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60TH Coneress, | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. i REPORT
Ist Session. No. 1055.

TO ESTABLISH A BIOLOGICAL STATION IN THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY IN THE STATE OF IOWA.

Fesruary 22, 1908.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state
of the Union and ordered to be printed.

}

Mr. Wriison, of Illinois, from the Committee on the Merchant Marine
and Fisheries, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 13659. ]

The Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to whom
was referred the bill (H. R. 18659) to establish a biological and fish-
cultural station in the Second Congressional district of the State of
lowa, having considered the same, respectfully report with the recom-
mendation that it do pass with the following amendments, to wit:

Amend the title of the bill so as to read: ‘*A bill to establish a
biological station in the Upper Mississippi River Valley in the State
of Iowa.”

Strike out all after the enacting clause and in lieu thereof insert the
following:

That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized and directed to
establish and equip a biological station for the propagation of fresh-water mussels
in the Upper Mississippi River V alley in the State of Iowa, at some suitable point in
said State to be selected by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor: the cost of estab-
lishing the same, including purchase of site, construction of buildings and ponds,
and equipment, not to exceed the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars:

The purpose of this bill is to make possible the perpetuation of the
supply of raw material for the growing American industry of manu-
facturing pearl buttons from the shells of fresh-water mussels and the
industries collateral to it. By reason of the growth and development
of this industry the supply of mussel shells is threatened with exhaus-
tion. By establishing the station proposed in this bill it is believed
that the question of artificial propagation will be completely solved,
and that the supply of these shells will be perpetuated by propagation
which can henceforth be carried on without material additional expense
to the Government.

In the last session of Congress an additional appropriation of money
for scientific investigation under the United States Fish Commission

SIT SLT
rusASs

‘ 2 190 8

Y BIOLOGICAL STATION, UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY, IOWA.

was granted for the purpose of making an investigation of the fresh-
water mussels of the United States in their relation to the pearl-button
industry. This investigation was ordered by the Secretary of Com-
merce and Labor on a showing made to him that this American indus-
try of manufacturing pearl buttons from the shells of fresh-water
mussels had grown to considerable proportions during the past few
years, and that the rapidity with which these shells were being taken
from the streams of the United States threatened the extinction of these
mussels, thereby cutting off the source of the raw material for this
industry and the consequent doom of the industry. It was found that
comparatively little knowledge had been obtained by scientists and
investigators regarding the life history of our fresh-water mussels,
and so a commission was created under the supervision of Prof. Paul
Bartsch, an eminent biological authority. This commission made an
examination of many of the principal streams of the country where the
fresh-water mussels abound, and secured much valuable information on
the subject. The work of this commission has been carried forward
by Professors Lefevre and Curtis, of the University of Missouri, who,
by the way, have been conducting these investigations without com-
pensation. They have determined the mode of development of fresh-
water mussels, and it has been found to differ from what occurs in
any of their marine relatives. This difference lies in the fact that the
embryo lives for a time as a parasite upon fresh-water fishes and can
only develop in this parasitic condition.

With this fact established, careful experiments have been made in
inoculating fishes with these embryo clams. These experiments have
been conducted by Professors Lefevre and Curtis, and the results
thereof indicate that the infection of fishes on a large scale is entirely
possible, and that there is ample reason to believe in the success of
such work in building up the supply of mussels. ;

It is clearly pointed out that the steady decline of the beds demands
some such remedial measures if the supply is to be maintained for
more than a very few years. There are still many fundamental scien-
tific facts relating to the subject which are yet to be determined. For
example, we do not know the exact breeding seasons of any one of the
button mussels. We do not know what fish are best adapted to carry-
ing the glochidia of each species, nor what are the best methods for
work on a large scale. ‘These facts can be ascertained if proper facili-
ties for work are provided, and they must be ascertained before the
process of artificial propagation can be established on a sound basis;
but since many of them can only be learned by the actual experience
of attempting artificial propagation on a large scale the investigation
and the propagation must go hand in hand. To carry on such work
properly, there is necessary a station, properly equipped, for the whole-
sale collecting and transporting of fish and mussels to the tanks and
ponds of the station, where the infections are to be performed. In this
way there could be liberated hundreds of thousands of fishes loaded with
these embryo clams, and thus sow these clams broadcast in our rivers.
It may be added that this process of propagation is in no way harmful
to the fish.

