May 12, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



americaiia, a species occurrmg' in consider- 

 able abundance off the Beaufort Inlet. 



Mr. E. W. Gudger, graduate student of 

 zoology in the Johns Hopkins University, 

 had charge of the work on fishes. In addi- 

 tion to the usual work of collecting sys- 

 tematicallj' from various localities. JMr. 

 Gudger undertook the work of determin- 

 ing to what extent the food of two of the 

 most common food fishes, the spot {Lios- 

 i07nus xanthunis) and hogfish {Ortho- 

 pristis chrysoptents) differs in different 

 localities and whether local races are be- 

 ing established within each species. This 

 work was not carried far enough to give 

 data of value. 



The list of fishes kno^ra to occur in the 

 Beaufort region now numbers 134 species. 

 Specimens of each species, with one excep- 

 tion, are preserved in the laboratory col- 

 lection. In case the adult individuals of 

 a species are very large, specimens of its 

 5'oung only are preserved supplemented 

 with measurements of the adult. Thirteen 

 species were added to the list this year, 

 six of which it lias not been possible to 

 identify. 



On account of the interruption to the 

 Avork of investigation caused by visitors 

 the laboratory room has recently been 

 closed to them, but they are welcomed to all 

 other rooms and buildings. In the museum 

 hall the laboratory collections are arranged 

 for inspection and several aquaria are kept 

 supplied with living fishes and other forms 

 of marine animals and plants. The main- 

 tenance and care of these exhibits was in 

 charge of Mr. Gudger and the temporaiy 

 assistant detailed to help with the work on 

 fishes. 



]Mr. Gudger also continued to study the 

 breeding habits and the early development 

 of the pipe fish {Sipliostoma Louisiance) . 

 Material was preserved for a detailed 

 study of the egg and young stages this 

 winter. 



Caswell Grave, associate in zoology in 

 the Johns Hopkins Univei-sity, continued to 

 work on the echinoderms. A set of photo- 

 graphs of living specimens of each species 

 is nearly complete. It is hoped that these 

 may be published with the report on the 

 natural history of the Beaufort echino- 

 derms. By isolating the eehinoderm larvae 

 taken in the 'tow' and rearing them 

 through their metamorphosis into the adult 

 form, the identity of several unknown 

 larva" has been ascertained and many inter- 

 esting facts regarding the habits of the 

 adults have been discovered. About ninety 

 experiments on the segmenting egg and 

 larva of Ophiura brevispina were made in 

 order to study the regenerating capacity of 

 this form in its early stages and to deter- 

 mine the influence which the considerable 

 amount of yolk present in the egg has had 

 on the localization of the germ layers and 

 organ forming materials. The egg and 

 larva of this species are favorable objects 

 for this Avork in that they live well after 

 injury and in that the eggs fertilized in the 

 laboratory can be reared to the adult form. 

 Exjxn'iments on the pluteus of Mcllifa 

 fcstiidinata showed that it lacks almost 

 wbolly the ability to regenerate lost parts. 



THE INVESTIGATORS ^\:N^D THEIR WORK. 



Dr. George Lefevre, professor of zoology 

 in the Univei'sity of i\Iissouri. occupied a 

 table in the laboratory from June 15 to 

 August 23. The brief account, given be- 

 low, of the work done by him is extracted 

 from his report to the director at the end 

 of the season: 



1. Artificial jiarthenogenesis was investi- 

 gated in TJuiIasscma nicUita Conn, and it 

 was found that the eggs of this Avorm could 

 be induced to dcA'elop into freely swinuuing 

 trochophores in the absence of sperm by 

 immersion for a fcAV minutes in very dilute 

 solutions of scA-eral acids, both organic and 

 ijiorganic. Nitric, hydrochloric, sulphuric, 



