REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LXXXVII 
pies of tlie commoner ones as seem^ desirable. So complete a record 
and collection have never been made elsewhere in this country or in 
Europe, and it is to be regretted that similar arrangements were not 
perfected at an early day with respect to other important places along 
the coast. The facts to be deduced from such a series of observa- 
tions are the precise times when each species first approaches and 
leaves a particular region ; the period of its increasing and maximum 
abundance ; its spawning season ; the character of the localities which 
it frequents for spa wiling and feeding purposes ; its rate of growth and 
the habits and habitats of the young at different ages, and much other 
information respecting dioth the migratory and stationary fishes. The 
value of these data and their bearing on the broadest fishery questions 
in the directions both of fish-culture and of legislation, are too evident 
to require an explanation. Mr. Edwards’s notes, which are very volu- 
minous, are now being collated and prepared for publication. They 
will form a unique and valuable contribution to the literature of the 
fisheries. His material has been obtained by the use of different kinds 
of nets, by daily visits to the fixed appliances of the fishermen, and by 
keeping a constant watch upon the local markets. Moreover, since the 
completion of the new station a fish trap has been maintained along- 
side the stone pier during a part of each year, for the double purpose 
of obtaining food for the specimens kept in confinement and of adding 
to the natural-history record. During the summers,- Mr. Edwards 
assists in the collection of specimens for the laboratory in addition to 
his regular duties, and he has also taken part in the experimental work 
of fish-hatching, as explained elsewhere. A complete collection of the 
fishes belonging to the Vineyard Sound region, including many rare 
and curious forms, has been brought together in the Wood’s Holl labo- 
ratory by Mr. Edwards, as a type series for the use of specialists. 
In order that the scientific observations respecting the embryology 
of food-fishes, many of which breed during the autumn, winter, and 
spring, may be continued during the entire year, Dr. H. V. Wilson, a 
graduate of Johns Hopkins University, has been appointed permanent 
naturalist at the Wood’s Holl station, but his services were not secured 
until the middle of May, 1889. Dr. Wilson will also have immediate 
direction of the laboratory during the summer months, and opportuni- 
ties for carrying on investigations will be offered to naturalists at all 
seasons. 
No material changes have been made in the laboratory since it was 
first completed and equipped, beyond the addition of a few pieces of 
apparatus rendered necessary by the exigencies of the work. Only one 
of the small rooms has been plastered and made comfortable for occu- 
pation during cold weather, but in view of the proposed opening of the 
laboratory during the winter, it will be advisable to have other rooms 
finished in the same manner. The large laboratory, moreover, in order 
to adapt it to the greatest possible number of investigators, was fur- 
