May 3, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



713 



■wise been included among the paid investiga- 

 tors. If we add to the foregoing, a librarian 

 and a clerk, detailed from the Washington 

 of&ce, a collector, permanently employed at 

 the Woods Hole Station, two temporary 

 janitors and a chambermaid, we have forty- 

 nine persons directly or indirectly engaged in 

 the furtherance of scientific research. But 

 the list would be quite incomplete without 

 mention of the crews of the vessels Fish Hawh, 

 Phalarope and Bliie Wing, who of course ren- 

 dered assistance of a most important kind. 



Collecting. — The purchase of almost an en- 

 tire new fish trap or jwund was necessary at 

 the commencement of the season. This was 

 set, as usual, in Buzzards Bay, at a point not 

 far from Woods Hole, and furnished much of 

 the material used by those engaged in the 

 study of fishes and their parasites. Visits 

 were made from time to time to the extensive 

 group of traps at Menemsha Bight, Marthas 

 Vineyard, where material of value was ob- 

 tained from the fishermen, who have always 

 gladly cooperated with employes of the bureau 

 in obtaining specimens of interest. Frequent 

 trips were likewise made by the collecting 

 vessels to various parts of Buzzards Bay and 

 Vineyard Sound, and occasionally to more dis- 

 tant points. An unusually large amount of 

 drifting Sargassum from the Gulf Stream was 

 taken in Vineyard Sound, yielding abundant 

 specimens of the extraordinary fishes, mollusks 

 and crustaceans peculiar to the so-called 

 * gulf weed.' Finally, systematic shore col- 

 lecting was carried on at various points, fur- 

 nishing much material for research purposes 

 as well as records for the biological survey. 



Biological Survey. — Definite steps were taken 

 toward bringing this project to a provisional 

 close. No new areas of sea bottom were 

 explored, though dredging was carried on at 

 various points by the Fish Hawk for the pur- 

 pose of verification and supplementation, and 

 for the collection of bottom deposits. These 

 last were submitted to Professor Gilbert van 

 Ingen, of Princeton University, who has 

 undertaken a study of the inorganic constitu- 

 ents of the local sea-floor. This, it is be- 

 lieved, may be of considerable importance in 



relation to the distribution of the bottom 

 fauna and flora. 



There remained considerable unidentified 

 material among the collections of the pre- 

 ceding year, and these were sent to various 

 taxonomic specialists, generally those who had 

 previously done this work. It was found im- 

 possible, however, thus to dispose of two 

 groups of great importance numerically, viz., 

 the bryozoa and the amphipods. Accordingly, 

 Dr. E. 0. Osburn, of New York City, has 

 undertaken the difficult task of reporting upon 

 the former group ; while Dr. Leon J. Cole, of 

 Kingston, E. I., has assumed the equally 

 burdensome task of identifying the amphi- 

 pods. This latter undertaking is rendered 

 peculiarly thankless, by the recent appearance 

 of a fine monograph on the local amphipods 

 by Professor S. J. Hohnes.' The determina- 

 tion of our local bryozoa, on the other hand, 

 may be almost regarded as pioneer work. 

 The labors of Messrs. Osburn and Cole have 

 been continued into the present winter, but it 

 is planned that the lists shall be ready in 

 time to allow of their inclusion in the pro- 

 jected report. 



As above mentioned, systematic littoral col- 

 lecting was conducted in a number of different 

 places, along the shores of both Buzzards 

 Bay and Vineyard Sound. It was not the 

 object to keep thorough-going records of all 

 species taken in each locality, as had been 

 done in the case of the dredging stations. 

 But it was thought desirable to extend the 

 known distribution of certain species, for 

 which few exact records are extant. It is to 

 be hoped that ultimately the distribution of 

 the littoral fauna of this region will be plotted 

 out with the same minuteness as has been 

 done for the bottom forms. The shore col- 

 lecting was under the direct supervision of 

 Messrs. Cole, Osburn and Sumner. The 

 material collected has been sorted out and has 

 been forwarded (or awaits forwarding) to 

 various authorities. Dr. W. G. Van Name, 

 of Springfield, Mass., has already reported 

 upon the compound ascidians taken during 



' ' The Amphipods of Southern New England,' 

 Bulletin U. S. Bureau of Fisheries for 1904 (pub- 

 lished in 1905), Vol. XXIV., pp. 467-529. 