The establishment of such a station as is provided for in this bill is
recommended by the United States Commissioner of Fisheries.

The following statement of the principal facts in the life history of
our fresh-water mussels and the means proposed for increasing the

) (re >”

BIOLOGICAL STATION, UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY, Iowa. 38

supply was written by Professors Lefevre and Curtis, who have been
and are now conducting experiments under the direction of the U nited
States Fish Commission. ‘This statement is made a part of the report

-/ and will be found most interesting.

The fresh-water clams or mussels of the United States and similar forms from
other parts of the world exhibit a mode of development which differs from what
occurs in any of their marine relatives. This difference lies in the fact that the
embryo lives for a time as a parasite upon the gills or fins of fresh-water fishes, and
can only develop in this parasitic condition, the life history being, briefly, as follows:
The eggs of the female clam are fertilized by the sperm of the male, which enters the
body of the female in the water current that brings theclamitsfood. These eggs begin
development within the female, where they are contained in sacks formed by the
animal’s gill. Development proceeds as far as a stage known as the glochidium
(Pl. ia), which has the two halves of a miniature shell and looks much like a gaping
clam shell, but which has none of the internal organs necessary for the life which
the adult clam leads in the mud of the bottom.

The glochidia are shed out of the parent as they become ripe and they fall to the
bottom, where, having no power of locomotion, they remain motionless unless washed
about by the currents. Experiments prove that they will die before many days
when leit in this condition. If, however, the glochidium chances to come in contact
with the fins or gills of a fish, which brushes against the silt of the bottom, it fastens
itself, and within twenty-four hours has caused the skin of the fish to grow over it,
so that the young mussel is completely imbedded within the living tissue of the fish.
In this condition it rests securely, receiving its food from the blood of its host, and
leading a truly parasitic existence. for some months. During this period the glo-
chidium changes until all the organs of the adult are developed, though it has not
increased in size. At the end of its parasitic existence, when the organs are fully
formed, the young clam effects the tissue of the fish in such a way that the skin opens
and the young clam drops to the bottom, where it begins the life which it will lead
throughout the remainder of its existence.

The attachment to a fish is entirely a matter of chance, but where mussels and fish
are abundant it must often occur under natural conditions, as is seen from the exami-
nation of fish taken in nature. Still the fishes thus infected will almost never be
found carrying as many of the parasites as they can without serious injury. If the
fish are taken and placed in a tub or bucket of water containing large numbers of
glochidia, which have been obtained from removing them from the ripe mussel, it is
possible to cause the attachment of hundreds of the parasites for every one that
would be found there by the chance of nature. A fish under 6 inches in length may
thus be made to carry several hundred glochidia, and thus a thousand fish artificially
infected may do the work of several hundred thousand in a state of nature.

Experiments with small numbers of fish under observation in the laboratory
indicate that their infection on a large scale is entirely possible, and the experiment
now in progress at La Crosse, in which over 25,000 young fish have thus been infected,
gives every indication that such work may be begun even with the scanty knowledge
we now possess.

While there is ample reason to believe in the eventual success of such work in
keeping up the supply of mussels, and while the steady decline of the beds demands
some such remedial measures, if the supply is to be maintained for more than a very
few years, we are not yet in a position to proceed safely with this work, because we are
still ignorant of many fundamental scientific facts. For example, we do not know the
exact breeding seasons of any one of the button mussels. We do not know what
fish are best adapted to carrying the glochidia of each species, nor what are the best
methods for work on a large scale. These facts can be ascertained if proper facilities
for work are provided, and they must be ascertained before the process of artificial
propagation can be established on a sound basis. But since many of them can only
be learned by the actual experience of attempting artificial propagation on a large
scale, the investigation and propagation must go hand in hand. ‘To carry on such
work properly, there is necessary a station properly equipped with boats and a
steamer for the wholesale collecting and transporting of fish and mussels alive to
the tanks and ponds of the station where the infection could be performed.

