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“REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE AND
_ FISHERTES, sisrsasens BRANCH —

es

TO

NADIAN BIOLOGY

BEING STUDIES FROM THE

ee 1901

ed

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT :

_ Professor E. E. Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries, Director.

- Professor R. Ramsay Wricut, University of Toronto, Assistant Director.
Professor D. P. Penuattow, McGill University, Montreal, Secretary.
Professor L. W. Barter, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B.
_ Rev. Abbé V. A, Huarp, (of Laval University), Chicoutimi, P.Q.

= Professor A. P. Kyieut, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont.

ei Professor A. B. MACALLUM, University of Toronto. -
Professor E. W. MacBripe, McGill University, Montreal.

2 a : Dr. A. H. MacKay, (of Dalhousie University), Halifax, N.S.

© EXCELLENT MAJESTY
1901

— ~~

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

| Sty Pea kt ENT

39np ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE AND
FISHERIES, FISHERIES BRANCH

CONTRIBUTIONS

TO

CANADIAN BIOLOGY

BEING STUDIES FROM THE

MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION OF CANADA
1QOl

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT :

Professor E. E. Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries, Director.

Professor R. Ramsay Wricut, University of Toronto, Assistant Director.
Professor D. P. PenHattow, McGill University, Montreal, Secretary.
Professor L. W. BarLey, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.1
Rev. Abbé V. A. Huarp, (of Laval University), Chicoutimi, P.Q.
Professor A. P. Knicut, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont.

Professor A. B. Macatium, University of Toronto.

Professor E. W. MacBripe, McGill University, Montreal.

Dr. A. H. MacKay, (of Dalhousie University), Halifax, N.S.

>
J.

OTTAWA

PRINTED BY S. E, DAWSON, PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST
EXCELLENT MAJESTY

1901
[N° 22a—1902.]

io:

>
n

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

PREFATORY NOTE

By tee Drescroer.

In the series of papers here presented, the notes embodied im the first paper deal
with certain salient features in the history and work of the Marine Biological Station
of Canada, founded in 1898, under authority of an Order im Council dated the 9th
of May of that year, and it is necessary only to mention in this place that during the
first two years of its existence the Station was located in Passamaquoddy Bay near St.
Andrews, New Brunswick, and that it was moved in the third year to the Straits of
Canso near the town of Canso, Nova Scotia. Part of the work done by the Staff during
the stay at St. Andrews is embodied in the papers now published.

KE P.
Orrawa, 1901.

mate

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No, 22a A. 1902

CON EN TS.

.

PAGE.

I.—‘ Account of the Marine Biological Station of Canada ; its Foundation, Equipment and Work,’

by Professor Edward E. Prince, Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, Director of the Station.

II.—‘ The Effects of Polluted Waters on Fish-Life,’ by Dr. A. P. Knight, Professor of Animal

Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont................... Ee eS ee

III.—‘ The Clam Fishery of Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, ’ (with four plates), by Dr. Joseph
Stafford, Department of Zoology, McGill University, Montreal....................... vr

IV.—‘ The Flora of St. Andrews, New Brunswick,’ by Dr. James Fowler, Professor of Botany,

MTEC rIAM NAV Arsi oye Kno eLOn OIG . els. HN rey cies 5 etal chai ccas alm: Sofas cei Sear dcor sree an oot

V.—‘ The Food of the Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus),’ by Dr. F. H. Scott, Physiological Labora-
RO ReE UPTLVOLSLE VL OLR ONOWEOL as <2. Shiner eee Pitta foa ance ters! co thn Saeed wr olelne edb. Be ees

VI.—‘ The Paired Fins of the Mackerel Shark (Zamna),’ by Professor E. E. Prince, Dominion Com-

missioner of Fisheries, and Dr. A. H. MacKay, Superintendent of Education for the Province
SPEC SERA COLIA EL ALEX ING Sic ee tet oe Sea ate ek cena tet c/a teatime iat nhs 6 es 5 eat

VII.—‘ The Sardine Industry in relation to the Canadian Herring Fisheries,’ by B. Arthur Bensley,
B.A., &c., late Fellow in Biology, University of Toronto....... ............ eo eee

PLATE I.—The Clam, Mya arenaria, exterior left side (natural size).

" II.—The Clam, Mya arenaria, left ventral surface.

» I1t.—The Clam, Mya arenaria, interior aspect.

* TV.—The Clam, anatomy, nerves, ovum, embryo, food, &c.

" V.—Left pectoral fin of Mackerel Shark (Zamna), showing cartilaginous skeleton.

" VI.—Right pectoral fin of Mackerel Shark (Zamna), showing cartilaginous skeleton.

» WVII.—Right pectoral fin of Scyllium, Acanthias, Heptanchus, Chimera, Cestracion, Polyodon,
and Rava. =

22a—B

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1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

cr

MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION OF CANADA.

INTRODUCTORY NOTES ON ITS. FOUNDATION, AIMS AND WORK,
BY THE DIRECTOR (PROFESSOR E. E. PRINCE.)

The founding of the Canadian Marine Biological Station under Government auspices
three years ago, may be said, without exaggeration, to mark an era in the progress of
science and technical research in the Dominion.

Two primary objects were kept prominently in view by those who initiated the
project, viz. :—The advancement of the fisheries of the country and the interests of the
fishing population resident along our shores, as well as the enlargement of existing
knowledge on marine fishes and other living organisms in the waters of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence and along the Atlantic coast of Canada.

Marine investigations, it must be remembered, have been carried on in our waters by
Canadian and foreign workers for nearly seventy years ; but the results of the work
accomplished by scientific men, including such authorities as the late Sir William
Dawson, Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Professor Ganong, and certain eminent United States
biologists, had a far less direct bearing upon the fisheries and fishing industries than
would have been the case had a scientific school or Marine Biclogical Station existed
upon our shores. Other countries long ago realized this, and founded and equipped such
stations, where biologists have had every facility for attacking the pressing and difficult
problems of the deep-sea and inshore fisheries.

During my first maritime tour as Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, I was impressed
not only with the desirability of some thorough and systematic investigation into fish
life, and marine life generally, in Canadian waters, but also with the absolute necessity
for a laboratory, where exhaustive researches could be carried on, and adequate solutions
attained in regard to questions vitally affecting the fisheries, and I ventured to point out
in wy first formal report, dated October 5, 1893, addressed to the Minister of Marine
and Fisheries, at the time, (Sir C. H. Tupper) how urgently these matters called for
attention. I laid stress on the scattered and limited amount of knowledge we possessed
on such subjects as the spawning periods and breeding areas of valuable food-fishes, and
the great loss of valuable fishery resources resulting annually, especially by non-utiliza-
tion and waste, and I called attention to the urgency of preventing this waste of valuable
fish-products, and of thus stimulating new fishery enterprises. The Minister was
forcibly impressed by some of the points I stated, and he requested me to fully report as
to the best means of accomplishing a systematic fisheries’ survey, of improving the fish-
ing industries, and of creating the new enterprises to which I referred. Accordingly, in
1894, I prepared a special report, published in the Annual Report of the Department of
Marine and Fisheries, entitled: ‘A Marine Scientific Station for Canada,’ and I laid
stress on the growing interest being taken by the public in this country and in other
countries in biological investigations upon the conditions of life in the sea. Further, I
drew special attention to the peculiar richness, variety and value of the Canadian fishing
grounds as a field for investigation. JI alluded to work carried on in the British

22a—1

2 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

Islands and in certain foreign countries, and emphasized the importance and rare interest
of the results of dredging and collecting expeditions which had been carried on in
Dominion waters by the Canadian biological workers already referred to, and J added:
‘The fact that year after year professors and bands of students from the United States
‘resort to Canadian shores to carry on marine studies, preferring our prolific waters to
‘their own, clearly proves, if proof were needed, that a Marine Station in Canada would
‘be able to accomplish great results.’

Sir William Dawson, in his earlier days, as early indeed as 1835, made collections
of marine invertebrates in his native county of Pictou, and in 1858, completed success-
ful dredgings in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Gaspé. In 1859, and in later years, he
carried on dredging work in the entrance to the St. Lawrence, as far up as Murray Bay,
and continued this work off Little Metis from 1876 to 1882. Dr. Robert Bell, in 1858
made a collection of invertebrates over much the same grounds, and two United States
workers, Dr. J. R. Willisand Dr. W. Stimpson, the former from 1850 onwards, and the
latter in 1852, conducted important dredging expeditions in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, the published reports ot which are well known and justly regarded as of
great value. Dr. Stimpson’s ‘ Marine Invertebrates of Grand Manan,’ published in 1853,
has long been a classic book of reference. Moreover, Dr. A. 8. Packard, and Professor
Verrill also made important collections, especially in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, under
the auspices of the United States Fish Commission. The later investigations included
the waters of the Bay of Fundy, a faunistic region differing in a marked degree from the
waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In many respects, the most important Canadian work carried on by a marine
biologist, was that of Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, who from 1867 to 1873, collected marine
forms, and published lists of mollusks, etc., of permanent value, and a very special interest
attaches to Dr. Whiteaves’ work, inasmuch as in 1871, 1872 and 1873, the Department
of Marine and Fisheries afforded facilities to this distinguished scientist, to carry on
dredging expeditions in the deep waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence from Anticosti to
Cape Breton. The results of this work are of unusual utility and importance, and were
published in the Department’s reports in the three years 1871-1873. They embrace
many valuable observations directly bearing upon the deep-sea and inshore fisheries.

The famous Challenger expedition in 1873 touched the coast of Nova Scotia; but
the work done was somewhat brief and fragmentary, though of considerable scientific
interest.

Mention should be made of the valuable and extensive reports on the Bay of Fundy
fisheries by Dr. Moses H. Perley, of St. John, N.B., accompanied by reports on the fishes
of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, published originally as appendices to the Journal
of the New Brunswick House of Assembly, Fredericton, N.B., in 1851. About the
same date Dr. H. R. Storer published his ‘ Observations on the fishes of Nova Scotia and
Labrador. Mr. T. F. Knight, under the auspices of the Nova Scotia Government,
prepared similar reports and lists of fishes, edible mollusks, &c., which were published
in 1866 and 1867. Dr. J. B. Gilpin of Halifax, N.S., Dr. Abraham Gesner of Anna-
polis, N.S., the Rev. John Ambrose, St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., and others also published
twenty or thirty years ago interesting papers on the fish and fishing industries of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick. Of these minor zoological publications, it is not necessary
to say much, except to point out that Professor W. F. Ganong dredged in the southern
waters of the Bay of Fundy, and published valued lists of mollusks and other inverte-

brates comparable in many ways to those issued by various well known United States .

scientific workers during the last twenty years.

The suggestion which I had made in 1894, that marine investigations could not
yield adequate results and could be of only limited national benefit unless some properly
equipped station existed on our shores, was taken up by Professor Knight of Queen’s
University, Kingston, who, on May 6, 1895, addressed a letter to the Secretary of
the Royal Society of Canada, Sir John Bourinot, on the subject. This letter was
published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, and it urged the desirability of a lake
or seaside laboratory in Canada, to which our own naturalists could resort for some
months every summer and pursue research work in biology. Dr. Knight referred to

eae

——

MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION OF CANADA 3

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

the presence of no less than seven Canadian scientific men working at the U.S. Marine
Biological Laboratory at Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts, and he concluded by aftirming
that ‘Canada ought to make a beginning, and afford opportunities within the borders of
the Dominion for scientific specialists to gratify the honourable ambition of adding a
little to the sum of human knowledge.’ The Royal Society discussed the matter in
Section IV. (Geological and Biological Sciences), at its meeting in 1895, and a scheme
rapidly took practical shape on the recommendation of a committee, appointed by the
British Association in 1896. This committee, which was really a committee of Section
D (Zoology), was appointed to consider the question of investigating the marine fauna of
the Atlantic waters of Canada, by means of a Marine Station. The members held a _
sitting in Toronto, on the occasion of the meeting of the British Association in that city,
in 1897, the chairman being Professor Louis C. Miall, President of Section D, and the
committee concluded its labours by recommending the appointment of a Canadian com-
mittee, with myself as chairman, and Professor D. P. Penhallow as secretary, and the
recommendation was signed by Mr. W. E. Hoyle, as one of the secretaries of the Section,
and was in the usual way communicated to the General Secretary of the Association, so
that final steps could be taken tocarry it out. In October, 1897, Mr. G. Griffith wrote
to me an official notification that the Biological Station committee referred to, embraced
the following gentlemen: Professor John Macoun, Professor T. Wesley Mills, Professor
E. W. MacBride, Professor A. B. Macallum, Mr. W. T. Thistleton-Dyer, (Director of
the Royal Gardens, Kew), Professor D. P. Penhallow as secretary, and myself as chair-
man. This committee at its meeting in Montreal decided upon bringing the project
before the Dominion Government during the session of 1898. A memorial was prepared,
addressed to the Hon. the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, pointing out that the com-
mittee’s appointment had been recommended at the meeting of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, by the Sections of Zoology, Botany and Physiology,
and it called attention to the great importance of our fishing industries and the inade-
quacy of our knowledge respecting the nature and source of the food supply of fishes, and
’ of oysters, lobsters, &c., and it urged that suitable measures be adopted for the scientific
investigation of such questions, as well as for the more critical study of the life-histories
of important marine organisms used for food. Amongst other things, it was pointed
out that it was desirable that the station commence its work at some appropriate point
in the Maritime Provinces, and that it be moved to new locations, according to require-
ments. In its representations to the Minister it concluded as follows :—

That the various universities and scientific bodies of Canada should be granted
certain privileges with respect to opportunities for qualified investigators, as may here-
after be determined.

That the scientific work of the station be executed as far as possible by experienced
investigators connected with our various universities.

That while the station remains a Government institution, the administration be
vested in a special board consisting of one or more representatives from the Department
of Marine and Fisheries, and one representative from each of the universities represented
in the delegation.

That an appropriation of $15,000 be made for the purpose, of which $5,000 shall be
applied to construction and outfit, and $10,000 to maintenance fora period of tive years.

In support of which petition the committee announced the co-operation through
their delegates, of Toronto University (Prof. Ramsay Wright), Queen’s University (Sir
Sandford Fleming), Laval University (Mgr. Laflamme), McGill University (Prof. D. P.
Penhallow and Prof. E. W. MacBride), Dalhousie University (Prof. B. Russell, M.P.),
The Royal Society of Canada (Prof. D. P. Penhallow), Nova Scotia Institute of Science
(Professor Benjamin Russel!), The Canadian Institute (Prof. A. B. Macallum), Natural
History Society of Montreal (Dr. F. D. Adams), and the Natural History Society of
New Brunswick (Prof. Bailey).

On Wednesday, April 20, 1898, a deputation waited upon the Hon. Sir Louis H.
Davies, Minister of Marine and Fisheries, in Ottawa to present the memorial. The
accompanying deputation was a large and influential one, and included the Hon. Dr.
Borden, Sir Sandford Fleming, Dr. Roddick, M.P., Dr. Russell, M.P., Mr. (now Senator)

22a—l14

4 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

Ellis, Mr. E. Goff Penny, M.P., Professors F. D. Adams, D. P. Penhallow, A. B. Mac-
allum, E. W. MacBride, John Macoun, and Edward E. Prince. The committee appointed
by the British Association presented the petition to the Hon. the Minister, supporting
it by remarks emphasizing the more salient points. A very strong case was made out
in the speeches of the various members of the deputation in favour of a Government
Biological Station, and at the conclusion of the interview, Sir Louis Davies expressed
his pleasure and gratification at meeting the deputation, and having had presented to
him the information regarding marine and fisheries investigations which had been given
by the various speakers. As a result the sum of $15,000.00 was placed in the estimates
and passed by Parliament, $5,000.00 being for the building and equipment, and a sum
of $2,000.00 to be paid annually for the five years 1898-99 to 1903-04 to carry on the
scientific work of the station.

Reference may here be appropriately made to some of the more important consider-
ations urged by the delegation. The immense value and importance of the Canadian
fishing interests were adverted to, and stress was laid upon the inadequacy of existing
knowledge with respect to the nature and sources of the sustenance of marketable fishes
and of oysters, lobsters, &c., as well as the distribution, migrations end natural history
of marine animals in Canadian waters. The necessity of exact scientific investigations
into such questions was urged, and it was shown that Canada was the only civilized
country in which no Marine Biological Station had been established. Great benefit
would be derived by the Government, it was pointed out, from co-operation with the
different universities and scientific bodies in the Dominion in its administration of fish-
ing interests and in deciding upon methods of fish-preservation by the utilization of
reliable technical information obtained by means of such a Biological Station. The
Station would prove of incalculable service to our universities, not only in furnishing
them material in Canada which has now to be obtained largely from foreign sources, but
in adding to the material thus obtained, accurate scientitic knowledge of fishes and of
the marine life generally which characterizes our northern waters, and differs from the
marine fauna and flora found in the vicinity of the Biological Stations now at work on
the-shores of the United States. The results obtained by a Canadian station could be
compared with corresponding results in the waters off the British Islands, where valuable
biological investigations have been conducted for a considerable period. Mutual benefits
would, it was anticipated, result which would be of value to the Imperial authorities
and the Universities of Britain as well as to our own Government and the Universities
of the Dominion. Finally the delegation suggested that if Government aid were
granted, the responsibility for the administration of the Station might appropriately be
assumed by the committee appointed by the various Universities and Scientific Institu-
tions, with a representative from the Department of Marine and Fisheries.

The representative committee referred to, which is responsible for all arrangements
and expenditures and the administration of the work of the Biologica! Station, includes
delegates from all the principal seats of learning in the Dominion.

The Canadian committee appointed by the British Association met in March in
the Botanical laboratory of McGill University, Montreal, at the kind suggestion of
Professor Penhallow, and the details of the scheme were discussed, the main features of
the Station and its proposed work decided upon, and a Board of Management being
appointed, consisting of :—Professor D. P. Penhallow, McGill University, Montreal,
Secretary ; Professor R. Ramsay Wright, Toronto University, Toronto ; Professor L.
H. Bailey, University, Fredericton, N.B.; Professor A. P. Knight, Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario; Reverend V. A. Huard, Laval University, Chicoutimi, P.Q. ; Dr.
A. H. MacKay, Dalhousie University, Superintendent of Education, Halifax, N.S.

I, as Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, was chosen as Director of the Station,
and the names of Professor A. B. Macallum, Toronto University, and Professor E. W.
MacBride, McGill University, were subsequently added to the Board.

After finally reporting to the British Association at its meeting in Bristol, in 1898,

upon the successful issue of its work and the selection of the Board of Management, the
committee dissolved.

)

MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION OF CANADA 5

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

This year (1901) Professor Ramsay Wright was chosen as Assistant Director in
order to further facilitate the operations of the Station.

At the first meeting of the Board of Management, on February 10, 1898, in Ottawa,
plans and specifications were considered, and it was arranged that tenders should be
advertised for by the agent of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, at St. John,
New Brunswick, and the location was fixed at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, on the
shore adjacent to Indian Point, and near low-water mark. The successful tenderers
were Messrs. D. W. Ciark & Son, St. John, New Brunswick, and the nature of the
building was to be such as to combine the advantages of a floating and movable, as well
as of a fixed or more permanent institution.

A fixed location on land while advantageous for microscopical, physical, and minute
chemical investigations on account of the absence of vibration, has the disadvantage of
affording direct and convenient access to a portion of the coast only, viz., that portion
of the coast in the immediate vicinity of the building. A floating station, on the other
hand, has the advantage of ensuring the readiest opportunities of scientific investigation
during the same season, or during successive seasons, along different portions of the coast
and the waters adjacent thereto. As Mr. Richard Rathbun, a distinguished United States
biologist, says, with reference to the marine investigations of the United States Fish
Commission, ‘ many problems require to be investigated in particular localities, where
‘the conditions are especially favourable. For that reason, the study of the habits and
‘development of such forms as the oyster, the shad, the salmon, the Spanish mackerel,
‘and many other species, have been conducted elsewhere’ than at the permanent Woods
Hole Marine Station. Mr. Rathbun further points out, in regard to permanent, fixed
laboratories, that while they are indispensable to the study of fisheries’ problems, they
cannot, unless supplemented by convenient means for reaching distant points, be of
more than local value and utility. It was the lack of such facilities, Mr. Rathbun goes
on to say, during the first ten years of the Commission with which he was officially con
nected, that made it necessary to move its summer station from place to place.

The Canadian station was designed in the form ofan ark or oblong building placed
upon a large scow, so that it could be moved from one point to another along the coast, as
the Board of Management might determine. At each chosen location it might be either
moored or hauled up on dry land above high water mark, thus fulfilling the conditions of
a floating as well as of a fixed scientific station. The building, during the first two years,
was not placed upon the scow ; but was erected on the shore at St. Andrews, New
Brunswick, with the intention of having it placed upon the special scow whenever the
Board of Management decided to move it away to a new locality. The laboratory was
completed in June, 1899, and is a neat one-story structure of wood, well lighted from
the roof and sides, and somewhat resembling a Pullman car, with a row of eight large
windows along each side, and a door with sash provided with plate glass at either end.
Its total length is 50 feet, the principal room, or main laboratory, occupying the central
part of the structure and forming a well-lighted and cheerful work-room, measuring 30
feet in length, and 15 feet in breadth. Two tank- and store-rooms are at the anterior
end, each room 6 feet by 6 feet, while at the opposite end are four rooms, one reserved
for the director, another adjacent to the director’s, devoted to the use of the attendant,
and provided with a sink and spacious shelving, and certain kitchen appliances, while
on the opposite side of the passage, are two rooms, one used as a tank room and the
other as a chemical room, the last being provided with a table for chemical balances and
other instruments, and with shelves for storing chemicals and re-agents. Of the
eight windows on each side, half of them light up the main work-room. On the roof,
which is slightly elevated in the centre, is a neat ventilator raised or skylight with
nine movable panes on either side to admit light and fresh air. The scow on which the
laboratory was placed in the spring of 1901, is 60 feet in length and 19} feet in breadth,
and about 9 feet from deck to the outside of the bottom planking, that is, in vertical
depth. It provides a narrow platform around the sides of the building, and a spacious
platform at each end 64 feet in width. A small double-acting brass deck pump placed
on the platform at the front entrance is connected by hose-pipe with the fresh-water

6 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

tank, and supplies the porcelain wash basins, one of which is provided at each worker’s
table. Near the location selected, at some little distance from the station, and adja-
cent to the seashore, a salt-water pump, with a Rider hot-air engine, 6 inch cylinder,
and pump, are placed, and is connected by a pipe with a spacious salt-water tank on
the roof of the building at the anterior end. From this tank a delivery tube, | inch in
diameter, of galvanized iron passes close to the skylight into the interior of the station
immediately under the horizontal cross-beams of the roof, giving off lateral branch
tubes, five on each side, and supplying the salt water by special nozzles to the respec-
tive porcelain basins used by each worker. From this delivery tube temporary tanks
can be supplied as required, and the final outflow empties into the salt-water tank
in the tank-room next to the chemical room, at the rear end of the station. Along each
side of the laboratory, under the workers’ tables, a convenient drain carries away waste
water, and has its exit beneath the laboratory. The station possesses a gasoline launch,
22 feet long, fitted with a Sintz engine, intended to be used for conveying the workers
conveniently to points within easy reach. It was originally planned that this launch,
which is 24 h.p., should be utilized for bottom dredging, and for surface or mid-water tow-
netting with capacious plankton and other nets ; but it has proved to be not well adapted
for that work, on account of its insufficient power. A handy little row-boat was also
purchased for the use of the staff. The equipment of the station includes a number of
dredges of various sizes, a drag-seine 60 feet long, two large triangular nets after the
Scottish model designed by Professor McIntosh, a beam-trawl], 15 feet across, and a
number of fine silk and cheese-cloth tow-nets and dip-nets. In addition to a number of
Agassiz store tanks, a series of copper store-tanks of various sizes have been procured.

While there is of course much to be added to the equipment, many of the workers
have expressed themselves as well pleased with the provision in the way of nets and
other necessary apparatus: but the desirability of the purchase of a tug or launch of
some power, for deep-sea dredging, has pressed itself upon the attention of the staff. It
is to be hoped that at an early date a suitable vessel will be secured.

Of course the complete equipment of a scientific marine station, the first of its kind
in British North America, is a matter of time. Fittings and apparatus must of necessity
be added as growing needs require. The most famous and splendidly equipped stations
in the world have become such only after the lapse of many years. As Professor
Stephen A. Forbes, Director of the Illinois State Laboratory on the River Illinois,
remarked in his first report (1893-94) :—‘It will be seen that our season’s work has
fully opened up the field, and shown us what is necessary to the continuance and
development of our enterprise. I am entirely satisfied with the locality, and wish to
occupy it next year in a more permanent manner, with a view to continuous work there
for several years, probably no less than five. The present arrangements, while fairly
satisfactory for this preliminary year and clearly the best that could have been made,

were very inconvenient in some respects, and wasteful of the time and strength of the
Station force.’

Every institution of this kind has had a similar experience and it must be a matter
of sincere congratulation that the Canadian Biological Station, during the first three
seasons of its existence, has been able to accomplish a large amount of useful and
valuable work,and, in the scientific reports which follow these remarks, is able to present
an instalment of results of a permanent character.

The Station possesses the nucleus of a library, including the fifty magnificent
volumes of the report of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger, a munificent gift, obtained
through the kind offices of the Right Honourable Lord Strathcona, from the British
Government, with the special approval of the Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain,
His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. As a large number of
important works are at this very time being added to the library, further remarks upon
this subject will be reserved for a future occasion; but it must be admitted that the
members of the staff have been considerably hampered through lack of a good working
library, furnished with the most recent memoirs and treatises, and in a great many cases
the workers have had to borrow from University libraries and other sources, the standard

}
‘

MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION OF CANADA 7

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

works necessary to assist them in their researches. This deficiency will, however, be
rapidly overcome, and the Station will in due time possess a fairly satisfactory reference
library.

