74 Report of the President 



man on the "Dentition of Hydrocyon and its supposed Fossil 

 Allies," will be followed by similar ones of philosophic interest. 

 During the past year, Dr. Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes" 

 has been the most important fish work the Museum has had on 

 hand. Since Dr. Eastman's departure for the field in June, 

 editorial and compilation work on it have gone forward under 

 Mr. Arthur W. Henn. Two volumes have been published 

 during 19 17. Volume I, Authors A-K, appeared in January, 

 and Volume II, Authors L-Z, in June. Together these volumes 

 comprise more than 1,400 pages and include more than 40,000 

 titles. They represent the culmination of nearly twenty-five 

 years of effort and have been made possible by the cooperation 

 and assistance of ichthyologists in all parts of the world. They 

 have already proven a storehouse of ichthyological knowledge 

 in every aspect — in anatomical, embryological, palaeontological, 

 systematic, fish-cultural and other phases — and have been re- 

 ceived with cordial appreciation by the foremost workers in 

 science. Work on a final volume, which will constitute a classi- 

 fied and subject index, facilitating rapid and convenient refer- 

 ence to all the literature of any given subject relating to fishes, 

 is in an advanced state of preparation and should be completed 

 in 1918. 



At the outbreak of the war, the department expressed its 

 desire to cooperate in any way with the United States Bureau 



of Fisheries, and we note with pleasure that on one 

 f h°th 0m i 1C rf or two occas i° ns a Bureau of Fisheries agent in 



New York has been able to settle here questions 

 which must otherwise have been referred to Washington. Mr. 

 Russell J. Coles, a Life Member of the Museum and an enthu- 

 siastic amateur ichthyologist, to whose activity in other years 

 we owe the Manta model and many other specimens of scien- 

 tific value, has interested himself during the past summer in 

 the utilization of sharks and rays as food, keeping in close 

 touch with the Bureau of Fisheries and also with this depart- 

 ment. 