Nature is prodigal with the supply of glochidia, but so great is the chance against any
ever fastening themselves upon the fish and against any ever dropping from the fish
to a place on the bottom where they can succeed in the struggle for life that, with
the added destruction of hundreds of millions of shells each year for commercial
purposes, we may easily exterminate before many years the forms upon which the
button industry depends. If we can discover the places in the life history where the

4 BIOLOGICAL STATION, UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY, IOWA.

waste is greatest and aid the species at those critical stages, there is every reason to
hope that the supply of mussels can be made to equal if not surpass the numbers
existing when the first button was cut.

Legislation against fishing must also be made use of as soon as we know enough of
the habits and breeding seasons to propose measures that are likely to be a real pro-
tection. Until then all such laws should be discouraged, however strong may be the
wishes of the manufacturers or others to preserve any local supply. Weare as likely
to do harm as good in the making of such laws without adequate knowledge, and the
revision of bad laws would probably be more difficult than the passage of new ones.

In conclusion, we may say that the parasitism on the fish makes the propagation
of mussels go hand in hand with the propagation of our fresh-water fishes, since the
fish is in no wise injured by the presence of the parasites. When we liberate a hun-
dred fish each loaded with its hundreds of glochidia we not only sow the clams
broadcast on the bottom, but we are also distributing fish which, when their work
for the clams is done, are just as useful as though they had never known such an
experience. Wholesale infection gives every promise of success, but the means
must be provided at once for work on a large scale, and unless something radical is
soon accomplished the making of buttons from our fresh-water shells is doomed.

As indicating the size of the pearl button industry in the United
States and the large number of wage-earners engaged in such manu-
facture, the following table, taken from the report of the Census of
Manufacturers for 1905, gives a comparative summary of the industry
by States for the years 1905 and 1900:

Comparative summary—Fresh-water pearl buttons and button blanks, by States: 1905

and 1900.
ey ; a |
re | Sela Wage-earners
Z A| he 2 and wages. Miacel
| 2 | ‘ scel-
lc Ho | Rese Cost of
“ |Cen-|/0%! a. - laneous| __~ 2 Value of
State. are, [ratell Capital. = ayer a materials products.
24) 5 | boo enced used.
"a: | 2 . | SQ Pp SENT
=o q |Salaries.| &'s Wages.
= i} eS
Zz & 2g |
Ls | |
385 |$276, 491 5, 085 |$1, 621, 669 |$319, 593 |$1, 911,187 |! $4, 926, 458

United States | 1905 |150 $3, 234,379
| 1900 /122 | 1,109,572 | 117 | 85,646 | 3,574 | 1,147,252 | 89,414 940, 838 | 2,766, 053

Elimoigh=: 22020! 1905 | 13]. 148,313] 16| 8,580| 259 95,486 | 14,280 54, 353 209, 500
| 1900 | 30 37,648 | 10 | 6.172) 987 85,071 | 2,616 | 42,332 181, 704
Indiana?....... 1905 | 3 67,901 | 4| 3,460| 139 39,459 | 4.035 | 14,042 69, 068
Toman eeence wee 1905 | 51 | 1,173,866 | 116 | 74,685 | 1,936 | 653,520 | 92,530 | 533,917 | 1,500,945
1900 | 50 | '314,685 | 38] 24,756 | 1,385 | 438,168 | 36,853 | 185,257 822, 478

Massachusetts3.| 1900 | 3 270,597 , 10} 19,200 388 141,200 ; 12,783 72, 188 | 304, 400

Missouri .....-- 1905 | 8| 126,968] 16] 5,671 | 180 55,3141 7,588 34,135 | 136, 994
1900 | 8 26,995 | 1 300 64 17, 821 962 12,525 | 34, 529
New Jersey ....| 1905 | 11 | 273,215 | 22] 29,584] 330| 140,311] 36,491 | 199,114} 480,765
1900 | 11 77,550! 9| 9,500} 1938 75,679 | 4,323 | 129,569) 310,954
New York...... 1905 | 27 | 904,447 | 163 | 122,300 | 1,461 | 406,837 | 96,952 | 818,679 | 1,844, 432
1900/15] 155,834 | 28] 16,613) 906| 254,027| 19,355| 366,040] 771,482
Ohiopeese ee 1905 | 3 59,008 | 5| 2,539 66 16,224] 4,002 23,796 50, 216