The opinion was frequently expressed upon the founding of the Marine Station,
that scientific workers would find it difficult, on account of the great distances and the
necessary expense involved, in making use of the Station ; but this fear has happily
proved groundless, and the tables of the Station, during the three first seasons of its
work, have been practically fully occupied. During the initial season on the opening of
the Station the staff included Dr. R. R. Bensley, Demonstrator and Lecturer on Zoology
in the University of Toronto; Mr. B. A. Bensley, a Fellow in Biology in the same
University ; Dr. Joseph Stafford, formerly Lecturer on Zoology in Toronto University, and
now a member of the staff of McGill University, Montreal. These were the first scientific
men to occupy tables and conduct investigations in the Station. Professor A. P. Knight,
of Queen’s University, Kingston ; Professor A. B. Macallum, of Toronto University ; Dr.
F, 8. Jackson, of McGill University ; and myself, also spent some time at work during
the season of 1899. Professor Penhallow, Professor MacBride, Professor John Macoun
and Dr. A. H. MacKay had all intended spending some weeks at the Station carrying
on scientific work, but were prevented, and these gentlemen wrote to me expressing
regret at their inability tocarry out their intention. Professor L. W. Bailey, University
of Fredericton, N.B., and Miss Ganong, and Mr. F. T. Bower, of the staff of Queen’s
College, Kingston, attended, but had not opportunity to carry on much systematic work.

The subjects taken up during the first season were largely faunistic ; but they also
included a study of the food of fishes, and an investigation into the sardine fishery, and
the catches of fish in the sardine weirs, a survey of the clam fishery, as well as an exam-
ination of the spawn of various marine fishes taken in the tow-nets ; a study of some of
the early stages in the life history of the lobster, and a research in physiological chemis-
try, dealing with the analysis of the constituent matters in Aurelia and in Meduse
generally.

During the season of 1900, the staff was augmented and included the following :
Professor Knight, Queen’s University, Kingston; Professor Macallum, Toronto Uni-
versity ; Professor Fowler, Queen’s University, Kingston ; Dr. Joseph Stafford, Toronto
University ; Dr. F. H. Scott, Toronto University ; Dr. F. Slater Jackson, McGill Uni-
versity, Dr. A. H. MacKay, Superintendent of Education, Halifax, and myself.
Researches more or less extended were carried on from June until October 1. Professor
MacBride, of McGill University, and Professor Bailey, of Fredericton, spent a few days
at the laboratory, and the work during the season included a study of water-pollutions
in relation to fish life ; the food of sea urchins ; the parasites of fishes ; the blood of the
lobster ; the nerves of fishes ; cell studies, especially in regard to Marine Protozoa; the
chemistry and physiology of jelly-fishes, a study of the early stages of Atlantic and
Pacific salmon, an examination of the local fauna, and a systematic survey of the flora
of the adjacent district. These, and certain morphological subjects, covered the work
completed at the station during the second year of its existence, and some results have
already been suttliciently advanced to enable them to be placed in the form of the prelim-
inary reports presented in the succeeding pages of this publication.

It is to be sincerely hoped that the contributions to Canadian Marine Biology, due
to the founding of a Dominion Biological Station on our Atlantic shores, of which the
present publication constitutes the first instalment, may grow in succeeding years in
extent and value. -

The aims of the station could hardly be more comprehensive, for they embrace the
thorough investigation of plant and animal life in our eastern seas. The conditions
attached to work carried on within its walls could not be more liberal and free, for such
work is trammelled only by the condition that the results shall add to the knowledge of
our national resources in the deep, and shall more or less directly benefit our fisheries.
The bearing of such scientific researches were well expressed by the late Hon. Marshall
McDonald, United States Commissioner of Fisheries, when he said :—‘ The knowledge
to be obtained by such investigations is absolutely necessary as a foundation upon which

life in its relation to environment is an important subject which biological investigators
have not heretofore sufficiently dealt with, but which, it seems to me, is necessary in
order to give practical value to special studies of the different species. After all, it is
the relations and interdependence of life in the aggregate, and of the conditions influ-
encing it adversely or otherwise, that mainly concern those who are seeking to apply

1
8 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902
to build an intelligent, rational administration of our fishery interests. A knowledge of
scientific methods of investigation to economic problems.’ ~

'

1-2 EDWARD Vil. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

i

THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTED WATERS ON FISH LIFE.

A PRELIMINARY REPORT BY PROFESSOR A. P. KNIGHT, QUEEN'S
UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON, ONT.

Before entering upon my formal report, I wish to express to the Dominion
Government, through Professor Prince, the Commissioner of Fisheries and Director of
the Marine Biological Station, my warm appreciation of the foresight and spirit which
prompted the establishment of a marine biological station in Canada. I have no doubt
that every year will demonstrate the wisdom of founding such a station. The privilege
accorded me at it, during the past two seasons, in the way of collecting and studying
marine and fresh-water animals, has been a source of keen enjoyment. The following
report is tendered in the hope that the facts submitted may help, in 2 humble way, to
elucidate some of the problems which are presented to the Dominion Fisheries Depart-
ment from time to time for solution.

Tt was Professor Prince’s report for 1899 to the Honourable Sir Louis Davies which
suggested the inquiry described in the following pages. Its prosecution at St. Andrews,
last summer (1900), was greatly aided by the assistamce and advice which I received
from the Commissioner and I desire to make public acknowledgment of the same-

The pollutions with which I experimented were (a) sawdust, (5) waste water from
a nail factory, (¢) waste water from two pulp mills, and (d) waste water from gas
works.

The general m-thod of investigation consisted in adding varying percentages of the
waste water to fresh water, or to salt water, according to the kind of fish experimented
with, and then immersing the living fish in the mixture, and noting the effects upon
them.

A ‘control’ experiment was usually carried on along with those on the waste
water. This ‘control’ consisted in placing a normal vigorous animal in unpolluted
water, so that observations on fish immersed in the polluted water could be compared
with observations upon the animal in normal water.

PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS.

Some preliminary experiments were undertaken for the purpose of determining,
first, the shape of the vessel in which the fish should he confined, and secondly, the
volume of water which should be used in proportion to the weight of the fish. Infor-
Mation was needed as to whether the dishes used shou!d be broad and shallow, or tall
and narrow ; also whether large quantities of water should be used in proportion to the
bulk of the fish, or whether smaller quantities might suffice.

The following experiment repeated a number of times settled the first pommt. Two
rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris, Rafinesque) of equal weight, were placed im separate vessels,
each vessel containing 34 litres of lake water. One vessel was an ordinary agateware
baking pan, 13} inches long, 9} inches broad, and 1? inches deep. The other vessel
i 3

10 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

was a tall cylindrical museum jar (with an external diameter of 6 inches) the water in
which stood 8? inches high. The experiment began at 10 a.m. At 5 p. m. the fish in
the tall vessel was lying on its side in a dying condition. The next morning it was of
course dead, while the one in the shallow pan was quite lively. Tke same results
occurred whenever this experiment was repeated.

Such experiments evidently show that ventilation or aération of water is as
important in fish-respiration as ventilation of air is in maimmalian resp‘ration. They
show that ventilation goes on naturally and readily in the shallow water of a broad flat
vessel. In such a vessel, a large surface of water is exposed to theair. As the oxygen
dissolved in the water gets used up by the fish, fresh oxygen is absorbed from the air,
the absorption being promoted by the movements of the fish, which agitates the water
and exposes a fresh surface to the air. On the other hand, the water in a tall narrow
vessel has a comparatively small surface exposed to the air, and a fish, usually lying at
the bottom, does not agitate the surface so as to promote aération of the water. These
experiments throw light on how trout can live in very tiny streams of water in dry
weather, and they explain also how minnows can live all day long in a little water in
the bottom of a fishing boat. ;

The second question, ‘should large quantities of water, or comparatively small
quantities of water be used in the experiments?’ was not so easily answered. The
quantity was, of course, found to vary with the extent to which the water was ventilated
or aérated. If artificial ventilation were applied to the water, then a relatively small
volume would do; if no artificial ventilaton were applied, then, of course, a much
larger quantity of water had to be used, and it had to be placed in a broad shallow dish.

Tn connection with this subject, a number of experiments were tried for the purpose —
of determining the length of time that unit weight of fish (1 gram) could live in unit
volume (1 ¢.c.) of unaérated water. Fish were weighed and placed separately in closed
vessels completely filled with a known volume of water, and the length of time they
lived was carefully observed. The following was a typical experiment: Weight of fish,
76 grams; volume of water, 5,530 cubic centimetres; lived six hours. Therefore,
1 gram weight of fish lived in 1 c.c. of unaérated water for about five minutes.

Ten similar experiments on rock bass of different sizes gave seven minutes as the
average time during which unit weight of fish could live in unit volume of unventilated
water, the range being five minutes as the minimum and nine minutes as the maximum.
The temperature of the tap water with which these experiments were conducted was
22° C. When the water was cooled down to 4° C., the fish lived for a shorter time.
When the temperature was raised to 32° C., they lived for a shorter time also.

These figures for the duration of life in fish confined in a limited quantity of water
are interesting when compared with those obtained by Paul Bert for mammals
breathing a limited quantity of air. Five experiments by this observer gave eight
minutes as the average length of time during which unit weight of mammal (1 gram)
lived in unit volume (1 cubic centimetre) of confined or unventilated air.* Mammals,
therefore, use about six times as much oxygen as fish do in the same length of time.

These experiments suggested the possibility of determining the smallest amount of
water in which a fish of a given weight could live for many hours or even days, on the
supposition that this minimum quantity could be kept perfectly ventilated. Of course
a fish requires something more to maintain life than aérated water. Free movement is
essential, not to speak of food; but apart from these and similar considerations it
seemed worth while to conduct an experiment or two on the respiration of a fish in a
minimum amount of water.

With this object in view, a perch (Perca flavescens, Mitchell) was placed in 600
cubic centimetres of water in a jar, and arranged so that a continuous stream of air was
bubbled through it. There was just enough water to cover the fish. Its position in the
bottle tended to throw the animal on one side, in which position it seemed to stiffen,
for, at the end of 24 hours, it was removed from its prison with its body slightly curved
to one side. In three or four hours it could swim slowly about the aquarium, but for

* Legons sur la physiol. comp. de la respiration,” Paris, 1870, page 510, quoted in Schiifer’s Text-book
of Physiology, vol. i, page 743.

THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTED WATERS ON FISH LIFE ll
SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

days afterwards it had a kink in its tail. This experiment showed that unit mass of
fish had lived in unit volume of aérated water for 130 minutes.

In another experiment of a similar kind a small rock bass lived for 74 hours in
700 ¢. c. of aérated water.

RATE OF RESPIRATION.

A few observations were made upon the rate of respiration in fish confined in an
aquarium. Four rock bass breathed at the rate of 44, 48, 52, and 56 per minute in
water at 22°C. Rate of respirat’on here means the rate at which the gill covers were
raised and lowered. When the water was cooled down to 5°C. the rate in one of these
animals fell to 16 per minute, and when warmed to 32°C, the rate increased to 112 per
minute.

Warm water (32°C.) had another peculiar effect on rock bass. It caused the pig-
ment cells of the skin to spr-ad out and give a decidedly darker hue to the whole fish.
This became particularly marked when the animal was returned to the aquarium where
it could be compared with the other fish. I had often observed that sunlight and dark-
ness produced a similar effect upon the chromatophores of fish embryos, but I had
neyer observed this marked effect of warm water.

> Muscular exertion also increased the rate of respiration.

EXPERIMENTS WITH SAWDUST.

About two miles up James’ brook, from where it empties into Chamcook harbor,
near St. Andrews, N.B., was the site chosen for this experiment. The water was clear
and cool, and runs over a gravelly and stony bottom —a typical trout stream containing
a fair number of Salvelinus fontinalis. Primitive forest or second growth elder, balsam,
cedar and various kinds of hardwood covers the district through which the stream
runs.

A box 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 14 inches deep, lined with zinc, was used as a tank
in which to confine the sawdust and the living fish. The box was covered with mosquito
netting and over this wire gauze. A paiiful of old, that is water-soaked, sawdust and
about a quart of fresh sawdust was placed in the tank. A trough 12 feet long conveyed
water from a dam on the stream down to the tank. The tank itself was immersed in a
small pool, the water in which came up the sides of the vessel to within three inches of
the top. The temperature of the water in this pool was 17°3°C. in the sun, and 16°9°C.
in the shade.

An hour's fishing in the brook furnished four speckled trout and a_ post-
larval eel for the experiment. Two of the trout had been badly injured in the eye by
the fish-hook. All five animals, along with a frog, were placed in the tank about 5.30
p.m. of July 6, and the water turned on. The flow was abundant and con-
tinuous, the descent from the dam being sufficient to stir up the saw-dust into a gruel-
like mixture as thick as in any mill stream no matter how much sawdust may have been
thrown into it. All the conditions were therefore, as much as possible like those pre-
vailing in a sawdust polluted stream.

The tank was not visited until July 11, when all the animals were found active
and apparently healthy. The frog was lying at the bottom as he could get no air at
the top, on account of the cover. About half-a-pail more sawdust, some sand, and
gravel were added, and the tank again closed.

On July 14 the tank was again visited. All four trout were alive, active and
apparently well. The eel escaped as the cover was removed. The frog was dead.
About a dozen earthwornis were thrown into the tank, but the trout did not touch them
so long as they were under observation. More sawdust was added and the tank closed.

On July 21, three-fourths of the water in the tank was emptied out, and the
tank containing the four trout was brought to the laboratory, St. Andrews, a distance
of about three miles in a wagon, and part of the journey over a very rough road. On
examination the four trout were found to be very active, so active indeed, that they
were only captured after emptying out nearly all the water.

12 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

This ended the experiment, and yielded the conclusion that if fish, so sensitive as the
trout, could live in such a mixture fora whole fortnight, without apparent harm, in
fact with recovery from severe injuries, then any fresh-water fish could live in a mill
stream or river, no matter how badly polluted with sawdust.

Dr. Stafford conducted a post-mortem examination on one of these trout, and found
only two very small pieces of sawdust on one of the gills. Neither piece seemed to have
injured the gills. A few filaments were slightly damaged at the outer end of one gill-
arch, but there was no evidence that this condition of the filaments was due to the
action of the sawdust.

My own post-mortem examination of two other of the animals showed no trace of
damage from sawdust.

While the experiment seems conclusive as regards the fact that sawdust does not
directly injure adult fish, it by no means follows that streams polluted by sawdust are
harmless to fish life. Water-soaked sawdust may and no doubt does cover long reaches
of river beds. The breeding grounds of fish may thus be interfered with. Fish that
habitually spawn on sandy and gravelly botvoms are not likely to take kindly to beds
of sawdust. Moreover, the sawdust may interfere with the development of aquatic
insects and thus reduce the food supply. So that, although sawdust itself may not be
hurtful to adult fish life, indirectly it may interfere seriously with the laying of the eggs
and the development of the young. Further investigation is necessary.

On the whole, my observations corroborate those of Dr. H. Rasch regarding saw-
dust pollution of rivers in Norway, and quoted in Professor Prince’s report of last year.

EXPERIMENTS WITH WASTE WATER FROM PULP MILLS, CHATHAM, N.B.

In my experiments with waste water from pulp mills, five kinds of fish were used,
viz., stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), ‘ white perch’ (Roccus americanus), brook trout
(Salvelinus fontinalis), rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), sun-fish (Lepomis pallidus), and
sea ‘chub’ (fundulus heteroclitus).

As is well known, sticklebacks frequent brackish water, or fresh water near the sea.
They are very hardy, and can live in stagnant pools and ditches, where no fish life would
ordinarily be expected.

A stickleback and a sea-chub were placed in equal parts of pulp waste water and
pond water. In less than an hour both were dead. The vessels used had a capacity of
5 litres, and were immersed in a pond, so that the temperature of the water used in the
experiment was the same as that of the pond from which the stickleback was taken.

In another experiment in which the waste water formed 25 per cent of the mixture,
two sticklebacks placed in the vessel at 5.30 p.m. of July 14, were found dead the next
morning at 10 a.m.

veducing the amount of waste water to 10 per cent, it was found that two stickle-
back placed in such a mixture on July 16, lived until July 27, when both specimens
were liberated.

Trout were found to be much more sensitive to this pollution. One placed in a 10
per cent mixture of pulp-waste water and spring water, lived from July 21 at 5 p.m., to
July 22 at 3 p.m.

White perch from Bocabec lake (near St. Andrews) lived in lake water polluted
with 10 per cent of pulp waste water for about thirty-six hours.

Rock bass and sun-fish lived about twenty-four hours in a similar mixture, while
fresh water clams lived for two or three weeks in it without apparent inconvenience.

These experiments indicate that river or brook water when mixed with 10 per cent
of waste water from .pulp mills, is decidedly poisonous to fish life. If, therefore, a
larger quantity of this waste is poured into a comparatively small stream, it must result
in the destruction of fish ; if, into a large river, then it is difficult to see how any great
harm can be done. ‘The specific gravity of this pollution, 100005 (water = 1) being so
very slightly greater than that of river water, shows that the water from pulp mills
would miagle readily with that of any fresh water stream into which it was discharged,
and unless the pollution equalled or exceeded 10 per cent, no great harm could be done.

THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTED WATERS ON FISH LIFE 13

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

These observations corroborate in a general way those of Dr. Philip Cox on the smelt
(Osmerus mordax) and quoted in Professor Prince’s report of last year. Any discrepancies
may be accounted for by the fact that the properties of waste water from pulp mills
differ at different stages in the manufacturing process.

The chemical analysis of this waste water, made after my experiments were com-
pleted, and published in an appendix to this report, shows that the mill from which the
pollution came was a sulphite one.

EXPERIMENTS WITH WASTE WATER FROM THE GAS WORKS, ST. JOHN, N.B.

This waste water is much more poisonous to fish life than the former, and kills
much more quickly. The very suddenness with which fish succumb to its effects indi-
cates that death results in some cases, from poisoning with the sulphuretted hydrogen
which the water contains. Confirmation of this view is afforded by the fact that if a
fish does not die in the polluted water curing the first 24 hours, it will usually live on
in the pollution for several days. Besides, when a fish succumbs quickly, say in 10 to 20
minutes, to the effects of this gas, it could usually be resuscitated by transferring it to
pure water. Within 15 to 30 minutes after transference, the fish was as lively as ever,
especially if the water were agitated so as to increase the amount of oxygen dissolved
in it.

The following were typical experiments. A Roccus americanus was immersed in a
5 p. c. solution of gas water in lake water, and in 20 minutes the fish was dead. Im-
mersed in a 2 p. ec. solution, the same kind of fish survived about half an hour. Ina
4 p. c. solution the fish lived about half a day.

Sticklebacks endured this poison a much longer time. Of two sticklebacks, placed
in solutions of 4 p. c. strength, one lived a day and a half, the other lived ten days, and
was then liberated. I had reasons for suspecting that the animal which died was not
healthy when the experiment began, if so, its death was merely hastened by the
pollution.

Trout are very sensitive to the effects of this poison. At 4.45 p.m., July 21, IT
placed a trout in $ p.c. gas-waste water. In 10 minutes the animal was lying on its
side at the bottom of the vessel. As it was evidently moribund, it was removed to
fresh water which was agitated by pouring water upon it from a height. In 10
minutes the animal had apparently recovered, and lay quietly and comfortably at the
bottom of the vessel. In half-an-hour more, it was very active, and frightened if any
one approached.

A tom cod (Microgadus tomcod) was placed ina ,°, p. c. solution of this waste in sea
water. Ina few minutes it was lying on its side and in 15 minutes it was on its back.
When returned to sea water which I agitated vigorously, the animal soon revived.

Experiments with smelt (Osmerus mordax) gave exactly similar results in } p.c.
solutions of this waste in sea water.

Fresh water forms like the rock bass and sunfish, and salt water ‘chub’ (Fundulus
heteroclitus) were much less affected. These forms were kept from two to three days in
the pollution (4 p.c. strength), some dying within 24 hours and some surviving several
days. The explanation would seem tobe two-fold. In the first place these fish are
constitutionally more resistant to pollutions of all kinds. In the second place the sul-
phuretted hydrogen in the mixture would largely diffuse into the air, and decompose in
the water in an open vessel during the first 24 hours. If the animal, therefore,
survived this period, it died later on through the poisonous effects of the other ingre-
dients of the waste, such as the sulphates and chlorides.

The chemical analysis given in the appendix, and made after my experiments were
concluded, shows that this waste water is ‘much more diluted than those ordinarily
met with.’ In estimating, therefore, the poisonous effect of gas waste water, these
points must be kept in mind: first, the extent to which it is diluted with lake or river
water before leaving the works ; secondly, its specific gravity, 1:00123 at 15° C. (water =
1); and thirdly, the volume of the river, stream or lake into which the waste is
discharged.

14 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARv VII., A. 1902

EXPERIMENTS WITH WASTE WATER FROM NAIL WORKS, ST. JOHN, N.B.

This pollution was the most deadly one examined. In many experiments +, per
cent was sufficient to kill in a few hours. The most marked peculiarity in all the experi-
ments made with this waste was that in a few minutes after mixing it with either fresh
or sea water, a reddish brown precipitate began to form, and continued forming for
several hours. The suspicion that this precipitate was ferric hydroxide, was confirmed
by subsequent chemical analysis.

Microscopic examination of the gill filaments of fish killed by this waste, showed
that death was caused by this adhesive precipitate sticking to the filaments. Witha
coating of this rust-like substance covering the gills, it is difficult to see how oxygen
could pass into the blood and carbon dioxide cou!d pass out, especially as the irritant
seemed to cause a mucous or slimy exudation to form on the mouth-parts and gills

Experiments began with solutions of 6 per cent, 2 per cent and 3 per cent, all of
which were found to cause death in from half an hour to an hour. Reduction to } per
cent resulted in the death of the hardy stickleback in about five hours. Specirnens were able
to survive for two or three days when the solution was reduced to + per cent. In fact,
when any of the hardier fish, like Fundulus, the stickleback, or the rock bass were able to
survive the six or eight hours during which the ferric hydroxide was being precipitated,
they usually lived on for several days or a week.

More delicate fish like smelt and trout, however, succumbed to weaker solutions
(3; per cent) of the poison, in from ten minates to half an hour. Repeated attempts to
resuscitate these fish by artificial aération in fresh water proved failures. In the case,
therefore, of the more sensitive fish, death is apparently caused by the absorption of the
free hydrochloric acid and ferrous chloride. That small quantities of the latter were
absorbed was proved by treatment of the gill filaments with ferro-cyanide of potassium.
This I did at the suggestion of Professor Macallum. This reagent stained the filaments
a blue colour, and subsequent examination of sections of these under the microscope
showed slight absorption of the iron compound along the surface cells.

Attention is specially directed to the high specific gravity of this pollution, 1:1150
(water = 1). The effect of this would be to cause the pollution to fall to the bottom of
a stream into which it might be discharged. This would result in the death of fish that
habitually live in deep water, especially if the flow was sluggish. On the other hand,
the great density of the pollution would increase the rapidity of diffusion throughout
the fresh water, in accordance with the laws of diffusion of liquids of different density,
and this would be followed by the formation of the precipitate already referred to, and
ultimately the water would tend to become harmless.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 7ré CHEMICAL ANALYSES.

Before concluding this report I desire to acknowledge my great indebtedness to
Mr. Frank T. Shutt, M. A., chemist at the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, for the labour
and pains he has spent in making the analysis of the waste water from the gas works
and from the pulp mills.

Mr. J. C. Murray, B. A., School of Mining, Kingston, has placed me under similar
obligations for his analysis of the nail waste.

All the analyses were made at the end of the season, and after my observations
had been completed, but I hope to be able to utilize some of the results next season if I
continue this investigation.

As regards sawdust, it seems clear that future observations should be made where
Jarge deposits of this pollution occur in river beds. An attempt should be made to as-
certain (a) whether adult fish frequent such places; (6) whether the sawdust affects
the laying and development of the eggs, and (c) whether it interferes with the food
supply.

Ottawa city itself might be as good a place as could be found at which to prosecute
some of these investigations.

THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTED WATERS ON FISH LIFE 15

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

APPENDICES.

App. No. 1. Report on waste water from gas works, by FRANK T. SHurt, M. A.
App. No. 2. Report on waste water from pulp mills, by Frank T. Suurr, M. A.
App. No. 3. Report on waste water from nail works, by J. C. Murray, B. A.

APPENDICES TO DR. KNIGHT'S REPORT ON THE EFFECTS OF
POLLUTED WATERS ON FISH LIFE.

App. No. 1.

CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL Farm,
Orrawa, October 30, 1900.

Report on Waste WaTeER FROM Gas Works: Specific Gravity, 1°00123 ar 15° C.

As received, this water was turbid, of a decidedly dirty, yellowish brown tint, and
smelled strongly of tar and sulphuretted hydrogen. It showed a decidedly alkaline
reaction when tested with litmus. On standing for some time (from a week to ten
days), the water deposited a certain amount of tarry material and lost all odour of
sulphuretted hydrogen.

