11 
‘The very short time now available for the organization of 
an aquarium staff qualified and prepared to take charge of this 
highly perishable material, crowded as this time must be with 
an overwhelming multitude of other equally urgent affairs, leads 
us further to request that we may be assured of the appoint- 
ment, for a period of six months, of an expert superintendent 
and experienced assistants, who shall be acceptable to the Com- 
missioner, or his representative, as in every way competent and 
sufficient for the care of this material under the circumstances 
existing and soontoensue. The destructive consequences to our 
delicate and perishable collections which must follow upon even 
a temporary mistake in this matter, and the unfortunate compli: 
cations likely to arise if a wrong beginning were made, lead us 
to ask that our judgment—greatly enlightened as it has been by 
the season’s experience with the present aquarium plant—may 
thus be allowed due weight in the selection of the temporary 
aquarium staff upon whom the care of the material for the 
winter will fall. As this is perhaps the most difficult and import- 
ant, and at the same time the most urgent, feature of the pro- 
posed arrangement, I have anticipated the action of the trustees 
so far as to get the consent of the Commissioner to the continu- 
ance-—for some months if desired—of one of the present aquarium 
superintendents, a regular employee of the Fish Commission, to 
whom the Commissioner is willing to give leave of absence for a 
time, to enable him to help over the emergency. I have also 
ascertained that all the present aquarium assistants, who are now 
a body of picked and trained men, thoroughly acquainted with 
the situation and their duties, would be willing to continue, at 
least for a time, in their present employment. The existing 
organization can thus be carried over, without a break, in a way 
to secure the safety of our material for the winter, and to give 
the trustees ample time to mature a permanent organization 
and select a satisfactory staff. 
‘So far as the general zodlogical supervision of the aquarium 
is concerned, I beg to say that it will be a pleasure to me to 
serve the trustees temporarily in this matter, with the under- 
standing that I shall be relieved as soon as a satisfactory selec- 
tion of a permanent director can be made. 
‘“‘The foregoing statement contains all the conditions prece- 
dent to a transfer. It will be seen that they are intended merely 
