USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Fishes: Annual Report, 1886 - 1887

From 1878 to 1905, researcher and curator Dr. Tarleton Hoffman Bean of Smithsonian’s Department of Fishes documented species of fish collected from around the world and the research performed with these collections. According to his review of reports in 1886, the United States government's deep-sea explorations to that date had yielded more new forms of fish than any other government. In 1887, he personally investigated the mackerel fishing industry's activities in the Atlantic Ocean, spending over a month at sea observing the fleet activity. The Boston Herald published three of his letters describing the experience that spring. Please help us transcribe Dr. Bean's account of the work done with the Smithsonian's Fishes collections and learn what else transpired in fiscal year 1887.