1. Food and the feeding habits of young and of adult fishes.
  2. The diet and habits of cod; lantern-fish; swordfish; ramora; hagfish; angler; gar-pike; sturgeon; shark; sawfish; paddle-fish.
  3. The variations, real or apparent, in the breathing habits of the porcupine-fish; the climbing-fish; the lung-fish.
  4. Peculiarities in swimming as seen in the flying-fish; the flounder; the sea-horse.
  5. Intensity of sound under water, and the corresponding structure of the fish's ear.
  6. Light and sight under water (as in 5).
  7. Protection of fishes: sting-ray; torpedo; coral-fish; sturgeon; lava-fish; swordfish; sawfish; pipefish.
  8. The social instinct of fishes, and "schools."
  9. The breeding habits of salmon; eel; stickle-back; sturgeon; whitefish; shark; sea-horse; sunfish.
  10. The fishing industries of the Great Lakes or of the cold oceans, with a list of the fishes caught and their values.
  11. Fish nets and traps: seine; gill-net; pound-net; trawl, French or English; fish-wheel; fish-weir; spear; dip-net; set-line; spoon; fly.
  12. The U.S. Bureau of Fisheries: its locations, its problems, and its methods.
  13. The State Fish Commission, as above.
  14. Game and fish laws; their purpose and their enforcement.
  15. Game fish of the fresh waters; trout, bass, pickerel, and muskellunge.
  16. Game fish of the ocean: tarpon, tuna, sea-bass, swordfish, and bluefish.
  17. Fish as food.
  18. Fish diet and leprosy.
  19. Fish diet and parasitic worms.
  20. Fish nuisances: carp, catfish, and dogfish.
  21. Commercial products of fishes, their preparation and their uses: caviar, shagreen, cod liver oil, isinglass, and glue.
  22. The geographic distribution of fishes, with means of dispersal and restriction.
  23. The faunal regions of the lake (or ocean), with characteristic forms.
  24. Fishes of ancient times; of the Devonian period.
  25. The story of the early life of Louis Agassiz; of D. S. Jordan; of C. H. Eigenmann; of Bashford Dean.
  26. Goldfish: their origin; how to care for them.
  27. Fashions in fish tails, old and new.
  28. Development and variation in scales; fashions in scales.
  29. The common orders of fishes, with examples.
Primitive Chordates
Materials.

An acorn-tongued worm, a lancelet, a lamprey, a shark, and a perch. If individual specimens are not available, the pupil's text-book and charts are to be used.

Observations.

Acorn-tongued worm: Notice the very simple form and structure of the symmetrical body, the "proboscis," the collar surrounding the neck with its simple rod of cartilage, the marks of internal gills and gill slits extending some distance along the body, and the presence or absence of sense organs. The acorn-tongued worm (Balanoglossus) lives in the sand of the seashore and in shallow water in temperate and tropical regions. Lancelet: Observe the form of the body, of the fin, and of the mouth; note the presence or absence of sense organs, and find out the number of gills or gill slits. The lancelet (Amphioxus) is similar in habit to the acorn-tongued worm. By day it lies buried with only the mouth exposed, but at night it swims actively about. It is somewhat more confined to the tropics. Lamprey: Observe here also the primitive or unspecialized form of the body, of the fin, of the jawless mouth, the number of gill slits, and the sense organs. Shark: Examine the body, noting its form and differentiation into regions, its covering, its fins, mouth, gill slits, and sense organs. Perch: If you have not already studied the bony fish, the points suggested for the shark will be sufficient for this exercise.

In each case, find out the condition of the skeleton.

Questions.
  1. Which of these animals seem most simple in form, and which most complex? Give a reason for your answer.
  2. Give the stages which show how the fold of skin develops into separate fins.
  3. How does the number of gills and gill slits change in the series? (Give definite numbers.) How may the reduction in the number of gills be compensated for in the amount of surface exposed for the exchange of gases in breathing?
  4. How is protection afforded the delicate structure of the gills in the final form?
  5. Give the stages in the formation of a definite, symmetrical mouth with jaws of equal size.
  6. The presence of sense organs may be taken to indicate that there is an organ of control, or brain. How is the development of this organ like or unlike that of the other structures in the series?
  7. For the developing brain and nervous system what protection and support is afforded in each case?

The foregoing questions may be answered in tabular form by arranging the names of the animals in a line and the questions in a column.