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TRANSACTIONS

—OF THE—

AMERICAN
FISHERIES $ SOCIETY,

Fourteenth Uunual Meeting,
Held at the ational PAuseum, in Washington, Dd. &.

May 5TH AND 6TH, 1885.

NEW YORK.

1885.

OFFICERS POR 1330-86.

PRESIDENT, CoL, M. MCDONALD, - - Berryville, Va.
VICE-PRESIDENT, Dr. W. M. HUDSON, - - Hartford, Conn.
TREASURER, E. G. BLACKFORD, - - Brooklyn, N. Y.
REC. SEC - ~ FRED MATHER, - Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.
Cor. SEC. - Wi... COX - National Museum, Washington.

————___o~=m

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

Pror. G. BROWN GOODE, Chacrman, - - Washington, D. C.
ROLAND REDMOND, - - - - New Vork City.
GEORGE SHEPARD PAGE, - - - - Stanley, N. F.
Weil. HAs = - - - - - Fremont, Neb.
FE, N.CLARK, - - - - - Northville, Mich.
Dr. J. A. HENSHALL, = = = = Cynthiana, Ky.

S. G. WORTH, : : : : : Raleigh, N. C.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION.

The Committee appointed by the President to revise the Constitu-
tion, offered the following to be considered until the next meeting,
when it will be voted upon.

ARTICLE I.—NAME AND OBJECTS.

The name of this Society shall be ‘The American Fisheries Society.”
Its object shall be to promote the cause of fish-culture; to gather and
diffuse information bearing upon its practical success, and upon all
matters relating to the fisheries; the uniting and encouraging of the
interests of fish-culture and the fisheries; and the treatment of all
questions regarding fish, of a scientific and economic character.

ARTICLE II.—MEMBERS.

Any person shall, upon a two-thirds vote and a payment of three
dollars, become a member of this Society. In case that members do
not pay their fees and are delinquent for two years, they shall be
notified by the Treasurer, and if the amount due is not paid within
a month, they shall be, without further notice, dropped from the roll
of membership. Any person can be made an honorary or a corres-
ponding member upon a two-thirds vote of the members present at a
regular meeting.

ARTICLE III.—OFFICERS.

The officers of this Society shall bea President and a Vice-President,
who shall be ineligible for election to the same offices until a year after
the expiration of their terms, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording
Secretary, a Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of seven, which
with the officers before named, shall form a council and transact such
business as may be necessary when the Society is not in session; fou
to constitute a quorum.

iv PROPOSED CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE IV.—MEETINGS.

The regular meeting of the Society shall be held once a year, the
time and place being decided upon at the previous meeting, or in
default of such action, by the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE V.—CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION.

The Constitution of the Society may be amended, altered or repealed,
by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting.

Szgned, FRED MATHER, Chazrman.
W Vis Cox;
F. N. CLARK.

Comm<ettee.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING

OF THE

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

(AMERICAN FISH-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION.)

dd Ol ofc Bae 9s

hae Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Society, and the first
under the new name, was held in Washington, in the lecture
room of the National Museum, on May sthand 6th. The meeting
was called te, onder, at 12, M...on, the 5th, by,,the President,
Hon. Theodore Lyman, of Massachusetts, with the following
remarks:

GENTLEMEN OF THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY: We are
at a season of the year when important events repeat themselves.
It is the spring. Baneful influences have passed away. Ice-
bound winter, as by a miracle, has given place to southern
breezes, and—still more strange—Congress has adjourned and
gone home. Good things come to the front, full of hope and
energy, and intent on growth and reproduction, Asparagus
protrudes its welcome green nose from the soil; the suggestive
pea flourishes defiant of late frosts. The English sparrow
industriously builds its nest in spots carefully selected to render
it as much a nuisance as possible; the cows go forth to pastures
green and reward the aqueous milkman with abundant flow of
milk pleasingly redolent of garlic. Nor do the waters less
respond to genial warmth; for now the shad and the herring,

6 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

intent on spawning and oblivious of the fatal seine, push up the
Potomac and seek the safe shores of the District of Columbia,
where they may breed under the parental protection of a special
act of Congress. Last and greater than all these come the
members of the American Fisheries Society, pregnant with
great ideas and anxious to deposit them in Washington for the
benefit of an ichthyophagous nation,

Gentlemen, I bid you welcome. You are surrounded here by
great traditions and mighty influences. From the capstone of
yonder monument ten entire weeks look down upon you. In
the grand pile of the War, State and Navy Departments, you
will have a valuable lesson of what is to be avoided in architec-
ture. The hurrying crowds of office-seekers will prove to you
how the busiest bee may, under adverse circumstances, collect
no honey, and how the earliest bird may fail to catch the truly
astute and resolute worm. The numerous “hansom” and “herdic”’
cabs will point the moral, that however long or agreeable or
smooth be the road, we must all pay a price at the end. The
suave manners of our negro population will bring to your mind
the fact that some of the most agreeable lights in life, like those
in a cathedral, come through a colored medium. In a single
word, then, I bid you welcome to a sojourn which cannot fail to
be profitable alike to humanity and to fish.

The PrestpENT: Gentlemen of the Society, we first have to
consider the routine business of the meeting, which will come
up in its regular order. Has the Secretary any suggestions
to offer?

The Recorpinc Secretary: The first thing in the regular
order of business is the appointment of Committees, etc. We
have thought that our Constitution needs revision, and I would
move that a Committee be appointed to revise it, and to prepare
By-laws.

The PRESIDENT: Gentlemen, you hear the motion of your
Secretary, that a Committee be appointed to revise the Consti-
tution of this Society, and prepare By-laws. What is your
pleasure?

No opposition being offered, it was made a vote.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i

The PREsIDENT: Of how many shall it consist?

Mr. Goope: I move that the Chair appoint a Committee of
three to revise the Constitution and prepare By-laws.

This was voted upon and passed.

The PREsIDENT: The Chair will appoint Mr. Fred Mather,
Mr. W. V. Cox and Mr. F. N. Clark:

One of the regular Committees to be appointed is that on
nominations to report at the meeting to-morrow morning. That
Committee is generally composed of five members.

Mr. Goope: I move that the Chair appoint the Committee
on Nominations.

This was voted upon and passed.

The PrestpEnT: The Chair will appoint Mr. G. Brown Goode,
Mr. W. L. May, Mr. T. B. Ferguson, Mr. E. G. Blackford and
Dr. Tarleton H. Bean.

During the meeting the following were proposed and elected
to membership: Hon. Geo. M. Robeson, of New jersex;* Drak
W. Humphries, Commissioner of Maryland; W. W. Ladd, Jr.,
New York City; Frederic R. Ryer, New York City; Prof. H. J.
Rice, New York City; Prof. Chas. V. Riley, Agricultural
Department, Washington; S. H. Kauffman, Evening Star, Wash-
ington; W. A. Butler, Jr., Michigan Commissioner; John A.
Loring, Boston; Gwynne Harris, Inspector of Marine Products,
Washington; S. C. Brown, Register National Museum; J. P.
Wilson; W. E. Bailey, Engineer; Geo. H. H. Moore, Newton
Simmonds, W. F. Page, J. F. Ellis, J. J. O'Connor, J. E. Brown,
A. Howard Clark, W. W. J. Murphy, Thomas Lee and Peter
Parker, Jr., all of the U.S. Fish Commission; Ed. H. Bryan and
Henry W. Spofford, both of the Smithsonian Institution: Major
G. I. Lydecker, U. S. Engineers, and Lieut. Pictuiyer; Ws'SHIN
commanding Steamer Fish-hawk.

On motion of Prof. G. Brown Goode, Hon. Spencer Walpole,
Governor of the Isle of Man, was made a corresponding
member.

8 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The report of the Treasurer was read and accepted, and the
meeting adjourned until 2 Pp. M.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

On assembling, the following was read:

THE GIANT CLAIMS OF PUGET SOUND;

BY ROBT. E. C. STEARNS,

Dr. STeaRNs, referring to the fact that his paper was the
first on the programme, said: At the time my friend Prof. Goode
asked me to say something to you about the big clams of the
west coast, I supposed that my place would be toward the close
of the feast, somewhere near the nuts and raisins, or the special
delicacies and dainties of the dessert. However as this is a fish
convention, and the Professor’s request may be considered as
semi-of-fish-ial, 1 accept the place assigned me, and you must
regard what I have to say as being in the nature of grace before
meat.

When an illustrious stranger from a remote country visits a
great civilized center, it is customary to introduce him into the
distinguished society of the place with some formality, if not
ostentation. Gentlemen, permit me to make you acquainted
with Glycimeris generosa, the boss clam of North America, recent-
ly from Puget Sound.

You will see that he is in that condition which prevents him
from saluting you. Beside, he is by nature somewhat reticent.
He is evidently in high spirits (95 per cent. alcohol), but never-
theless speechless (as an Irishman might say), ‘“‘as many a gen-
tleman has been before.”

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 9

eS ———

This clam, Glycimeris generosa*, by far the largest found on
either coast of North America, was first described by Dr.
Augustus A. Gould from specimens (probably of the shells only)
obtained by the exploring expedition commanded by Commo-
dore Charles Wilkes, during his famous cruise in the years 1838
to 1842, inclusive.

It was detected in Puget Sound and subsequently collected in
Awatska Bay, Kamschatka, by the North Pacific Exploring
Expedition, under command of Commanders Ringgold and
Rodgers; the late Dr. Willam Stimpson was the naturalist of
the latter expedition.

The range of distribution, it will be noticed, is quite extensive
as from the aboye points in the North Pacific it extends south-
erly along the west coast of America to San Diego, California,
where it has been found by Mr. Hemphill. A range northerly
and southerly twenty degrees of latitude. It is apparently
much more abundant in the north than in the south, for Mr.
Hemphill states that in the southern locality I have named, in
the course of several years he had not been able to find more
than a dozen.

From Capt. J. S. Lawson, of the U. S. Coast Survey, I learned
some years ago of its frequent occurrence in Budd’s Inlet,
Washington Territory; from others residing in the same general
neighborhood I had heard of its presence at various points in
Puget Sound.

Aside from its large size, which would naturally attract atten-
tion, its excellence as an article of food is attested by all who
have eaten it, and it holds by common consent a place in the
front rank, in the opinion of the epicures of the northwest coast.

In the spring of 1882, Professor Baird, being desirous of ob-
taining further and more definite information as to the occur-
rence, habits, quality and abundance, etc., of Glycimeris or
geoduck, + as it is called by the Indians, and also more special
knowledge of the principle (so-called) clams of the region, I

*Etymology—Glycimerzs from glukous, sweet, merzs, bitter generosa, from its ample size,
etc. Sometimes placed in the genus Panxopea, from Panofe a nereid, ancient mythology.

