When this 

 work is finished the apparatus will be used 

 in the Lake. It is hoped by this apparatus 

 to settle the question of the actual avail- 

 ability of plankton nets for quantitative 

 work, to find the actual volume of water 

 strained by them and to what extent they 

 become clogged with use. 



The Illinois State Laboratory of N'atural 

 History has a biological station under the 

 direction of Professor S. A. Forbes, which is 

 not a summer laboratory merely, but is es- 

 tablished for continuous investigation of the 

 aquatic life of the State, and is in active 

 operation throughout the year. It is an in- 

 stitution for research and not for instruc- 

 tion, the work being done by a Superin- 

 tendent and a paid staff. 



At present two lines of work are in 

 progress. (1) Systematic study of the 



ichthyology of the Station field and of other 

 parts of the State reached by excursions, 

 together with the painting of a series of il- 

 lustrations of the fishes of the State made 

 in the field from the living specimens. (2) 

 An analysis and statement of the results of 

 five years of plankton work done on the 

 Illinois river, at Havana and Meredosia. 

 The work on ichthyologj' will result in the 

 publication of a State report covering the 

 whole subject for the State of Illinois, a 

 large part of the manuscript for which has 

 already been prepared ; and that on the 

 plankton will be ready for publication Jan- 

 uary 1st, in the form of an independent 

 Bulletin article. 



In the absence of Professor C. H. Eigen- 

 mann, the Indiana University Biological 

 Station was this summer under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Eobert E. Lyons. The research 

 work being done was as follows : Ed. 

 Showers, ' The Vertical and Horizontal 

 (qualitative and quantitative) Distribution 

 of Bacteria in the Lake ' ; Mr. Hunt, ' The 

 distribution of Bacteria in the Air'; Mr. 

 Rush, ' The R61e of the Horseflies and Mos- 

 quitoes in carrying Infectious Diseases ' ; 

 Dr. Baldwin, ' On an Intro-utero cure for 

 Hog Cholera ' ; Dr. Howe, ' On the Plank- 

 ton of the Lake.' Mr. Clark and Mr. Ek 

 are completing their floral survey of the 

 Lake ; Mr. Eamsey is continuing the faunal 

 survey ; Mr. Moenkhaus is conducting the 

 survey work of the Lake. 



The entomologic field station of the New 

 York State Museum is a station for the 

 study of the biology of aquatic insects. 

 Professor James G. ISTeedham, of Lake For- 

 est University, is in chai'ge. Investigation 

 is its sole object at present : no courses of 

 study are offered. The work is mainly 

 done by Professor Needham and Mr. Cor- 

 nelius Betten, assistant in biology in Lake 

 Forest University, with the occasional as- 

 sistance of visiting specialists, to whom the 



