232 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 528. 



NOTES. 



M0N8. J. Vallot has recently sent to his 

 correspondents a reprint from the Revue II- 

 lustree for July 1, 1904, containing a fully 

 illustrated account of his scientific work on 

 Mont Blanc, with views of his meteorological 

 observatories, and a bibliography of his pub- 

 lications. 



A REL.\TI0N between sunspots and thunder- 

 storm frequency at Vienna is set forth by G. 

 Walter, in Das Wetter for December, 1904. 

 The author believes that a year with few 

 thunderstorms almost always precedes a year 

 of sun-spot maximum. These results do not 

 agree with those obtained some years ago by 

 von Bezold; in fact, there is a very consider- 

 able diversity of opinion in regard to almost 

 all the relations between solar and meteor- 

 ological phenomena. R. DeC. W.\rd. 



EUGENE G. BLACKFORD. 

 Eugene G. Blackford, who died recently, 

 was known to American zoologists for his 

 many-sided and practical contributions to the 

 study of fish and shell-tish. He was for a 

 long time associated with the United States 

 Commission of Fisheries, and was a supporter 

 of Professor Baird in his efforts to create the 

 national commission : he was Commissioner 

 of Fish and Fisheries of the State of New 

 York from 1879 to 1892, and it was under his 

 administration that many measures were 

 taken with regard to the stocking of waters 

 and the protection of fish. The survey and 

 renting of the state oyster-grounds, it may be 

 mentioned, was due to his initiative. He de- 

 voted himself particularly to applying scien- 

 tific results to practical purposes, and his 

 efforts in promoting fish-hatching, in introdu- 

 cing new and serviceable species of fish, in 

 stocking waters, and in devising new methods 

 for catching, presei'ving, shipping, and storing 

 fish, had a permanent effect upon the markets 

 of the country; he frequently brought to the 

 consumer fish which were new to him, some- 

 times even new to science, such, for example, 

 was the red snapper, Lutjanns hlackfordi. In 

 1881 he was instrumental in founding the 

 state fish hatchery at Cold Spring Harbor; in 

 1890 he established there, under the auspices 



of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 

 a biological station, which developed success- 

 fully and has recently been adopted by the 

 Carnegie Institution. As early as 1877* he 

 mooted the establishment of a New York 

 aquarium and he later designated the Battery 

 building as a suitable nidus for its growth. 

 He was the first, as far as I am aware, to 

 make this practical suggestion, and to his 

 efforts and influence no small part of the suc- 

 cess is due in creating the present institution. 

 He was most influential in supporting the es- 

 tablishment of the museum of the Brooklyn 

 Institute of Arts and Sciences, and in the 

 latest time he took a prominent part in creat- 

 ing in Brooklyn a teaching museum for 

 children. 



The following are the more important of 

 Mr. Blackford's publications : 



1876. 'On the Need to Obtain Statistical 

 Studies of Fish Catches in the United States.' 

 Report of Americayi Fish C uUurists' Associa- 

 tion, V. meeting, p. 5. 



1877. ' Reference to the Length of Time 

 Milt of Salmon Could be Kept Successfully.' 

 IhicL, VI. meeting, p. 99. 



1877. ' Introduction of Pompano into the 

 Northern Markets.' Ihid., p. 124. 



1878. ' Peculiar Features of the Fish 

 Market.' Ihid., VII. meeting, p. 77. 



1879. ' Whitebait in American Waters.' 

 Ibid., VIII. meeting, p. 11. 



1882. 'Report on the Merits of the Rain- 

 bow Trout.' Ihid., XI. meeting, p. 23. 



1883. ' On the Size of Marketable Lobsters.' 

 Ihid., XII. meeting, p. 414. 



1883. 'A Few Facts in Relation to the 

 Food and Spawning Season of Fishes on the 

 Atlantic Coast.' Ibid., XIII. meeting, p. 5. 



1883. 'Regarding the Pollution of the 

 Water of New York Bay.' Ibid., p. 73. 



1884. ' Is Legislation Necessary for the 

 Propagation of the Ocean Fisheries.' Ihid., 

 XIII. meeting, p. 00. 



* He referred to the ' necessity of an aquarium 

 in New York City'; and he expressed the hope 

 ' that a public enterprise might be started which 

 would be a free public institution.' ' Eeport of 

 Ihe Am. Fish Culturists' Association,' 1877, p. 107. 