With suitable treatment ‘gas liquor’ can be made a profitable source of ammonium
salts. Until recent years this by-product or rather waste product, in the manufacture
of coal gas, has proved a positive nuisance, danger and expense, for it not only pollutes
streams into which it may be run, but also chokes up by the tar it deposits, the pipes
and channel ways that conduct it away, make their constant clearing a matter of neces-
sity. Now, practically all the ammonia of commerce is manufactured from it, for, as
already pointed out, it is highly charged ‘with salts of ammonia, especially the sulphate.
Aniline dyes are also prepared from the tar it contains. :

The probabilities are that if this waste water had been examined shortly after
collection and a distillation made in the presence of an alkali, figures would have been
obtained showing a considerable amount of ammonia and ammonium salts. As the
sample, however had been collected some weeks before reaching the laboratories, and
consequently the greater part of the free ammonia had escaped, this determination was
not made.

By the method of analysis usually undertaken with potable waters, the following
data were obtained :—

Parts per Million.

Gerace csuot viata Ses an ts ich lc te wh kk oroti a 677-5 + =x
Albuminoid and combined ammonia............... 364°5 + x
Nitrogen obtained as in determination of nitrates.... 1,644°6 + x

It has been remarked that this waste water contained, when received, a consider-
able quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen. This was not separately determined, but all
ahead compounds, after the necessary treatment of the liquor, estimated as sulphuric
acid :—

Parts per Million. Grains per Gallon.
Sulphuric acid (SO,) representing all sul-
phur compounds ..... eee 1,043°7 73°06

16 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

The total solids amounting to 1,457-5 p.p.m. or 102:0 grains per gallon. The
loss on (oS of this solid matter (salts of ammonia, tarry substances, &c.) was 574-0
p.p.m. or 40-2 grains per gallon.

An examination of the solid content furnished the following data :—

Parts per Million of
Waste Water.

Chlorinies. Se ek es SE, Ae ee a heehee ie ee LE oe
Lime... seperti PO bras ea a car ee ee a ee 34:5
Magnesia (iigacnt ss ai Sotate <> ciate otetchah praca e (eneeeeeee 50°4
Tron and alumina. ERE Lee Sea eie ey Sa 11-2

On comparing the present results with those recorded for waste waters from gas
works, there does not seem to be any feature that calls for special attention, save that
it is much more diluted than those ordinarily met with.

FRANK T. SHUTT,

Chemist, Experimental Farms.

THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTED WATERS ON FISH LIFE 7

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

App. No. 2.

CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL Farm,
Orrawa, October 30, 1900.

Report on Waste WATER FROM Putp MILL: Speciric Gravity, 1:00005 ar 15°C.

This water is of a rich yellowish-brown colour, somewhat turbid and gave a dis-
tinctly acid reaction. It possessed a decided but peculiar sweetish smell, as if changes
induced by fermentation were going on. As this sample had been collected some weeks
before it reached the Farm Laboratories, it is quite possible that this odour would not
be perceptible in the freshly obtained waste.

The total solid matter by estimation was proved to be 1792°5 parts per million
(125°5 grains per gallon.) On ignition, these ‘solids’ first blacken and char and
then give off copious fumes of an acrid, strongly disagreeable character. The residue,
which is white, amounted to 300 parts per million (21 grains per gallon.) The volatile
portion consists largely of organic matter, but there is also present a notable quantity
of sulphuric acid. The former is, undoubtedly, material from the wood which has been
rendered soluble by the treatment it undergoes in the preparation of the pulp.

Further analytical work furnished the following data :—

Parts per Million.

Sulphuric acid (representing sulphur compounds) ........ 341°94
ere ENE RE 5 AR dey RN ey sade Gyepeir.t oid unis Twig wee x 1°84
aR Streit tans hfe Coe dots vise, in wis gel tien VS fai ais a)s Soeipks 4°03
wa EGET 6 ye th She OY SI eS a Rarer area SA oe 51°87
dvon and Alumina. |: ........ 000: =: a het ee dg As ms sd) a 2°00

An effort was made to estimate ammonia and ammonium compounds but without
avail, owing to interference by volatile compounds which distilled over during the pro-
cess, and which completely masked the reading of the distillates with the Nessler re-
agent.

The only features calling for special comment are: (1) The strong acidity, due
largely to the presence of free sulphuric acid, and (2) a considerable amount of soluble
organic matter, which, in decomposition, might give rise to compounds of a more or less
disagreeable and noxious character. ,

FRANK T. SHUTT,

Chemist, Experimental Farms,

27a—2

18 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

App. No. 3.

ScHoou or MInIne,
Kineston, Ont., November 13, 1900.

REPORT ON EXAMINATION OF Natit WASTE.

Qualitation.—Iron, traces of silica and zine and of organic matter. Hydrochloric
acid.

Quantitation.—Specifie gravity of liquid = 1:1150.

By titration with KNMO,, the total iron present was determined to be 4:3260
grams per 100 cc., or 3°88 per cent by weight. Of this iron, 39900 grams occurred in
the ferrous state (3°57 per cent), and 0-3360 grams occurred in the ferric state (0:3013

er cent).

; The total acidity, combined and free hydrochloric acid, was determined to be 6:3875
grams per 100 cc, or 5:7286 per cent by weight. Of this, 58582 grams (5°25 per cent)
occurred in combination with the iron, and 0°5293 grams (0474 per cent) occurred as
free acid. Of the combined acid, 5-2012 grams (4°66 per cent) was in combination with
ferrous iron as FrCi,, and 0°6570 grams (0589 per cent) was in combination with
ferric iron as FrCl,.

&-s; When one-tenth of 1 per cent (0-1 per cent) of this liquid was poured into a vessel
containing 2 litres of water (tap water), a turbidity occurred at once and an adhesive
precipitate of ferric hydroxide continued forming for several hours.

After between six and eight hours the precipitation seemed complete. The vessel
was allowed to stand undisturbed for two days; the precipitate was then filtered off
and washed

Nearly the total iron contents of the two cubic centimetres of the liquid was pre-
cipitated by dilution, in this instance, to 2 litres. Out of a posssible precipitation of
0:0836 grams iron, 0:0798 grams iron was actually precipitated as ferric hydroxide.

Summary
Specific Sritvibyt teas att pe ween bic ae ain he acd eee 1:1150
Percentage ferrots Chloride oo. fo 0 aes wie ae eee Bn OD:
cs ferric mad 5 rch etl MGA harsher oe Be eR ak onl 0:873
- free EIGE. 5. 6g ee Noes fa te oe ee 0:°474

J. C. MURRAY,
School of Mining, Kingston, Ont.

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

II
THE CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY.

REPORT BY J. STAFFORD, M.A., Ph. D., TORONTO, Novemser, 1900.
(WirH 4 PuarEs).

CONTENTS.
Page
EPIC HONS fg water oo rik teense SIN che CEE te aerate Ske Clon Se Bowne woe head eee 19
ie stixternal Heatures of the: Clam ie G5. ostton 03 25). bade es iia oe) eee = 20
PrMPrHeOTAnIeR OMe tA tee teks, . aU. sees ee Ok ot MRM aRI Eh Meee oe ee ae ees oe 21
earcatekelanves Of the Clams 2 e028 Ser ods Soa, Se LApPS 24
ULE LELTASTROEY, ce yh Bane se Se pe Cie ie aa ie a iene Os irae Se aa RAPE liens bad 25
REE ORG AI es eens toa. cratenn tS craoefo siecsisrefed,a)Sis =. 5 Ravc uiGca hog wes doreiso re, we te toate ae 26
Reproduction, Spawning...... LOU SE ES ORGS LE ER IO. 27
Hnemes Of tne Olam 5)< )...)5\ saj4 wereresteyc sf ei Bie ee mang Stir a hss vane Je! ae 29
Pence OU DFOCHEIN Pa GHAIMNBE ry oct 71h ee tcse sein dsc wits s Sele d= See oasee se sass 30
LDP WSL Gee SR So Ueda oa ake Rie OS aay Sie ee Ren A ene ae ae ae 30
(DGG OD LOL, Ans Se bee Bean un USE aa Gt) Ae ine ene ae ee eae Se Oe 30
eed eMOns LAS PLANING OC e Mises | he. mare clarke awd. ois bh bahia etme 35
Reference to the United States and to Great Britain............. A a ee ee 36
LUT UTE. J RS AE ee inte ees een ene SI ee eT SE 37
PD ERERI DUO OM PI ALOR: LIND MI LY Se 8c ejay yy eee & s «elas fe Kae mee eee 40
INTRODUCTION.

The possibilities of our Canadian clam fishery, whether viewed as an industry
offering employment to numbers of men, or viewed as a source of food supply to both
maritime and inland people, have, undoubtedly, not yet been sufficiently appreciated.
The importance of the clam for bait purposes in the catching of fish, has not in
this country received the attention that has been given it or its relatives in some
other countries. Its wide distribution, its abundance, and the readiness with which it may
be procured on our coasts, as well as the high market value it commands in the New
England States are considerations that are full of promise.

Numerous shell heaps on the coasts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island, sometimes more than two feet deep and occupying several acres of
surface, are convincing proof that the food value of the clam was early understood by
our Indians. Clams have long been handled as food and as bait in this country, in the
United States and elsewhere ; next to the oyster they are the most important shell-fish
of the American continent; yet, until a few years ago, little of real value had been
gathered respecting its habits, its mode of propagation, &c., and even at the present
time Br eae ee questions with regard to organization, function, food, time and

a a—.-

20 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

manner of spawning, development, change of form and of habits in the young, rate of
growth, &c., &c., which demand time, patience, trained observation, and inventive
experimentation to elucidate.

THE EXTERNAL FEATURES OF THE CLAM (Myaarenaria.) Plates 1 and 11, Figs. 1, 2.

Size.—Mya arenaria, the common clam, is a mollusk about four inches in length,
two and a half inches in depth, and one and a half inches in breadth. Specimens may
be found side by side varying considerably from the dimensions here given They have
been reported six to eight inches in length on the one hand, and of course they occur of
all sizes down to the verge of invisibility on the other. What is generally regarded as
a mark of the adult animal is its ability to deposit eggs or sperm, but the acquisition of
this power does not mean the arrest of further growth.

Shell.—One of the first features to be observed in the clam is that the animal is
supplied with a strong, hard shell into which the soft living parts may be withdrawn.
The shell is composed of two valves which occupy the same position with reference to the
inclosed animal as the cover of a book does to its printed pages. The valves are convex
externally, concave internally, and are held together at one margin by a sort of hinge,
while at the opposite margin they are capable of being brought together or separated at
will. The hinge margin marks the dorsal surface or back of the animal, and the open
margin is the ventral surface. It will be noticed that the two halves of the shell are
not exactly alike in size, shape or markings, and that one valve doubles over the margin
of the other at the hinge. This is the right valve, the other, or smaller one being the
left. If aclam is placed before the observer with its hinge uppermost, the larger valve
to the right, and the smaller to the left, ié will then be in its natural position for loco-
motion in the direction in which he is looking. The end turned away from him is its
anterior end, and that turned towards him is its posterior end. It is lengthened antero-
posteriorly, compressed laterally, while dorso-ventrally it measures less than its length.
but more than its breadth. It consequently possesses three axes of different
lengths —a longitudinal, a vertical and a transverse. The greatest breadth is
just below the hinge, towards the ends and below it gradually narrows. At the
ends the two valves do not fit close against each other, but are left ‘ gaping ’—
hence the British name of ‘Gaper,’ or ‘Sand Gaper.’ Each valve, viewed
from the side, is oblong or somewhat oval in outline, with a series of concentric
markings parallel with the margin below but narrowing to smaller and smaller
dimensions as they approach the hinge. The more or less angular prominences
near the hinge, where the concentric lines are smallest, are called the umbones or beaks.
The right umbo is the larger. Starting from one of the beaks, the concentric lines in-
dicate the different sizes of the shell at different periods, and were caused by temporary
suspensions in the desposition of shell matter, followed by renewed activity when the
increased growth of the animal required an enlargement of the shell. They must not
be considered annual rings of growth, since the greater number of them originate during
the first year of the animal’s life. The shell isan exoskeleton, secreted by, supporting,
and giving protection to the underlying parts. The greater part of its material is cal-
cium carbonate (limestone), which produces an effervescence, or an evolution of bubbles,
when hydrochloric acid is dropped‘upon it. On its outside may be found a thin, brown,
horny, epidermal layer (periostracum), more or less worn off except in the creases and at
the margins where it may also be found to continue on to certain of the more exposed
soft parts of the animal. Under this, or coming to the surface where the epidermis is
absent, is the thick, prismatic, porcellaneous layer, composed of polygonal calcareous
prisms deposited side by side at right angles to the surface. Underneath this and only
to be seen from the inside by taking off one of the valves, is the third layer of the shell,
the nacreous or pearly layer, composed of numerous superposed films of calcareous mat-
ter. When aclam is taken unawares and before it has time to contract, or when it is
left quiet for some time in a large glass of fresh sea-water, there may be other parts
exposed, such as the siphons, the mantle and the foot.

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 21
SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

Siphons.—The siphons, or funnels, are two muscular tubes bound together as one
long, thick, fleshy mass, projecting from the posterior end of the animal between the
gaping valves. One tube is placed dorsal to the other so that their combined depth is
greater than their breadth, while their length depends upon the size of the animal and
its condition of extension or retraction. In a medium-sized clam the siphons may reach
four to six inches in length. At the outer end each siphonal tube is supplied with a
number of stout fimbriae, or feeling hairs, that, besides receiving sensations of disturb-
ance that may cause the withdrawal of the siphons, may also close the openings
and prevent large particles of solid matter from entering. If, while a clam is
lying with its siphons out, particles of carmine are dropped into the water above, it
can be determined that there is a current of water entering the lower, larger opening,
but that the carmine is repelled from the upper opening. It is through the lower of
these siphons that the animal receives its supply of sea water, that, besides serving the
purposes of respiration, also conveys the food matters upon which it lives. It must be
borne in mind, however, that the mouth is at the opposite end of the body from the
siphons, which latter are often called the ‘neck,’ or the ‘ head,’ by fishermen and others,
who distinguish different species by such expressions as ‘the little necked clam,’ &c.
And, indeed, the long, extended, siphonal mass, with its blackened, cuticularized outer
end, may well give rise to such an impression. Tracing the lower wall of the siphons
forward it is found to stretch like a curtain between the vertical edges of the valves.
This is a portion of the mantle, and is continuous round the front end of the clam,
where, however, there is a vertical slit through which may be protruded the slender,
soft, fleshy foot. Both mantle and foot can be better described later.

INTERNAL ORGANIZATION. Plate III, Figs. 3, 4; Plate V, Fig. 5.

When aclam is disturbed it of course contracts, closing its shell and holding it closed
with great muscular strength. In order to learn its internal structure it is necessary to
remove one of the valves. Insert the blade of a knife at the posterior end and draw it
forward close against the left valve. If the knife is carried round the anterior end
both of the stout muscles that draw the valves together will be severed. The left valve
may then be lifted up and broken loose at the hinge. There will now be exposed, on
the one side, the inner nacreous surface of the shell already mentioned, with a number
of lines and marks to be further noticed; and, on the other side, the fleshy mantle,
with several organs either exposed or shining through. (Fig. 3.)

As the two halves of the shell were seen to differ somewhat on the outside, so there
are also differences on the inside; of these the chief difference is the presence, in the
middle of the hinge margin of the left valve, of a strong, broad, cardinal tooth, project-
ing perpendicularly inwards. Between its outer, upper surface and the overlapping
portion of the umbo of the right valve is the hinge ligament, an elastic, horny substance
which occasions the divergence of the valves when the muscles are relaxed. Near the
anterior end of the valve is the mark of attachment of the severed anterior adductor
muscle, and half way between the tooth and the posterior end is the posterior adductor
muscle, while extending from one to the other ventralwards is the pallial line, indicating
the seam along which the mantle was held by the pallial muscles against the shell. Below
the posterior adductor muscle the pallial line has a broad, deep indentation with its con-
cavity looking backwards. This marks the position of attachment of the retractor
muscle of the siphons.

Turning to the soft parts exposed, we shall be able to recognize the large
anterior and posterior adductor muscles of the foot, whose fibres run across from
one shell to the other. Behind the ends of the anterior adductor are the much
smaller anterior retractor muscles of the foot, whose fibres pass down the front end of
the abdominal mass to be inserted into the base of the foot. Justin front of the pos-
terior adductor are to be seen the posterior retractor muscles of the foot. They con-
verge from opposite sides, running inwards, forwards and downwards, to unite and join
the upper posterior part of the visceral mass, over the sides of which their fibres spread.
Below the posterior adductor muscle are the paired retractor muscles of the siphons,

92 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

and running parallel with the lower margin of the mantle on each side is a band of
pallial muscles. At the posterior end of the animal are the retracted siphons, which,
on account of the condensation of their epidermal layer, now appear quite black. The
rest of the surface consists of the thin mantle, which may however permit faint outlines
of underlying organs to be seen.

Mantle.—The mantle or pallium is a broad, thin lamella, hanging down on each
side of the animal between the body and the shell. It occupies the same position with
reference to the body and the shell that the fly leaves of a book do to the printed pages
and the backs In this species the lower margins of the two flaps of the mantle are
grown together, so that it is more like one’s vest buttoned up the front, while the valves
of the shell may be compared with an unbuttoned coat. There is this difference, how-
ever, that the mantle and the shell are real parts of the animal, and are attached firmly
to the body along the dorsal line.

The siphons are really outgrowths of the posterior margins of the mantle, that
have become united, developed their muscles, and have been otherwise specialized to
perform a definite function. There are species of clam that have no siphons and the
two flaps of the mantle remain separate all the way around excepting along the dorsal
line. Then again there are others in which the posterior margins of the mantle flaps
lie together in such a way as to form two openings that act as short siphons. In some
the siphons grow out and remain separate. In this species the margins of the two
mantle flaps have grown together all the way round with the exception of three small
areas—one the split at the anterior end through which can protrude the foot, the other
two being the dorsal and ventral siphonal openings. The walls around these latter
have become extended backwards but the part separating the two openings has remained
single, forming the ventral boundary of the upper tube as well as the dorsal boundary
of the lower. The united siphons, thus originated, have increased their length and
strengthened their circular and longitudinal muscles. The pallial muscles of the region
have become the retractor muscles of the siphons, keeping pace with the growth of the
latter, while their point of attachment has moved forward, occasioning the indentation
in the pallial line already mentioned.

Branchial Chamber.—Make a longitudinal incision along the median ventral line of
the mantle, carrying it back as far as to the base of the ventrai siphon and forward
through the anterior adductor muscle. Raise the upper, left half of the mantle and
there will now be exposed the large branchial chamber with its contents. Posteriorly
it will be seen to open to the outside through the ventral siphon, which is also called the
branchial siphon. The retractor muscles of the siphons show through the mantle walls.
The borders of the mantle are thickened and contain the glands that secrete the shell
substance, which is built by the deposition of new matter at the edge. These glands
can only be found by examining thin sections with the microscope, but at each side of
the foot slit, on the inside, there is a patch of mucin-glands that in colour and structure
are well marked from the surrounding tissue. (Fig. 4.

Abdonen.—Ocecupying the anterior half of the mantle cavity is the plump, soft,
fleshy abdomen or visceral mass. It contains the stomach and greater part of the
intestines, the liver and genital glands.

Foot.—Anteriorly and ventrally the walls of the abdomen become more muscular
and give rise to the small, extensible foot. This may contract to a mere knob, or be
extended to a tongue shaped or even long, thin, ribbon shaped process. The foot is the
locomotory organ of the clam.

Gills. Suspended from the dorsal wall of the branchial cavity are four long, flat,
striated plates—two on the left and two on the right side of the abdomen and extending
back to near the base of the siphons. These are the gills or branchiew. Each is com-
posed of two thin leaves or lamelle grown together along lines running upwards and
backwards in such a way as to make a large number of nearly vertical water tubes, that
open above into another chamber shut off from the branchial cavity. The lamella
forming either surface of a single gill is perforated by gill slits arranged in rows corres-
ponding with the water tubes. The sides of the gill slits are clothed with fine hair-like
processes called cilia, that keep up such_a vibratory motion as to drive water, brought
into the branchial cavity by the branchial siphon, through the gill slits and water tubes

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 23

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

into the cavity above. The outer lamella of each outer gill is united above with the
mantle, the inner lamella of the outer gill and the outer lamella of the inner gill are
continuous, the inner lamellze of the inner gills unite for a distance posteriorly and then
they diverge round the upper part of the visceral mass to which they become united
except for a space above the centre of the abdomen where there is a branchial cleft.

Labial Palps.—Between the anterior ends of the gills and the anterior adductor
muscle are, on each side, a couple of small flaps termed labial palpi, looking much like
miniature gills. They constitute an anterior and a posterior pair, the right and left
palp of each pair being grown together at their bases, across the front of the abdomen.
It is between the transverse balconies thus formed that the mouth is situated.

Supra-branchial or Cloacal Chamber.—To inquire further into the inner organiza-
tion of the clam it will be of advantage to remove entirely the left half of the mantle
and of the siphons together with the two gills of the left side. This will expose, lying
above the posterior part of the large branchial chamber, a much smaller supra-branchial
or cloacal chamber, continued posteriorly into the dorsal or anal siphon. The transverse
partition, separating the cavities of the siphons, extends forwards as the line of union
of the gills on to the dorsal part of the abdominal mass. Looking down upon that part
of it which forms the floor of the supra-branchial chamber, one can see the four longi-
tudinal rows of openings of the water-tubes from the gills. Curving over the posterior
adductor muscle will be found the rectum or terminal portion of tke intestine, which
discharges by means of its anal opening into the cloacal chamber. Farther forwards, on
the dorsal walls of the abdominal mass, are the small openings of the excretory and repro-
ductive organs. Thus the water which has passed through the gills, the undigested
matters from the intestine, the fluid excreta from the renal organs, and the genital pro-
ducts, are all thrown into the cloacal chamber and are swept by an exhalent current
through the dorsal siphon to the outside. (Fig. 5.)

Digestive System.—The terminal openings of the intestinal canal have been already
noticed ; between these two points it has the form of a much coiled tube mosu of which
lies in the abdominal mass. By dissecting off the left wall of the abdomen and care-
fully picking away parts of its contents the course of the intestine may be followed.
The mouth lies on the anterior end of the visceral mass, behind the anterior adductor
muscle and some way above the base of the foot. It is guarded by two pairs of
labial palps or oral lobes, which are of importance in directing the food matters brought
into the branchial chamber towards the mouth. The bases of the upper ones unite
above the mouth forming an upper lip, and the lower ones in a like manner form a lower
lip. The short asophagus expands into a somewhat capacious stomach, which in the
dead clam is usually empty and its walls thrown into folds. Surrounding the stomach
is a lobulated, greenish or brownish coloured digestive gland or liver, whose secretion is
poured into the stomach to aid digestion. From the stomach food passes into the intes-
tine, which in fresh specimens is usually distended and dark coloured from its contents.
The intestine bends alternately forwards and backwards as well as from side to side,
making some half dozen folds while it passes downwards in the abdomen, it then runs
backwards to near the posterior limit of the abdomen, turns upwards and forwards, and
leaves the abdominal mass in the middle of its dorsal surface. Here it bends backwards
and enters the pericardium, the cavity of which it traverses in the median sagittal
plane of the body. This dorsal, posterior portion of the intestinal tract, known as the
rectum, then runs over the posterior adductor muscle and opens by the anus into the
cloacal chamber. From the posterior end of the stomach springs a diverticulum which
contains a peculiar gelatinous rod called the crystalline style; very large in this
species, curving round near the posterior and ventral surfaces of the abdomen to end at
the base of the foot.

Reproductive Organs.—Filling a great part of the abdomen, and especially between
the folds of the intestine, is the pale, yellowish genital gland—ovary in the female,
testis in the male. (Plate IV., Fig. 5,G.G.) It opens by a pore on each side of the
roof of the abdominal mass into the cloacal chamber above.

Excretory System.—Situated under the pericardium and in front of the posterior
adductor muscle is the renal organ, kidney or organ of Bojanus. It is composed of right
and left nephridia, each of which is a tube folded once upon itself with both ends turned

24 MARINE AND FISHERIES

= 1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

forward. The lower limb or brown, broad, thick-walled glandular portion bends
upwards at its anterior end opening into the pericardial cavity, while the lower limb
or thin-walled, non-glandular part bends downwards at its anterior end crossing the
other portion and opening into the cloacal chamber. Lying in the mantle and body
walls, near the anterior end of the pericardium, is the pericardial gland, red-brown
organ or organ of Keber. It is thought to be also excretory in function.

Circulatory System.—The heart is situated in the pericardial cavity. It is
composed of a median, thick-walled ventricle, pierced by the rectum, and a thin-walled
auricle on each side, opening into the ventricle. Anteriorly and posteriorly the ventricle
gives origin to aorte, which divide into smaller arteries, distributing the blood to the
mantle and the body. The mantle acts as a respiratory organ upon the blood, which
is collected and conducted through vessels directly to the auricles; but the blood that
goes to the capillaries of the different organs of the body is collected into a large vein
lying between the nephridia, from which it must first pass through a capillary net-work
in the walls of the kidney and then through the capillaries of the gills before it is
carried as arterial blood to the auricles, whence it passes with that from the mantle into
the ventricle.

Nervous System.—Cerebral ganglia connected by a commissure, lie one on each
side of the cesophagus. Each of these is united by connectives with the pedal ganglion
situated in the base of the foot, and with the visceral ganglion situated m front of the
posterior adductor muscle. Both pedal and visceral ganglia show indications of being
double, like the cerebral ganglia. From each cerebral ganglion spring two nerves—a
short one supplying the anterior muscles, and a long one running forwards and down-
wards to the border of the mantle, where it divides into inner and outer parallel nerves.
These course round the mantle rim and unite before entering the visceral ganglion, The
outer one gives off twigs behind to the siphons. From the visceral ganglion arise nerves
to the posterior muscles and to the gills. (Plate IV., Figs. 5, 6.)

