REPORT OF DEPARTMEHT OF PISHES. 1 73 



1883. 



The winter of l8&2-?83 was spent by Professor Gilbert in making col 

 lections of Ashes at Panama and ;it neighboring points on both sides of 

 thr Isthmns as well as in the fresh waters of the Isthmus and of Costa 

 Rica. A Large collection obtained was extremely rich in fresh-water 

 forms and contained some 40 species new to science. It was onfortu 

 natch totally destroyed by the burning of the museum building of the 

 Indiana University, July 12, L883. 



At this time about one third of t lie collection previously made by 

 Professor Gilbert at Ma/at Ian and Panama was also destroyed, as well 

 as the private collections of Professor Gilbert and myself, which were 

 very rich in the department of fishes. Nothing was published concern- 

 ing these collections of 1883. 



In the Bpring of 1883 a small collection of fishes was made in the 

 dear Pork of the Cumberland River by Mr. Joseph Swain and the 

 writer. After the fire a third collection was made at Venice by Mr. 

 Swain and myself. Small collections were also obtained at Wood's 

 Holl, Mass., and in different streams of Indiana. 



In November and December, 1883, I undertook a reconnaissance of 

 the fish -fauna of the Florida Keys. A day was spent at Jacksonville, 

 Fla., a tew days at Cedar Keys, Fla., about three weeks at Key Wot, 

 Ha., and nearly two weeks in Havana, in this work I was assisted by 

 Mr. William II. Dye, a student of Indiana University. Large collec- 

 tions were obtained, especially at Key West and at Havana — upwards 

 of 25 species being new to science. The collections made in Florida 

 have beeu described in different papers in the Proceedings of the 

 U. S. National Museum for 1884. Those from Havana have not yet 

 been placed on record. 



1884. 



In July 1884 I was asked by Prof. G. Brown Goode, curator of the 

 U. S. National Museum, to take charge of a series of explorations of the 

 streams of the Southern States, to be undertaken in connection with 

 the New ( h leans Exposition. In this work I was assisted by Professor 

 Gilbert, Prof. Joseph Swain, and Mr. Seth E. Meek. 



Pield work was begun early in July by Professors Gilbert and 

 Swain in different streams in Indiana. Later they extended their ex- 

 plorations southward, making collections in the Rolling Fork, the Rock 

 Castle, Cumberland, Clinch, French Broad, and Stone's Rivers; later 

 in the tributaries of the Tennessee, about Florence, Tuscnmbia, and 

 I hmtsville, in Alabama, and in those of the Black Warrior, about 

 Cullman, BlOUllI Springs, Warrior, and Tuscaloosa. This exploration 



oi the Tennessee basin brought to light a number of new forms, espe- 

 cially in the group of EtheostomifUB. 



MeaU while the writer, assisted h\ .Mr. Seth I']. Meek, be^an field 

 work in the I )es .Moines River, in Southern Iowa. The I >es Moines, 