1900 | 3 48, 120 6 4, 086 66 17,188 5, 487 19, 962 56, 008
Pennsylvania..| 1905 | 8 303, 880 | 25] 19,826 397 117,568 | 47,020 135,019 | 333, 732
1900 | 6 110, 299 4 2, 424 223 73, 247 3, 875 87,697 | 193, 823

Wisconsin ..... 1905 | 17 113,340 | 11 5, 420 187 58,700 | 10,510 58, 064 164, 229
1900 | 9 34, 499 4 1, 425 96 32, 108 1, 830 18,751 | 63, 125

All other States|#1905 | 9 63, 491 7 4,476 130 38, 250 6, 185 40, 068 | 136, 577
51900 | 7 6 1,170 66 12,793 1,330 6,517 | 27, 550

33, 350

1Jncludes $556,217 worth of ocean pearl buttons.

2 No establishments reported in 1900.

3Included in ‘‘all other States”? in 1905. :

4Includes establishments distributed as follows: Arkansas, 3; Massachusetts, 2; Minnesota, 1; Mis-
sissippi, 1; Nebraska, 1; Tennessee, 1.

ees establishments distributed as follows: Arkansas, 1; California, 2; Minnesota, 2; Ne-
braska, 2.

BIOLOGICAL STATION, UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY, IOWA. 5

An unoflicial statement of the fresh-water pearl button industry for
the year 1906 is also submitted herewith. This report furnishes
additional information regarding the industry and is as follows:

Fresh-water pearl button industry report, 1906.

BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT,

Amount of money invested in plant, machinery, ete-..........--.------ $1, 488, 200
Amount OF businessidone dunmpyyear 190652 25-- -.-.2252--2------25--- 5, 650, 000
Number of gross manufactured during year 1906.......-----.-.-------- 25, 200, 000
Average price of button, 212% cents per gross -........-...--....-.-..--- 5, 481, 000
Amount of crushed shell waste material used for chicken feed, 30,7

TONS ate poo) Pemtonr sae = =\4.-o= ee eae asicie cic sce miosis celwisinn seins ot 169, 000
Expended for paper boxes, cards, silver foil, etc.........--..-.---.----- 335, 000
ANT OMMIROTMOMe ys PAlGMIMN WAPeShee eee eases soc] 5 ece sees seesecoecie ee ose 3, 450, 000
Amounmoimoney: paid for shellsiss. 5.422... 2. sh ecccc ees sees eons 737, 280

HELP AND WAGES.

3, 000 cutters (male), $14 average wages per week .....-.....----- Beer $42, 000

1, 800 operators (female), $8 average wages per week ..-......--.------- 14, 200

600 employed as foreman, $18 average wages per week ..--.----------- 10, 800
Manager, salesman, buyers, office force.

1,000 employed at home sewing buttons (female) ......--..-.---------- 3, 000

6, 400 Wotalkwaressperweek == 252 sss oo Sees Se 2 lone aes 69, 000

HORWECKSRWAP CSE DERE V.GMI ape a= sachets Sepa cette oe c/s Sere seco eee ele 3, 450, 000
SHELLS.

Amount of shells, district, etc.

Average

| Amount. | price. Total cost.
| Tons.
VV OTTO TREE be So en EO BARD GEE CANS Rene TE GOO nAae ae. Ses eeee re arer | 14,400 $15. 00 | $216, 000
OMS Tyce ere ee ee ee ee ee nee Meee ter ee ee ss tn oe Be 13, 440 15. 00 201, 600
PAIGE SAS PRULVC Lays eee So epsicefatee wae Gre Seana see cisternae oe wie sicicleicls 9,120 | 15. 00 13€, 800
MA SSISSITS IME CIs ae ears alate tatafaicie rete olatecsiareialiayninte oe ciciaterste acta eectawe weeiee 8,640 | 17.00 146, 880
QUNCTarIVeGrsp sean sees soar eee eelawne cece b scien see Sieessien ease 2, 400 | 15. 00 36, 000
ll 4B O00 ance ee es 737, 280
AStO0O tons shell averayes price 1:30 os. sae oes s/sas sce jsereseyen ere) > sie ete ele ER eae 737, 280
Estimated 3,000 clammers working five months in the year, average
amount received by each man for year’s work, besides amount received
LOTAPC ARIS He UC Hm Olsy Alves ereee tate ee wie o cia a icys sereraieyeraisicis oe si evei ne ee $204. 50
Freight paid for shells for NICE nae aia ais ao ECS ts BECO CER SS OoSeSS 120, 000. 00