Tt will be observed that the clam is bilaterally symmetrical, in that a vertical
cleavage, falling along the median longitudinal axis, would divide the animal into similar
right and left halves. The shells, the mantle lobes, the gills, palps, auricles, nephridia,
genital openings and cerebral ganglia are paired, right and left; while those organs
which lie in the median plane of the body, such as the foot, intestine, ventricle, are
unpaired or single. Asin a great many other mollusks, however, the valves of the shell.
present more or less of an asymmetry in consequence of their bilaterality not being
absolute.

NEAREST RELATIVES OF THE CLAM.

‘Clams or clamps is a shellfish not much unlike a cockle ; it lieth under the sand.’ Wood, 1684.

The term ‘ clam’ is applied to at least a dozen different species of American double-
shelled animals. To distinguish these, qualifying expressions are frequently used.
Most of the names of the species Mya arenaria (Linnaeus, 1758) here dealt with are the
following :—

The clam.

The common clam.
The long clam.

The soft clam.

The soft-shelled clam,
The sand clam.

The squirt clam.

The maninose clam.
The nanninose.

In England it is called :—

Gaper clam.
Sand gaper.
Old maid, &e.

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY , 25

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

The names ‘the clam’ and ‘the common clam’ are also used for other species, where
Mya arenaria is not the most abundant. South of New York the common species
is Venus mercenaria ; north of Boston Mya arenaria is the commonest ; while between
New York and Boston they are about equally abundant, and there the first is distin-
guished as the ‘hard clam’ or ‘ quahaug,’ and the second is the ‘long clam’ or ‘squirt
clam.’ Since the common names differ with the locality even along the same coast, it
is not surprising that they differ still more in different foreign countries as France,
Germany, W&c., and it will be at once evident that if the one species can be known in
all countries by the same name it will be an immense convenience. Hence it has long
been customary for zoologists of all countries to use a double Latin name for each
species. The generic name Mya has been derived from an old Greek word 5¢ or 0a,
the name of a species of mussel. By Pliny it was called myax (-acis). The specific
name arenaria is a Latin word meaning ‘living in sand.’ Another but smaller species
of mya (I. truncata) occurs on our coasts. Its shell has a blunt (truncated) posterior
end, and it ‘ gapes’ still more than our common species. A couple of smaller species
belonging to a different genus (Saxicava arctica and S. rugosa) but to the same family
(Myidz) are also to be found here. This family, together with the Pholadide to which
the ship worm belongs, the Solenidze to which the razor-clam belongs, the Mactridz
containing the hard shell or hen clam, and the Veneride including the round clam or
little-necked clam, all have a deep sinus in the pallial line as already described ; while a
number of other families, like the Cyprinida containing the sea clam or Black Quahog,
and the Cardiide with the cockle, have no mantle sinus: their siphons are short and
not retractile. All those so far mentioned belong to the order Siphoniata, in contra-
distinction to which must be named the Asiphoniata, a large order comprising such
important families as the Unionide (our fresh water clams), the Mytilidz (the edible
mussel and horse mussel), the Pectinide (scallops) and Ostreide (oysters), none of
which have siphons, and their mantles are quite open below. Both orders belong to
the class Lamellibranchiata (Bivalvia or Pelecypoda), which along with the classes
Gasteropoda (slugs, snails) and Cephalopoda (squid, devil fish) are grouped under the
great sub-kingdom of animals called the Mollusca.

OCCURRENCE,

‘You shal scarce find any Baye, Shallow Shore or Cove of sand, wyere you may not take many
Clampes.’—Captain John Smith, 1616.

Geologically, the clam Mya arenaria occurred as far back as in the Miocene period.
Geographically, it has a wide distribution in the northern parts of both Pacific and Atlan-
tic oceans. In the former it is to be found up the west coast of Alaska and down the
eastern coast of Asia to China and Japan. In the Atlantic it extends from North
Carolina to the Artic ocean. In Northern Europe it is most abundant in the North
and Baltic seas and extends south to France. It is scarce south of Cape Hatteras but
abundant from New Jersey northward. On our own coast it has been reported from
the Bay of Fundy, Passamaquoddy Bay, Annapolis Basin, Halifax Harbour, Prince
Edward Island, Shediac, Bay Chaleur. It undoubtedly occurs, in suitable places, round
the entire coast of our eastern maritime provinces. Such places are the more sheltered
parts of the coast, where waves cannot carry away their banks or heap sand above their
burrows.

Passamaquoddy Bay, sheltered by the numerous islands that separate it from the
Bay of Fundy, is a particularly suitable location. Here there is but a small part of the
coast with precipitous banks, but a great part consists of gently slanting beaches where
the tide recedes 200 to 400 yards or more. Such beaches are to be found on the coast
of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, in proximity to St. Andrew’s, St. Andrew’s
’ Harbour, Navy Island, Chamcook Harbour, &c., where the clam diggers mostly work.
But clams occur all round the bay, on both the mainland and at many places on the
islands. The littoral distribution of Mya arenaria varies with the conditions. In some
places it is to be found near high water mark, while it is stated to occur at a depth of
more than 100 fathoms. Speaking generally, on such beaches as I have mentioned, it is

26 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

chiefly sought for and is most abundantly gathered along a belt about 200 feet broad at
half-tide level.

The most favourable soil appears to be that which forms what the people call
mud-flats. This is composed of fine sand mixed frequently with a large proportion of
black mud containing organic waste matters. Such soil has originated by the attrition
and disintegration of rocks ; the transportation of dirt and vegetable substances from
the adjoining land; the decay of marine plant and animal bodies, sea weeds, shells,
worms, fish, &c. The aggregation of such soil can of course take place only in sheltered
places, where it would not be carried away by strong tide-currents, waves and storms.
Hence the abundance of clams in estuaries, bays, coves, and such like situations. They
do occur in many places in gravelly soil, even in stony and rocky places, but rarely in
sufficient numbers to be of economic value, and besides they are mostly of small size.
The habitat also effects a distinct difference upon the external appearance of the shell.
Those from sandy ground have a white, chalky shell and a regular shape; those from
gravel are similar in colour but are liable to be smaller and more dinged ; but those
taken from mud are bluer in colour, often with a brown marginal band containing an
oxide of iron, and are of large size.

The natural position of the clam is with its anterior end sunk farthest in the soil
and its siphons pointing upwards. It is usually buried to such a depth that the siphons
can reach to the surface. Walking between tide marks over an area inhabited by
clams, one observes numerous round holes in the ground from which come spurts of
water occasioned by the violent closing of the clams when they feel the pressure com-
municated through the ground several feet in advance. Hence the name ‘squirt clam.’

FOOD OF THE CLAM Plate IV., Fig. 9.

The structure of the clam precludes the possibility of its having rapacious habits.
It is not provided with eyes wherewith to spy out its food, nor with limbs to give it
speed in locomotion. Neither does it possess jaws, or teeth to bite and comminute large
objects. It leads a sedentary, solitary life (which may account for the English name
‘Old Maid’), buried in its cramped lodgings, and depending for sustenance upon the
minute suspended particles that are carried to it by the sea water above. Unfavourable
as this mode of procuring food may seen, yet it is the one made use of by vast numbers
of animals, and the large size, plumpness and flavour of the flesh of the clam testify to
its efficiency. To this end the clam is provided with such structural peculiarities in the
formation and arrangement of its organs that it comes to be most admirably adapted to
the conditions of its environment. The surfaces of its abdomen, gills and mantle are so
well supplied with cilia, disposed in such a manner and vibrating in such a direction,
that there can be a constant inflow of fresh sea water through the ventral branchial
siphon, over the gills and to the mouth. It accordingly eats constantly, perhaps rather
drinks constantly or at least often. One writer has suggested that the expression ‘ As
happy as a clam’ may have originated from the fact that ‘it is never long between
drinks.’ Since its food is obtained in this non-selective, mechanical fashion, it is plain
that particles are often carried into the mouth that are not proper food. One has to
bear this in mind when investigating the contents of its stomach with a view to ascer-
taining what it feeds upon. Sand is found in considerable abundance in its digestive
tract. Sometimes there are found particles which do not ordinarily belong to sea water.
Examination of numerous specimens will decide what constitutes the staple food of this
mollusk. In doing this it is best to use freshly obtained clams, otherwise much of the
intestinal contents will be unrecognizably digested. In many the stomach may be found
empty, but the intestine will be quite full and marked out in its course through the
light coloured reproductive gland by its dark contents. If some of this is spread out on
a slide and examined by the microscope it will be found to contain sand or mud with
microscopically small organisms and débris of larger ones. Of plants there may be
diatoms, desmids, filamentous alge, spores of the higher algiw, fragments of vegetable
matter, dc. Of animals there may be Rhizopods like Amcebee and Foraminifera, Flag-
ellata like Euglena and the Monads, infusoria like Parameecia, bits of sponge with spicules,

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 27
SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

minute worms like Planarians and Nematodes, the larvee of larger worms, little Crust-
acea like Cyclops and Cypris with cast-off appendages of larger forms, insects like mites,
ova and the larve of various salt-water animals. Diatoms, from their abundance and
constancy of occurrence, may be considered the chief article of food. Experiments have
been carried on with a view to discover whether clams exercise any selecting power
over the food offered them. Finely divided flesh of fish or of shrimps was brought to
the open siphons of living clams and let drop so as to be carried inward by the inhalent
current with the result that the clams would close their siphons, or if at first accepting
the food it would be instantly expelled ; but when instead of fish or shrimps, diatoms
were used the clams would continue to accept them.

REPRODUCTION— SPAWNING,

Until quite recently little attention has been directed towards the time and
character of the spawning of the clam. It has been stated on the one hand that the
clam spawns in September and October ; on the other hand this was said to take place
in June and July ; only last year was published the statement that the clam spawns twice
each season. Again, statements have been made in an authoritative style concerning the
care of the brood, where it was clear that the author was judging by analogy with fresh
water forms possessing considerable differences in structure, habits and environment,
instead of describing from observation. During last summer I examined clams
every week from the 20th June to the 25th September, and I never found any with
ripe ova or sperm. I had concluded that their spawning time was early in the season,
perhaps in May, which also seemed to be borne out by the presence of small clams that
were to be procured in the sand at certain places at the very time when, according to
one statement, the mature clams should have been spawning. Since the completion of
my observations I have received a copy of a report by A. D. Mead, entitled, ‘Observa-
tions on the Soft Shell Clam’ (reprinted from the 13th Ann. Report of the Comm. Inl.
Fisheries, Providence, R.I., Jan., 1900), in which from a study of clams in Narragansett
Bay during the summer of 1899, the author was able to write: ‘The exact limits of the
egg-laying period of the clam have not been determined, but it probably extends through
the months of May and June.’ He examined clams on the 8th and 12th May, and
found them full of sexual products that appeared to be nearly ripe. On the 22nd May
he was able to fertilize eggs from a female by adding to the water in which they were
kept some sperm taken from a male, and he followed the early stages of development.

As the author of the above report does not describe the sexual elements, and as I
have not studied the ripe elements of the clam on account of not having been on the
spot early enough in the season, I shall here insert some observations I made on the
horse mussel (Modiola modiolus). This species, although more closely related to the
edible mussel (Myti/us edulis) than to the clam, yet resembles the latter in its habit of
burrowing its anterior end into the gravel, while the edible mussel fastens itself on the
exposed surfaces of rocks. The horse mussel is less common in Passamaquoddy Bay
than either the clam or the edible mussel, and finds fewer localities that offer it suitable
accommodation. Generally, it may be expected near low water mark, in the bottoms
of gravelly pools left by the receding tide, and in such positions near the outlet of these
that, during the absence of the tidal water below there is a constant supply of salt
water from the pool above. Such places are easily found on the ‘Point’ at St.
Andrews, at the entrance to Katy’s Cove nearby, on Pendleton’s Island and elsewhere.
This mollusk, belonging to the same family as the edible mussel, resembles it in the
shape of the shell, the absence of siphons, the free borders of the mantle, and the
possession of a byssus—a tangle of stout threads protruding from between the valves
and fastening it solidly to rocks, stones or gravel. It is frequently larger than either
the clam or the ordinary mussel, has a brown shell (whereas the other mussel has a dark
blue shell), and is generally more or less bearded on the sides, and often partly over-
grown by sea-weeds or other organisms. It was not until 1884 that the sexual
characters and reproductive elements were studied, in the common British edible mussel
by Professor McIniosh, of St. Andrew’s, Scotland. He found that there were male

28 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

and female individuals, and that they attained to full reproductive maturity in April.
For several months previously the reproductive organs had been gradually developing
and ripening their elements, as also for some time afterwards there was a slow decline
in the efficiency and size of these organs. While the time he mentions agrees tolerably
closely with that of our common clam, it seems somewhat remarkable that the horse
mussel should breed late in the season. During the month of September, the sexual
characters of Modiola modiolus are very evident. Unlike Mytilus in which the devel-
opment in size and colour is chiefly in the dorsal and lateral parts of the mantle, in this
species the increase in size is almost entirely confined to the visceral mass. It does not
appear possible to distinguish male and female individuals from the closed shell, but
when the shell is gaping open one can distinguish them at a glance. The large distended
abdomen of the female is a bright orange, while that of the male is yellow. The mantle
in each is yellowish, but in the ‘female its edges become more orange, while the gills of
both remain brown. I have found no mention of sexual coloration in the clam, but
clam diggers have informed me, upon being questioned with regard to this point, that
at a certain time in the spring clams are not good to eat, and are greenish in colour. It
will be interesting to discover if this statement has reference to the ripening of the
reproductive elements, or if it has reference to another phenomenon that is occasionally
produced when clams feed upon a particular species of diatom.

The sexual elements are ova and sperms (Plate IV., fig. 7). The ova originate in the
ovary of the female, and sperms in the testis of the male. Both these organs are situated
in the abdomen, round the coils of the intestine. Ripe ova, disconnected and free from
pressure, are spherical, but when viewed in number, and more or less subject to pressure
from their neighbours or from the cover glass in a microscopic preparation, they are
more or less oblong or oval, and measure about ;4; mm. in diameter (the one in the
drawing measured ‘100 x -i20 mm.) The egg is surrounded by a membrane, under
which is a pale layer ; then follows yellowish brown granular protoplasm, in which is
situated a large pale nucleus containing a nucleolus. The sperm cells are pin-shaped
with a large head, and a long filamentous tail. The head is ‘005 mm. long, and is oval
in form or top shaped. At the small end there is a smaller constricted part which
tapers off to a point, corresponding to that upon which the top spins. In the middle of
the larger end of the oval the tail is inserted. This statement is at variance with the
observation of Dr. John Wilson in the 4th Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scot-
land, 1885, where itis stated that the tail originates from the constricted part. Eggs and
sperms are shed through special ducts into the sea-water. It is not likely that sperm
cells make their way, against the outflow of water, through the exhalent dorsal siphon,
or, with the inflow, by way of the ventral siphon, gill slits, &c., to meet the eggs before
the latter are extruded.

May 30, 1901, at Canso, N.S., I found sexually mature mussels and clams. I give
below a comparison of the measurements I took at the time with those of the horse-
mussel given in the text.

Modiclas | egg ‘100 x ‘120 mm.
sperm *005 mm,
. egg -082 x -090 mm.
pele | sperm -0063 x 0027 mm.
egg (058 x -062 mm.
v2 | sperm -0045 x :0022mm. “

The measurements of the eggs are those of the ‘shortest and longest diameters, and
the measurements of the sperm are those of the length and breadth of the head only.

In all three the tails of the sperm cells are attached to the centre of the big end of
the head. In Mytilus the sperm head tapers off to a long sharp point, the outline of
the sides being concave rather than straight or convex. In Mya the sperm head tapers
to a shorter blunt point, the outline of the sides being distinctly convex. Neither of
them possesses the little beaded constriction as shown in the sperm head of Modiola.

Considering the similarity in structure, habits, habitats, &c., there can be little
doubt but that the above account, as far as it has been described, might, with tolerable
correctness be written also of Mya arenaria. Fertilization, or union of sperm and egg,
takes place outside of the animals, in the sea-water. For one egg there are thousands,

d

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY “99
SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

perhaps millions, of spermatozoa. Only one sperm-cell is necessary for the impregnation
of anegg. Judging by comparison with well known cases we have a right to conclude
that, considering the sexes to be equally abundant, the great surplus of sperm-cells for
each egg indicates the chances that each egg runs of failing to become fertilized. If it
takes a million spermatozoa to insure the fertilization of one egg, then the egg must be
subject to very unfavourable conditions. Nature has met these adverse conditions by
increasing the number of chances, so that, where currents of water or other causes
interfere, yet a sufficient number of eggs become impregnated to keep up the average
number of individuals from year to year by developing new broods to take the place of
those removed by accident, natural death, &c. When a sperm-cell has found an egg-
cell it forces its way, head foremost, by violently flapping its tail, through the outer
membrane. Having once gained entrance, it soon ceases to exist as a distinct organism
and becomes absorbed into the protoplasm of the egg, which, in consequence, now
assumes renewed vigour. The egg-cell soon divides into two cells, these into four, and
so on until a considerable number of cells is formed. During the process of cell multi-
plication and hand in hand with it, the cells arrange themselves in such order and
become modified in such ways that, in a short time, a free-swimming embryo results.
This is so small as to be scarcely visible to the unaided eye. It differs from the adult
in a number of respects, but perhaps the most important of these is its ability to swim
freely in the sea-water. This is accomplished by means of a peculiar organ called the
velum, which can be protruded from between its already formed tiny shells.—Fig. 8.
The velum is well supplied with large cilia, arranged in a wheel like manner. This
stage in the development of the clam is of great importance, for it is due to it that the
clams are capable of becoming scattered so that some of them may find fortunate places,
as well as become distributed in entirely new regions although of course not at
once over great distances. After a time the young clam becomes too heavy to swim,
settles upon sea-weed, stones, sand, mud, &c., entirely looses its velum, but remains
capable of actively creeping about by means of its foot. At this period it may be less
than =, of an inch in length. Upon finding a satisfactory situation, it sooner or later
buries itself in the sand or mud and begins life after the fashion of its adult parents.
In the paper already mentioned Mead wrote: ‘ By the first week in July, 1899,a great
many clams had already found their way into the sand. At this time they were so
small that they escaped general notice, ranging from a size at which they were hardly
visible to 9 mm. in length. He performed a number of experiments in planting small
clams with a view to finding out their rate of growth. Those at extreme low tide grew
the most, while the rate of growth fell off in proportion to the height above that evel.
Thus a specimen 15 mm. long on July 22 was planted at low water, and on September
18 it measured 48 mm. Another 13 mm. long grew in the same time to 28 mm.
when planted below half-tide mark. Proper precautions were taken to guard against
error and a large number of experiments employed, with the result that they grew in
two months to twice, three times, and in some cases four times their original length.’
Another way in which their rate of growth was measured was this: On July 6 and
9 a pint and a half of small clams were planted in a box of sand. On September
18 44 quarts of clams were taken from half the box. This is an increase of six
times their bulk in 10 weeks. The same observer found at the beginning of the breed-
ing season a ripe male 30 mm. in length, and a ripe female 50 mm. in length. In his
experiments he raised clams over 30 mm. in length that were undoubtedly of that year’s
growth. It seems likely then that clams may become mature and reproduce when one
year old, although it has been generally thought that they require three years to grow
to sexual maturity.

ENEMIES OF THE CLAM.

Clams, although ordinarily buried out of sight, and consequently escaping the open,
direct struggle that their relatives the mussels are subject to, are nevertheless preyed
upon by a considerable number of animals. They may be exposed through the washing
away of sand by storms, when they may be cast up on shore, or left to die in the sun,

30 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

or be subject to the ravages of gulls, cormorants, crows &c. ‘In places along the New
England coast pigs systematically visit, root up, and eat the clams. In Greenland they
are sought after by the walrus, arctic fox, and birds. One has but to examine the con-
tents of the stomachs of fishes to find that many of these like the cod, also eat clams
when they can get the chance. The siphons of Mya are often to be found in the
stomachs of the flounder and the sculpin, and the first also eats young clams. Star fish,
one of the greatest enemies of the mussel, also attack the clam, and the large, round
whelk bores holes into the shells through which it eats the flesh. Crabs should also be
mentioned among the enemies of the clam. I have already referred to the shell heaps
thrown from the wigwams of Indians as an indication of the number consumed by them.
In some places the heaps consist chiefly of clam shells. I shall give in another place some
idea of the number of clams used by the white man, but I should mention here that his
ravages depend not entirely upon the amount dug for his own use or for sale to others,
but that he leaves exposed great numbers of rejected clams to die in the sun or to fall
a prey to fishes, &c., with the returning tide.

METHODS OF PROCURING CLAMS.

Formerly the common method of procuring clams was by means of a spade, or better,
a flat-tined fork. At some places along the United States coast they have been ploughed
out and then picked up. At present the instrument largely used is the so-called ‘clam
hoe.’ Plate 1V., Fig. 10. This is shaped like a hoe but has four flat tines about 10
inches long with the two outer ones about seven inches apart. The handle is only
about 15 inches in length and makes with the tines less than a right angle. The tines
are pressed, by a wriggling motion, into the ground, then the handle is raised and pulled
and the clams picked from the dirt and put into a clam basket, which, when full, is carried
and emptied into a sack or barrel near by. Before the return of the tide these are
collected and drawn away by a horse and wagon. If the clams are to be kept a day or
two before being shipped, this can be conveniently done by leaving them, in sacks, where
the tide covers them for a good part of the day.

CLAM FISHERMEN.

On the Canadian coast the clam diggers may be classified as :—

1. Local clam fishermen.
2. Nova Scotia bait fishermen.

The local clam fishermen supply the villages and residents along the coast, or now
and again fill orders to hotels, &c., farther inland, and also dig and sell to the clam
dealers who make regular shipments to shopkeepers in Boston. For Passamaquoddy
Bay the industry is centred in St. Andrews. The number of men engaged varies from
time to time, but perhaps averages about 25. ‘These are often line-fishermen or their
sons, but others often engage in this work through the short season when it pays
them, and return to their ordinary occupation when the clam business ceases.

The Nova Scotia bait fishermen are those who come annually from coast towns in
Nova Scotia to procure clams that are taken to be used as bait for cod on the banks of
Newfoundland. This year the number of vessels to visit Passamaquoddy Bay was four-
teen, and the number of men 131. A fuller statement will be given under the next
heading.

USES OF THE CLAM.

1. Clams as Food.—Next to the Vertebrates, the most valuable subdivision of the
animal kingdom is the Mollusca. Some of the uses to which they have been put are
the following: Food, bait, fertilizers, ornaments, money, dyes, dishes, &c. Investiga-
tions into the prehistoric conditions of man show how long ago and how widely Mollusks

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 31

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

have been employed as food and as ornaments. On the coasts of Norway and Denmark
there are banks of shells 1,000 feet long, 200 feet broad and 10 feet deep. These were
for some time looked upon as natural deposits, but when they were found to contain
remnants of stone fire-places, bones, rude implements, &c., it became evident that they
were refuse heaps (kitchen middens) of the primitive fishermen-tribes of those districts.
Similar shell-heaps occur along the coast of Canada and of the United States. A
peculiarity in the use of shell-fish by the people of both continents is this, that whereas
in Europe the mussels have been almost entirely used to the exclusion of the clams, on
this continent even where both occur together and in equal abundance, clams are taken
and the mussels left. If the latter are used at all it is chiefly as a fertilizer.

Of our food mollusks, the oyster is the most important. After this stands the
clam, and then on a much lower level the scallop, quahog, periwinkle, razor-fish, mussel,
whelk, &c. ‘T'he clam is used to a much greater extent in the United States than in
Canada, consequently a considerable proportion of those collected here for food purposes
make their way to the former country. I subjoin here the summary of the clam fishery
for Mya arenaria in the United States for the year 1880 :

Bushels. Value. °

RMI IO Ar iclae AA Puc oie fee 318,383 $ 90,056 ‘
Cw MEAMAB ATE, 0's 2. AD. SE. PE 17,960 8,980
RESSACEIISGHON #2 site ater sk Eh 158,626 76,195
CRE UNIFD Ft. S aszisie sea siel dard Uatteie 53,960 48,564
MOHMCEHIGUb. Gai. vanctek wala Mews. actke « Sere 75,000 38,000
eS Cd "6 BE nae ee RES Sees 340,775 255,581
New Jersey and Southward............, 100,000 45,000
AROS oe Act, be, os hays) vivian? oie tis 1,064,704 $562,376

In Prince Edward Island the clam is only used to a small extent. In Nova Scotia
it is extensively used on the coast and there also exists some trade inland. In New
Brunswick, likewise, there are considerable quantities used along the coast as well as
small orders sent inland to hotels and shops. It is stated that in St. John there are
1,000 barrels a year sold. At present the best business is carried on at St. Andrews.
It is of only two years’ standing, and was occasioned by the formation of laws restricting
the period for clam fishing in the United States Last year (1899) a New England clam
fisherman came to St. Andrews and originated the business of supplying certain Boston
fish stores with clams three times a week. He remained here from June 15 to Sept-
ember 15, i.e. during the closed season in his own state, after which time he returned
to carry on the same trade during the remainder of the year, nearer his market. He
dug clams himself and bought from the local clam diggers, to whom he paid $1.00 a
barrel. The number of men supplying him was in the neighbourhood of 25. One man
can easily dig a barrel at a single tide, and when the tides fall at favourable times in the
day he can procure twice that quantity. The business however is not forced—a greater
quantity of clams could be procured than the market demands. Last year the above
mentioned clam dealer shipped to Boston 1,800 barrels in the three months he was here.
Of the two full months, July and August, the greatest shipment was in August, the
next in July, while of the two half months, June 15-30 and September 1-15, the
greatest number was shipped in September. Beside this a local fish dealer shipped
about 250 barrels.

