EEPORT OF THE SECEETAEY. 55 



sal rule, these fish, when ready to spawn, will return to their starting 

 place and become the means of establishing profitable fisheries to the 

 inhabitants of the region. It is well known that in the Southern States 

 the fisheries, contrary to the fact in the Northern States, are of little 

 moment in the winter season, the most prominent species coming up in 

 the spring and returning as the waters become chilly. The establishment 

 of cod fisheries, and possibly of those of halibut, as winter fisheries along 

 the southern coast, will therefore be of great importance. 



The second branch of the Fish Commission's work, namely, that of the 

 investigation of the sea fisheries, was carried on at Gloucester for three 

 months, with the co-operation as heretofore of the Secretary of the Navy 

 in furnishing a suitable vessel, and the general work was done with more 

 efficiency and completeness. The same vessel, the United States steamer 

 Speedwell, used in 1877, was detailed by the Secretary for the service, 

 and was in command of Capt. L. A. Beardslee, who had previously sus- 

 tained similar relations to the Commission when in charge of the steamer 

 Blue Light. 



The longer period of service of the vessel and the more favorable 

 station enabled the Commission to perform a very large amount of work, 

 the results greatly exceeding those of any previous year. Important 

 determinations were made of the character of the sea-bottom, of the tem- 

 perature and chemical constituents of the sea-water at different depths, 

 the currents, &c, while the exhaustive collections of marine animals and 

 plants showed clearly the character of the food of the fishes, and at the 

 same time furnished a vast amount of natural history material of the 

 greatest scientific interest. As heretofore, special efforts were made to 

 obtain a large number of duplicates, so that by their distribution in 

 named sets the colleges and other educational establishments of the 

 country might participate in the results of the labors of the Commission. 



As heretofore, the labors of the Commission at Gloucester, connected 

 with the invertebrate department, were in charge of Prof. A. E. Verrill, 

 of Yale College, New Haven, assisted by Mr. Sanderson Smith in the 

 department of the mollusca, and by Mr. Bi chard Bathbun and Mr. 

 Warren J. Upham. The collections made, as in previous years, were 

 placed in the hands of Professor Verrill, who is now engaged in their 

 classification and arrangement in sets. Dr. William G. Farlow, of Cam- 

 bridge, as usual, spent considerable time with the Commission, and 

 devoted himself especially to the investigation of the marine algae. 



The investigation into and classification of the various kinds of fish 

 brought in were in charge of Mr. G. Brown Goode, a collaborator of 

 the National Museum, assisted by Dr. T. H. Bean, of the same estab- 

 lishment, and by Mr. B. E. EarlL 



Capt. H. C. Chester had general charge of the laboratory and the di- 

 rection of the actual dredging and trawling on the steamer. 



The special superintendence of the hatching of the codfish was con- 



