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Part III. — Eighth Annual Report 
waters. At Wood's Holl the experiments on the hatching and rearing of 
lobsters were continued, the numbers in the hatching jars reaching some- 
times nearly a million. The young were deposited in Vineyard Sound 
and adjacent waters. Five thousand lobsters two or three weeks old 
were planted in Cold Spring Harbour. 
The Appendices to the Report contain thirty-two papers and reports. 
There is an elaborate account of the sea fisheries of Eastern North 
America by the late Commissioner, Professor Spencer Baird, who founded 
the Fish Commission, and under whose wise and broad administration it has 
grown to be the custodian and conservator of one of the most important 
food resources. In this paper the food and the reproduction of the sea 
fishes, their migrations and movements, numbers and abundance, &c., are 
discussed at length. The important fishing grounds and the methods of 
capture and the best methods of preserving fish and bait are described. 
The maintenance and improvement of the fisheries by wise legislation, 
artificial propagation, and the transfer of species from one region to 
another are recommended. Messrs Goss and Jordan give a review of 
the flounders and soles (Pleuronectidae) of America and Europe, with the 
synonymy of all the genera and species and analytical keys, and Mr E. 
Linton describes the entozoa of marine fishes. 
This report shows how thoroughly well equipped the United States 
Fish Commission is for the work in which it is engaged. It possesses 
three steamers and a sailing vessel entirely devoted to fishery inquiries, a 
large staff, a large number of hatcheries, including the extensive one at 
Wood's Holl, specially constructed for the culture of sea fish and lobsters; 
and it receives a very large annual appropriation from the Government. 
The authorities of Johns Hopkins University have been good enough 
to send such of their publications as contain matters bearing upon fishery 
investigations. In the Studies from the Biological Laboratory* Mr 
S. Watase describes the morphology of the compound eyes of several 
Crustacea, and also discusses briefly the visual organs in star-fishes and 
sea-urchins. In the University Circular for April 1890, there is a paper 
by Mr H. V. Wilson on the Development of the Sea-Bass ; and one by 
Mr F. H. Herrick on the Development of the American lobster (Homarus 
americanus). The spawning season of the American lobster does not 
appear to be confined to any special season of the year, although it is 
probable they are most prolific during the summer months. The period 
of hatching at Wood's Holl in the summer (July — September) is not far 
from 100 days. 
An account is given of the process of segmentation and development 
of the egg. 
3. CANADA. 
In 1889, the Canadian Government, desirous of increasing the diminish- 
ing exports of Canadian herring (especially to the United States, and the 
British West Indies) by improving the selection and cure, appointed a 
Commission, consisting of Mr William Gunn and Mr M. G. M'Leod, to 
visit Great Britain and Holland and report upon the herring fisheries and 
mode of cure in these countries. The report of the Commissioners was 
recently issued as a blue book,f and contains a description of the Scotch 
and Dutch fisheries and mode of cure. The Commissioners 'consider 
* Vol. iv. No. 6, p. 287, 1890. 
t Report of Mr William Gunn of JFalkerton, OnL, and Mr M. G. M'Leod of New 
Haven, U. S., appointed to inquire into tide Herring Fishing Industry of Great Britain 
and Holland, Ottawa, 1889. 