During the present year (1900) the New England clammer shipped about 1,200
barrels, and a local shop keeper perhaps 100 barrels. The explanation of this falling
off of the trade is that in the meantime, I am told, a business had sprung up at Yar-
mouth, Nova Scotia, whereby perhaps 200 barrels a week are sent to Boston. Most of
those from St. Andrews are put up in ordinary barrels, on the tops of which are placed
large lumps of ice kept in place by a canvas. The latter is readily fastened by first
removing the upper hoop of the barrel and then replacing it over the canvas, the edges
of which are clamped between the hoop and the barrel and then nailed. In this way
the clams are kept cool and moist by the filteration of water from the melting ice above,

32 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

A local exporter however dispenses with the ice upon the principle that clams will
soon die in fresh water, consequently, fresh water ice can not be good for them.

The price at which these can be sold varies somewhat according to the quality and
size of the clams, the district from which obtained, the place where they are offered for
sale, the weather, and a host of conditions. According to the New York Fishing
Gazette for May 5, 1900, the price per barrel ranged from $3.40 to $6.00; per basket,
$1.00 to $2.00 ; per 1,000, $5.00 to $6.00. Thirty years ago, according to Verrill, the
prices in Connecticut stood at 95 cents, $1.25 and $2.00 per bushel, wholesale. These
retailed in the market at 50 cents to 75 cents per peck, the smaller sized ones being
cheapest. The Guilford clams were assorted and sold by the fishermen on the spot.
The larger ones brought $3.00 per 100, and sold at New Haven at 60 cents per dozen.
Smaller sizes brought 48 and 36 cents per dozen. During unusually low tides in winter
a few extraordinarily large ones weighing 1 to 14 pounds each, and measuring 6 to 8
inches in length, could be obtained. These sold for $1.25 a dozen.

On the Pacific Coast occur several large species of clam. One, Glycimeris generosa,
Gould, called the Geoduck, ranging from Puget Sound to San Diego, California, frequently
weighs from 5 to 7 pounds, and specimens have been reported weighing 16 pounds.
These bury themselves 23 to 3 feet deep, and to get one a man has to remove a barrel
of mud. They are not very plentiful. One man states that at San Diego he did not
find a dozen during several years, but that at Olympia three men could secure a dozen
at one low tide. An ordinary specimen furnishes enough good, delicious flesh for four
or five persons to eat at one meal. It is believed by those who have had an opportun-
ity of studying them that they could be successfully transplanted to the Atlantic Coast.

Clams are eaten raw like oysters, or they are baked or steamed and served in the
shell ; or they may be taken from the shell, the more indigestible parts like the siphons
being clipped off, and the rest fried with crumbled bread, seasoning, &c. They are
used for soup, or from them is extracted a broth serving as a drink, or they may be
pickled, salted, or made into chowders. At Oceanville and McKinley, in the State of
Maine, were set in operation, in 1899, canning factories for clams. In October, at the
latter place, 150 bushels a day were put up in chowder, or dry, or as broth, We.

From Ganong’s ‘Economic Mollusca, of Acadia,’ I quote the following paragraph:
‘In the vicinity of St. Croix, “ Clam Bakes,” are an institution of venerable antiquity.
The Indians probably had them, and congenial spirits from the border towns still delight
to return at times to the ways of their clam loving predecessors. On some favoured spot
on the shores of that splendid river they assemble by appointment, a great fire is built
and by it many stones are heated and made very hot. The embers are then raked aside
and upon the stones is placed a layer of wet sea weed, on which a layer of clams is laid.
Then comes another layer of sea-weed and another of clams, and so on, the top of the
whole being a cushion of sea-weed of extra thickness. Over the whole mass is perhaps a
piece of canvas thrown, and in such an oven are the clams slowly steamed to the proper
degree of deliciousness. A constant concomitant and the most pleasing feature of these
banquets is the invariable good nature and good fellowship which prevails.’

There is sometimes developed in the gills and palps and occasionally in other parts,
as the mantle and abdomen of clams and oysters, a bluish-green coloration. This has
been very frequently looked upon as due to the deposition of a copper salt in the tissues
so affected ; some people have thought they could even recognize a coppery taste, and
many believed the animals to be unfit or unsafe for food. This question has been
studied by a number of biologists and chemists, and it appears that there is no well
founded proof that the animals thus coloured are dangerous—that green oysters may be
safely eaten is shown by the fact that they are often more highly valued in Paris and
London because of their supposed better flavour. The presence of copper in the green
parts of these mollusks was formerly denied, and it was found that the ‘greening’ was
due to the absorption of a bluish-green colouring matter, allied to chlorophyll, from the
protoplasm of certain Diatoms or Desmids. When ordinary uncoloured oysters are fed
on Navicula ostrearia (var. fusiformis), they become greened, and on the contrary, when
green oysters are isolated and fed on a different diet they lose their green coloration in
a few days. At certuin times and places this species of diatom may occur so abundantly

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 33

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

as to form almost the sole object of food of the oyster or clam. Jn other cases it is
believed that the coloration is due to a green Desmid (Peridiniwm) upon which the
oysters feed.

It has lately been shown by Herdman, Boyce and Kohn, of Liverpool, England,
that oysters do possess small quantities of copper, iron, and sometimes manganese, in
their tissues. There are several distinct kinds of greenness in oysters ; in animals from
certain places this is associated with a healthy condition, but those from other districts
may be in an unhealthy state. Healthy French ‘ Huitres de Marennes’ were found
to contain more iron in other%parts of the body than in the gills, the greenness of which
could not be due to iron. Green Falmouth and other Cornish oysters were found to
possess an abnormally large quantity of copper—as much as nine times the normal
amount. Among certain American oysters selected green ones were shown to contain
3°75 times as much copper as the ordinary white ones, and the distribution of the excess
of copper corresponded with that of the green colour. In such cases it is evident that
the abnormal green coloration (green leucocytosis) is due to excess of copper. The
excess is probably occasioned by a failure to remove the smal! quantity of copper which
ordinarily passes through the system in the form of hemocyanin of the blood. This is
taken up by amceboid blood corpuscles (leucocytes) which, in the disturbed metabolic or
diseased condition of the body, become aggregated in the blood capillaries of the gills,
palps, and mantle, or massed in the heart.

In the mantle cavity of the clam occurs, in certain districts, a parasitic Nemertean
(Malacobdella obesa), Although I have examined clams for portions of two years, and
must have opened several hundred, I have never yet found a single individual in Passa-
maquoddy Bay that harboured this peculiar worm. It measures 30 or 40 mm. in
length and 12 to 15 mm. in thickness, and could scarcely be overlooked even if one did
not know about it; but I searched a good number of clams for the express purpose of
obtaining this object, without success. The crystalline style, already referred to in de-
scribing the intestine, has been pointed out to me by clam dealers in the belief that it
was a worm. In this connection T should perhaps mention the possibility of clams
obtained from places near which sewers and offal of towns are emptied becoming a
vehicle for the transference of bacteria to uninfected people. It has been shown that
pure sea-water is detrimental to the growth of pathogenic bacteria, but that oysters
inoculated with typhoid bacilli retained these for at least ten days, although they did
not increase in the tissues of the oyster.

2. Clams as Bait.—For nearly four centuries important fisheries for cod, mackerel,
halibut, &c., have existed on the ‘ Banks’ of Newfoundland. Thither, especially New
England and Acadian fishermen have been accustomed to resort to fill their vessels in
the richest and most extensive cod-fishing district in the world. In the 17th, 18th and
first half of the 19th centuries they fished with hand lines from the decks of vessels,
About the middle of this century the practice of fishing with hand lines from dories
was introduced. The vessels left home in April, May, and June and perhaps for a trip
of 23 to 4 months. Ina vessel with a crew of 12 every one but the skipper and the
cook was provided with a dory. Thus they could spread over a larger area, if any one
found a good school of fish the others could flock towards him, and besides it was thought
that the motion of the dory gave a quicker movement to the hook rendering it
more attractive, It was believed that this method realized one-third more fish but of
course there was the extra expense of the dories,

. It was learned long ago that carnivorous fishes such as the cod were especially fond

of mollusks. In thestomachs of Newfoundland cod are frequently to be found a shellfish
closely allied to Mya arenaria. Our soft clam came into use at first for in-shore fishing
of various kinds. As the fishing voyages lengthened clams were carried farther and far-
ther to sea. They were used fresh, but later they were kept in wells in the vessels,
or kept cool with ice. The vessels of Cape Cod, Gloucester and Maine, constituting the
largest part of the fleet on the ‘ Banks’ in the cod and mackerel fisheries, have no well,
and are obliged to carry their bait shelled, salted, and packed in barrels.

The old style of mackerel fishing was to chop up clams and to sprinkle them over-
board as ‘ toll-bait’ to attract the mackerel to the serface. Now mackerel are caught
in seines. Cod-fishing is conducted in two ways—by trawling or by hand-lining. In

22a—3

34 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

the first clams are not used as bait but instead herring, mackerel, capelin, squid are
employed. Clams are restricted to hand-line or dory fishing but they are not the only
bait used in this fishery. Squid, capelin, birds (puffins, petrels), porpoise, &c., also have
their place, but salted clams are the most satisfactory and are nearly always used except
when fresh bait can be obtained. Several clams are used each time the hook is baited
so that it is completely covered. While fresh bait will secure more fish, yet salt clams
seem to be relished by cod and there is a great saving of time—the men are always
supplied with bait and do not need to waste valuable fishing time to look for bait. Salt
clams retain their flavour while fresh bait, that has been packed in ice, speedily deterior-
ates when exposed to the atmosphere in warm weather. In the hand line cod fishery
on the ‘ Banks’ about 100 vessels use salt clams (in 1886 the number was 97). Count-
ing two barrels for each man this would make 100 x 12 x 2=2,400 barrels. But as it
requires 12 bushels of clams in the shell to make a barrel of salt bait, it thus takes
28,800 bushels of clams to supply annually salt bait for the New England vessels on the
‘ Banks’ of Newfoundland. These have been largely obtained on the coast of Maine
but every town on the New England coast, where clams could be obtained, became a
station for bait supplies. Salt bait is of two kinds—‘ Full salting’ is when one bushel
salt is put to a barrel of clams, ‘slack salting’ or ‘ corning’ is using 4 peck to 2 pecks
salt for each barrel.

As early as 1763 there were regulations in Massachusetts regarding the number of
clams that could be dug for each man for bait. In Maine they were first dug for bait
about 1850.

Since the decline of the Labrador cod-fishing Nova Scotia has employed many ves- .
sels in the dory hand-line cod-fishery on the ‘Banks.’ In 1886, 5,137 barrels of clam-
bait, valued at $28,230, were shipped from Maine to be used by provincials, and in 1887
4,430 barrels, valued at $24,440. In 1885, Nova Scotia supplied for bait 1,136 barrels,
valued at $5,680, but the number has decreased since then, perhaps on account of the
increase in the use of squid. Clams are also used by the fishermen of Gaspé and Que-
bec.

For the last twelve or fifteen years certain Nova Scotia fishermen have regularly
visited Passamaquoddy Bay for the purpose of collecting clams to be used as bait in the
Newfoundland cod-fisheries. Each sailing vessel was managed by a crew of about
ten men, who brought all their requirements—food, clothing, clam-hoes, &c.—lived in
their vessels, and at each ebb-tide went ashore in small boats to dig their clams. At
the approach of flood-tide they would retire to their vessels, shell and salt down their
clams, get their meals and take their rest. The usual time for this work is in the
autumn or in the spring—during October-November, or April-May. They came usually
from Shelburne, occasionally one vessel from Liverpool, Yarmouth, Annapolis or Hali-
fax ; and they returned to Lockport, seldom one to Yarmouth, LaHave or Shelburne.
The first year for which I have obtained figures is 1889-1890. Only a single vessel
was thus employed, the Glide, of Yarmouth, a vessel of 16 tons and with a crew of 8
men. It returned to Yarmouth, carrying 67 barrels of shelled clams. In 1894-1895
three vessels were employed, one of which made two trips—once in November and again
in April. In all they carried away 299 barrels of clams.

In 1898-1899 14 vessels came with 120 men, and took away 1,532 barrels. During
last season, 1899-1900, 14 vessels with 131 men carried off 1,765 barrels of salted clams.
Neglecting the intermediate years but selecting the first, second and fourth of the per-
iods mentioned, we will see a very substantial increase of the business for each five
years of its existence. The following is taken from the records of the Customs officer
at St. Andrews, who very kindly allowed me access to the papers concerned :

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 35

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a
Year 1899--1900.

Leaving Date. Schooner. Tonnage Of Men. | To _ Barrels. | Value.
| |

PSSp Ee OGt. LO) Oriby s,s ss as 34 (|Shelburne..| 17 |Lockeport...... 161 $805
Nov. 2\Icelda Vial Bani Sore Ne wits 19 ' v3 7 We 5, eels Mounts 110 550

" PHUGE Ae. nts Shek he 14 | " ae 5 | | ie Pen rsae a P| 80 400

" 3|/Fleetwing ........ 162%) , ; 6 Tiere eget ae We Tons. | 380

Te. atlas” ahve in Btavarnn<< 40 " ors 10 " she rie eT 175 875

" 4\Charlie Richardson) 26 | " = nuh | ie a 176 | 875

» 11)John Franklin.... 18s i " +) Dit. Tee ciate 4} 100 500

1900. April 20!Charlie Richardson| 26 " Sal piles | armmouthien ea 126 750
ie SOL OWENS. cess 28 (a " : 15; > | DetHavet: 275... 150 900

" 28 Cilish ok yrs Cr eer BR 39 " ai 11 Lockeport Ae ep 150 750

Rays Mate, ons oc ae: 14 |Liverpool. .. Boal " eas 80 440

" SPALGONA. Jes 0k... shel 28 |Shelburne..} 11 | jie tees 160 800

" & Trilby Rinelatici dm thos: 31 " SA 11 " a Cie ey ts 8 127 750

June 15/Mary Kate........ 13.) | Elalifaxs 5: 6 (Shelburne ...... 95.75; 475

It takes five barrels of fresh clams (in the shell) to make one barrel of salted,
shelled clams, so that last year the Nova Scotia fishermen took 5,825 barrels of fresh
clams—five times as many as are shipped to Boston for food. Many people in St.
Andrews object that the Nova Scotians come and take nearly $6,000 worth, and with-
out leaving a dollar in the town. Accordingly, last year, it was arranged to make it
unpleasant for them, and an attempt was made to drive them away. But instead of
going away as was desired, or of anchoring in the harbour or close by as formerly, they
went to Chamcook Harbour, and the northern part of the bay round Bocabee, Digde-
quash, &c., where large quantities of shells mark their camping grounds. Judging from
the large numbers of clams taken I should think that these fishermen do not so much
require them for their own use as for selling to and supplying others who go to the fish-
ing waters of Newfoundland. This supposition appears to be strengthened also by the
fact that some of the vessels come twice a year—in the autumn and again in the spring.

REGULATIONS, TRANSPLANTING, ETC.

In Canada there are no regulations restricting the clam fisheries. The territory
is free to everybody to dig where he likes, and when and how it pleases him, whether
he is resident at the place or comes from other parts of Canada or the United States.
The large number of clams yearly taken from the vicinity of St. Andrews is a good
indication of the value that might accrue from a judicial working of our natural clam
beds, and from encouraging and facilitating their growth, multiplication and distribu-
tion. There is, perhaps, no ground for fear of the clam ever becoming extinct on our
shores. The fisherman has no use for undersized clams, and could not find them all any-
way, so that there will always be enough of these left to grow up and continue to per-
petuate the species. On the other hand the removal of so many of the largest clams
from a small district each year cannot but have some effect in diminishing the amount
of spawn deposited for replenishing the depleted mud flats. Besides there is the effect
of interference with their natural beds. Of those clams rejected by the fishermen
many large ones are broken and left to die and putrefy, while thousands that are too
small for inarket are disturbed, injured or left exposed to the sun, or in such conditions
that they are incapable of readily becoming buried again. The adult clam does not
easily move to a fresh place when left exposed on the surface, neither can it quickly
make a new burrow. Recognizing the small size of its foot in proportion to the whole
size of the animal when compared with one of our fresh-water forms, I performed some
simple experiments to discover if Mya arenaria could bury itself again after being once
disturbed. A little way above low water mark I made several stone pens by placing
good sized stones together in a circle, sufficiently close together to prevent egress
of the clams or ingress of whelks, as well as to protect against tide currents.

22a—34

36 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

From these pens I cleaned out the clams, whelks, smaller stones, &c., levelled down the
dirt, and pressed it somewhat solid. Upon the surface I then placed a known number
of good healthy clams taken from the same district, and kept watch every tide or two
as to what progress they made in re-burying themselves in the ground. Some proceeded
to burrow while others appeared satisfied to remain on the surface several days. Ina
few days most of them had made some headway but either from disinclination or
inability their progress was very slow, requiring about two weeks to become covered or
nearly so. I concluded that if they were left on the surface of hard clay or graveliy
soil at some distance above low water mark they would be almost sure to die from
exposure to the sun, not to speak of their risk of being captured by some enemy. The
surface of ground that has been dug over for clams always shows numerous bleached
shells many of which must have originated in the way described. The statement some-
times made by clam fishers, that the ground dug over one year is just as well supplied
with clams the following year, can hardly be credited, if we consider a district from
which they have been systematically extracted. In most places with which I am
acquainted this is not done. The clammers dig here and there, wherever they can do
the best, leaving intermediate patches undisturbed, which may be the ones searched
next season. Some people seem to think that digging and loosening of the soil proves
beneficial to the clams. This is generally a mistake. However valuable such procedure
may be in the cultivation of potatoes it is a positive danger to clams. The loosened
soil is in many places swept away by the tide, leaving a hard bed and loose stones. In
very quiet, retired places where the bottom is mud such disturbance has less serious
effects. Although the larval clam is free-swimming and the young clam is able to creep
about with considerable speed and to burrow rapidly, when once it has found a spot to
its liking and has become buried in the soil it ceases for ever to rove about. By the
time it has grown to maturity its body is too unwieldy to admit of anything like satis-
factory locomotion by means of its small foot. Its natural condition then is to live a
sedentary life, protected within a more or less deep burrow, and any interference with
this habit is a disadvantage against which it has tocontend. The ability of the young clam
to accommodate itself in mud, sand, gravel, clay, even rocky places, in protected coves,
or in exposed banks, is an indication of the success with which it might be trans-
planted, even at long distances from its original home. Asa proof of this we might
mention the introduction of Mya arenaria into San Francisco Bay. Upon the completion
of the transcontinental railroad, about 1869-70, some oyster dealers in San Francisco
began to import small oysters by the car-load from the Atlantic and to plant them in
San Francisco Bay, where in a year or two they grew to good marketable size. It was
with these importations that the young of Mya arenaria were accidently introduced to
the Pacific. It was first observed in San Francisco Bay in 1874 by Dr. Hemphill. He
gave some rather small specimens to Dr. Newcomb for examination, who regarded them
as a new species and named them Mya hemphillii. That it is a late introduction into
those parts is also proved by the fact that mounds and shell-heaps on the shores of that
bay fail to reveal any trace of the shells of Mya, although those of Tapes, Macoma,
Mytilus, Cardium, &c., occur. These native clams are now almost superseded in abun-
dance and good quality by Mya arenaria.

REFERENCE TO THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN.

The clam fisheries of the United States have been referred to in the foregoing
pages. It will, perhaps, not be out of place here to say a few words about their
equivalent in Great Britain. There the mussel (Mytilus edulis) is employed for the
same purposes for which we on this continent use the clam. It is impossible to get a
correct estimate of the amount used, since the figures given in the reports generally
include the mussel among ‘other shell fish.’ On the coasts of Yorkshire and Durham
they are employed as bait by a few hundred fishermen, but through decline of the
mussel beds these men are sometimes forced to seek supplies from the continent,
although formerly they were able to send mussels in quantities to the local markets and

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 37
SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

to Scotland. Not to mention the demands throughout the provinces of England, there are,
it is stated, more than 3,000 tons per annum consumed in London alone, In 1891 on
the musse] beds of the Tees, eight boats were employed, where half a dozen years
previously there were as many as fifty. This decline was due chiefly to the deepening
operations of steam dredges. One man, using a rake from his boat, can procure in a
day of eight or nine hours one bag of two bushels, which when sold for food brings four
shillings. In favourable weather and a fortunate locality, a man can do much better
than this, but the daily average is about seven shillings. Formerly twenty bags a day
could be obtained by one man, and two men have been known to procure and send away
fifty tons in a week. In 1887 there were ninety-one tons sent by train from Stockton,
and 169 tons from Middleborough. This district also gives employment to fifty or sixty
persons engaged in gathering cockles (Cardiwm edule). The mussel beds of the Esk
employ 100 to 150 men, and those of the Humber about twelve men.

The mussel fisheries of Scotland are of much greater magnitude. It is estimated
there are upwards of 20,000 tons used per annum. There are 50,000 fishermen, some
using mussels as bait the year round, while all do for some part of the year. The bait
is obtained especially from Greenock, Port Glasgow, Firth of Tay, anc Firth of Forth.
From native waters there were in 1892 some 247,411 cwt. taken, having a value of
£14,534. In 1893, the quantity taken in the Clyde alone was 96,000 ewt.—two-fifths
of all taken in Scotland. Bait is also obtained from Holland, Boston, Ireland, the
Thames and elsewhere. According to a report in 1894, there were 14,500 cwt. shell-
fish imported into Scottish ports, having a value of £4,000. These were chiefly mussels
from Holland, and were worth 5s. 6d. per ewt.

In Scotland, as elsewhere, the broad stretch of mussel beds appeared to the early
fishermen to offer inexhaustible supplies. But constant, unregulated, wasteful fishing
brought about a state of decadence with consequent increase in price. The amount of
change may be illustrated by the following statement of Mr. Johnston of Montrose : ‘It
is a fact that the Ferryden fishermen were offered the sands of Dun. (north side of the
river Southesk) at the beginning of the century at £5 per annum, and two dozen
haddocks per week and one cod fish ; but bait was so cheap at that time that the fisher-
men did not think it worth their while to accept the offer. These sands are now let to
our firm for £500 a year.’

To the Scottish fisherman the mussel is the most important of all bait. The scal-
lop, ink-fish, lugworm, herring, whelk, cockle, limpet, are other common baits. The
number of hooks to a line varies from 500 to 1,200, according to the district. On an
average two mussels are used to bait each hook, and to set all the lines at once it would
require some 100,000,000 mussels. Jurisdiction is over waters for a distance of three
miles (cannon shot) from the land, including bays, creeks, &c., not more than ten
miles across the mouth. Beyond this belt the sea is the common fishing ground of all
nations. Since general use of mussel beds tends to their ruination, it has become the
practice of the Crown to grant privileges to individuals upon conditions which are likely
to preserve the scalps and protect public interests. Persons trespassing are counted
guilty of an attempt at theft and may be fined or imprisoned, but the rights of naviga-
tion in public estuaries are superior to those of fishing, provided the methods are not
injurious to shell-fish. Depositing ballast or rubbish, placing of harmful apparatus, or
otherwise disturbing the beds are, except under conditions, prohibited. The public can,
however, fish for haddock, &c., over private mussel scalps in certain specified ways.
Fishery orders may be obtained from the Fishery Board in Scotland, or from the Board
of Trade in England for the purpose of cultivating shell-fish beds.

LITERATURE.

Linneus—Systema Nature, XII. Ed., 1767.

Cuvier—The Animal Kingdom, London, 1834.

Deshayes—Traité élémentaire de Conchyliologie, 3 vol., Paris, 1839-1857.

Brown—Illustrations of the Recent Conchology of Great Britain and Ireland, &c.,
by Captain Thomas Brown, Mem. Manchester Nat. His. Soc. and Curator of its
Museum, ke.

38 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII, A. 1902
Johnston—An introduction to Conchology, London, 1850,
Keber—Beitrage zur Anat. & Physiol. der Weichthiere, Kénigsberg, 1851.
Leuckart—Zoologische Untersuchungen, Heft 3. Giessen, 1854.
Adams—-The Genera of Recent Mollusca, 3 vol., London, 1858.

Brown—Die Klassen und Ordnungen des Thierreiches, 1862-1866, (New Edit. now
appearing).
Jefferies—British Conchology, 5 vol., London, 1862-1869.
Gould and Binney—Report on the Invertebrata of Massachusetts, Boston, 1870.
Verrill—Report Invert. Anim. Vinyard Sound, Unit. Stat. Fish. Commiss, 1871-2.
Woodward—A Manual of the Mollusca, London, 2nd Ed., 1871, 3rd 1873, 4th 1880.

Von Jehring—Vergleich. Anat. des Nerven. und Phylogenie der Mollusken:
Leipzig, 1877.

Sars—Mollusea Regionis Arctice Norvegiz, Christiania, 1878.

Tryon—Structural and Systematic Conchology, Philadelphia, 1882-4.
Lankester—Mollusea, in Encye. Brit. 1883.

Leunis and Ludwig—Synopsis der Thierkunde, 3 Aufl., 1886.

Fischer—Manuel de Conchyliologie, Paris, 1887.

Pelseneer—Introd. a l'étude des Mollusques, Bruxelles, 1894.

Tryon and Pilsbry—Manual of Conchology, Philadelphia (in course of publication).
Jour. Acad. Nat. Science, Philad., vol. IT., 1822, p. 313.

Knight—Descrip. Catal. Fishes, Nova Scotia, Halifax, 1866 (pp. 43-54, Edible
Mollusca).

Proc. Calif. Acad. Science, Nov. 1874, Mya hemphillii).
U.S. Fish Com. 1873-4 and 1874-5, pp. 313-316 (De Broca, on the Soft Clam).

