REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 115 



projected contemplates much more than a catalogue in the sense of a 

 mere list of species; certain data of practical or scientific interest are, 

 when available, recorded for each animal and plant form. In order to 

 admit of indefinite expansion, the whole record will be put in the 

 form of a card catalogue, with eleven cards for each species. A fair 

 start has already been made in this work, many of the principal reports 

 and synopses having- been abstracted, and records of about 750 species 

 having been entered. 



Biological survey of Vineyard Sound. — The Fisli Hawh arrived at 

 Woods Hole on the 19th of July and remained until September 10, 

 during the greater part of which period she was at the disposal of the 

 laboratory. It was thought that the admirable facilities for dredging 

 possessed by this vessel could be put to greatest advantage by carrying 

 out a systematic survey of the bottom of Vineyard Sound, a task 

 which had not been undertaken since the days when Professor Verrill 

 and his associates gathered the material for their reports on the inver- 

 tebrate fauna of these waters. 



Accordingly, dredgings were made at intervals of three-fourths of 

 a mile along parallel lines crossing the sound, these lines being 1 mile 

 apart. Various sorts of dredges were employed, according to the 

 character of the bottom; the usual physical data — density of water, 

 character of bottom, temperature, etc. — were recorded for each station, 

 and material for a complete record of the biological data was preserved. 

 In all, 82 stations were occupied in Vineyard Sound, ranging from 

 Nobska Point to Gay Head. It is intended that these dredgings shall 

 be continued and supplemented by thorough work upon the shore life 

 of this region, thus completing a biological survey of these waters. 

 The relation which such a survey would bear to the catalogue above 

 discussed is obvious. 



In addition to the above dredgings, a trip was made to Crab Ledge, 

 a shoal about 7 miles east of Chathamj on Cape Cod, where 7 stations 

 were occupied. 



Miscellaneom investigations.— T\iq results of the following investi- 

 gations, which were conducted wholly or ip part at the laboratory 

 during the summer of 1903, will be embodied in special reports to be 

 published b}^ the Bureau: 



1. The stomatopoda of the Albatross Hawaiian expedition. 2. Brachyura of the 

 Woods Hole region. By Robert Payne Bigelow, Ph. D., instructor in biology, Mas- 

 sachusetts Institute of Technology. 



Studies upon carp. By Leon J. Cole, Austin teaching fellow in zoology. Harvard 

 University. 



The food of certain fishes of little or no food value. By Irving A. Field, Denison 

 University. 



Causes of certain fish diseases. By Frederic P. Gorham, Ph. D., associate pro- 

 fessor of biology, Brown University. 



