CLXXX 



and fed upon the young Lobsters, since the appearance of 

 the Bluefish and the consequent disappearance of the 

 smaller fishes, the Lobsters have increased tenfold, so that 

 the supply is now equal to the demand. The Lobsters 

 leave the shores of Cape Cod in October, and, going to 

 parts unknown, do not return until the next May or June. 

 On Mr. Putnam's asking Capt. Atwood several questi- 

 ons relating to his late examiniation of the fisheries of the 

 Merrimack and Connecticut rivers, considerable discussion 

 ensued regarding the practicability of restocking those 

 rivers with Salmon and Shad, and the protection of the 

 fish ; in which Messrs. Atwood, Putnam and others partic- 

 ipated, and Mr. Putnam explained how, in his estimation, 

 the rivers could easily be restocked, and the fish protected 

 by the construction of proper "fish ways" over the dams, 

 and the enforcement of laws drawn up with reference to 

 the habits of the fishes in question. 



Monday, December 18. Regular meeting. 

 Vice President Goodell in the chair. 



Letters were read from : — 



Prof. Theo. Gill, Smithsonian Institution; Prof. A. E. Verrill, Yale 

 College ; Prof. J. Wyman, Harvard College ; Samuel E. Carter, Paris 

 Hill, Me. ; H. A. Smith. Cleveland, Ohio ; Mrs. P. A. Hanaford, Bead- 

 ing; John R. Bartlett, Providence, R. I., on business matters: Edw. 

 L. Graef, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Andrew Garrett, Tahiti, South Seas ; Prof. 

 James Hall, Albany, N. Y. ; H. M. Raynor, New York, N. Y. ; Prof. S. 

 P. Baird, Smithsonian Institution; Joseph E. Chase, Holyoke, relating 

 to the publications : Natural History Society of New Brunswick, ac- 

 knowledging the receipt of publications. 



The Secretary read a Biographical Notice of the late 

 Rev. Stillman Barden, prepared by Mrs. P. A. Hanaford, 

 which was referred to the Publication Committee, and a 

 vote of thanks was passed to Mrs. Hanaford, for the in- 

 teresting memoir of our late associate. 



Mr. James H. Emerton exhibited a large and handsome 

 living specimen of Actinia marginata, taken under Beverly 