Proc. and Trans. Nova Scotia Inst. Nat Science, vol. IV., pt. III., 1877, pp. 321-
330 (Jones, on Mollusca of Nova Scotia).

Verkriizen—Zur Fauna von Neu Schotland und Newfounland. Jahr. der Deuts-
chen Malak. Gesell. vol. V., 1878, pp. 208-230.

Hyatt—The Oyster, Clam, and other Common Mollusks, Boston, 1880.

1881. Bulletin U.S. Fish. Com. vol. I., p. 200-201, (Hemphill, on the Habits, &c.,
of the Goeduck).
Com. Fish. Maryland, Append. A., p. 83-91 (Ryder on develop. of clam).
American Naturalist, May p. 362-6 (Stearns).

1882. Bull. U.S. F. C., vol. IL, p. 20-21.
i883. Bull. U.S. F. C.,'vol. III., p. 353-362 (Stearns, on the Edible Clams of the
Pacific).
U.S. F. C., Com. Rep., p. Ixxxviii.
1884. Bull. U.S., F. C. IV., p. 219-220.
U.S. F. C., Com. Rep. p. lxiv.

1885. U.S. F. C., vol. V., p. 174-176 (Ryder, on Rate of Growth, &c.)
p. 181-185, (Ryder, on Green Coloration).
p. 356-357, (Stearns, Clams of Pacific).
p. 426 (Intrd. into Delaware Bay).

CLAM FISHERY OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY 39

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

1887.

1888.

1889.
1890.

1890.

1891.

1892.
1893.
1894.
L898.

1900.

1880.

1885.

1886.

1887.

1888.

1891.

1893.

1895.

1898.

1899.

Fish. Indus. U.8., U.S.C. F. & F. Sec. V., vol. L, (Goode & Collins, on
Bank Hand-line Cod Fishery).

Sec V., vol. IT., p. 123-133 (Bank Hand-line Cod Fishery).

Sec. V., vol. IT., p. 581-594 (Ingersoll, on the Clam Fisheries).

Bull. U.S. F. C., vol. VIT., p. 447-464 and p. 425-428,

Bull. Nat. His. Soc., N. Bruns., No. VI., p. 17-61, (Ganong. Marine Mollusca.)

7th Annual Report Fishery Board, Scotland, (clam beds, &c.)
Challenger Report, part 74.

Ganong—Economie Mollusca of Acadia, Bull. Nat. His, Soc., N.B., No. VITI.

Smithonian Institution, Washington.—A Prelim. Catal. of the Shell-bearing
Mollusks and Brachiop. By W. H. Dall.

Bull. U.S. Fish Commnis., pp. 389-436.—A Contrib. to our Knowl. of the
Morph. of Lamellibr. Mollusks. By J. L. Kellogg, Ph. D.

oD)

Jenaiscne Zeitschrift fiir Naturwissenschaften 25 Bd.—Thiele, Die Stammes-
werwandschaft der Mollusken.

Jena Zeit. Bd. 27—Rawitz, Der Mantelrand der Acephalen.
U.S. F.C. F. & F., Com. Rep. (Lotsy. Food of the oyster, clam, &c.)
U.S. F. C., Com. Rep., p. 619, 693 (Literature).

12th Ann. Rep. Com. Inl. Fish., Providence.

Bull. 51 R. I. Coll. Agric. & Mechan. Arts.

13th Ann. Rep. Com. Inl. Fish., Providence, Jan., 1900.

Observations on the Soft Shell Clam. By A. D. Mead, of Brown University.

The Fishing Gazette, New York, May 3, 94; May 9, 96; May 16, ’96;
June 6,96; Oct. 14, 99; May 5, 1900.

Forest and Stream, &c., New York, Feb. 17, 1900.

Report Com. Fish., Maryland, p. 1-81 (Brooks Develop. Amer. Oyster).

Annals & Mag. Nat. His., (Feb., ’85).

(Prof. McIntosh, Reprod. Mytilus edulis).

Bull. U.S. F. C., p. 161 (Verrill, How long will Oysters live out of water ?)

4th Ann. Rep. Fish. Bd. Scot., 1885., p. xxiii., lvi., 218-222 (Wilson,
Life History of the Mussel )

5th Ann. Rep. Fish. Bd. Scot., 1886, p. 246-256 (Wilson, Devel. Mussel.)

Ann. Mag. Nat. His. (Dec), Prof. McIntosh on the Development of Mussels.

7th Ann. Rep. Fish. Bd., Scot., p. 327-341 (Fullerton on Mussel Fishing at
Montrose).

8th Ann. Rep. Fish. Bd., Scot., p. 293.

9th Ann. Rep. Fish. Bd., Scot., p. 184, 212.

Mussels and Mussel Culture. By Wm. King, Budle Bay, England.

Report on the Mussel and Cockle Beds in the Estuaries of the Tees, the
Esk and the Humber. By Prof. McIntosh.

Report for 1892 on the Lancashire Sea Fisheries Pera) at University
College, Liverpool. By Prof. W. A. Herdman.

Special Reports (II. Peculiarities in the Breeding of Oysters). By Prof. E-
E. Prince, Ottawa, Canada.

13th Annual Rep. Fish. Bd., Scot. (Fullerton on Hist. Mussel Culture at
Montrose).

Mussel Culture and Bait Supply. By W. T. Calderwood, London, 1895.

Proc. U.S. National Mus., XX. Revision of the Deep-water Mollusks.
By A. E. Verrill and K. J. Bush.

Report for 98 on the Lancashire Sea Fish, Lab. at Univ. Coll., Liverpool,
p. 62-67 ; Oysters and Disease, by Prof. Herdman, p. 67-79; Iron and
Copper in Oysters, by Kohn.

40

Fic.

Fic.

Fic.
Fic.
Fic.

Fic.

Fic.

OID

10.

MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES I., IL, TIL, IV.

Puate I.

. Mya arenaria, natural size, from left side. The clam is represented in its

usual position buried in sand, siphons stretching to top of burrow.
PrateE II.

. Ditto from left ventral surface, to show foot, mantle, and siphons.

Preece EE.

Ditto with left valve of shell raised backward. Shows inside of left shell and
outside of left mantle fold. Foot and siphons retracted.

Mya arenaria, with mantle split from base of siphons ventro-medially to above
anterior end and left half raised upward, to show contents of branchial cavity.

Puate IV.

Mya arenaria, Natural size. Left shell, mantle, siphon walls and gills taken
off. Also left walls of kidney, pericardium, and abdomen removed, and the
contents of the latter dissected down to the intestine and crystalline style, to
show their course.

F S—foot-slit, through mantle. Mo—mouth.
F—foot. CG—cerebral ganglion.
P G—pedal ganglion. St—stomach.
C S—crystalline style. L—liver.
J—intestine. PG—position of pericardial gland.
G G—genital gland. P—pericardium.
Ab—abdomen. U—umbo.
BC—branchial cavity. V—ventricle.
B—branchie, right side. K—kidney.
RS —retractor muscle of siphons, VG—visceral ganglion.
showing through the right PA—posterior adductor muscle.
wall of the mantle. A—anus.
M—nmantle, split ventral wall. PS—partition between siphons.
S—shell. DS—dorsal] siphon.
VS—ventral siphon. AA—anterior adductor muscle.

Nervous System of Mya arenaria, from Rawitz, reduced.

Ovum and Spermatozoon of Modiola modiolus, highly magnified.

. Larva of Mya arenaria, showing shells, velum with cilia, &c., from Mead, mag-

nified.

. Plant-food of clam. The first three are diatoms, the second three different -

aspects of filamentous alge, the crescent shaped one is a desmid, and the

spherical one the egg of Fucus. Highly magnified. These illustrate only a few
of the commonest forms from the intestine of the clam.

“Clam Hoe,” reduced.

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

IV

REPORT ON THE FLORA OF ST. ANDREWS, N.B.

‘-BY PROFESSOR JAMES FOWLER, LL. D., QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY,
KINGSTON.

INTRODUCTORY NOTES.

On June 9, 1900, the writer arrived at the Biological Laboratory, at St. Andrews,
and devoted his time till August 18, to the study of the flora in the neighbourhood, and
to the collection of herbarium specimens. The special object of his visit was to collect
and study the marine alge that might be found in that part of the Bay of Fundy. At
the time of his arrival the retreating tide had left the rugged shore bare tor a consider-
able distance, and the rocks, covered with a dense growth of rock-weed (Fucus) pre-
sented an attractive field for exploration. After spending a couple of days among the
‘slippery rocks and mud, he discovered that very few species of alge could be secured,
and only those of the most hardy species. The rugged character of the shores, formed
by the waves and tides from the red sandstone in some loéalities, and from volcanic
rock in others, renders it impossible to travel along the beach any considerable distance
in search of specimens. The aid of a boat is indispensable to the collector who wishes
to extend his researches beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the station ; but
unfortunately the writer was precluded from more extended investigations. Disappointed
at the small number of species where the prospects seemed so bright, he endeavoured to
discover the reasons of their paucity, and is of the opinion that the following facts
explain the phenomenon :—

1. The great tides of the Bay of Fundy produce currents which sweep away all
plants not firmly anchored to the rocks. The fucacez, possessed of tough and flexible
stems, and attached to the rocks by holdfasts that cannot be separated from them by
any force tugging at the stems and branches, are naturally adapted to resist the action
of waves and currents, while other more delicate species are swept away and carried
out to sea or thrown up on the rocky shores.

2. At low water, a large extent of shore is left bare, and the alge attached to the
rocks are exposed for several hours every day to the warm winds and drying power of
the summer sun. All plants unable to endure this ordeal must give place to the hardier
species. The delicate forms that inhabit the pools or marshy shores are consequently
unknown.

3. The great rise and fall of the tides stir up the waters of the bay to a great depth
and as no broad areas of sand are exposed to the sun’s rays to absorb heat and impart it
to the waters that cover them at the return of the tide, these waters are always cold.
Hence only alge capable of flourishing in the cold waters are adapted to these rugged
shores.

The combination of these factors constitutes an environment which is fatal to all
but the most hardy species of littoral alge. All delicate forms must betake themselves
to retired creeks and sheltered inlets where many of them may doubtless be found ; but
they can only be reached by the collector who is fortunate enough to enjoy the advantage
of appropriate transit by water.

Having failed, owing to the causes mentioned above, and the lack of necessary
facilities for identifying species, to secure the number of marine plants anticipated, the

41

42 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 ©

collector immediately turned to the streets and fields of the town and its neighbourhood
which promised a more abundant harvest. During the early half of the century St.
Andrews was distinguished for its great commercial activity, especially in its export of
lumber. The long line of wharfs and the numerous warehouses, now falling into ruins,.
along the front of the town, are monuments of a prosperity which has now completely
passed away with the destruction of the forests upon which it depended. Some of the
streets as well as the wharfs are now almost deserted, and furnish favourable conditions.
for the growth and propagation of the foreign weeds and plants imported in earlier days.
Many gardens and fields have been abandoned by their owners and are now rich collect-
ing grounds for the botanist. Plants that once ornamented the grounds of wealthy
merchants or prosperous farmers, have spread to the roadside and fields, or abound on the:
sidewalks along the deserted streets. A large area near the town, which once consti-
tuted the town park, with its winding paths, its artificial lake and its pleasant flower
beds and grass plots, is now a perfect paradise for the botanist.

The writer can recall no locality he has ever visited where such a large number of
foreign plants can be found in such a limited area, At the time of his arrival the early
blooming plants had shed their flowers. The forest trees and native shrubs had passed
the flowering season—had assumed their summer appearance and were now ripening
their fruits. The winds were scattering the seeds of the poplars and willows over the
neighbourhood where they grew. But though the spring flowers had disappeared the
streets and fields were gay with the blossoms of foreign plants. Every rising sun was
welcomed with a fresh display of floral beauty.

For several weeks Ranunculus repens, L., whether native or introduced, displayed
its large yellow flowers abundantly in the ditches along the streets and in the damp
grounds ; and the common Buttercup (Ranunculus acris, L.) adorned the higher grounds. |
The Wild Mustard (Brassica arvensis, L.) has pushed its way successfully out into the
open country and many fields were brilliant with its yellow petals. Two other species
(Brassica nigra, Koch. and B. campestris, L.) occupied more limited areas, but added to
the general display. Another member of the Cruciferous family (Lepidium ruderale,
L.) found a congenial home on the decaying wharfs. Among the introduced forms,
which have secured a permanent home for themselves, few have become more conspicuous
than the yellow clover (7rifolium procumbens, L.) It has spread over roads and rail-
road tracks in different localities to tne almost total exclusion of the other species. It
must, however, yield the palm to the Carroway (Carum carwi, L.) which has not only
invaded the town but has overrun the entire country for miles around. If the seeds
were collected a sufficient quantity would be obtained to supply the demands of the
province, perhaps of the Dominion. Of thirty-two species of Composite collected,
twenty have been introduced from foreign lands. The less frequented streets were bril-
liant during the month of June with Dandelions of which two species occur (Taraxacum
taraxacum, Karst, and 7’. erythrospermum, Andrz). The latter must be rare as the
writer has never noticed it elsewhere. One of the most interesting members of this
family is the Hieracium aurantiacum, L., which is exceedingly abundant near the
laboratory, but has not spread into the fields. Leontodon autwmnalis, I.., meets the
eye everywhere, and 7’ragopogon pratensis is common in deserted gardens and fields. The
Blue-bell family (Campanulacez) is represented by large numbers of Campanula rapun-
culoides, L., whose long racemes of blue flowers with corollas an inch in length are very
conspicuous on the sidewalks and along the garden fences.

Of the native plants in the immediate neighbourhood of the laboratory in the
months of June and July the following species are most likely to attract the attention
of the visitor from the west :—

Viola primulaefolia, L. Rhodora Canadensis, L.
Viola lanceolata, L. Euphrasia Americana.
Potentilla tridentata, Ait. Rhinanthus Crista-Galli, L.
Potentilla anserina, L. Carex Goodenovii, J. Gay.
Rosa humilis lucida, Ehrh. Carex maritima, Muller.
Drosera rotundifolia, L. Poa flava, L

Aster tardiflorus, L. Festuca ovina duriuscula, L.

Antennaria neodioica, Greene. Botrychium simplex, Hitchcock.

REPORT ON THE FLORA OF ST. ANDREWS,

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

The following probably mark the sites of former gardens :—

Tilia Europea, L.
Geranium pratense, L.
ZEsculus hippocastanum, L.
Acer platanoides, L

Acer pseudo-platanus, L.
Robinia pseudacacia, L.
Caragana arborescens, Lam.
Spiraea sorbifolia, L.
Spiraea ulmaria, L.
Crataegus oxyacantha, L.
Philadelphus coronarius, L.

N.B. 43

Sedum acre, L.

Diervilla florida, Sieb. & Zuce.
Centaurea nigra, L

Syringa vulgaris, L.

Leptandra Virginica, Nutt.
Euphorbia Cyparissias, L. '
Ulmus campestris,

Larix Europaea, D.C.

Hemerocallis fulva, L.

Lysimachia nummularia, L.

BOTANICAL LIST.

List of plants collected at St. Andrews, N.B., between June 9 and August 18, 1900.

Genera. Spec.
1 -1 Thalictrum polygamum, Muhl.

2

16
17

22

Nore—The Nomenclature follows that of Brown

& Britton, Illustrated Flora.

ORDER I. RANUNCULACE®.

2
3

Ranunculus repens,
Ranunculus acris, L.

Genera. ‘Spec.
3 4 Oxygraphis Cymbalaria, Prantl.
4 5 Coptis trifolia, Salisb.
5 6 Actaea rubra, Willd.

OrpDER II. NyMPHAEACE.

Castalia odorata, Woodv.

7 © 8 Nymphaea advena, Soland.

OrpDER III. Crucirer.

Barbarea barbarea, MacM.

Brassica arvensis, L.
Brassica nigra, Ksch.
Brassica campestris, L.

Erysimum cheiranthoides, L.

ili! 14 Bursa bursa-pastoris, Britton.
12 15 Lepidium ruderale, L

13 16 Cakile edentula, Hook.

14 17 Raphanus raphanistrum, L.

OrpER IV. VIOLACE®.

18 Viola obliqua, Hill. 20 Viola primulaefolia, L.

19 Viola blanda, Willd. 21 Viola lanceolata, L.
OrvER V. CARYOPHYLLACE.

22 Moehringia lateriflora, L. 18 27 Cerastinm vulgatum, L.

23 Alsine media, L 19 28 Sagina procumbens, L.

24 Alsine longifolia, Britton. 20 29 'Tissa rubra, Britton.

25 Alsine graminea, Britton. 30) Tissa Canadensis, Britton.

26 Alsine humifusa, Britton. 21 31 Spergula arvensis, L.

OrpER VI. HyYPERICACE®.

Hypericum perforatum, L.
Hypericum mutilum, L.

34 Hypericum Canadense, L.

OrperR VII. TILiacez.

Tilia Americana, L.

36 Tilia Europaea, L.

44 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII, A. 1902
Orper VIIT. GerRanicaDe.
Genera. Species. Genera. Species. _ ;
24 37 Geranium pratense, L. 36 Oxalis stricta, L.
25 38 Oxalis acetosella, L. 26 40 Impatiens biflora, Walt.
OrverR IX. ILicine®.
27 41 Ilex verticillata, Gray.
OrvDER X. SAPINDACES.
28 42 A®sculus Hippocastanum, L. 44 Acer platanoides, L.
29 43 Acer spicatum, Lam. 45 Acer pseudo-platanus, L.
‘ORDER XI. LEGUMINOS#.
30 46 Trifolium pratense, L. 33 52 Robinia pseudacacia, L.
47 Trifolium repens, L. 34 53 Vicia cracca, L.
48 Trifolium procumbens, L. 35 54 Lathyrus maritimus, Bigel.
31 49 Melilotus officinalis, Willd. 55 Lathyrus palustris, L. :
50 Melilotus alba, Lam. 36 56 Caragana arborescens, Lam.
32 51 Medicago lupulina, L.
OrvEeR XII. Rosacea,
7 57 Prunus virginiana, L. 68 Potentilla argentea, L.
38 58 Spireea salicifolia, L. 69 Potentilla tridentata, Ait.
59 Spirea tomentosa, L. 70 Potentilla anserina, L.
60 Spirea sorbifolia, L. 71 Potentilla Canadensis, L.
61 Spirea ulmaria, L. 43 72 Comarum palustre, L.
39 62 Rubus Americanus, Britton. 44 73 Rosa humilis lucida, Best.
63 Rubus strigosus, Miche. 45 74 Crategus oxyacantha, L.
64 Rubus villosus frondosus, Bigel. 46 75 Aronia nigra, Britton.
40 65 Geum strictum, Ait. 47 76 Sorbus Americana, Marsh.
41 66 Fragaria virginiana, Mill. 77 Sorbus sambucifolia, Roem.
42 67 Potentilla norvegica, L.
Orver XIII.—SaxirraGacee.
48 78 Philadelphus coronarius, L. 49 79 Ribes oxyacanthoides, L.
OrpER XIV.—CRASSULACE®.
50 80 Sedum acre, L.
OrpER XV.—DRosERACE®.
51 81 Drosera rotundifolia, L.
OrperR X VI.—HALoraGeE®.
52 82 Callitriche palustris, L.
OrDER X VIT.—ONAGRACE.
53 83 Chamznerion angustifolium, Scop. 55 87 Onagra biennis, Scop.
54 84 Epilobium lineare, Muhl. 56 88 Kneiffia pumila, Spach.
85 Epilobium coloratum, Muhl. 57 89 Circzea alpina, L
86 Epilobium adenocaulon, Haussk.

REPORT ON THE FLORA OF ST, ANDREWS, N.B. 45
SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

OrvpER X VIII.— UmMBIFELLIFER®.

_ Genera. Species. ‘ Genera. Species,
58 £90 Carum carui, L. 60 92 Hydrocotyle Americana, L.
59 ~~ 91 Cicuta bulbifera, L. 61 93 Ligusticum Scoticum, L

OrpER XI X.—ARALIACE.
62 94 Aralia hispida, Vent. 95 Aralia nudicaulis, L.

OrDER XX.—CoRNACE.
63 96 Cornus Canadensis, L.

ORDER X XI.—CAPRIFOLIACES.

64 7 Viburnum cassinoides, L. 66 99 Diervilla Diervilla, MacM.
65 98 Linnea borealis, L. 100 Diervilla florida, Sieb. & Zuce.

OrpER X XIT.—RUBIACE2.

67 101 Houstonia coerulea, L.

OrpER X XIII.—ComposiT».

68 102 Eupatorium perfoliatum, L. 72 110 Doellingeria umbellata, Nees.
69 103 Solidago puberula, Nutt. 73 111 Leptilon Canadense, Britton.
104 Solidago juncea, Ait. 74 112 Engeron ramosus, B. 8. P.
105 Solidago rugosa, Mill. 75 113 Anaphalis margaritacea, Benth. &Hook
106 Solidago Canadensis, L. 76 114 Gnaphalium uliginosum, L.
70 «107 -Euthamia graminifolia, Nutt. 77 115 Ambrosia artemusizfolia, L.
71 108 Aster tardiflorus. L. 78 116 Rudbeckia hirta, L.
109 Aster lateriflorus, Britton. 79 117 Anthemis cotula, D.C.
80 118 Achilea millefolium, L. 88 126 Tragopogon pratensis, L.
81 119 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, L. 89 127 Leontodon autumnalis, L.
82. 120 Artemisia vulgaris, L. 90 128 Hieracium aurantiacum, L.
83 121 Senecio vulgaris, L. 91 129 Taraxacum taraxacum, Karst.
84 122 Antennaria neodioica, Greene. 130 Taraxacum erythrospermum, Audrz.
85 123 Arctium minus, Schk. : 92 131 Sonchus oleraceus, L
86 124 Carduus arvensis, Robs. 132 Sonchus asper, Vill.
87 125 Centaurea nigra, L. 133 Sonchus arvensis, L.

OrpeR XXIV. LoBELIACE.

93 134 Lobelia inflata, Iu. 138 Lobelia Dortmanna, L.

ORDER XXV. CAMPANULACES.

94 136 Campanula rapunculoides, L. 137 Campanula rotundifolia, L.

OrpER XXVI. ERICACE®.

95 138 Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum, Lam. 98 143. Rhodora Canadensis, L.
139 Vaccinium Canadense, Richards. 99 144 Ledum Greenlandicum, (Eder.
140 Vaccinium vitis-idea, L. 100 145 Pyrola elliptica, Nutt.

96 141 Oxycoccus macrocarpus, Pers. 101 146 Monotropa uniflora, L.

97 142 Kalmia angustifolia, L.

OrpeER XX VII. PLUMBAGINACESX.

102 147. Limonium Carolinianum, Britton.

OrpDER XXVIII. PRIMULACES. a
103 148 Trientalis Americana, Pursh. 150 Lysimachia nummularia, L.
104 149 Lysimachia terrestris, B.S.P. 105 151 Glaux maritima, L.

OrpER XXIX. OLEACE®.

106 152 Fraxinus nigra, Marsh. 107 153 Syringa Persica, L.

MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

ORDER XXX. GENTIANACES.

Genera. Species. a
154 Menyanthes trifoliata, L.

108

120
121

126

127
128

130
131

133

134

135

137

138
139

173

186

187

188
189

192
193

195
196
197

Genera. Species.

OrpDER XXXII. BoRAGINACES.

Myosotis arvensis, Hoffm. 111
Lappula Lappula, Karst.

157

Pneumaria maritima, Hill.

OrpER XXXII. ConvoLvVuLACE.

Convolvulvs sepium, L.

OrDER XXXIIJ. ScROPHULARIACES.

Linaria linaria, Karst. 116
Chelone glabra, L 117
Leptandra Virginica, Nutt. 118

162
163
164

Veronica scutellat, L
Euphrasia Americana, Wettst.
Rhinanthus Crista-Galli, L.

OrDER XXXIV. LaABiatTs.

Mentha sativa, L. 122
Mentha Canadensis, L. 123
Lycopus Americanus, Muhl. 124
Scutellaria galericulata, L. 125

169 Prunella vulgaris, L.

170
iy
172

Galeopsis tetrahit, L.
Stachys palustris, L.
Glecoma hederacea, L.

ORDER XXXV. PLANTAGENACE.

Plantago major, L.

174

Plantago maritima, L.

OrpER XXXVI. CHENOPODIACE®.

Atriplex hastata, L.
Salicornia herbacea, L

129

1i7

Dondia Americana, Britton.

OrpDER XX XVII. PoLYGonacE”.

Rumex Brittanica, L.
Rumex acetosella, L.

Polygonum aviculare, L.
Polygonum erectum, L.

182
183
184

Polygonum Persicaria, L.
Polygonum sagittatum, L.
Polygonum convolvulus, L.

OrpeR XXXVIII. EvupHorsiace.

Euphorbia Cyparissias, L.
OrpER XXXIX. Urticace#.

Ulmus campestris, L.

Myrica gale, L.

OrpER XL. Myricace.

OrpER XLI. CuPuULIFER».

3etula lutea, L.

136

Betula populifolia, Ait.

Salix lucida, Muhl.
Salix Bebbiana, Sarg.

199
191

Alnus alnobetula, Koch
Alnus inecana, Willd.

OrpER XLII. Saicaces.

194

Salix balsamifera, Barratt.

ORDER XLIII. Conirer.

Larix laricina, Koch.
Larix Europa, DC.
Thuya occidentalis, L.

140

198
199

Juniperus nana, Willd.

Juniperus Sabina, L.

REPORT ON THE FLORA OF ST. ANDREWS, N.B, 47

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

OrpER XLIV. OrcHIDACE®.