+Accent the second syllable and prenounce hurriedly, with a hard g and a short 0, as
if spelled ge-wo’; gewo’duck.

|e) AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

went up to the sound at his request in June of said year, and
fixed upon Olympia, at the head of Budd's Inlet, as a base.
The character of the sea-bed here may be described as varying
from sandy mud to muddy sand, occasionally gravelly, and
there is sometimes found a patch of hardened or compactly
indurated clay of a light blue color.

The most striking peculiarity of the environment, and the
principal one relating to the presence and obtaining of geoduck,
is the extreme tides which occur here from about the middle of
May to the Summer solstice in June, or a little later, during
which period the rise and fall of the tides, or in other words, the
difference between high and low water, is twenty to twenty-five
feet. Now it must be borne in mind that it is only during the
season of these extraordinary tides that the big clam can be
obtained. I found that by the 23rd of June, “the long run-outs,”
as they are called by the people there, had nearly ceased. The
white men and Indians employed by me, who had been sent out
in various directions, returning at night or early in the morning
for three consecutive days had met with “fisherman’s luck.”
I was not disappointed for I knew the cause, not having been
able myself to reach the low water line of three or four days
before.

By this we are able to perceive more clearly the force of the
common expression, ‘fas happy as a clam at high water.”

It is presumable that the scarcity of the geoducks along the
ocean coast as far to the south as the species are found, is more
apparent than real. The rise and fall of the tides along the
main coast is, say about six feet, and not sufficient to uncover
that portion of the zone preferred by the geoducks; again the
temperature of the water at the southerly stations may be too
high and cause them to seek a cooler temperature by living at
greater depths. As to the more special habits of the geoduck,
such as burrowing, etc., the following is not without interest,

Captain Lawson informed me that upon one occasion he
saw the end of the large siphon tube projecting above the surface
of a small shoal. Upon examining the spot it was found to be
sandstone; in order to capture the clam the stone had to be brok-
en with acrowbar. Beneath this superstratum was found sand

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. Tell

and gravel, in which the huge mollusk was ‘at home.” Its
communication with the water above being by means of a hole
in and through the sandstone capping—through this hole it
extended and protruded its siphons. The hole, no doubt, was
originally made by the clam, when quite small, in its younger
stages, in order to reach a permanent and suitable burrow or bed,
and of course the principal growth was attained after it had
reached the more favorable substratum of easier material; the
hole or perforation through the sandstone being enlarged, coin-
cident with its growth, as needed to meet its requirements.

As may be'supposed it is quite a job to remove a good-sized
geoduck from its native bed without injury; to do so with
proper care as many as three persons are needed, otherwise the
clam will be more or less mutilated. The length of the siphons
when extended indicates the depth of the burrow, if his word
may be used, and an excavation equal to the size of a flour barrel
has been made. The instance related of Capt. Lawson’s specimen
shows the difficulties which are sometimes met with in collect-
ing these big fellows.

This mollusk may well be called generosa, for its ample and
generous size makes it at least the mammoth clam of North
America. According to the testimony of Captain Lawson it has
been known to reach the weight of sixteen pounds and frequently
seven to ten pounds, while the siphon tube may measure one
and a half to two feet in length. Those collected and observed
by me weighed from three and a half to seven and ahalf pounds.

More might be said of the many virtues, which in connection
with high water, may be the cause of the clam’s happiness, such
as pertain to its gastronomic excellencies, etc. Geoduck is
however, a real delicacy, and skillfully cooked, would completely
puzzle anybody tasting it for the first time, as to whether he was
eating fish, flesh or fowl.

The nearest guess that I have heard was by a person to whom
I gave a piece, “That it tasted a little perhaps like nicely stewed
crab,” which hits the mark very nearly. The proper way to
cook geoduck, or one way, is to parboil thoroughly, then remove
the skin and cut in strips about one inch and a half wide by a
half an inch thick (no thicker) and fry the pieces in good batter,

12 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

in very hot salt pork fat. I dare to say that parboiled, then stuffed
and baked or roasted, geoduck would prove satisfactory to the
daintiest epicure. Mr. Hemphill thinks it tastes somewhat like
poached egg, but the taste to me did not suggest that of eggs
cooked in any form. If fresh and well cooked it is, as I wrote
to Professor Baird in my report, “suitable food for good men of
scientific proclivities.” Washington, D. C.

HIBERNATION OF THE BLACK BASS.

BY DR. JAMES A. HENSHALL.

That both species of black bass (AZicropterus) hibernate in the
northerly part of the country, is a fact too well known to admit
of a doubt. But, notwithstanding the evidence heretofore ad-
duced in support of this fact, the occasional catching of a black
bass during the winter season, in the North and West, is some-
times heralded by correspondents of the angling papers asa
proof that former observers have been mistaken, and that these
fishes, or at least the large-mouthed species, do not hibernate.
Perhaps the term hibernation is not well understood by these
writers, which may account for their hasty and erroneous con-
clusions.

Hibernation does not necessarily imply, as supposed by some,
a state of complete torpidity or profound sleep during the
entire winter. To hibernate, according to Webster, is “To
pass the season of winter in close quarters, or in seclusion,”
and that is just what the black bass of both species do in north-
ern and western waters, every one who has given the subject
any intelligent investigation is prepared to admit.

Hibernation of animals is influenced, doubtless, by conditions
of temperature and food supply, and the duration, extent or
degree of this period of repose or seclusion, is augmented or

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 13

diminished by the particular state of these conditions. In the
opinion of the writer, hibernation of animals is influenced as
much (if not more) by the supply of food as by the state of the
temperature. This is proven by the fact that while the black
bass hibernates, other fishes in the same waters are active dur-
ing the entire winter; and this fact may be accounted for by a
lack of the principal food of the hibernating species, and an
abundance of the particular food of the non-hibernating species,
for it is not likely that the temperature, fer se, would affect one
species more than another. To illustrate: The principal food
of young black bass (say from six months to a year old) con-
sists of insects, and of adult bass, of crawfish and other crus-
tacea, and both of these classes of food are very scarce during
the winter months in the North and West. On the other hand,
pike, pickerel, pike-perch and other exclusively piscivorous
fishes findan abundance of certain species, as minnows, yellow
Perch; "etc,

To be sure the black bass feeds on minnows and yellow perch
occasionally, but not to any great extent, nor for choice; its
weak brush-like teeth are not so well adapted fora fish diet as
the canine-teethed fishes above mentioned. And this is one of the
strongest arguments in support of the fact of their hibernation,
for were the black bass as piscivorous as many would have us
believe, there would be no necessity for their winter seclusions
on account of a lack of this kind of food. Of the two species
of black bass the large-mouthed bass feeds more upon minnows
than the small-mouthed bass, and hence is taken oftener during
the winter. In the extreme Southern States the supply of
crawfish and insects is constant, consequently the black bass
does not hibernate in that region. Among the hibernating
mammals the black bear, in the extreme South does not under-
go the winter sleep of his Northern brethren because he finds
his food abundant at that season. And even in the North, dur-
ing mild winters when food can be procured, the black bear
has been known to depart from his usual habit, and has been
killed when roaming abroad, when he should have been asleep
in his winter den; but such rare exceptions merely prove the

14 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

rule, and do not disprove the fact that the black bear is a
hibernating animal.

In Europe, the German carp are typical hibernating fishes,
burying themselves in the mud at the beginning of winter, their
heads together in circles and their tails out, which are kept in
motion more or less constantly. But American fish-culturists
state that while the imported carp hibernate profoundly, their
descendants, on the contrary, are more active during the winter,
and the disposition to hibernate grows less with succeeding
generations. This I believeto be more on account of an abund-
ant supply of food than upon the temperature, for most carp
culturists are liberal feeders, from the fact that carp will grow
more rapidly than other fishes if well fed.

German authorities are of the opinion that the carp takes no
food during the period of its hibernation (from four to six -°
months), though it has been proved that it does not diminish in
weight during this entire time. I do not believe it possible for
an animal to abstain entirely from food and maintain a uniform
weight for a period of several months, even though it sleep
ever so profoundly. (The black bear goes into winter quarters
excessively fat, but comes out in the spring weak and emaciated.)
Iam of the opinion that the German carp derives its nourish-
ment during hibernation from the mud in which it is buried, for
it is well known that all of the Cyprinide, Catostomida, etc., feed
more or less upon the mud of the bottom, or at least upon
minute organisms contained therein. This view seems plausible
in connection with the fact that in Europe, carp kept in tanks for
sale during winter rapidly lose in weight unless fed generously.
In American waters, though frozen over during the entire win-
ter, there are always some form of vegetation, larve and animal-
culz, to be had by herdivorous and bottom-feeding fishes, as
carp, minnows, suckers, sturgeon, etc., consequently these fishes
are more or less active during the coldest weather, and some of
them in turn furnish food for the piscivorous tribes during the
same season.

The writer has elsewhere stated: “ During a residence of ten
years in Wisconsin, where fishing through the ice is constantly
practiced during the winter, and where tons of pickerel, pike-

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. LS

perch and yellow perch were so taken in a single season, I never
knew of asingle black bass being sotaken except very late in the
winter or in early spring, say in March,just before the breaking up
of the ice; and even in those instances were of rare occurrence, and
happened only during unusually mild weather; and these same
waters, be it remembered, afforded the finest black bass fishing
during the summer and fall.”

The above applies to the usual fishing grounds of the lakes and
streams of Wisconsin with the water at moderate depth, from four
to twelve feet, which are frequented by the black bass, large-
~mouth and small-mouth, in common with the non-hibernating
species in spring, summer and fall, but only by the latter in
winter, the bass retiring to greater depths at the begining of
winter and remaining until spring, and where they can be taken
by the initiated with the right kind of bait; but as I deem such
information of no special advantage, except to the poacher and
law-breaker, I think it best and proper, for obvious reasons to
withhold it. From personal observation I am pretty familiar
with the habits of both species of black bass at all seasons of the
year, in all of the States east of the Mississippi (except the New
England States, New Jersey and Delaware), and with the excep-
tion of the Gulf States, 1am convinced that both species of black
bass hibernate in a greater or less degree, according to the supply
of food in the winter season, or in other words, according to the
climate. In these exceptional States, during the hottest weather,
they retire to the deepest and coolest water to be found, and
undergo a condition of rest and seclusion (astivation) analagous
to hibernation; perhaps an inherited instinct.

In the foregoing hastily-written paper I have endeavored to
show: (1) That hibernation of fishes (and other animals) is
influenced more by the supply of food than by the temperatures
for it is well authenticated that fishes can endure extremes of
temperature that would prove fatal to other vertebrates. (They
have revived after being frozen in ice, and on the other hand,
they live in apparent comfort in the water of hot springs of a
temperature of above too degrees Fahr.) (2) That both species
of black bass hibernate in the northern sections of America.
Cynthiana, Ky.

