124 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Mr. E. 11. Green has made a chemical examination of the connective 

 tissue of the ocean sun-fish to determine its value as a glue-producing 

 material; and has begun an analysis of the chitin of the lobster for 

 the purpose of finding for it some commercial use. 



Mr. E. E. Tyzzer, of Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Gushing, of 

 Jefferson Medical College, have begun investigations on the diseases 

 of fishes, in which they have had the assistance of Dr. Edwin Linton, 

 who for many years has confined his studies to the entozoa of fishes. 



During July and August, 1899, Dr. J. E. Benedict was given oppor- 

 tunity to collect material for the U. S. National Museum, and in 

 August and September Mr. Barton A. Bean collected fishes for the 

 same institution. In August Mr. Freeland Howe, jr. , accompanied the 

 Fish Hawh on a dredging excursion to the Gulf Stream. His account 

 of the biological results will appear in an early paper of the Bulletin. 



For many years workers at Woods Hole have needed papers of gen- 

 eral reference in which they might find descriptions of the numerous 

 animals which occur in this region. The i)ublications of Professor 

 Verrill on the invertebrates of Vineyard Sound have been for a long 

 time out of print, and it has been decided to issue a series of faunistic 

 papers which will ultimately embrace all of the invertebrate groups. 

 The copepods and hydroids, two groups of invertebrates contributing 

 largely to the general food supply of fishes, have been given special 

 attention during the past year. Prof. W. M. Wheeler, of the Uni- 

 versity of Texas, has already prepared a paper on the former group, 

 which will appear in the Bulletin for 1899, and Prof. C. C. Nutting, 

 of the University of Iowa, has a paper on the latter group, which will 

 be ready for the printer at an early date. 



Prof. Hubert L. Clark, of Olivet College, Michigan, has in prepara- 

 tion a paper on the general anatomy of the star-fish, and Thomas J. 

 Burrage, of the Harvard Medical School, has contributed an anatom- 

 ical paper on tlie alimentary tract of the flounder. 



Excellent photographs of living fish have been taken by Mr. M. W. 

 Stickney, and sketches of living marine animals have been made by 

 Mr. Charles R. Knight, of the American Museum. 



Much interest has been manifested in recent years in the photography 

 of living fishes and other animals in the water. While considerable 

 difficulties are encountered, they are more than counterbalanced by 

 the satisfaction in securing illustrations that actually represent the 

 form and attitude of the live animals. In the United States great 

 success in this line has been attained by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, to whom 

 the Commission extended facilities at the aquaria in Washington, and 

 whose paper entitled "Experiments in Photography of Living Fishes" 

 was printed in 1899 as a part of the Bulletin for that year. The plates 

 in this paper, and also the text, have been extensively reprinted, both 

 here and abroad. Working along independent lines, Mr. M. W. Stick- 

 ney has achieved some creditable results in the photography of marine 

 fishes at the Woods Hole laboratorv. 