Genera. Species. Genera. Species.
141 200 Achroanthes unifolia, Raf. 144 203 Gyrostachys Romanzoftiana, MacM.
142 201 Leptorchis Loeselii, MacM. 145 204 Pogonia ophioglossoides, Nutt.
143 202 Corallorhiza multiflora, Nutt. 146 205 Habenaria hyperborea, R. Br.

OrpDER XLV. IRIDACE.

147 206 Iris versicolor, L. 148 207 Sisyrinchium angustifolium, Mill.
Orper XLVI, Litiace®.

149 208 Hemerocallis fulva, L. 151 210 Unifolium Canadense, Greene.

150 209 Vagnea stellata, Morong. 152-211: ~Steptopus roseus, Michx.

OrpverR XLVII. Juncace».

153 212 ~Juncus effusus, L. 216 Juncus articulatus, L.
213 Juncus Balticus, Willd. 217 Juncus Canadensis brevicaudatus,
214 Juncus Gerardi, Loisel. Engelm.
215 Juncus bufonius, L. 154 218 ences campestre, Kuntze.

OrpER XLVIII. TypHacee.
155 219 Typha latifolia, L.
OrpER XLIX. ALISMACE.
156 220 Sagittaria latifolia, Willd.
OrpER L. NAIADACE®.

157 221 Triglochin maritima, L. 159 223 Zostera marina, L.
158 222 Potamogeton Nuttallii, Cham. & Sch.

OrperR LI. CyYPERACES.

160 224 Eleocharis ovata, R. Br. 239 Carex Goodenovii, J. Gay.
225 Eleocharis palustri is glaucescens, eu 240 Carex intumescens, Rudge.
226 Eleocharis tenuis, Schutes. 241 Carex lurida, Wahl.
161 227 Scirpus microcarpus, Presl. 242 Carex maritima, Muller.
228 Scirpus atrovirens, Muhl. 243 Carex Novee-Anglie, Schwein.
229 Scirpus fluviatilis, Gray. 244 Carex pallescens, L.
230 Scirpus cyperinus, L. 245 Carex pedicellata, Britton.
231 Scirpus Americanus, Pers. 246 Carex scoparia, Schk.
162 232 Eriophorum Virginicum, L. 247 Carex sterilis, Willd.
163 233 Carex arctata, Boot. 248 Carex sterilis cephalantha, Bailey.
234 Carex aurea, Nutt. 249 Carex stipata, Muhl.
235 Carex brunnescens gracilior, Britton. 250 Carex tenera, Dewey.
236 Carex canescens, L. 251 Carex tenuis, Rudge.
237 Carex crinita, Lam. 252 Carex retrorsa, Schwein.
238 Carex flava, L. ; 253 Carex viridula, Michx.

OrperR LIT.—GRAMINE®.

164 254 Spartina cynosuroides, Willd. 267 Poa pratensis, L.
255 Spartina patens, Muhl. 268 Poa trivialis, L.
256 Spartina stricta maritima, Scrib. 172 269 Panicularia Canadensis, Kuntze.
165 257 Panicum implicatum, Scrib. 270 Panicularia nervata, Kuntze.
166 259 Anthoxanthum odoratum, L. Y71 Panicularia Americana, MacM.
167 260 Phleum pratense, L. 173 272 Puccinella maritima, Parl.
168 261 Alopecurus geniculatus, L. 174 273 Dactylis glomerata, L
169 262 Agrostis alba, L. 175 =. 274-«~-Festuca ovina duriuseula, L.
263 Agrostis hyemalis, B.S.P. 275 Festuca elatior, L.
170 264 Danthonia spicata, Beauv. 176 276 Agropyron repens, L.
171 265 Poa compressa, L. vive 277 Hordeum jubatum L.
. 266 Poa flava, L. 178 278 Elymus arenarius, L.

OrpeER LIII.— EQuisetace®.

179 279 Equisetum arvense, L. 280 Equisetum sylvaticum, L.

48 MARINE AND FISHERIES
1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902
OrperR LIV.—FILIcEs.
Genera. Species. Genera. Species.
180 281 Polypodium vulgare, L. 288 Dryopteris cristata, Gray.
181 282 Pteris aquilina, 289 Dryopteris acrostichoides, Sw.
182 283 Asplenium filix-foemina, Bernh. 185 290 Onoclea sensibilis, L.
183 284 Phegopteris Phegopteris, Underw. 186 291 Woodsia ilvensis, R. Br.
285 Phegopteris dryopteris, Fee. 187 292 Dicksonia punctilobula, Gray.
184 286 Dryopteris spinulosa intermedia, Und. 188 293 Osmunda Claytoniana, L.
287 Dryopteris spinulosa dilatata, Underw. 294 Osmunda cinnamomea, L
OrpDER LV.—OPHIOGLOSSACE.
189 295 Botrychium simplex, Hitch. 296 Botrychium ternatum, Sw.
Orper LVI.—LycopopDIacE&.
190 297 Lycopodium lucidulum, Michx. 299 Lycopodium complanatum, L.
298 Lycopodium obscurum, L.
MUSCI.
OrprER LV II.—SPHAGNACE.
191 300 Sphagnum acutifolium, Ehrh. 301 Sphagnum cymbifolium, Ehrh.
OrpER LVIII.—Bryacez.
192 302 Leucobryum glaucum, L. 307 Polytrichum juniperinum, Willd.
193 302 Ceratodon purpureus, L. 196 308 Webera nutans (Schreb.) Hedw.
194 303 Ulota crispa, Brid. 197 309 Pylaisia Schimperi, Card.
304 Ulota crispula, Brid. 198 310 Aulacomnium palustre. Schwaegr.
305 Ulota Ludwigii, Brid. 199 311 Hypnum uncinatum, Hedw.
195 306 Polytrichum commune, L.
OrpER LIX.—J UNGERMANNIACE.
200 312 Ptilidium ciliare, Nees.
LICHENES.
201 313 Alectoria jubata, L. 205 317 Peltigera aphthosa, Hoffm.
202 314 Usnea barbata, L. 206 318 Cladonia rangiferina, L.
203 315 Theloschistes parietinus, L. 319 Cladonia cristatella, Tuck.
204 316 Sticta pulmoraria, L,
ALG 4
207 320 Fucus vesiculosus, L. 212 326 Rhodymenia palmata, Grev.
321 Fucus nodosus, L. 213 327 Porphyra vulgaris, Ag.
208 322 Laminaria longicruris, Dela Pyl. 214 328 Enteromorpha compressa, Grev.
209 323 Chordaria flagelliformis, Ag. 215 329 Ulva linza, L
210 324 Polysiphonia fastigiata, Grev. 330 Ulva latissima, L.
211 325 Corallina officinalis, L. 216 331 Gigartina mamillosa, Ag.
Several specimens of Algz collected in addition to the foregoing have not yet been determined.

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

V
FOOD OF THE SEA-URCHIN (Strongylocentrotus drébachiensis.)

BY Dr. F. H. SCOTT, Pu.D., PHYSIOLUGICAL LABORATORY,
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.

The sea-urchin is one of the commonest animals on our Atlantic coast where great
numbers are found in all suitable places. They prefer a gravelly or rocky bottom and
are rarely found on mud or coarse sand. Just below the low tide mark on a gravelly
beach, or better on a beach of medium-sized stones separated by patches of sand, the
sea-urchins are exceedingly numerous. Another favourite resort of the sea-urchin is on
the sides of bare rocks and reefs, where there are often thousands aggregated together.
Many, especially small urchins, are found under stones on the bottoms of tide pools.
Urchins frequently attach shells and other débris to themselves and in localities where
such materials are abundant are often invisible owing to such a covering. Inthe deeper
waters of Passamaquoddy Bay they are also abundant on suitable bottoms, for the
dredge is often filled with them from depths of 12 to 15 fathoms.

The sea-urchin is more or less hemispherical in shape and is covered with movable
spines. The spines are green in colour, nearly an inch long and are articulated to the
shell or test by a ball and socket joint. The test, which after the removal of the spines
has well been likened by Ganong } to an old-fashioned smooth doorknob, is made of
twenty rows of hexagonal plates closely cemented together. Five double rows of these
plates are perforated and alternate with similar imperforate rows. On the external sur-
face of all the plates are little conical elevations which fit into depressions on the base
of the spines forming the movable articulations. Scattered among the spines are other
shorter appendages which end in minute pinchers (pedicellarize). These probably assist
the animals in grasping small objects.

Within the test among the other organs is the water vascular system. This system
is peculiar to the Echinodermata and has the function of forcing water into the tube
feet, or of withdrawing it from them. The tube feet, which project through the open-
ings in the perforated plates of the test, are hollow cylinders capable of great extension.
Each foot ends in a sucker and thus the animal by attaching its feet is enabled to adhere
to different objects. When the water is forced in, the feet may extend away beyond the
tips of the spines ; but when the water is withdrawn the feet are much the shorter.

The tube feet are the principal means of locomotion, although the animal can move
on its spines alone. By extending its feet on one side, attaching the suckers and then
pulling, the animal can move in any definite direction along flat surfaces or ascend per-
pendicular ones. By this method, two sea-urchins, in a tide pool with a smooth rocky
bottom, were observed to move six and seven inches respectively in two minutes. This
is at the rate of about sixteen yards per hour and indicates that the urchins might move
considerable distances during a tide period. Whether the urchins do move at every
tide is another question. A few observations lead me to think that they do not move
very much, but no experiments were made to decide this point.

The usual position of the animal is with the flat side of the hemisphere towards
the ground. The central part of this side is membranous and devoid of spines. The
mouth is situated in the centre of this membrane and has the tips of the five teeth pro-
jecting from it. Only the tips of the teeth project outside, the remainderalong with a
complicated apparatus for moving them being beneath the membrane. The cesophagus
a longitudinally ribbed tube leads to the intestine, there being no stomach such as is

22a—4

50 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

found in higher animals. The intestine coils completely round the test, turns and then
winds back again to end finally in the anus which is situated on the pole of the sheil
opposite the mouth. The anus is surrounded by a specially modified plate of the test.
One of these apical plates is very distinct as it is much larger than the others. This
plate is perforated and through its fine pores the water vascular system is brought into
communication with the outside.

The food in the digestive tract is surrounded by a mucinous secretion but such
secretion is never copious. In the secretion are ferments which resemble those
found in the pancreatic juice of mammals in that they act in neutral or alkaline media
but not in acid ones. There is a diastatic ferment present which, however, acts slowly
on raw starch. There is also a proteolytic ferment present and probably a steatolytic
one but the tests for the latter were not conclusive. The ferments present retain their
hydrolytic activity through a long range of temperatures being active from near the
freezing point to 55° C.

In the investigation of the food the contents of the digestive tracts of more than
300 urchins were examined. Most of these were from the littoral fauna in the immedi-
ate neighbourhood of St. Andrews, N.B., but some were obtained from L’Etang Harbour
and others from Deer, Indian and Dochet Islands. Besides these collected in shallow
water others were obtained by the dredge from different parts at different depths of
Passamaquoddy Bay. In the case of the littoral ones the procedure was to go at low
water, carefully note the surroundings of the urchins, break through the test and
examine the contents of their digestive tracts. Specimens were taken from each locality
and the contents of their alimentary canal submitted to microscopical examination.
Urchins were also kept in clean vessels and in this manner their excrements obtained.
Dredged specimens were examined in a similar manner. An idea of their surroundings
was obtained from the character of the remaining contents of the dredge.

The food, judged by the substances in their digestive tracts, varies with the local
conditions under which the animals live. Such conditions were carefully studied in the
case of the littoral urchins which are the ones the fishermen accuse of destroying the
seaweed. It was found that the entire character of the food might change within a
very short distance. In all cases where the urchins lived in close proximity to the large
fucoid or laminarian seaweeds, there was practically nothing but pieces of such seaweed
in their digestive tracts. The seaweed had been bitten in pieces a millimetre or two
long, and had been changed from the ordinary brown to a green colour owing to the
dissolution of its brown colouring matter. Urchins in these localities were frequently
found with pieces of seaweed in their mouths. In cases where the urchins lived at a
distance from the large seaweeds or where these were scarce, the digestive tracts con-
tained little globular masses of sand. On breaking one of these masses and examining
it under the microscope, the remains of the great variety of minute organisms which are
common on the bottom, or which may be scraped from seemingly bare rocks are observed
among the sand grains. The great bulk of these remains are those of microscopic plants
belonging chiefly to the Diatomacee but other minute Alge are also common. The
animals found in these masses are chiefly Radiolaria and other Protozoa, but occasionally
other minute animals, including larvee, are ncticed. In a few cases carrion was observed
in the alimentary canal. Dead animals placed in the water are soon covered with urchins
which rapidly devour them. In lobster traps it is common to find considerable numbers
of urchins which are attracted, no doubt, by the dead animal matter used as bait. Al-
though carrion is soon found and devoured by the urchins it cannot be considered one
of their ordinary foods because its supply is erratic and uncertain.

An examination of the excrements of the animal confirmed what was observed in
the intestinal canal. When the urchins were obtained near seaweed, the excrements
were small pieces of seaweed which did not seem greatly altered by their passage
through the intestinal canal, except in their colour. When the urchins came from
localities remote from seaweed, the excrements were the small globular masses such as
are observed in the alimentary tract. In tide pools where sea-urchins are abundant,
the bottom is frequently covered with a layer of the castings of these animals.

The sea-urchin has thus two principal foods which we may call seaweed and surface
sand, The seaweed is cut into little pieces, whilst the sand with all the minute organisms

FOOD OF THE SEA-URCHIN 61

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

it contains is formed into little masses—the mucinous secretion of the digestive tract
holding the grains together. It is usual to find both of these foods in the alimentary
canal of our urchins, although one of them may be so abundant that the quantity of the
other is insignificant. As stated, when the urchins live in proximity to the large sea-
weeds, it is usual to find seaweed almost exclusively in their intestines. It is not uncom-
mon, however, to find a little surface sand, and ina few cases this may form a considerable
part of the total content. Thus from one locality where seaweed was abundant, forty-
five urchins were taken and examined. In twenty of these there was nothing but sea-
weed ; in twenty-two others there was over 95 per cent of seaweed and less than five
per cent of surface sand. In the remaining three the percentage of surface sand was
somewhat larger. Where the large seaweeds are not abundant, yet not scarce, the
urchins usually had about equal quantities of seaweed and surface sand in their diges-
tive tracts. Sometimes, however, urchins were found with practically all seaweed or
all surface sand in their intestines. Even in cases where the urchins were some distance
from the large seaweed, one was occasionally found which had eaten a considerable
amount of seaweed. Such seaweed is, I think, carried to the urchins by the tides after
the waves have torn it from the rocks. In only a few cases was seaweed observed
in the intestines of the urchins which had been dredged in the deeper waters of the
bay. In their case, as in the case of urchins living on rocks devoid of seaweed, the
digestive tract contained chiefly the globular masses of surface sand. Thus there is no
doubt that the sea-urchin is, in chief, a vegetarian, although it does eat carrion at every
opportunity.

These observations agree with what is known concerning the food of sea-urchins
on the British coast. Sea-urchins have long been known to eat seaweed, for in 1838
Sharpey ? observed the two kinds of food, but considered the surface sand merely as the
excrements. He says ‘The Echini (sea-urchins) are generally believed to feed on
mollusca and crustacea, and in corroboration of this, Tiedemann states that he has
found in the Hehinus sexatilis small univalve and bivalve shells entire among the
excrements, besides fragments of larger ones. Blainville, on the other hand, could
never find anything else than sand in the alimentary canal, and he remarks that the
general opinion as to the carnivorous habits of the sea-urchin is probably more of an
inference from the structure of the teeth and jaws than the results of observations ; he,
however, adds that M. Bosc had witnessed an echinus in the act of seizing and devour-
ing a small crustaceous animal. In the intestine of the LZ. esculentus we have usually
found numerous small portions of seaweed, for the most part encrusted with Flustra.
The excrements, which are in the form of small round pellets about the size of pepper-
corns, consist chiefly of sandy matter with fragments of shells, but it would be difficult
to say whether these are the remains of digested mollusca or merely a portion of the
usual testaceous débris so abundant in sand and mud.’ In 1877, F. H. Butler * wrote,
‘The food of the Echinidea consists either of seaweed and small shell-fish and crustaceans,
which are conveyed to the mouth by the pedicels, or, as in the case of the edentulous
forms, of sand and earth containing nutritive materials.’ In 1878, Schmidt + wrote,
‘They are exceedingly inactive, and appear to feed only on the seaweeds and tangs and
the animals found on them.’ Prof. MacBride, of McGill University, I may add, informed
me that my observations agree with what he has observed on the British coast.

In the case of the urchins found on the North American coast, no one, so far as I
could find, has published a detailed account of their food, or has even observed their
two kinds of food. In 1867 Sir William Dawson * published an account of the food
of our urchins. His specimens were obtained at Tadoussac, Que., but must have been
from a locality remote from the large seaweeds for he found nothing but the surface
sand. He writes: ‘I found the intestine full of small round pellets, which proved to
be made up of the minute confervoid sea-weeds that grow on submerged rocks, mixed
with many diatoms and remains of small sponges. It would thus appear that the cur-
ious apparatus of jaws and teeth possessed by this creature is used in a kind of brows-
ing or grazing process, by which it scrapes from the submarine rocks the more minute
seaweeds which cling to them, and forms these into solid balls, which are swallowed,
and in this state passed through the intestinal canal, where they may be found in all
stages of digestion.,.....Though the sea-urchin is thus a vegetarian, yet near the fish-

22a—44h

52 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

ing stations it may often be seen to feed greedily on the garbage of the fisheries, but I
have not known it to attack living animals.’ Verrill ®° among other matters, deals
with the food of this animal, but his specimens must have been dredged or taken from
a part of the coast devoid of sea-weed for he found, like Sir William Dawson, the sur-
face sand. Hesays,on page 406: ‘The common green sea-urchin, Strongylocentrotus
dribachiensis, so very abundant further north, and especially in the Bay of Fundy,
where it occurs in abundance at low water mark, and on rocky bottoms at all depths
down to 110 fathoms, and off St. George’s Bank even down to 450 fathoms, is compara-
tively rare in this region. It feeds partly on diatoms and other small alge, &c., which
it cuts from the rocks with the sharp points of its teeth, but it is also fond of dead fishes,
which are soon devoured, bones and all, by it in the Bay of Fundy. In return it is
swallowed whole in large quantities by the wolf fish and by other large fishes.’ Packard *
found sea-weed, but does not mention the surface sand. He says: ‘It eats sea-
weeds, and is also a scavenger, feeding on dead fish, &c. We have observed great num-
bers of them assembled in large groups, feeding on fish offal, a few fathoms below the
surface, in a harbour on the coast of Labrador, where fishing vessels were anchored.’
Although practically all who have investigated the food, have concluded that the urchins
are herbivorous, there is, seemingly, among zoologists a general belief that they are car-
nivorous. This is probably due to the fact that other groups of Echinoderms are un-
doubtedly carnivorous, and that a dead animal covered with urchins, is of course a very
conspicuous object and readily seen.

Admitting that sea-weed is the principal food of the sea-urchin, it is impossible
that they could destroy enough of it, in any locality, to appreciably diminish the total
quantity unless within a recent period there had been an abnorinal increase of urchins
in such district. Such an increase would be accounted for either by a decrease in the
enemies of the urchins, or by an increase in their food supply. It is known from the
observations of the British Fish Commission that sea-urchins are eaten by many large
fish, but it is probable that the large fish eat the urchins found in deep water and do
not approach those living in shallow water, which are the ones in which we are especi-
ally interested. Schiemenz * reports a case of an urchin being attacked and eaten by
starfish, but such occurrences are rare. Fishermen report that in winter the urchins
are eaten by crows and gulls, but the numbers destroyed in this way must be very
small, because the urchins are uncovered only at spring tides. It cannot be an increase
in the food supply which has caused an increase—if there really is an increase—in the
number of urchins because the sea-weed (their food) is said to be decreasing. Though
urchins, as will be shown, have been abundant on our coast for ages, there might be lim-
ited areas on which, for some unknown reason, there never have been many urchins. If
this is the case and the urchins are now becoming more numerous in such districts, the
increase will soon stop, and a balance between them and the sea-weed, such as is found
on the remainder of the coast, will soon be established.

There are several reasons which lead me to believe that the sea-urchins will never
be able to strip our coast of seaweed, and that if there is a decrease of seaweed in any
district we must look for causes other than sea-urchins. In the first place an equilibrium
between the sea-urchins and the seaweed must have been established some ages ago,
because sea-urchins are among the most numerous of fossil animals and historic records
show that they have always been abundant on our Atlantic coast. Thus Champlain
mentions that urchins were common on Dochet’s Island in 1604. In 1851 Dr. William
Stimpson ° collected on Grand Manan and describes the life on its shores as follows: ‘The
shores of Grand Manan are covered, in many parts, with such numbers of sea-urchins,
that it is impossible to make a step without crushing one or more of them ..........
It would be interesting to ascertain what constitutes the common food of such a multi-
tude of animals. I have seen a barren rock of several rods in extent, covered with
Echini, upon which no other animal, nor any plant could be detected, which might serve
them for food. I should mention, that when a fish is killed by the fisherman and thrown
into the water, it becomes covered with Echini, who soon devour it.’ If Dr. Stimpson
had examined the intestinal contents of these urchins he would, in all probability, have
found globular masses of sand which contained numbers of minute organisms. On
page 716 of the report before mentioned, Verrill ° describes the sea-urchin as ‘ Very

FOOD OF THE SEA-URCHIN 53

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

abundant in the Bay of Fundy, from low water to 109 fathoms, ......... Fossil in
the Post-pliocene of Portland, Maine, U.S. ; New Brunswick, Canada; and Labrador.’
These records show that sea-urchins have been abundant on our coast for many years,
and if they are such enemies of seaweed, the seaweed would, in all likelihood have dis-
appeared before man came to this continent.

In the next place there are only a few districts in which the seaweed is said to be
decreasing. There are now localities where sea-urchins are so numerous that it would
be hard to imagine them more abundant—where they are massed in heaps often obscur-
ing the bottom—and yet in these very places seaweed is equally plentiful, great bunches
being found in all suitable places. Ihave seen boulders covered with seaweed, and yet
in the interspaces between the boulders the bottom was literally carpeted with urchins
whose intestines contained seaweed alone. In case it might be suggested that the
seaweed would svon begin to decrease in these localities, it may be remembered that from
Dr, Stimpson’s description sea-urchins were very abundant on Grand Manan in 1851—
a half century ago—and although they have continued to be so until the preseni time,
Grand Manan is not one of those places where seaweed is said to be decreasing.

In the third place, the sea-urchins do not .live on exactly the same zone of the
beach as the seaweed. The ordinary seaweed is most plentiful between tide-marks,
beginning about half-tide and extending a little below the low tide mark. The sea-
urchins, however, are not found above the low tide mark and are abundant in about ha'f
a fathom. As shown before a sea-urchin might move a considerable distance in the
course of a tide, but as a rule they do not move very far. They certainly do not move
up the beach as far as the seaweed extends, and thus a large part of the seaweed is
really inaccessible to the urchins.

In the last place it must not be forgotten that there are probably nearly as many
urchins living on surface sand as on seaweed. It is quite surprising the difference a few
feet may make in the character of the food of these animals. In one case urchins living
15 feet from boulders covered with seaweed had not eaten any of it. At the same
time other urchins within a yard of the same boulders had plenty of seaweed in their
intestines. As a general statement I would say that any urchin, which at low water is
10 or 15 yards away from seaweed, will be found to have eaten very little of it.

In conclusion it may again be pointed out that sea-urchins can live without the
large fucoid or laminarian seaweeds ; that there are localities now in which sea-urchins
and large seaweeds are both abundant and have been so for years; and that a great
proportion of the seaweed on our coast is really inaccessible to the sea-urchins owing to
their limited means of locomotion. There is no doubt that the myriads of sea-urchins
on our coast do consume an immense quantity of seaweed ina year, but seaweed grows
rapidly and thus its consumption by the urchins has been going on for ages. From the
above considerations we may conclude that there is no danger of sea-urchins denuding
our coast. Although my studies were not made in one of the districts where the seaweed
is said to be decreasing, it seems to me, that if the seaweed really is diminishing we
must look for other causes rather than the sea-urchins for its devastation.

REFERENCES.

} Ganong, W. F., ‘The Echinodermata of New Brunswick,’ Bulletin of the Natural
History Society of New Brunswick, No. VII., p. 12, 1888.

to

Sharpey, W. ‘ Echinodermata.’ Todd’s Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology,
Vol. II., p. 39, London, 1838.

8 Butler, F. H., ‘Echinodermata.’ Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, Vol-
VIT., p. 631, Edinburgh, 1877. :

* Schmidt, Osvar, Brehm’s Thierleben, zweite Auflage, p. 430, Leipzig, 1878.

Dawson, J. W., ‘The Food of the Common Sea-Urchin.’ The American Naturalist,
Vol. L., p. 124, 1867.

wT

54 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

6 Verrill, A. E., ‘Report upon the Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound and the
Adjacent Waters, with an Account of the Physical Characters of
the Region.’ Report of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Wash-
ington, 1874.

Packard, A. S. ‘Zoology.’ Henry Holt & Co., N.Y., p. 199, 1893.

s

Schiemenz, Dr. Paulus, ‘ How do Starfishes open Oysters?’ Translated from the
German by E. J. Allan in Journal of the Marine Biological
Association of the United Kingdom, Vol. IV., (N.S.) p.
366, 1895-97.

Stimpson. W. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. IV., p.
96, 1854.