16 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Mr. Goopre—Mr. President, 1 should like to say a word or two
on this question of hibernation. It seemsto me that hibernation
is by no means a voluntary act, as might possibly be inferred
from some things which Dr. Henshall has said. It is purely a
matter of physicial cause and effect, and the question whether
the black bass will hibernate in a given latitude depends on the
depth of water and the presenee of warm spots at great depths in
that particular body of water. Every fish has, I think, a certain
limit to its powers of activity, a certain limit which varies with
different species according to a scale of temperature. Many of
the southern fishes which come to our northern coast in summer,
are in the fall seen in the cold tidal bays partially torpid. In
such a state they cannot feed. It is the torpidity which prevents
their feeding rather than the lack of food; and it seems to me
that in almost every case the fish has no power to escape from
that degree of cold which produces torpidity. From reliable
testimony I learn that black bass are taken under the ice in some
of the northern lakes, and have no doubt, that in other lakes not
so deep, the fish become torpid before the ice forms on account
of the shallowness of the water. I think, therefore, that Dr.
Henshall’s theory is somewhat exaggerated. He may have
heard of fish feeding during the period of hibernation. Iam
not, however, inclined to believe that they ever do this. I cer-
tainly very much question the possibility of carp feeding during
the period of hibernation. It is generally known that they are
then buried in the mud at the bottom of the water. This isa
very interesting question, and one whose solution involves a
great deal of experimenting. I should, however, hardly like to
see the question settled upon hypothetical grounds before such
experiments are made.

Mr. Maruer—This question of the hibernation of fishes is
one concerning which I have no special knowledge. I have,
however, paid some little attention to it, having been recently
engaged in endeavoring to learn the geographical range in
which the black bass hibernates. As touching the question of
temperature and food, I know that on our New York coast, in
Long Island Sound, there are some fishes which are active all

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. L7

winter, and others which bury themselves in the mud. The
tautog, or blackfish, practically hibernates. I do not think it
takes a particle of food during the winter. Flounders go into
the, mud.-and «so. does the. cel, which latter buries. all
excepting; its)head., All the.eels that, are taken there in:the
winter are speared, the fishermen sounding in the mud with
their spears. In the middle of April they come out and are
taken in eel pots. The tom-cod and some other fishes are active
all winter. It always seemed to me that some fishes might be
more susceptible to the influences of temperature than others.
In lakes north of the fortieth parallel we know that the black
bass does not feed much during the winter. Occasionally a
specimen is taken with hook and line. Dr. Henshall’s theory
concerning hibernation is certainly a new one to me, viz: that
the question is one of food and not of temperature, and is one, I
think, which will bear considerable examination before it be
accepted as the correct solution.

PROGECIMNG AND: HATCHING THE SMELT,

BY FRED MATHER.

I will preface this paper, gentlemen, by saying that my paper
contains some statements which are so at variance with all my
former experiences that I almost hesitate to read what I have
written.

The smelt, Osmerus mordax (Mitch.) Gill, is not common on
Long Island, and but few streams contain it. In the spring of
1884, | attempted to get eggs from a stream at Locust Valley,
on the north side of the island, in Queens county. The fish run
up the streams at night to spawn, and on this one I spent one
night. There were about twenty men with lights at different
points within half a mile using what they called “grab-alls” or
*‘snatchers.” These were variously shaped contrivances, some
round, some square, and others triangular, but averaging about

18 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

five inches square, made of wire with frequent cross wires, to
which were soldered fish-hooks. Imagine a smal] griJl made by
bending a wire so as to form a square, each side of which is six
inches, with five interior wires one inch apart, solcered across
it parallel to the handle, and on each of these wires, both inter-
ior ones and of the frame, are soldered fish-hooks one inch
apart, forty-nine hooks in all, and you have one of the most
merciless fishing implements that devilish ingenuity has de-
vised. This is the “grab-all,” and Ihave seen many a poor
smelt impaled on it when seeking a place to deposit its precious
burden of eggs, under cover of the night. I tried to buy one of
these murderous implements to exhibit at the London Fisheries
Exposition, but failed because the owners had use for them the
night which I spent in theircompany. The men who used these
implements were, to judge from their own lips, the most de-
praved wretches that I ever met. I never fell into worse
company as far as language goes.

At Locust Valley there was a scarcity of ripe fish and an ab-
sence of milt on the night referred to, and I arranged with Mr.
John Cashow, Supervisor of the town, to have one of his men
save me some fish taken in nets. The man did so, and picked
out, as he told me, “all the nice large ones,” which of course
were females, for the female smelt is many times larger than
her mate. In addition to this judicious selection, he left the
fish, some two hundred in number, in a can under the horse-
shed all night without attention, and “the nice large ones”
were dead in the morning. The season was getting late, and I
sent my foreman, Mr. Walters, over there with a fyke-net; but
he was threatened with death in several abhorrent forms by the
men who handled the gentle “grab-all” if he persisted in tak-
ing a smelt inafyke. He bought half a dozen fish and we tried
to take and hatch the eggs, but failed. Milt was scarce and the
eggs were not of the best.

The catch has been gradually decreasing for the past few
years, not only at Locust Valley, but on all Long Island
streams, a result which may be attributed to over fishing, and
in my opinion there is need of legislation to protect this val-
uable little food fish. Their habit of ascending streams at

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 19

night and returning to salt water before day renders them lia-
ble to capture both ways, and is a habit that, so far as my knowl-
edge extends, is shared by no other anadromous fish, and is not
mentioned in any work that I have seen. The fish is well
worth protection, for it is a favorite winter fish about New
York. It will live in fresh water, and is said to have bred for
some years in in the lakes of Vermont, where it is reported that
its edible qualities are generally unknown, and it is only used
as a bait fish. The fish is found in fresh water in New Hamp-
shire and in Sweden, also in Lake Champlain, but whether it
remains in the lake all vear or not I cannot say. If they do not
remain there the fish go higher up in this case than in any that
I know of. On the coasts of New York and New Jersey,
twenty miles is about the limit of their ascent.

The first report of the Fish Commissioners of Maine, 1867,
under a heading of “Fresh Water Smelt,” page 25, says
“Smelts are scattered all over the State. It seems probable
that we have more than one species, Whether either of them
is identical with the salt water smelt we cannot say, but the
resemblance is very close. In several localities they attain a
large size. Those of Harrison are said to exceed half a pound
in weight, and those of Belgrade to measure fourteen inches in
length.” In the second report of the Maine Commission they
they say, page 29: “It is said that at the mouth of a small stream,
somewhere above Bay Bridge (on the Androscoggin), where
smelts are accustomed to run in the spring to spawn, and where
it has been the custom to dip for them, for several years a seine
has been used, and tons of them were taken out when nearly
worthless for food. Many were shipped to New York and com-
manded a price that hardly paid for transportation. This is an
abuse which should be stopped. We think no smelts should be
taken during the spawning season—say from April 1st to June
ist. Enough can be taken in the fall and winter, when they are
in good condition, and it is wonderful that they can stand the
draft that is then made on their numbers.” In their third re-
port, 1869, the Commissioners say: ‘‘The impression has been
quite general that the smelt fishery is overdone, and unless
some radical measures are taken, it will soon fall into as great

20 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

decay “as “have ithe salmon: and -alewife? fisheries?” *9*) “sen

The act “to protect smelts in the waters of the Kennebec and
Androscoggin rivers, approved March 4th, 1869, aims to lessen
the catch by prohibiting the use of any implement but hook
and line every alternate year, and at the same time allow the
fish to ascend those rivers to the points where they were wont to
be taken by hook and line. Undoubtedly, the first mentioned
object would be attained, but whether the latter would is un-
certain. It is desirable to substitute for this some act of wider
application, and consequently bearing more equally on all who
are engaged in this fishery. I suggest whether a prohibition to
take smelts except during December, January and February,
by any other mode than hook and line, and perhaps dip-net,
would not apply well to the whole State.”

Under the laws of Maine for 1874, chap. 248, sec. 58, it was
forbidden to fish for smelts in any other way than by hook and
line or dip-net, between April rst and October 1st. The State
of Massachusetts passed a law, approved April gth, 1874, for-
bidding the offering for sale or having in possession any smelts
between March 15th and June rst, and forbade their capture by
any other means than hook and line at any time except in the
counties of Bristol, Barnstable and Dukes. [I am not aware
that any smelts are taken with a hook and line within the
waters of New York, nor do I know that there is any law pro-
tecting them at any season. The numbers caught are quite
small, the market supply coming mainly from the Eastern
States, yet in view of the fact that the fish were formerly plenty
on Long Island and have been gradually decreasing by reason
of continued capture at the spawning season, I believe that it
would be to the interest of the people and of the fishermen to
protect them from February 20th to March zoth.

In this connection I will read an article written for orest
and Stream, headed “ Torching for Smelts,” by a gentleman from
North Bridgeton, Me., in which he describes how smelts are
murdered there; he says:

“On the 21st of April the word went round that the “big

smelts” had put in an appearance in the streams the evening
before. This was enough to bring over a dozen men and boys

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 21

to the banks of a certain well-known brook near the head of
Long Pond. A part of these carried dip nets, and the most of
the others bundles of pitch-wood or jacks, although two or three,
one of whom was the writer, carried no equipments of any kind,
but went ‘merely to see the fun.’

“The evening was warm and very still, and a moon nearly at
first quarter helped to prolong the lingering twilight. A fire
had been kindled at some little distance from the stream, and
as it had been agreed upon to keep away from the water until
it was fully dark, all hands were grouped around the fire and
were indulging in the usual gossip and jokes of such occasions.
All at once some one asked, ‘Where’s Amasa?’ A glance
through the intervening alder thicket brought the answer, for
in that direction a figure could be dimly seen standing in the
brook and busily plying a long-handled dip net. This was sut-
ficient to send everybody to the water, and jacks were soon
flaring at intervals along the banks and showing fish by
thousands. And now began the excitement. Those who had
nets worked them, and those who came “‘just to see the fun”
forgot that this was their object, and waded into the ice cold
water, catching the fish in their hands and throwing them
ashore. Boys screamed and men shouted. The air as well as
water was full of fish, and the sedate man, regardless ot shoes
and stockings, was knee-deep in the current, his hands grasping
here and there, while the pockets of his overcoat and the crown
ot his hat were full of wriggling fishes. Two dozen fish averag-
ing nearly eleven inches in length, were captured with a single
sweep of a dip net. The piles upon the bank were fast increas-
ing to proportions far beyond a market stall, when a rational
thought seemed to strike some of the cooler heads. ‘Let's stop
this, boys; it’s nothing short of murder, for we have all we can
make any use of.’ For once men were reasonable, and boys, as
usual, followed in their lead. The fish upon the bank were
gathered up, and Rodger’s Brook with its swarming waters was
left to itself. But in a very short time over three hundred
weight of a species of fish that can hardly be surpassed in table
qualities were On their way to the village. The express the
next morning showed plainly that distant friends had not been
forgotten, while a large box placed in front of a store with a
‘help yourself’ attached was speedily relieved of its contents.’

