838 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 804 



This station differs from most American fresh- 

 water stations, in the fact that its equipment is 

 all afloat, and readily movable from place to 

 place; that it is devoted to investigation only, 

 and not to teaching; that it is in operation 

 throughout the year instead of being limited to 

 the vacation season; that it is devoted to a study 

 of the biology of a river system instead of a lake; 

 and that it is supported directly by appropria- 

 tions from the treasury of the state. 



Opened in April, 1894, it remained at Havana, 

 111., for five years; was then transferred forty- five 

 miles down the Illinois to Meredosia, where it 

 continued for two years and two months; thence 

 up the Illinois a hundred and sixty-five miles to 

 Ottawa, where it remained for a year and a half; 

 and then to Henry, forty miles below. Here it 

 was laid up to permit the preparation and pub- 

 lication of papers and reports setting forth the 

 main results of its work; but it became active 

 again, at Havana, July 1, 1909. 



During the first two years its field work was 

 comprehensive of all aquatic forms and situations, 

 the next three years were devoted mainly to 

 plankton work in the Havana district, and the 

 following four to work on the fishes of the Illi- 

 nois system. Of the 6,000 collections made during 

 this period, about 500 were fishes, 2,000 were 

 plankton collections, and 3,500 contained a gen- 

 eral variety of aquatic and subaquatic forms. 

 Six hundred and forty of the plankton collections 

 were made at Havana by strictly quantitative 

 methods, and are available for a comparative 

 study of the product of various waters at all 

 times of several successive years. Weekly samples 

 of the waters were examined by chemical methods 

 for three and a half years. Besides these local 

 studies, steamboat trips were made for consid- 

 erable distances, with continuous plankton col- 

 lections throughout each trip. Longitudinal bio- 

 logical sections of the stream were thus made, 

 aggregating four hundred and fifty miles on the 

 Illinois River and three hundred and sixteen miles 

 on the Mississippi between St. Louis and Quincy. 



The main object of the station operations for 

 the coming two or three years will be to complete 

 a comparison of present conditions with those of 

 the former time ; to study the river as a unit with 

 special reference to its economic and hygienic pro- 

 tection and improvement; to work out the details 

 of its biological regimen, by a separate study of 

 special problems; and to carry on comparative 

 studies between the Illinois, the Mississippi and 



the Missouri, all readily accessible from the 

 station field. Its most recent work has been 

 directed to a comparison of present conditions 

 with those before the opening of the Chicago 

 drainage canal and to a collection of materials 

 for further studies of the food of fishes, and for 

 physical and chemical studies of the bottom in 

 selected situations as related to differences in 

 biological production. From weekl}' collections 

 continuing for four months it appears that the 

 plankton of the main stream is now approxi- 

 mately double the amount per cubic meter that it 

 was before the opening of the drainage canal, not- 

 withstanding the fact that the water averages 

 about three feet higher than it did before that 

 event. 



The Indiana University Biological Station: Feb- 



NANDUS Payne, Indiana University. 

 Hydroids from the Illinois River: Fbank Smith, 



University of Illinois. 

 A Report on the Fresh-water Protozoa of Tahiti: 



C. H. Edmondson, Washburn University. 

 Some Neic Species of Cretaceous Fish from Kan- 

 sas: C. E. McClung, University of Kansas, 

 (Read by title.) 

 Investigations on some Lakes in Guatemala and 

 Salvador: Chancey Juday, University of Wis- 

 consin. 

 Restoration of Cacops a-spidephirus, a remarkable 

 new rhachitomous Amphibian' from the Texas 

 Permian: S. W. Wiluston, University of Chi- 

 cago. (Read by title.) 

 The Fairport Biological Station:^ Robert E. 

 CoKEE, director. 



A biological station has been established by the 

 United States Bureau of Fisheries at Fairport, 

 Iowa. The immediate work of the station will be 

 in the cultivation of fresh-water mussels, experi- 

 ments and investigations relating to the propaga- 

 tion and natural history of the forms important 

 in relation to the pearl button industry and the 

 pearl fishery. The ultimate scope of the station 

 is broad: it is expected as soon as possible to 

 have all facilities of a station thoroughly equipped 

 for the investigation of problems of fresh-water 

 biology. During the present year operations will 

 be conducted with a preliminary equipment, con- 

 sisting of gasoline pumps, a series of small ponds 

 with resen'oir, and a temporary laboratory. 



Are Muscle and Nerve primarily connected? H. 

 V. Neal, Knox College. 



' By permission of the United States Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries. 



