516 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
connection with the system of lateral sense organs. These latter it 
is very important to study, as a knowledge of their function will doubt 
less enable us to understand to some extent how a fish is impelled to 
escape from its enemies through warnings sent in to the motor centers 
from this singular peripheral system of sense organs. 
Mr. Marshall also collected a series of starfishes and crustaceans for 
purposes of dissection. 
Special investigations upon the lateral system of sense organs of 
fishes were undertaken by students in the Boston marine laboratory at 
the suggestion of the writer. Two ladies, Miss Clapp and Miss Harris, 
worked on this subject, under the direction of Dr. C. O. Whitman. The 
former took up the study of the development of the lateral lines in the 
toad-fish ( Batrachus tau ), a form upon which the v/r iter of this had made 
some studies in a similar direction. Miss Harris took up the study of 
the special differentiation of the three free rays of the pectoral of the 
Gurnards (Prionotus palmipes and evolans), upon the structure and anat- 
omy of which Prof. H. A. Alien and the writer made some anatomical and 
histological investigations four years ago. Professor Allen also at that 
time undertook some physiological investigations. These organs in Pri- 
onotus are among the most singularly and highly developed known to 
occur in fishes. They are provided with very large nerve trunks, a 
specialized motor apparatus, and a most singular system of terminal 
sensory organs. Their function, there is reason to think, is tactile and 
may enable the animal to determine the presence of its favorite food on 
the bottom. 
Mr. S. Watase, a fellow of Johns Hopkins University, continued his 
elaborate studies upon the development and anatomy of the king crab 
(Limulus) and the squid ( Loligo pealii). Of these studies it is not too 
much to say that they are among the most beautiful and thorough 
ever carried out in America, and when completed and published will 
undoubtedly be regarded as classical. The masterly thoroughness and 
patience with which the details have been worked out under the micro- 
scope, the exquisite and careful finish of the drawings which illustrate 
those details, are only equaled by the insight of Mr. Watase into the 
comparative merits of his facts in reaching general conclusions. 
Mr. Watase has obtained an abundance of material for the study of 
the development and anatomy of the king crab. He has confirmed the 
discovery of Drs. Brooks and Bruce as to the invagination of the 
median eyes from the under surface of the head and their migration 
through to the upper surface. He has also made important discoveries 
in the mode of innervation and structure of the lateral eyes, and has 
cleared up some of the intricate questions respecting their development. 
The central nervous system of the adult has also received a careful and 
thorough study at his hands. He has made an unrivaled collection of 
embryological and anatomical materials. All students will certainly 
await the publication of his results with interest. 