“But this was only the work of one evening, and the next
night the fish would be even more abundant. The word had
spread, and long before dark everything for miles around that
could be called a dip net was on its way. In place of a net one
fellow carried a large corn popper with an extension lashed to

22 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

its handle, and another had a tin pan with its bottom punched
full of holes and nailed to a pole. Quaint as these implements
were, both, it is said, did good service. Through the evening
and well into the night dozens of jacks and torches sent their
brilliant glare along ‘the stream and into the surrounding forest.
No doubt the excessive light frightened the fish and kept many
back in the lake, but still hardly an individual went away with-
out fish enough for any reasonable demand. On either this or
the preceeding night two men, oneto carry a light and the other
to handle the net, could have filled an ox cart. This last state-
ment, of course, is on the supposition that the two men could
have had the stream all to themselves. As it was, the large
number of fishermen, especially on the second evening, rapidly
scattered the fish and drove the most of them back into the deep
water of the lake.

‘The above is only a partial account of what happened on a
single stream, and we hear similar reports from nearly every
tributary of the Sebago waters. At Bear Brook, in Harrison,
but little more than a : mile away, the run has been longer and
probably even more fish have been taken.

“It would be a work for the scientists to fully explain the
different varieties of smelts and their habits. That they belong
to the salmon family all agree, but in this particular locality
there are three different varieties, commonly called the big, salt-
water, and little smelts. The salt-water smelts, Osmerus viridescens,
are common in all the rivers, creeks and streams along our
coast. They are said to bear transferring well, even into waters
entirely land-locked and fresh, but always with a diminution in
size. The big smelts are like the salt-water variety in some
respects, but are larger and darker colored. They are over ten
inches in length, and average nearly a quarter of a pound in
weight. Many occur much re ger than this, and one was weighed
here a few years ago that was ‘caught through the ice with hook
and line, and turned the scales at eleven ounces. A few are
mentioned even larger, but they are rare, to say the least. The
little smelts are but miniature representations of their larger
relations, weighing less than half an ounce each. Some have
thought that these little fellows were only the young of the
larger variety, but this can hardly be true, as they seem to be
fully developed and are ready to spawn as they descend the
streams to their breeding grounds. They do not run up the
streams until about a week later than the larger ones, and are
much more abundant. They are also found in many localities
where the big smelts do not occur. They vary somewhat in size
in different places, and are said to be larger in Norway Lake,

bo

WwW

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

only twelve miles away, than they are here. In the last men-
tioned lake no big smelts are found. An idea of the abundance
of these little smelts may be had from the fact that a few even-
ings since three fellows dipped a shorts sack full (about three
bushels) in less thananhour. That this party of wholesale fish
killers were under the influence of something stronger than brook
water was proved by what followed, for tying up the mouth of
the sack, they threw it into the stream and allowed it to drift
with its contents out into the lake.

“No person pretends to know anything about when these
waters were stocked with smelts, but in all probability they
were here long before the country was settled. Although
they have been ruthlessly wasted year after year, their numbers
have been larger this season than at any time previous. With
the exception of the ten or twelve days that they are spawning
in the spring, no smelts are ever seen in the streams here. They
are caught some through the ice in winter and in very deep
water almost always. Those caught through the ice, or with
hook and line at any time, are generally larger than those taken
in the streams in breeding time. On the whole, smelts in these
parts are something of a puzzle, and the people who see the
most of them simply expect them to put in an appearance at
about such a time, kill them by the thousands when they do
come, and think no more about them until their next
appearance.”

A year passed after the first attempt to get eggs, and late in
February, 1885, while looking through Fulton Market, New
York, Mr. Blackford told me that smelts were coming in from
the southside of Long Island. I sent Mr. Walters down to Brook-
haven, a place on the eastern end of the Great South Bay, where
the Carman’s River or as formerly called, the Connecticut River,
comes in. I will here digress to say that the Shinnecock [Indians
are reported to have had a tradition that this river was a continu-
ation of the great river of that name, which, by means of some
subterranean passage under Long Island Sound, breaks out
again on the island. The Connecticut River of Long Island is
about five miles long, and the smelts often run up it in great
quantities, but are said not to go further than half a mile from
its mouth, They begin to run in about the 15th of February,
and the run lasts one month. They are taken with seines and
gill-nets, and an average catch for one man is seventy-five per

night.

24 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

On the 4th of March, Mr. Walters returned with one hundred
and twenty fish nearly ripe and a fair proportion of each sex.
Eight had died on the journey from being caught in gill-nets
when so nearly ripe, five more died shortly after, and all were
more or less injured. From one of the five dead fish I took
30,000 eggs after the fish had been dead fifteen minutes, using a
live male. The eggs were taken on a bunch of coarse meadow-
grass and suspended ina glass tank with a flow of water from
a %-inch cock, and in three days many were dead, and all died
at a week old. On the 5th, I repeated the experiment with a
dying female. In five day three dead eggs showed, the sixth
day roo dead, seventh day one-fourth of the lot were dead. Up
to the 17th, the thirteenth day after taking, there was little change,
and on the 2oth the eggs were put in a box outside the hatchery
in swift water, as they began to show fungus. March 26th, about
one-half were alive, and these were in bunches covered by dead
eggs and fungus. All the outside eggs were dead, and I had
little hopes of savingany. On April 3rd the fish could be plainly
seen in the lower eggs by removing the coating of dead eggs and
fungus which had covered them for two weeks. The eggs were
again placed in the aquarium and 2,000 hatched on April rth,
and on the 16th, 9,000 more hatched and the rest were bad. About
one-third of the eggs hatched under conditions which seemed
hopeless, and under which it would be impossible to hatch the
egg of a salmon or atrout. When the last ones hatched, the
mass of dead eggs was rotten and foul. The temperature ranged
from 40 to 42 degrees Fahr. In taking the eggs the grass was
laid in a milk pan and covered with water. The female was
manipulated first, and as the eggs do not stick fast untill some
minutes after being taken, perhaps after impregnation takes
place, they were distributed evenly over the grass with the tail
of a fish.

Knowing nothing of smelt hatching, the literature of which is
meager, we determined to try several plans. On March 5th,
Mr. Walters took about 50,000 eggs from a weak female on
stones the size of a man’s fist, in water, and placed them outside
the building in a covered waste trough which takes the water
from the housetothe ponds. Thecurrent was slow but the eggs

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 25

washed off, refusing to stick in bunches, as on grass. The con-
sequence was that the stones were covered with eggs only one
layer deep. Three days after this they looked well, but ina week
were all dead, though no fungus had formed. He tried again
on March 8th, by taking about 70,000 eggs by the dry method on
tiles, letting them stand five minutes before adding water, and
then placed them in one of the hatching troughs. On the 16th
one-half were dead, and on the 24th they were covered with
fungus. On April 7th there had been no change, the eggs under-
neath the fungus were bright and good, but he went away the
next day and did not return until the 12th, when he found the
trough empty. The other attendants pronounced them dead
and threw them away. Neither of us saw them onthe last day, and
we do not feel certain that they were dead, for our experience
this year tells us that it requires an expert to judge of this. A
mass of smelt eggs all rotten on the outside and covered with
fungus half an inch long, should be given the benefit of all
doubts, and be carefully examined before condemnation.

On March oth, we obtained too more fish which had been taken
in seines. The first lot were so badly injured by gill-nets that
they were covered with fungus in a few days. On the 12th we
got 70,000 eggs on tiles and stones, taken in water, and placed
them in a trough which receives the flow from nine hatching
troughs, and is consequently carrying a swift current. These eggs
were evenly distributed over the tiles and stones several deep,
and did not flow off as in previous cases. Not until March 22nd:
eleven days after, did we see any dead eggs or fungus. At five
days old we could see the formation of the embryo with a micro-
scope, and at fifteen days the fish could be seen with the un-
assisted eye. At this time fungus had spread all over the out-
side eggs, but underneath there were but few dead ones. On
April 6th, when the eggs were twenty-six days old, they were
placed in the glass tanks with a flow from above, and a siphon
outlet, and four days later began hatching fast, and two days
after we had 11,000 fish, all that we obtained, the temperature
varying from 37 to 58 degrees, and the time thirty days. The
water in all these experiments was pure spring water.

The last trial was inthe McDonald hatching jars and was the

26 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

best of all, producing 60,000 fish from 200,000 eggs. They were
taken on March 21st by the dry method, let stand five minutes
and added half a pint of water and kept in motion twenty
minutes by tipping the pan from side to side and occasionly
using the tail of a fish. The object of this was to keep the eggs
from sticking together, so that they might be treated as free
eggs. After this more water was added and the eggs allowed to
rest for twenty minutes. They were then washed twice and
placed ina McDonald jar. They were taken at 5:10 P. M., were
all loose at 6:30 Pp. M., and at 7 P. M. next day many were stuck
fast to the jar and the tubes. On March 30th those still loose
were placed in another jar, and on April 2d a few dead ones
were observed, while four days later the eggs grouped together
in bunches which increased in size until on April 15th, the
bunches were of the size of walnuts and covered with fungus.
On the 2oth a few hatched and on the 2rst all that were good
came out. From this lot we got 60,000 fish in thirty days with
a temperature varying from forty to sixty-five degrees.

The fish are the most minute of any that I have hatched and
it troubled us to keep them. A strainer tube inclosing a siphon
such as we use for whitefish, was entirely too large, for the fish
passed through it with ease. After trying several things and
having the aquarim overflow, and the fish go out into the trout
ponds, we devised a spiral wire rolled on a stick of four inches
diameter and covered with thin muslin; this kept the fish and
allowed a small stream to flow out of the siphon which was
inserted. I will here say that the lower end of such siphon
should be placed in a jar of water in order that it does not suck
dry. The difficulty with siphons as outlets is their tendency to
empty faster than the inflow, and in consequence they empty
themselves and then decline to start again. Placing their lower
end in a fruit jar overcomes this failing; they will suck no
lower than the top of the jar holding the lower end. I used this
plan in the New York Aquarium in 1876, but do not claim to
have originated it. Of the eggs remaining attached to the first
jar and its tubes in a single layer, not one hatched—most of the
fish came from eggs which were in masses surrounded by fungus.

oo
This year’s experience upsets that of my eighteen previous years

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 27

which taught me that the egg of a fish should be clean and free
from fungus. I now except the smelt from the rule and think
it impossible that the embryo smelt must be protected from too
much oxygen and good water by a coating of decayed eggs and
fungus. Perhaps this is what gives the adult fish its peculiar
cucumber odor.