These tables do not indicate the full size of ne comparatively new
and growing industry. There are collateral industries which have
grown up as a result of the manufacture of pearl buttons in the
United States from fresh water mussels. The sale of pearls and
baroques which are found in these fresh water mussels has grown to
large proportions, and a conservative estimate would place the value
of these pearls at $1,000,000 per annum. Another industry which
has grown up as a result of the manufacture of buttons from these
shells is the manufacture of buckles and other articles of adornment,
including stick pins, brooches, and other articles of jewelry. No data
is at hand as to the magnitude of this particular industry, but it has
already attained considerable proportions.

6 BIOLOGICAL STATION, UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY, IOWA.

In addition the manufacture of button-making machinery has
grown to considerable proportions, and the progress in the manu-
facture of buttons is marked by a corresponding progress in the
manufacture of labor-saving machines, some of which rival the modern
type-setting machines in their intricacy and perfection of action.

In the light of these facts the committee recommends the passage
of the bill.

O

60TH Coneress, |) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Rept. 1176,
Ist Session. — \ { Part 2.

TO ESTABLISH A BIOLOGICAL AND FISH-CULTURAL
STATION IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY.

Marcu 13, 1908.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of
the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Spercut, from the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fish-
eries, submitted the following as the

VIEWS OF THE MINORITY.

[To accompany H. R. 13659. ]

The bill as reported by the committee ought not to pass.

This bill is in the interest of the manufacturers of pearl buttons,
already, under general law, amply protected by a tariff duty.

This proposition goes far beyond the doctrine of protection. It
seeks to have the Government appropriate money from the Treasury
to advance the interests of a private enterprise operated for profit. It
is altogether different from the fish hatcheries established by the Govy-
ernment for the breeding of young fishes of approved varieties and
their distribution to the water courses, lakes, and ponds all over the
country for increasing the food supply of all the people. The mussel
is not edible, and its only value is its shell, which is of use solely to
the button factories. The effect of this bill, if passed, will be to fur-
nish raw material to these factories. As evidence that such is the
purpose, an effort was made to amend the bill so as to limit its opera-
tion to a scientific investigation as to the best method for the propa-
gation of the fresh-water mussel. This was promptly voted down by
the friends of the measure.

If we inaugurate the policy of appropriating public money for pri-
vate enterprises, where shall the line be drawn? It is said that the
manufacture of pearl buttons, ornaments, etc., is a young and grow-
ing industry in the United States, and that it gives employment to
many wage-earners. Grant that this isso. It is equally true that it
is a profitable business to those engaged in it or they would seek other
avenues of investment. They are not in the business from any motives
of patriotism or for the public good, but solely for private gain. The
laborers are given work to do not because of sympathy for the unem-
ployed, but because their services are profitable to their employers.

2 BIOLOGICAL AND FISH-CULTURAL STATION.

Then why should the public Treasury be made to.contribute to their
already profitable business 4

While the bill as originally presented has been so amended by its
friends as to read, ‘‘A biological and fish-cultural station,” the expres-
sion is, perhaps unconsciously, misleading, because there is no dis-
guising the fact that it is intended to apply alone to mussels.

In the interest of the popularity of the measure it has been so
amended as to apparently eliminate the restriction that the proposed
plant shall be established in the Second Congressional district of Lowa,
by substituting the words ‘In the Upper Mississippi River Valley.”
It may be, however, that there is no one so disingenuous as to suppose
that the passage of the bill would mean anything else than that the
station will be located in the Second district of Iowa, which is the only
locality asking for it.

We think the proposed legislation is unnecessary, unwise, and vicious
in principle, and therefore oppose it.

THo. SPIGHT.

J. A. GOULDEN.

J. W. ALEXANDER.
G. W. FarrRcHILp.
J.T. WATKINS.
Wiriiam E. Cox.

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