was already nearly lialf over when our work began, and 

 to this, as much as to anything, the comparative unsatis- 

 factoriness of our results must be attributed. AVhile we 

 are forced to admit so much, a large amount of valuable 

 information has been gathered, a good deal of which is 

 entirely new to science and very suggestive as to what 

 will be the proper paths to follow hereafter in the con- 

 duct of the work. 



We have devoted a considerable amount of space to an 

 account of the structure of the oyster, with illustrations, 

 so as to make it easier for the anatomy and physiology 

 of the animal to be understood by persons not familiar 

 or within reach of the treatises on the subject. The idea 

 has not been, to tacitly imply that the account given by 

 Prof. Brooks in last year's report was not a good one, 

 but simply to illustrate pictorially, as far as lay in my 

 power, the grosser anatomy of the creature, so as to ena- 

 ble a novice to lind the ovaries and spermaries of the 

 animals more readily if it should be desired to impreg- 

 nate the eggs artificially, either for the sake of experi- 

 ment or artificial culture. 



The numerous suggestions which have been made 

 throughout the body of the text as to the extension of the 

 banks and the possible practicability of entirely new 

 plans of culture will, I hope, be found of value. The 

 matters of mere scientific record and observation are such 

 as would have been noted by any observer, endowed with 

 a fair share of common sense and having a naturalist' s 

 training. 



The appended observations on the artificial impregna- 

 tion of the European oyster made by Francis Winslow, 

 U. S. N., are important, as showing how closely parallel 

 the phenomena of development in this species are to 

 those of our own. I place entire confidence in these ob- 

 servations, as they are fully supported by what was pre- 

 viously known of their development through the research- 