On April 17th, we turned out in the hole below the waste flume
of the mill pond, near the hatchery, 20,000, and 30,000 in a small
spring run in the meadows of Mr. W. E. Jones, opposite the
hatchery, while later 50,000 which were ordered by Commission-
er Blackford to be sent to Mr. R. W. Howe, Ridgewood, Long
Island, escaped into our ponds by the overflow of the tanks.
The fish are so minute that muslin strainers were required,
and an extra flow of water clogged them and the tanks over-
flowed, so that all our too,o0o fish will get into the harbor
through three channels.

I have said that the literature of smelt hatching is meagre.
Mr. George Ricardo, of New Jersey, has had experience with
these fish for several years and has hatched some, but has pub-
lished nothing to guide others. A search of my library, beyond
which I have no knowledge of what may have been done, reveals
the following:

Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. I., p. 428
(1881, Charles W. Harding, King’s Lynn, England, writes
Prof. Baird for information, wants to know if the English and
American smelts are identical and if the eggs are hatched in
fresh water, says: “Smelts spawn in this river (Ouse) from
April to beginning of June, and I am anxious to know if it is
possible to obtain the ova either from the fish direct, or from
the spawning ground, and hatch it out in gauze trays or troughs,
and whether fresh water will do, or is it necessary to have the
water partly salt.”

Norris, “American Fish Culture” (1868) p. 200, says that here
and in England the smelt has been naturalized in fresh water
lakes, “although an interference with their anadromous habits
produces generations of smaller and, perhaps less palatable
fish.” I note the caution with which the careful Norris, whom
fam proud to call my old angling friend, and whose book gave

28 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

me some hints when I had started in as a novice in fish-culture
nearly eighteen years ago, says, ‘perhaps’ the fish are less pal-
atable. The adverb shows that while he did not know it to be
so he recognized the fact that no fish which lives in fresh water
is as good for the table as if it dwelt in the sea, a thing well
known to all who live near salt water, but “Uncle Thad.” gives
us no hint as to smelt hatching.

Jerome Von Crowninshield Smith, M. D., the most absurd and
ignorant writer on fish that I know of, says (‘‘Natural History of
the Fish of Massachusetts,”’) 1833, p. 148: “An attempt has been
made to acclimate the smelts in a fresh-water pond, but they
have soon degenerated, becoming first emaciated, and disap-
peared, by degrees, till they probably all died.” This is my
experience with adult fish, although I have now about thirty
male fish alive in fresh water, all the females having died.

Mr. Charles G. Atkins, “Report U. S. Fish Commission,”
1879, p. 742, says: “November 6th.—This forenoon early, Mr.
Munson found a great run of smelts at the spawning shed (above
the dam). He said he could have dipped any number if they
had not been so shy and quick. As it was he dipped 150 or 200,
which I have preserved. They are mature, showing clearly
spawn and milt through their transparent bellies. [These smelts
are among the most diminutive of their genus, averaging in
length but little more than two inches. They are found in
several if not all the Schoodic Lakes. In one of the tributaries
of the “Uper Dobsey” Lake (Indian name, Sys/adobsts-sts) they are
wont to spawn late in the monthof February.” Seealsoa series
of questions by Mr. Atkins, “Report U. S. Fish Commission,”
1880, p. 44.

The best report on smelt hatching is contained in the report of
a Commission of Fisheries of Maryland (Thomas B. Ferguson),
1878, pp. 41-94, by Prof. H. J. Rice. His field of operation was
at the City of New Brunswick, about eight miles from the
mouth of the Raritan River, N. J. Prof. Rice alludes, p. 44, to
experiments of Mr. Atkins with the land-locked smelt which I do
not find, but which was “not favorable to the handling of this
species of adhesive spawn, and if I [he] mistake not, Mr. Atkin’s
conclusions were that it would not pay tohandle it.” Prof. Rice

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 29

states that Mr. Atkins hatched some eggs which were exposed to
the full force of running water, “in fact, that spawn only hatched
which remained attached to grass, twigs, or other articles situated
in a direct raceway, and where the water rushed along very
furiously. The spawn seemed to require, at least for its artificial
culture, a constant and furious change of water, differing, un-
doubtedly in this respect, very widely from its requirements
when deposited by the fish upon its natural spawning grounds.
The fish the Commission had to deal with, on the contrary, ana-
dromous, and we had no rush of water in which to deposit the
spawn.”

Prof. Rice used the Ferguson hatching jar. He records the
use of glass, untwisted rope-warp, gauze, etc., and says: “The
greater portion of these dead eggs were upon the grass, rope,
moss and twigs already mentioned, and the greater portion of
fish came from those eggs which were taken on trays covered
with gauze, and those eggs which were massed together in the
bottom of the jar, in the strength of whatever current there was.”
He says; p. 52, ‘‘This fungus covering the eggs must have a very
deleterious effect upon them, and I do not think it would be very
wrong to ascribe to it the death of a goodly portion of the eggs.”

I read this some years ago and agreed to it because not only
my own experience, but that of every other fish-culturist agreed
that fungus meant death toall fisheggs. My lessons this winter
seem to prove that with the eggs of the smelt a rush of water or
rather an excess of oxygen which is brought by it, means death,
and the outside eggs meet it first, and by the bulwark of their
dead bodies those inside are preserved. JI am aware that this is
not only a new view to take of the development of a fish egg,
but one that is liable to assault from many sides. Still, with
only one season’s experience, I launch it as my present belief,
subject to change as the fugitive -Zempus discloses new facts or
brings forward new experiences. I have never feared to hold
unpopular beliefs or to stand by what I thought to be right, and
now only wish that the smelt had yielded more eggs, which
might have been tried in all degrees of flow, from moderate to
almost stagnant water. Certain it is that all the fish we hatched
came from eggs protected from rapid changes of water by a

30 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

coating of dead eggs and fungus, which, by the time the interior
eggs were hatched, was a most foul and filthy mass, really unfit
for a visitor to look at, for he would not have believed that a
fish could issue from it.

To complete this experience it will be necessary to say that
Mr. Ricardo wished to try an experiment in transporting smelt
egos, and one morning brought to Mr. Blackford some twenty
thousand eggs, taken on grass, sewed on muslin stretched ona
wire frame, and packed in moss. This lot was placed in a
hatching trough in swift water the night after receiving, and
when removed at about the time of hatching to a glass tank,
some twenty fish came out, a result not encouraging to that
mode of packing. He afterward sent me eighty thousand fry by
express in a ten-gallon can, which was twelve hours on the way
without attention, but they arrived dead. It is his belief, and I
understand that it is shared by Prof. Rice, that the fry need no
change. Iam not prepared to accept this view, which if true is
singular, for the fish hatch in swift brooks.

—Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

Mr. Lyman: The results of Mr. Mather’s experiments regard-
ing the protection of eggs against the action of water, appear to
me somewhat novel. Perhaps some gentleman would like to
make some observations, or relate experiments of a kindred
nature which he may have conducted.

Mr. H. J. Rice: In regard to the work of Mr. Atkins and
myself it may be well to state that just before beginning opera-
tions at New Brunswick, a letter was received from Mr. Atkins
detailing briefly his method and amount of success in his work
in Maine and my work at New Brunswick, followed to a certain
extent his experiments, modified very largely, of course, by the
different conditions of our more southern locality. Some of his
methods for gathering and holding the spawn I found to answer
very well, but I misunderstood some of his writing and was
under the impression that he had not been successful, but found
out afterward in conversation with him, that he had hatched out
quite a large number of the eggs with which he was experiment-

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 31

ing, and he thought that his experiments, taken asa whole, should
be considered as fairly satisfactory. As tomy own experiments
since 1876 and 1877, the result serves to show greater success in
hatching smelt in comparatively stagnant water than in any
other manner. The smelt appear to be a peculiar form among
fish, and is at present no longer considered as one of the
Salmonide. Young smelt will live in the same water for nine
days, and fish-culturists will at once recognize the vast difference
in this respect, between these minute embryos and those of some
of the Sul/monide, where a constant change of water is absolutely
necessary. Again, the warmer the water the better the smelt
appear to thrive. If you take the smelt out of this bottle (point.
ing to a bottle of young smelt on the chairman’s table) and put
them in cold water, they will die. Place them near the stove
and they will become more lively than ever. I do not know the
limits of heat and cold which will respectively produce activity
or death with these fish; but I do not know that if water con-
taining smelt be cooled to a temperature in which trout would
enjoy themselves, the smelt would die. With regard to the
effect of fungus upon the fish, I think that, while in some cases
it proves fatal to them, yet in others, as Mr. Mather has
suggested, it forms a protection for the fish which are inside of
the bunch. Last year and also this season experiments have
been in progress to ascertain the feasibility of hatching young
smelt in comparatively stagnant water. So far this plan appears
to be successful. Large numbers have been hatched out and
with comparatively little trouble. This corresponds ina great
degree with what Mr. Mather has said, and I am inclined to
think that eventually we shall find that the less cold water we
use, the larger will be the number of eggs hatched out. It may
possibly be necessary to kill the fungus by the use of salt mush.

Mr. Lyman: I recollect in 1867 or 1868 trying to hatch some
of the large variety called Belgrade smelt. I put them in run-
ning water, somewhat swift, in which 1 kept my trout eggs, but
none of them hatched. The smelt is, of course, a very interest-
ing fish, and is one of the first species by which the fact was
demonstrated that quantity might be increased by good laws.

32 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

As you will all recollect, some twenty years ago or rather more,
in Massachusetts the smelt fishery had greatly declined. It was
supposed to be due to the capture of the fish by means of nets
stretched entirely across the brooks, which prevented the fish
from ascending the stream. The law to which Mr. Mather has
referred was passed on the recommendation of the Fishery Com-
missioners of Massachusetts. In two or three years the catch of
fish was very greatly improved, so much so, that the bays and
streams which had been nearly depopulated, once more became
filled with valuable fish. Ever since then, we have had a pretty
good supply of smelt in our State. I was very much interested
in the reference of Mr. Mather to Dr. J. C. Smith, as being the
most ignorant man that had ever written about fish. It illus”
trates the theory that in order to succeed one should always be
profoundly ignorant of the subject. He took up the matter of
naming American fishes, and for this purpose he used the Latin
names that corresponded to European fishes, which bore the
same English names as did American fishes. In this way he
often stumbled on the right nomenclature. At that time it was
supposed that the same species of fish were not to be found on
the two sides of the Atlantic. Since then, however, many of
these species have been proved to be identical, so that Dr. Smith
was one of the first persons accidentally to recognize a promi-
nent scientific fact which has only been attained by years of
hard study.

