The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-11-10
THE PROPAGATION OF FISH.
Work Done by the United States Com
mission distribution of Salmon
Spawn.
From an Occasional Correspondent ofhe ". Y
Tribune

From an Occasional Correspondent orms "
Tribune.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.-The United
States commission of fish and fisheries
has spent busy season at Woods Hole,
Barnstable county, Mass, and has now
returned to Washington. The commission
has for its chief Prof. Spencer f. Baird,
assistant secretary of the Smithsonian In
stitution; for secretary. Henry 4, Rock
well. ~ Gods Hole is a narrow passage
on the heel of Cape Cod, connecting Bug
Yards Bay with Vineyard Sound, and will
probably be the future headquarters of
the Fish Commission, for the following
reasons. The government has valuable
wharf property, now used by the Light
house Board as their depot for buoys, coal
and oil, and the board have kindly ten.
dered the use Of the wharf and of one of
their buildings to the commission. This
building has been raised up so as to have
two stories. the upper Of which is labor
atory where are the tables and small
aquaria for the professors who examine
the collections made by dredging; the
lower, occupied with aquaria and appar-
atus Of the commission, Another and
principal reason for the selection Of Wood 6
Hole is that there is no other place on the
coast Of the United States, where, within
few miles, so great variety of marine
animal life can be found. Owing to the
peculiar formation of the coast, this is the
meeting ground OF the fishes from the cold
north and the warmer south. Fishes from
the southern coast follow up the waters
OF the gull stream till opposite New York.
when the stream is struck by current Of
0OIA frov,N h. IT, Al
the fishes turn inside to Long Island
Sound and pass eastward to Martha
Vineyard, aud thus get close to the land
around Woods Hole. Large quantities Of
these southern stragglers are thus secured.
While Prof. Bard has taken the general
supervision ofthe work of the commission,
the special examination of invertebrates
has been in charge of Prof A. Il. Verrill,
who is at the head of the Scientific School
of Yale College; and he has been assisted
by Mrs. j. Smith and by several students
from the Scientific School. Profs. Alpheus
Hyatt of the Boston Society of Natural
History and Sanborn Smith of New FORK
have given especial attention to this branch
of study. DR.. W. G. Farlow of the
Museum Of Comparative Zoology at
Harvard has had charge of the collection
cot algae, or of the marine botany, and had
Especial class of students, men and women,
associated with him. At the head of the
Department of Fishes, or vertebrates, has
been MIR. Il. Brown Goode of the Wesleyan
University at Middetown. Conn, and he
has been assisted by Messrs. L, I'll. Bean
and V, n. Edwards, For the preservation
OF fishes in their natural state, Mr.. Palmer
OF the Smithsonian Institution has been
employed 10 make molds from the living
hsh. Hundreds of these, from the smallest
tsh that swims to sharks and black fish IA
feet in length and weighing half a ton each,
have thus been permanently impressed,
and the molds put 10 boxes and forward to
the Smithsonian Institution, That these
fac-similes OF the living animal might be
accurately colored. French artist, NJ. j,
II. Richard, and, photographer, NJ.
Smile have been employed; so that the
casts, as completed at the Smithsonian
Institution, will be as accurate a copy of
nature as science and art can furnish.
10 enable the commission to reach deep
water, the navy department furnished the
steamer Blue Light, under Capt. L. A.
Beardslee. This vessel is purposely
equipped for the work required, all the
hauling Of dredges and travis being done
by steam. The commission also had the
yacht Mollie, Capt. Edwards, and gave
bin for assistant, Capt Fl. G. Chester of
the Polaris expedition.
After many months spent in the collec-
ton of materials, the commission has now
returned to Washington to examine its
spoils. Seven individuals of the shark
species, never seen on our coasts before
were secured, making sixteen Different
species of sharks found by the commits
sion in this vicinity. Several other new
hsh have been caught; one Of them is o