1-2 EDWARD VII. : SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

VI
THE PAIRED FINS OF THE MACKEREL SHARK

BY PROFKSSOR E. E. PRINCE, Dominion ComMissIoNEr OF FISHERIES,
AND

Dr. A. H. MAcKAY, SUPERINTENDANT OF EDUCATION FOR Nova Scott.
>

Preliminary Nots by the Director, Prof. Prince.

In August, last year, a specimen of the Mackerel Shark (Lamna cornubica, Gmelin)
was brought to the Biological Station, then at St. Andrews, N.B. Dr. A. H. MacKay
was making a short stay at the Station and I suggested to him that the preparation and
study of the skeleton of the paired fins, especially the pectoral fins, would form a compact
subject which could be overtaken without involving labours too prolonged, and would
afford matter of some morphological interest. Dr. MacKay, with much skill, made two
most valuable preparations, and these with the drawings completed at the time, appeared
to me to furnish a basis for a short paper on the subject of the paired piscine limbs.

With Dr. MacKay’s consent I have combined his work and my own further studies
on his preparations and drawings, and it is necessary only to add that apart from the
general conclusions usually favoured by comparative anatomists to-day, the responsibility
rests upon me for the interpretation of the skeletal elements set forth in the following
brief report.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

The pectoral fins of Lamna cornubica are remarkable, even amongst the sharks, for
their great development and powerful muscular and skeletal characters. Instead of the
somewhat regular triangular form of fin as seen in Squalus (Acanthias), in Catulus
(Seyllium), in Seymnus, or even in Notidanus, we find that while the fin is broad in
transverse width, it is greatly deepened in longitudinal extent, and presents a prolonged
lobate expanse, hanging far below the ventral contour of the trunk, and showing a cor-
respondingly strengthened, and expanded cartilaginous support. In its elongated
expanded character it recalls the pectoral limbs of the monstrous Selache maxima, or
Carcharinus lamia. Lammna, like its congeners, is a surface swimmer, and its breast
fins are in keeping with its pelagic mode of life.

On examining the skeleton of the pectoral fins as figured in Plates V and VI we find
three regions defined, viz., a basal portion articulating, for the most part, with the
shoulder girdle ; a radial portion, made up of a series of jointed rods; and a marginal
portion consisting of thickly massed horny fibres. The basal portion thus composed of
a small number of cartilaginous elements, forms the basipterygium, the morphological
nature of which has aroused much controversy. There is, however, a general agree-
ment as to its constitution. As the late Professor Rolleston said,* ‘the fore-limb consists
typically in Elasmobranchii of three basal cartilages,—pro-, meso-, and meta-ptery-
gium, articulating each with a facet on the shoulder-girdle: of one or two outer rows of
cartilaginous rods known as radialia, followed by horny fin-rays.’ Ontogenetically these
basal elements and outer cartilaginous rods arise as a large flattened plate which breaks
up into the series of cartilages found in the fin of the adult fish. From the phylogenetic

* Forms of Animal Life, 2nd Ed. Oxford 1888, p. 416.

5D

56 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VIl., A. 1902

point of view it is hardly necessary to point out that very diverse views are held
respecting the significance of these cartilages and the process by which they assumed
their present form and arrangement. Indeed, as Professor Wiedersheim has said,+ “ No
other morphological problem has given rise, during the last twenty years, to such exten-
sive researches, and to such varied solutions as the question of the origin of the paired
limbs. Two very opposite views exist. According to one of these (Gegenbaur’s view)
the proximal parts of the extremities, that is, the pectoral and pelvic arches, are regarded
as being derived from branchial arches, and the distal or free portions as metamorphosed
finrays. . . . . According to the other view (that of Dohrn), the origin of the paired
limbs has nothing to do with the visceral skeleton : but, like the latter, they are to be
looked upon as the localized remains in definite regions of the body (thoracic and pelvic
regions) of a series of cartilaginous bars extending originally along the whole trunk, and
having a metameric arrangement. In other words, just as each body-segment of an
Annulate may be looked upon as being provided with a pair of limbs, so also was each
primitive segment of the Vertebrate body ; recent researches seem to support this.’
Professor Huxley adopted Gegenbaur’s theory, though with grave modifications, and
the theory of Dr. Anton Dohrn has been considerably transformed by the researches
and suggestions of Mivart, F. M. Balfour, and J. K. Thatcher. Whatever be the mode
of origin of the limbs of fishes they present in Plagiostomes, the Holocephali, and other
primitive forms, certain structural features in common, and in most of them the tripartite
nature of the basal cartilages is clearly seen. One or more may abortor may be shifted
from direct articulation with the pectoral bar; but one (according to Gegenbaur the
metapterygium ; according to Huxley the mesopterygium) is constant, and through it
the theoretical axial line of the limb must be drawn. It is clear that an element of
uncertainty must often attach to the determination of these basal cartilages, but the
same is true of even s»9 familiar an extremity as the frog’s manus, for the middle
element of the proximal row of ossa carpalia is named by Ecker the os Junatwm, whereas
Duges did not hesitate to pronounce it the os naviculare.

But, as already stated, there is a uniformity in the basal elements present in these
primitive forms of the locomotor limb, and the comparison of a large number of diverse
types, illustrated in the existing species of Plagiostomes, Ganoids, &c., affords a guide
to their accurate interpretation.

SKELETON OF THE FIN.

The fin of Zamna is in many respects peculiarly interesting. On comparing the
number, form and disposition of the skeletal elements, with those seen in the fins of
other primitive types of fishes, we observe a number of noteworthy morphological
fea ures. In the first place the basal pieces (Plate V., fig. 1, pro. mesop. metap.) are not
lengthened and expanded as in Acanthias (Plate VII., fig. 4) or Scyllium (Plate VIL.,
fig. 3) but form a row of compact shortened elements, of which the metapterygium
(metap.) alone is somewhat elongated, though in the lateral direction, not in the longi-
tudinal as seen in the fins of the species just referred to. Now the whole fin expansion
is enormously lengthened longitudinally, and this shortening in the length of the basal
pieces results in the exaggerated enlargement of the remaining part of the cartilaginous
skeleton. The rows of jointed rays, whose extent is so much reduced in Acanthias, in
Heptanchus (Plate VIL., fig. 5) though so primitive a form, and in Chimaera and Polyodon
(Plate VIL., figs. 6 and 8) are in Lamna so long and cover transversely so large a space
that they are almost coterminous with the entire outer limits of this extensive lobate
paddle. Upon the outer portions of the cartilaginous expanse the thick provision of
slender horny rays forms a dense thatch, and extends only for ashort distance beyond
the distal margin of the radial elements (Plates V. and VL,, figs. 1 and 2,h.). Fully seven-
eighths of the fin-expansion are occupied by these jointed rays, the basal plates covering
less than one-eighth of the surface of the fin, though in most Selachian fins, they cover
proportionally three or four times that area. There has been reduction in the length of

+ Elements of the Comp. Anat. of Vertebrates, trans. by W. N. Parker, London, 1866, p. 86.

PAIRED FINS OF THE MACKEREL SHARK 57

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

the basipterygial cartilages no doubt, but the disproportion is due no less to the large
development of tha long cartilaginous rays.

The cartilaginous fin-plate, as stated on a prior page, breaks up distally into rod-like
rays which by subsequent dichotomous division become extremely long and slender in
Zamna. At least six rays in the fin of the right side (Plate VI., fig. 2) have undergone
partial dichotomy distally, and in the left fin (Plate V., fig. 1) two rays show each at their
outer end a division into three, but the division extends merely for a short distance.

The stout cylindrical piece at the upper anterior margin of the fin is the proptery-
gium. It has a conical nodular form, the apex being segmented into two or more distal
elements, recalling the condition in Acanthias (Plate VII, fig. 4), and it articulates with
the pectoral arch by a concave facet, being held in place by strands of dense fibrous
tissue. The small rod-like cartilage on the outer margin of the propterygium (Plate VI.,
fig. 2a) is probably merely a migrating rudimentary ray, (in the left fin this rod consists
of three segments, (Plate VI., fig. 1a) the rays pushing their way in many species into the
basal series and, as in Torpedo and 7’rygon, separating the propterygium and the mesop-
terygium, or, as in Raia, separating the mesopterygium and the metapterygium(Plate VIL,
fig. 9). Two such secondary basalia are present in Myliobates, leading some anatomists
to regard the mesopterygium as split into two. Closely articulating with the proptery-
gium is the somewhat regular quadrate mesopterygium (mesop.), a flattened plate of
cartilage in contrast to the stout cylindrical form of its more external neighbour (pro.)
This flat plate articulates by its two shorter opposite sides, on the one hand with the
propterygium, and on the other with the metapterygium (Plates V. and VL., figs. 1 and 2).
To its outer margin six fin-rays may be attached, the first joints being irregular nodules
with which more is distally articulated in the right fin one larger cartilage, in shape like
an inverted L, and formed by the confluence of two rays at their base. Irregularity in the
division of the proximal portion of the first two mesopterygial rays is frequent, as in
Acanthias (Plate VII, fig. 4) and in Cestracion (Plate VII, fig. 7).

In almost all the forms of pectoral fin referred to in this paper the metapterygium
(metap.) presents the character of a large elongated plate articulating with the mesop-
terygium (mesop.) by its anterior margin, and at its other extremity bearing a series of
irregular basal elements. If these nodules in Zamna. one of which has the form
rather of a flattened obquadrate plate, be simply parts segmented off from the metaptery-
gium, they would correspond to the two pieces shown in Wiedersheim’s figure of the fin
of Heptanchus (Plate VII., fig. 5 x. y.). There is more reason, however, to regard the four
nodules (m.m.m.m.) at any rate as the detached proximal joints of the six adjacent rays
like the similar nodules at the anterior end of the mesopterygium (Plate VI, fig. 2 n. 7.).
The intruding triangular fragment of cartilage (o0.) may indeed be a fifth displaced
nodule of the series and the oblong bit (m.) on the left of the series may represent two
such coalesced terminal nodules. There is every reason to regard the three elements
(metap. o. and q.) as metapterygial, and the metapterygium thus bears a total of no less than
twenty-two fin-rays, the mesopterygium carries only six, and the propterygium one or, at
the most, two rays. The distal termination of the 19th (or it may be the 20th) ray
(Plate VI., fig. 2) shows a peculiar bifurcation, so that it ends not in one or two digiti-
form points but in no less than four, three of them distinctly dactyliform. The nodule
marked Z may be the displaced terminal segment of 19, as 18 may be the similar
displaced piece fro._ the 18th ray. The remaining eleven rays are all markedly digiti-
form excepting the 25th, 26th, 27th and 30th, which have no terminal acuminate
nodule such as the others possess. Similar distal segments are seen in the fin-rays of
Scyllium, Heptanchus and Chimera (Pl. VILI., figs. 3, 5 and 6), though the reduction in
the cartilaginous skeleton of the fin of Scylliwm is such that the hexagonal, or rather,
somewhat geometrical polygonal nodules, around the margin of the series of rays, may
represent not the digitiform elements of Zamna or Chimera, but the last two segments.
The segmentation of the rays in Zamna is not wholly regular, though three rod-like por-
tions are segmented off in most, and there is, on the whole, a regular uniformity in this
feature. Some rays exhibit an additional terminal nodule, and a number exhibit partial
longitudinal and false transverse segmentation. The small cartilaginous rod lying just
outside the propterygium in the right fin(Pl. VI., fig. 2, a.) and the pair of two-jointed

rods occupying a parallel position in the left fin (PI. V., fig. 1, a.) are, as already indicated

58 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VIl., A. 1902

probably migrating rays moving up towards the girdle. ‘In the effectual discharge of
the function of the fish’s fin, increase of breadth is needed: and this increase of surface
is obtained by the gradual approximation of more and more lateral elements of the
archipterygium to the shoulder-girdle* was a characteristically apt observation of the
late Professor Huxley.’

This brief description of the pectoral fins of Zamna, and the comparison made:
between its skeletal structure, and that of certain other primitive fins of morphological
interest, it need hardly be pointed out, amply substantiates the point urged at the com-
mencement of this paper, viz :-—the modification of the basal and radial cartilages for
the purpose of increasing the breadth and depth of the fin, and thus increasing the pro-
pelling capabilities of the limb. The shortening in longitudinal direction of the
basipterygium and its increase in compactness and strength, is accompanied by an
extraordinary lengthening of the free part of the fin, the slender cartilaginous rays being,
as before pointed out, remarkably long.

Many interesting theoretical suggestions arise in the study of such a pectoral fin as
that of Zamna, but the limits of this report preclude any generalizations involving
lengthy references to the extensive existing literature, English and foreign, upon the mor-
phology of the paired fins in fishes.

* Huxley ‘‘on Ceratodus forsteri” Proc. Zool. Soc., Jan., 1876, p. 55.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES,

PLATE V.

Fig. 1. Left pectoral fin of Zamna cornubica with muscles and integument removed. About one«
third natural size.

PLATE VI.

Fic. 2. Right pectoral fin of Lamna cornubica. About one-third natural size.

PLATE VII.

Fic. 3. Right pectoral fin of Scyl/ium after A. Milnes Marshall.

Fic. 4. " " Acanthias after Gegenbaur.

Fig. 5. " Heptanchus after Wiedersheim.

Fic. 6. " Chimera after Bashford Dean.

Fic. 7. " " Cestracion after Huxley.

Fic. 8. " " Polyodon after Huxley.

Fic. 9 " Raia radiata after A. T. Masterman.

. "
Pro. Propterygium.
Mesop. Mesopterygium.
Metap. Metapterygium.
a. Displaced anterior ray.
h. Horny fin-fibres.
m.”. 0. Probable separated nodules of adjacent rays.
Probable separated nodule from ray termination.
y. Main fin-ray of Metapterygium (according to Wiedersheim).

Plate V.

Plate VI.

PlateVI .

<=

== =
— = = =— as
==}

1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a A. 1902

VI

REPORT ON THE SARDINE INDUSTRY IN RELATION TO
THE CANADIAN HERRING FISHERIES,

BY B. ARTHUR BENSLEY, B.A, &., LATE FELLOW IN BIOLOGY.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, AND OF THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
NEW YORK, U.S.A.

The present investigation was undertaken at the suggestion of the Director of the
Marine Biological Station of Canada, Professor Prince, Dominion Commissioner of
Fisheries, the purpose in view being to determine whether or not the noticeable decline
in the herring fisheries of the Bay of Fundy, and the western Nova Scotia coast, is
attributable to the operation of the so-called sardine weirs, or brush traps, especially off
the New Brunswick shores. In these weirs, which are really wicker-work inclosures,
vast numbers of young fish, largely belonging to the Family Clupeide, are annually
captured. Between seven and eight hundred of these traps are fished every season
under licenses issued by the Dominion Government, and on some of the West Isles off
Passamaquoddy Bay limited parts of the shore are thickly studded with these fish-weirs.
It is alleged by fishermen in the waters further north, especially in St. John County,
N.B., that there has been a serious decrease in the supply of full-grown herring, indeed
that certain schools, which provided important fisheries in former years, have totally
disappeared. In Digby County, N.S., a similar allegation is made. ‘How can you
expect the herring in the upper part of the Bay of Fundy and in the Annapolis Basin
and St. Mary’s Bay to continue plentiful, if they are destroyed and exterminated in the
New Brunswick sardine weirs before reaching maturity ?’ wrote a prominent authority
in Nova Scotia not long ago. Professor Prince in a special report to the Honourable
the Minister of Marine and Fisheries in 1895 referred to this alleged injury in the follow-
ing terms (28th Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, pp. xxxi.
and xxxii.) :—

‘It is doubtful whether any fishery can withstand for long so serious a drain upon
immature individuals. No doubt the’hardy nature of the herring’s eggs and fry help to
keep up the numbers ; but other species of fish in the sea would succumb were specimens
that had never spawned captured in such vast quantities. All efforts to diminish the
supply of herring here, as in Great Britain, have had apparently little effect. Some
authorities have explained the non-appearance of the large winter herring in the Bay of
Fundy, as for example in 1891, by the continued destruction of small fish for sardine
purposes. The run of sardines also has shown at times a very marked diminution, but
not more tian may be attributed to the ordinary fluctuations of such a fishery. Indeed,
it is a striking fact that in the years ]890-91 these small fishes were more abundant
than they had been for twenty years previously.

It cannot, therefore, be said that the capture annually of vast quantities of immature
fish has had any serious effects. The possibility is suggested that a considerable propor-
tion of these small fishes may belong to other Clupeoids, though this is contrary to the
common opinion of those engaged in the sardine industry.

It is stil! an open question, therefore, whether this destruction, on a large and
increasing scale is or is not calculated ultimately to endanger the supply of large herring.
If schools of young are killed off before they have reached the spawning age, the general
. catch of the future must ere long be affected.’

22a—5 59

60 MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VIL. A. 1902

The matter is one of great importance, as, on the one hand, the so-called ‘ sardine’
fishermen, who form a considerable body on the Charlotte County shores, derive a large
part of their income from the weir returns, and, it may be added, the United States
sardine industry centred at Eastport and Lubeck, in the State of Maine, but also carried
on at Milibridge, Jonesport and Machiasport, depends largely upon supplies of fish from
the Canadian fishermen. As Professor Prince, in his report referred to above, says (pp.
xxvi. and xxvii.): ‘The United States canneries could not carry on their operations for
a single day but for the ample supplies of fish obtained from our waters, and the sardine
industry, so far as our fishermen are concerned, is confined to the capture of the fresh
fish and their disposal to the Maine canneries. At least ninety-five per cent of the
so-called United States sardines are caught by our fishermen on Canadian shores, and
these are, for the most part, packed in Eastport, Lubeck and other small towns in the
State of Maine. ’

Of such importance is the supply of these small fishes that a large proportion of the
population on the Maine coast, as well as the body of Canadian fishermen who pursue
their calling amongst the islands of the Bay of Fundy and neighbouring waters, may be
said to be largely dependent upon the sardine industry. A failure in the supply of these
fishes would mean disaster to those engaged in cleaning, curing and packing, and who
have capital invested in the canneries, and would, without doubt, seriously affect the
Canadian fishermen who find lucrative employment in the capture of the sardines. That
the small fish, known as sardines in these waters, were abundant on the shores of
Charlotte County, N.B., was long known to our fishermen, but their value was not
appreciated, and the only use to which they were turned was that of conversion into
manure for the purpose of fertilizing the land. . :

On the other hand a considerable number of N.B. and N.S. fishermen claim that
they have suffered injury from this alleged capture of small fish, and as the matter had
never been systematically looked into, it was my object to examine as far as possible the
catches from certain weirs, and to ascertain what species of fish were really captured for
the purposes of the sardine canning industry.

With this end in view, it was desirable to ascertain, in the first place, the character
of the fish used as sardines, and, in the second, the extent to which these and other
clupeoid fishes are affected by the operation of the brush weirs. Accordingly samples
of the catch were obtained from fishermen in charge of the weirs, at different times
during the month of August, and under different conditions. All of the fish examined
were taken from weirs in the immediate vicinity of the Canadian Marine Station
then located at St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Below is given a summary of the results
obtained.

On August 1 an average series of 31 specimens from Malloch’s weir, off Indian
Point showed the following composition :—

ess | No. of :
2C:1eS8 | = % i
Species. Specimens. Size (length)
inches
Clupea harengus, Li. (Common herring)... ..:....... 0 -2-----0ssee +++ ee eee 29 54—7
Pomolobus pscudoharengus, Wilson (Alewife). . 6. 2.2... 605 cece ee wees 1 84
Microgadus tomcod, Walbaum? (Tom-cod, Frost-fish) ................ Aba 1 11

The query placed opposite the Tom-cod indicates that in certain important diagnostic
features this specimen did not correspond with the description of Microgadus tom-cod in
Professor D. 8. Jordan’s Manual of the Vertebrate Animals of the Northern United
States, 5th edition, Chicago, in respect, for example, to the number of rays in the three

SARDINE INDUSTRY IN RELATION TO CANADIAN HERRING FISHERIES 61

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a

divisions of the dorsal fin (14-20-20) and in the relation of the eye to the head (6) as
given in the work mentioned (p. 163).
On August 4 a lot of 286 specimens from Quinn’s weir was made up as follows :—

Species. of Size.

MEME EOPOTIFUS roma Mts ic WSs eis = sabtele Rt s(on Sinan oie 'e winrar 285 | 263, 5—7 in. ; 22, 8—94 in.

Mlemer Us MOMUIEE WELCGIALL «..'5 ccc oan ee + et eeatineecne ose 1 | 10 in.
|

On August 5 a sample was received from Miller’s weir on the south side of Navy
Island near St. Andrews, the fishermen having been instructed to bring specimens of
all of the varieties of fish taken. This lot was made up as follows :—

Number
Species. of Size.
Specimens.
Melanogrammus aeglefinus, L. (Common haddock)........... 1 1lin
AEROS HOLST IE- COMI ALD: 5 5 sie ic,c. sinless ois vie. Leas ee ae sidlae 1 13 in.
MEET ESCTURE SMIALCHIL oie tock 2. sie hale wanas ieee Sees 2 10—12 in.
Pear Erne eb) (OCHS ico oe coves ona ge casas ease ees 2 11—18 in.
Pollachius virens, L. (Pollack)......... Pe pe Sh nea ay ee 4 8—1lin.
PI ESIUEEIBA RENNES Ie eens lore sig cs wc. 2c wo, Pas oie ole t aleve ew ale dye 179 | 3, 11—12 in.; 176, 43-7 in.

On August 9 a small sample of the catch, consisting of five fish, was received from
Malloch’s weir, as follows :—

; | Number
Species. of Size.
| Specimens. |
waomber scomor1s,(WEaeKerel) ., 2.0. ads enc adeccteseecsseas 1 14 in.
PUMEMEEIEST othe a icy atte. ome ea as Boke bee eaasen une et 2 7#5—8} in.
Pomolobus pBeudoharengus. .... 2.0... cece cccccecccceccctuvese 1 82 in
BD bes i) SPN tcntl Re Seeks | 1 10 in.

I may remark that the specimens marked witha ‘?’ corresponded to the description
of C. aestivalis in Jordan’s Manual, 5th ed., p. 72, except in the relation of the head to
the length ; (Head 4), a detail probably subject to no little variation.

_ On August 14 seven especially large specimens of C. harengus were received from
Quinn’s weir. These ranged from 11 to 14 inches in length, and on dissection I found
that the ova in the females were almost mature.

MARINE AND FISHERIES

1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902

On August 15 a sample. was received from Malloch’s weir which had been taken
on a ni:ht tide. This was made up entirely of C. harengus, of which there were 211
ranging in size from 5 to 7 inches, and four ranging from 8 to 10 inches.

On August 26 a small selection consisting of five fish was received from Malloch’s
weir, composed as follows :—

: No. of 13
Species. Specimens. Size.
inches.
Glagnen sp: 2: Gemeente ees = 2 evo vin’ : 3 83—93
Pomolobus pseudoharengus, Wilson..........- 2-2-2 see eee ces cree eee af 9
Rhombus triacanthus, Peck (Dollar-fish)............. NN So Terese arb oes i 5?

It is apparent from the above facts, limited though they undoubtedly were, that
the bulk of the catch of the brush weirs consist of the 5 to 7 inch young of the common
herring (Clupea harengus), and that these provide the material for the sardine industry.
The young of other clupeoid fishes do not appear to be affected, if one may judge by the
average selections sent to the Biological Station, by the operation of the weirs and the
adults of all only slightly. Further study is necessary, however, before a final decisien
could be finally rendered on this point, as there may be a variation in different seasons.
A more lengthy investigation extending over several seasons would be more conclusive.
As noticed above, all the specimens examined were taken in the immediate vicinity of
St. Andrews and during the month of August alone, and it may be possible, therefore,
that the character of the catch may vary considerably at different points on the coast
and at different periods of the sardine season. It is clear, in the case of the common
herring, that the removal of such enormous numbers of the young in the sardine industry
must be a very considerable drain on the supply however rapid the rate of increase may
be. Whether this is the essential factor in the decline of the herring fishery alleged to
have occurred in certain parts of the Bay of Fundy must remain doubtful, however, until
adequate causes of decline can be assigned in the case of other clupeoid fishes.

An impression is stated to have, at one time, prevailed that the small fish used as
sardines, are not the young of any larger species, but a diminutive kind of herring,
which never exceeds a size of nine or ten inches.

The true sardine has, of course, never yet been recorded on our Atlantic coast,
the so-called sardine in Florida being really an Atherine or kind of ‘Silversides’
scientifically known as Atherina stipes (laticeps). On, thé Pacific coast, moreover a small
Clupeoid occurs, viz. : Clupangdon caeruleus, Girard; usually known as the Californian
sardine. The anchovy (Engraulis mordax, Girard) also occurs and is canned in the
United States under the name of sardine ; but in British Columbia neither of these fishes
has been turned to commercial account.

The growth of the Maine sardine industry has been remarkable especially in view
of the fact that the major part of the raw material comes from our Canadian waters.
From 1875 to 1880 it is stated (C. H. Stevenson, Bullet. U.S. Fish Commiss. XVIIL,
1898, p. 526) that there were only five sardine canneries in Maine; but in 1880 the
number rose to eighteen. In 1886 twenty-seven more establishments began operations.
This number (45) fell in 1889 to thirty-seven ; but in 1892 increased to forty-six, while
in 1898 there were no less than sixty-two of these canneries putting up so-called
sardines. ‘The average value is stated by Mr. Stevenson, in the report above referred to,
as $2,000,000 per annum ; but in 1898 the value rose to $2,727,781, and in 1899 the
New York Vishing Gazette estimated it to be not less than $3,000,000, the factories
being chiefly confined to the towns of Eastport and Lubeck, which practically maintain
their existence as flourishing business centres through this one industry.

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