THE PORPOISE FISHERY OF CAPE HATTERAS.
BY FREDERICK W. TRUE,

There is a legend among the Indians of Brazil that when the
shades of evening are falling on the Amazon, the dolphin (called
inia) becomes transformed from its peculiar fish-like form, and
assumes that of a lovely maiden. Passing through the streets
of the village, her fair hair floating on the breeze, the youths are

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 33

attracted by her charms and follow her in crowds. When she
has walked through all the streets she reaches the banks of the
river, dons her fish-like mien, and plunges in suddenly. The
youths in hot pursuit, oblivious of their danger, fall down the
steep and perish in the water.

Such a transformation as we have indicated, though certainly
with some radical modifications, has taken place in the eyes of
some capitalists of Philadelphia in regard to one of the porpoises
of our own coast. They think they see in this common porpoise
not a useless creature, but an animal from which great profit
can be derived if proper means are taken to secure it. They
have, therefore, undertaken to utilize this animal for industrial
purposes. It is not the first time in the history of industries
that porpoises have been made use of. Inhabitants of all Arctic
countries, as the members of this Society are aware, are accus-
tomed to feed upon porpoises, especially the smaller species,
and to utilize especially their flesh and oil. In this country, too,
certain species of porpoise have been employed at one time or
another in connection with industrial pursuits.

About 1790 there was quite an important fishery for the
capture of porpoises on Long Island. This was in operation for
several years, but eventually failed to yield a profit. There is
now a similar fishery, if such it may be termed, not only on our
own coast at Cape Cod, but also on Norwegian shores. The
object of capture in this instance, however, is a different species
of the family of dolphin—namely, the blackfish. This animal is
occasionally stranded on our shores, and usually is seen in herds
comprising 400, 500 or 600 individuals. From these cetaceans
valuable products are obtained, the most important of which is
oil. It is a rather curious fact that many of the most important
fisheries are carried on for the capture of animals other than
fish. The whale, for whose capture so much energy is devoted:
and so large an amount of capital invested, is not afish. Again,
the object of the seal fishery isa mammal: of the oyster fishery
a mollusk, as also of the pearl fishery; of the lobster fishery, a
crustacean; and it now seems as if we are to see the fishery rise
to considerable importance, whose object of capture is not a fish,
the common dolphin of our coast. The species, Zusstops tursio,

34 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

a cast of which I have placed before you, is exceedingly common,

It sports in the waves from Maine to Florida. I have observed
them at various points, especially between Cape Cod and North
Carolina. They are fearless, approaching very closely in shore,
perhaps not further than twenty or thirty paces. They play
around the steamersand sailing vessels regardless of any danger.

The specimen before you is not full grown. The species
attain nine, ten and even eleven feet in length. They are not
very rapid swimmers, but can attain considerable speed.
Regarding their habits we really know very little. They appear
to breed at all seasons of the year. It was this species and one
other which were known to the ancients and entered into their
art. They were portrayed with curious conventionalization on
their coins, and were endowed with many peculiar attributes
which certainly not even man himself possesses, much less the
lower animals. The species before us has been known from
time immemorial. Its distribution seems to be very wide. It
probably occurs in all salt waters of the globe.

The fishery which 1s now being prosecuted at Cape Hatteras
has been carried on in a minor degree for many years. As long
as there has beena colony on the coast of North Carolina, the
fishermen have been in the habit of catching some porpoise dur-
ing the winter and converting them into oil. The apparatus
used for this purpose was, however, very rude, and consequently
the oil produced was of no great value. Last year, however, for
some unknown cause, it occurred to certain gentlemen in Phila-
delphia that this animal could be made more profitable than had
before appeared, and they therefore formed a company with
their base of operations near to Cape Hatteras, where they were
engaged last winter in catching porpoises. So abundant are the
dolphins at this point that they had no difficulty in taking 2,000
during the cold weather. The fishing season is not yet finished,
and it is probable that 1,000 more will be added to the number
captured.

The method of the fishing is the same as has been in use for
a long time by the fishermen of Cape Hatteras. Having ex-
plained this at length in print, it is perhaps unnecessary to dwell
upon the details at this time. I may say, however, that it con_

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 35

sists simply in surrounding the animals with large nets, forming
a great pond from which they cannot escape, and then sweeping
out a few at atime by means of a smaller net. Sometimes 600
are surrounded by the large nets, and of this number fifty or
sixty are hauled ashore at a time. They are drowned as they
come up, or if still living, are killed with knives. ©

The products, which the Hatteras Porpoise Fishing Company
hope to derive from the capture of these animals, are primarily
oil and leather. There is no doubt that, if properly purified,
their oil would be of a high grade, and could be used to great
advantage in the arts. So far as the leather is concerned, it
must be more or lessa matter of experiment for the present.
Unquestionably certain members of the family De/phinide furnish
excellent leather. We have in the museum some which was
made from the skin of the white whale. This is (or until
recently was) extensively used in Canada. Excellent leather is
also made from the skin of the blackfish, of which I have seen
magnificent samples. From the skin of a blackfish a piece of
leather of large size can be manufactured. This porpoise leather,
though not very thick, is exceedingly tough and entirely water-
proof. It has not great market value at present, excepting ina
limited trade, but I think this is simply because it has not been
put upon the market in any considerable quantities. As soon
as people recognize the quality of this leather, and as soon asa
sufficient quantity of it is made, so that it may be brought into
general use, I think it will become very popular in the manu-
facture of articles for which a somewhat thin, very tough and
entirely waterproof material is required. The Hatteras com-
pany, not satisfied to produce oil and leather only as fruits of
their labors, hope to render the flesh palatable as food. In this
I fear they will not be entirely successful. The flesh of this
animal has a strong, oily flavor which does not disappear en-
tirely until quite dry, in which state it would be, I fear, too
tough to eat. In Arctic regions, however, the flesh of many
such animals is eaten. In Norway, too, the flesh of considerable
numbers of blackfish is consumed. It is cut up into small strips
and dried in the sun until quite hard. Iam not familiar with
the process of cooking.

36 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Regarding the value of this porpoise fishery, it may be said to
be quite important. It has been calculated that each porpoise
as it lies upon the beach is worth $25. If such an estimate be
correct, it is not difficult to understand that the conversion of
its oi! and skin into objects of commercial use would add con.
siderably to this sum. If the company captures 3,000 or 4,000 a
year, the first value of the product to the company will, accord-
ing to the figures, be $100,000. Of course this value would be
greatly enhanced when the products were manufactured into
objects of use. Fora single fishery this is by no means a small
sum. The success of this company will probably have an im-
portant bearing upon the formation of other similar companies
in the future.

I can see no reason why the pursuit of an animal so easy to
capture, and from which marketable articles of such undoubt-
edly high grade can be obtained, should not be profitable to the
fishermen. Of course there are certain prejudices to be re-
moved; but if the company shows a fair amount of persistence,
I see no reason why their labors should not be crowned with
great financial success.— Washington, D. C.

Mr. GoopE—I should like to say a word or two about the
products to be obtained from the porpoise. It seems to me that
the possibilities of this fishery are very great, provided that the
number of animals caught is sufficient to make it worth while
bringing them into the markets. As regards the food value of
the porpoise, I would say that I have tasted the Norwegian
whale product—a whale hermetically sealed in tin cases at the
London Fisheries Exhibition in 1883, and really it had in some
way been divested of its oily taste, and resembled beef a@ Za mode.
It seems possible, therefore, that some method may be found for
removing the oily taste from the porpoise flesh. As to the
value of the oil it is undoubtedly so far superior to any other
animal oil, that I cannot doubt its coming into general use for
lubricating purposes, as soon as it can be sold for a reasonable
price. At present twenty-five.cents is charged for a bottle
hardly larger than one’s little finger, and I am not aware that
any of the oil is put on the market in acheaper form. The
leather made from the skin of the porpoise is held in high

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

Go
N

esteem in Europe for walking boots—especially by Alpine
travelers. In London a good pair of such boots is worth fifteen
to twenty dollars, nor can they be obtained for less. As you
are all probably aware, the leather of the white whale was some
years ago used by the Canadian government exclusively in the
manufacture of mail bags, being indestructible and impervious
to water. These qualities render it a most desirable leather for
boots. I am also under the impression that this leather is par-
ticularly adapted for belting for machinery and for lace leather.
Porpoise leather boot laces are in great favor abroad. I might
perhaps enlarge upon what I have said in regard to the special
applications of the products of this animal, but am satisfied that
they are numerous and may be made of great commercial value.

Mr. H. J, Rice—It will perhaps not be out of place for me to
say that at the present time porpoise leather is used to a large
extent in New Brusnwick and along the coast of the British
Provinces from the St. Lawrence down, and is highly esteemed.
[ have been informed by Commissioner Stillwell, of Maine, that
he uses shoes made of this leather in preference to any others,
and I understand that they are quite commonly used in St.
Johns and other cities of the Provinces.

Mr. Lyman—In regard to the use of porpoise flesh as food, I
find that like many other things in this world, it is a matter of
taste, One gentleman in Washington has said that he con-
sidered smoked porpoise flesh superior to smoked beef, and
another said he had eaten mule and consequently could eat
porpoise. Weall must have noticed, I think, that among civil-
ized nations the favorite articles of food are the result of a
passing fashion, certain conditions, as of nutrition and a fairly
-agreeable taste, being present. I remember that at one time
about a dozen cusk would supply the whole of the Boston mar-
ket, because there were only that number of families that knew
it was good toeat. Inexternal appearance the fish is extremely
repulsive. At the present day this same fish commands a very
large price as a delicacy. . Again, in regard to the whiting of
this coast, I have known it thrown away by the cartload because
it could not be sold in our markets. On the shores of the

38 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Mediterranean, in France, and generally throughout Europe
wherever the whiting is found, it occurs in very great numbers,
and is one of the highly prized species. Therefore, I believe
that, if porpoise flesh can be made to taste like smoked beef,
push and perseverance on the part of this company will crown
their labors in success. Oleomargerine is unblushingly sold
for butter everywhere, and one gentleman, a member of the
U. S. Geological Survey, said he preferred it to butter because
it would keep better.

[As Mr. True a few weeks later changed his opinion concern-
ing the value of the tlesh of the porpoise as food, I take the lib-
erty of inserting the following from forest and Stream, June,
1885.—-RECORDING SECRETARY. |

PORPOISE STEAK.

Editor Forest and Stream:

We live in an utilarian age. An age in which a man anoints his
rheumatic joints with the waste products of petroleum, fills his con-
fectionery with the parings of hoofs and horns, and writes his éz//e¢s
doux on the pressed pulp of the rags that blow in the streets. Yet
the historian of these times will write us down as an unenterprising
and wasteful generation. With what abuse we should have loaded
the Indian had he trusted for his subsistence to the animals he
could tame and rear, and let the unnumbered herds of buffaloes that
darkened the plains in the old days go by his lodge unmolested. We
should have looked upon his destruction by our pious ancestors as
not the least pious of their deeds. Yet we who esteem ourselves so
much above the aborigines allow a vast race of food-supplying crea-
tures to disport themselves before our very eyes and make no effort
to utilize them. I mean the cetaceans. But you will say that por-
poises are not fit to eat, that their flesh is too tough, coarse and ill-
flavored. I have said so, too, and that recently before the American
Fisheries Society. But I have been converted, and my conversion
was in this wise.

On returning from their last cruise on the Hatteras ground, the
naturalists of the Fish Commission’s steamer A/éatross captured and
brought in on ice two specimens of the common dolphin (Delphinus

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 39

delphzs), one quite young. When these had been properly examined
from a scientific point of view, the proposition was made that the
younger one be converted into steaks. A number of pieces were cut
from the middle of the back, and in a few moments the most promis-
ing of them were broiling in fine style before the fire. When they
came upon the table they had the appearance of small tenderloin
steaks, such as one may have served up in any well regulated restau-
rant, and the best bull ever bred could have no spot in him more
tender than were these same small steaks. But the flavor! Some
one has said that the odor of a rose is not to be described. So with
the flavor of this porpoise. If I say I was reminded of liver, you will
cry out that it was coarse; if I say there seemed to be something in it
akin to juicy duck, you will suspect rankness; while if I affirm that
there was a suspicion of delicate fish, your thought will be on blubber.
But even as in order to know the delicacy of a rose it is necessary to
smell one, so if you would know how the flavor of a porpoise steak
can combine harmoniously that of a liver, a canvasback and a king-
fish, you must eat one.

There are several morals which might be drawn from this simple
and affecting tale, but perhaps the most important are these: (1) Take
your steak from a young porpoise and (2) have it properly cooked.

If all young porpoises are as palatable as this dolphin of the an-
cients, it is a pity that so much succulence should waste itself upon
the waves, and never a morsel come to relieve our menu. The golden
age of gastronomy was long ago, and in that time kings and other
great persons looked upon porpoise as a delicacy of delicacies. May
we not hope that some day our menus may again be enlivened by
some such phrase as ‘ Marsouzn au Commissatre des Peches,” or “* Dau-
phin brasille aux Esquimeaux du pole arctique?”

BW. RUE.

WASHINGTON, June 8.

Tue Prestpent : Under the instructions of the Executive Com-
mittee, the secretary has written to the private secretary of the
President to ascertain if it will be convenient for the President
to receive the members of the Society to-morrow morning. An
answer has not yet been received, but the Society will be in-
formed of the result to-morrow morning.

It was then proposed and carried to let the reading of papers
be continued until Wednesay morning. The Society then ad-
journed until rz a. Ma. Wednesday.

40 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

WeEpDNEsDAY, May 6th, 1885.

The meeting was called to order and the reading of papers
continued.

RESULTS OF PLANTING WHITE RISE LN
LAKE ob RIE:

BY FRANK N. CLARK.

After the close of the fishing season of 1884 in Lake Erie, I
began an inquiry to ascertain whether there had been an in-
crease or decrease in the catch of whitefish as compared with
that of former seasons. The investigation was conducted by
personal interviews, through a representative, a practical fisher-
man, with the leading fishermen and dealers, and covers most of
the important fisheries of that part of the lake from Erie, Pa.
westward to Toledo, Ohio. The results are most gratifying, as
it is conceded by all and shown by the reports, that the aggre-
gate catch of whitefish was considerably in excess of that of any
season for several years. The results are especially encourag- |
ing to fish-culturists, as all the factsand statements point to but
one conclusion, namely, that the increase is due to the planting
of young fish from the hatcheries.

No disappointment would have been felt had there been no
perceptible increase, as much was required to offset the exten-
sive and exhausting fishing carried on all over the lake, on both
the spawning and feeding grounds, which was causing a grad-
ual decrease of the catch. For many years every spawning
ground had been literally covered with nets during the spawn-
ing season, while hundreds of gill-nets have been employed
on the feeding grounds in deeper water, and thrown across the
path of the runs towards the spawning grounds. In no other
of the great lakes has the fishing industry been pursued with
greater persistence and skill than in Lake Erie. Notwithstand-
ing this, however, we find that not only has the decrease been
arrested, but that there is a tangible and satisfactory increase.

The figures given below show in round numbers the aggre-

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 41

gate plantings of whitefish fry in Lake Erie, from the beginning
of the work by the United States and Ohio and Michigan Fish
Commissions. Some plants were also made by the Canadian
Commission during the years mentioned, but I am unable to
give the figures:

Spring of 1875 - 150,000 Spring of 1879 - 7,000,000
Spring of 1876 - 300,000 Spring of 1880 - 7,000,000
Spring of 1877 - 450,000 Spring of 1881 - 13,000,000
Spring of 1878 - 12,000,000 Spring of 1882 - 42,000,000

These figures include the latest plantings that could pos-
sibly be called due in the fall of 1884. Under the current
method of computing the numbers of young fish in tanks
and cans, there is no doubt that the estimates shown in the
above figures are much too large. ;

Following are a number of statements from fishermen and
dealers, in substantially the exact language of the parties mak-
ing them, with regard to the catch and the value of fish pro-
pagation and planting :

L. Streuber, Erie, Pa. says; ‘“ Am dealer and shipper of
frozen fish, and fish considerable twine. Can give you the
figures of my catch for only the past two seasons, which is as
follows: Catch of whitefish for 1883, r10 tons; 1884, 150 tons.
I believe the propagation of whitefish to be a great help toward
keeping up a stock in the lakes; so much so that lam doing
all I can to get a hatchery started here, believing it will pay.”

C. D. Carter, another dealer and fisherman in the same city,
says: ‘‘My catch of whitefish for the past two years is as fol-
lows: 1883, 175 tons; 1884, 225 tons. I think that the plant-
ing of young whitefish in Lake Erie has already done a great
good toward keeping up and increasing the stock of whitefish
in its waters. I hope to see the hatcheries kept up, and would
like to see one here in Erie, believing we have a good location
for one, and that it is a good point to plant fish from, as there
are no carnivorous fish caught at the season of the year when
the young fish would be put in.”

John Harlow & Co., of Erie, make the following statement :
“For the past five years our annual catch of whitefish has

42 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

been about 150 tons, until 1884, when it was 200 tons. The in-
crease of fifty tons | attribute to the planting of young white-
fish from the hatcheries. I am very much in favor of the plant-
ing, and hope it will be kept up, as I am satisfied that it is of
great benefit to the fishing interest of the lake. A few seasons
since we commenced catching very small whitefish—so small
that we had to get smaller-meshed nets, and now we are getting
a larger class of fish again.”

H. Divel, fish dealer and practical fisherman, also of Erie,
says: “I have been fishing for some time, and think the white-
fish for the past three years have been increasing. I can give
the figures of my catch only for the past two seasons, as fol-
lows: 1883, thirty tons; 1884, fifty tons. I think the business
of hatching and planting is of great benefit in keeping up the
stock ; for with the increase of twine, the whitefish must soon
be caught off if nothing is done to keep the stock good. There
can be no reasonable doubt about the young fish living and be-
coming full grown. They stand just as good a chance as those
hatched naturally, their danger from carnivorous fishes being
no greater than those hatched on the reefs.”

B. Divel, of Erie, gives similar testimony: ‘“ My catch of
whitefish has improved for two or three years. The figures for
the last two seasons are: 1883, thirty tons; 1884, fifty tons.
From the fact that whitefish are steadily increasing in numbers,
I believe the hatching and pignine of the young is a SUCCESS,
and the cause of the increase.’

Charles Joles, of Erie, a gill-net fisherman, says: “I fish gill-
nets off Elk Creek. Cannot say how many whitefish I caught
in the different years, but know I caught more in 1884 than in
any season for several years. I attribute the gain to the plant-
ing of young fish at the upper endof the lake. I am satisfied
that were it not for this, whitefish would become so scarce that
it would not pay to fish for them.”

Rudolph Sifield, of North Bass Island, says: “TI fish with
pound nets and own some gill-nets, but would willingly put the
latter in a pile and burn them, if gill-net fishing could be pro-
hibited. Gill-nets are a great detriment to natural propagation,

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 43

as they are set on the reefs in spawning time, right where the
fish go to breed, and the schools are broken up or driven off en-
tirely, and the eggs are then deposited in the mud and _ never
hatch. Good results may now be seen from fish-planting, but
the business has not been carried on long enough, nor on a suf-
ficient scale, to tell what it will do in the long run.”

Simon Fox, of North Bass, gives his opinion thus: ‘Have
been in the fishing business for years, and until the past season
never believed there would be any results from the planting of
young fish. Now Iam fully convinced that good results are to
be seen, and if it is continued, great results will follow.”

Jasper Snide, of North Bass, says: ‘Our twine caught a few
more whitefish in 1884 than in 1883, and I think we should have
done still better but for the unfavorable fishing weather, it being
so still that the fish remained on the reefs beyond our nets con-
tinuously until we got those heavy blows, which drove them off
entirely. Formerly I did not have any faith in the planting of
young whitefish, but am now sure we can see good results.
We now catch a great many of a smaller class of fish, which we
never did before the planting was commenced, and if the stock
had not been kept up in some other than the natural way, they
must have decreased in numbers, and we cannot see that they
have in a few years.”

George Axtell, of North Bass, states: ‘‘ Whitefish are in-
creasing in numbers all the time, at least this is true of my own
nets, and I feel certain that it is owing to the planting of young
fish from the hatcheries. Last fall I caught numbers of small
whitefish, such as I never before caught in gill-nets.”’

William Axtell, practical fiisherman, of North Bass, says: ‘I
know that the planting of young whitefish is a great help to the
fishing industry. Would like to see more fisheries put up—
enough to take care of all the eggs that could be taken.”

Eugene McFall, clerk of the steamer Jay Cooke, freight and
passenger boat plying between the islands and Sandusky, says :
“T think there is an increase in the catch of whitefish, and I sup-
pose the planting must account for it. We carried from the
islands in 1883 about 132,000 pounds of whitefish, and in 1884,
170,000, an increase of nineteen tons for 1884.”

44 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

George Winne, of Locust Point, says: I fish gill-nets on the
reefs off Toussaint Point. In 1883 I caught two tons of white-
fish from sixty nets, and in 1884 six tons from thirty-six nets.
A few years ago it got so it did not pay to go out on the reefs
to fish, and I quit and went sailing. Since the planting of
young whitefish has been carried on, fish have become more
numerous, and I have done very well fishing, but best this last
fall. Think if the planting is not kept up whitefish will soon
become scarce again. Think a much greater percentage of eggs
put into hatcheries will live to become mature fish than those
deposited on the reefs by the fish themselves, for the reason that
the former are protected from their enemies while hatching, and
after the young fish are planted their chances are just as good.”

M. Shepherd, also of Locust Point, states: ‘Am fishing fif-
teen pound-nets off Locust Point. My catch the past season
was about as usual—no material difference. Think the hatch-
ing business a good thing, but the proper place for a hatchery
is on one of the islands; then the eggs would have the natural
water, and when the fish are planted there would be no change
from the water they were hatched in to that which they are
planted in.”

Nelson Parsons, a practical fisherman of Vermillion, says :
“I have watched the fishing interests very closely for a number
of years, and noticed that whitefish are steadily decreasing in
numbers, until the supply was replenished by the planting of
young fish from the hatcheries. If something of the kind had
not been done, I think that whitefish would, ere this, have be-
come so scarce that it would not pay to fish for them. For-
-merly we used to catch whitefish of ali sizes at the same time,
but this season at Cleveland, where I was, the fish were nearly
all of one size—looked as if they were all of the same age,
and I believe they were a school of the planted fish. I think
if fishing is continued it must be done in this way.”

Edson & Nichols, of Vermillion, caught one ton less of white-
fish in 1884 than in 1883, but say: ‘‘ We do not attribute the
falling off to a growing scarcity, but to the direction and
amount of wind, which is everything to us here in the fishing

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 45

season. We think the hatching business of great importance,
and the only way of keeping up the fishing industry.”

Bert Parsons, also of Vermillion, caught no more whitefish
in his pound-nets off Vermillion in 1884 than in 1883, but
caught double the number in his gill-nets near the islands. He
says: “Ithink if there had been favorable winds for pound-
net fishing we would have caught more than double the amount
of whitefish in our pound-nets last fall. I know the business of
planting has been of great benefit, for in my gill-nets fished
about the islands I caught double the quantity last fall that I did
the year before. The figures are: 1883, five tons; 1884, ten
tons.”

Leidheiser, of Vermillion, savs: ‘TI cannot give the amount
of my catch, but it was rather light, owing to the unfavorable
winds we had for our coast. I think the hatcheries are all right,
and do a great deal toward keeping up the stock, and that the
business should be continued and extended beyond where it
now is.”

Post & Co., of Sandusky, give some excellent testimony :
“Yes, sir; I know that the business of propagating whitefish is
a great benefit. In fact, if the United Statesand State hatcheries
were to cease working, I believe it would pay the fishermen and
dealers to continue it themselves. I would be willing to be
taxed my share for supporting it. I undé@rstand that at Erie and
Dunkirk a great many small whitefish were taken weighing a
pound to a pound and a half, which was never done until the
last two or three years, and they increase year by year, which is
good proof that they are some of the planted fish.

“T received the fish from roo pound-nets last year (1883) and
from r1o this year (1884), with the following results: 1883,
fifty tons whitefish ; 1884, eighty tons whitefish.

“Whitefish are not now decreasing; but from the number of
pound and gill-nets in use to catch them, a decrease is sure to
follow unless the artificial hatching is continued to keep up the
supply.

“T am opposed to fishing such long strings of pound-nets,
and think the gill-netting needs regulating. The gill-netters
commence away down below, off Buffalo and Erie, in deep

46 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. i

water, and fish all summer; then, as the fish move up toward
the head of the lake to the spawning grounds, the nets are
moved right along with the runs, so that they are hunted almost
the year round, which is done with no other kind of fish.”’

Harry Molyneux, of Sandusky, gives some valuable testi-
mony: ‘Am a practical gill-net fisherman. A few years ago
fishing on the island reefs got so poor that I gave up going
there ; but in the fall of 1882 I tried it again, and did very well.
In the fall of 1883 I caught double the amount of whitefish I
did the fall before; and this last fall I caught almost twice as
many as in 1883.

I credit all the increase to hatching and planting, and would
like to see more hatcheries.”

William Rehberg, pound-net fisherman, of Middle Bass
Island, says: “Think the hatching a good thing, but the plant-
ing has not been properly done long enough to tell really how
much benefit it is toward keeping up the supply of whitefish.
Think the supply could be kept up in Lake Erie by prohibiting
gill-net fishing west of Kelly’s Island, which would give the fish
a chance to breed on the natural spawning reefs, where the gill-
nets are now placed.”

Caspar Voight, of Sandusky, says: “My catch of whitefish in
the past two seasons was as follow: 1883, from thirty-five
pound-nets, thirty-seven tons; 1884, from thirty-five pound-nets,
forty-five tons.

“T have not thought much about the hatching business, but it
must do some good; at least there seems to be an increase in
whitefish the past two or three years.”

Simon Schact, of Sandusky, says: ‘‘ My catch for the past two
seasons is as follows: 1883, forty-two pound-nets, forty tons
whitefish ; 1884, forty-eight pound-nets, fifty tons whitefish.

“IT believe the planting of fry to be a good thing, and the only
way the fishing can be kept up. I fear, however, that the way
the gill-netters are catching them, and going on the breeding
grounds and disturbing them while spawning, will do more harm
than the hatcheries can do good. The fishermen down at Erie
and Dunkirk receive the most benefit from the planting, as they

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 47

fish with gill-nets all summer, and are using small-meshed nets
every season, on purpose to catch the small whitefish.”

Lay Brothers, of Sandusky, say: ‘“ Our catch of whitefish for
the past two seasons was as follows: 1883, from twenty pound-
nets, sixteen tons; 1884, from thirty pound-nets, twenty-six tons.

‘We think it is plain to see that there isa benefit to be de-
rived from the hatcheries, and would like to see as many in oper-
ation as there are eggs to fill.”

Dewy & Co., of Toledo, say: ‘Our catch the past season was
rather light. We do not attribute this toa scarcity of whitefish,
but to the unfavorable winds that prevailed on our Monroe coast
grounds all the fall until a late date; then just as the fish began
to come on, we had two severe blows from the west, which drove
the fish from the shore, and they did not come back, or, if they
did, we did not get them, as our twine was out.

We think the business of planting young fish an excellen}
thing ; we can see no reason why it should not be, as every fish
planted in that way is a clear gain. We see no reason why
planted fish should not stand as good a chance to live and be-
come grown fish as those that hatch on the reefs.” :

Wm. St. John & Co., also of Toledo, say: ‘Our receipts of
whitefish for the past two seasons are as follows: 1883, from
twenty pound-nets, 6,000 pounds ; 1884, from forty-five pound-
nets, 18,000 pounds.

“We do not see that fish planting has been of much benefit to
this end of the lake, but I am informed that great benefits have
been realized further down.

“We would like to see Congress take hold of the matter and
enact a law to control and restrict the fishing with gill-nets;, also
with such long strings of twine. Although we ourselves are
fishing twenty and twenty-one pounds in a string, we would
like to see them cut down to six at most on main shore, and
not more than three off the islands, or any place where there is
a narrow channel. Then the whitefish would havea better chance
to get through to the coast and reef-spawning grounds at the
head of the lake, which they would do if they were not turned
back by the long strings of twine.”

J. C. & J. H. Davis, of Toledo, says: “Our catch of white-

48 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

fish for the past two seasons was as follows: 1883, six tons,
and 1884, from the same number of nets, six and one-half tons.

“Do not know that planting of young fish has been of
much benefit to us at this end of the lake, but can see no
reason why it should not benefit somebody. Certainly, every
young fish put in makes one more chance for a whitefish, as the
eggs would be lost if not taken.”

E. Alvord & Son, of Sandusky, says: “Our receipts of
whitefish for the past two seasons were: 1883, from fifty-two
pound-nets, twenty-three tons ; 1884, from the same number of
nets, thirty and one-half tons.

“Yes, we think that propagation is a good thing and a great
help in adding to the supply of fish in the lake. We think the
young fry stand just as good a chance of becoming full-grown
fish as those hatched in the lake.

“ But there ought to be a law to stop fishing with gill-nets,
for the reason that down below here, in deep water, where they
fish through the summer, it is estimated that at least one-third
of those caught in hot weather are unfit for market, and
are- thrown away, which is an outrage. And then in the fall
the gill-nets are set on the spawning reefs, just when and where
the fish should be left undisturbed.”

Bear & Ruth, of Sandusky, state that in 1883 their catch of
whitefish from nine pound-nets, was seven and a half tons, and
in 1884, from eleven pound-nets, ten tons.

“The planting of young fish is undoubtedly of great benefit
to the fishing interests. Were it not for this the stock in the
lake would rapidly decrease.”

A. Bremilier, of Sandusky, gives the following figures: Catch
of whitefish in forty pound-nets in 1883, sixty-six tons; in 1884,
sixty-nine tons.

“T think there is positive proof of the benefit of the hatch-
eries, from the fact that during late years, say the last two or
three, there have been a great many small fish caught—smaller
than ever were caught before the planting was commenced in
the lake. Another fact to be taken into account is that the facili-
ties for catching are becoming greater every year, and if the

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 49

supply had not been kept up in some way, the stock must cer-
tainly have decreased, which is not now the case.”

A. J. Gustavus, pound-net fisherman, of Huron, puts it in this
light: ‘For every million of fry planted there are a million
more chances for whitefish. I think the greatest results are to
come, as the business is not yet old enough for us to expect
much benefit.”

E. D. Smith, of Marblehead, says: ‘I know the fish-hatch-
ing to be a grand thing, for the reason that I have caught thou-
sands of whitefish this season not weighing over a pound to a
pound and a half each and formerly never caught them. I be-
lieve these small fish are some of those planted from the hatch-
eriesi’|

Fred Motrie of Port Clinton, says: “I fished six pounds in the
fall of 1883, and five in the fall of 1884. Have no record of my
whitefish catch for either fall, but know I caught more in 1884
than in 1883, perhaps 20 per cent. more. The hatcheries are un-
doubtedly a good thing and should be kept up. While the eggs
are in the jars they are out of the way of the sturgeon, suckers
and all the fish that live mostly by sucking up spawn; and when
the young fish are turned loose they will look out for them-
selves.”

Felix Courchaine, also of Port Clinton, says: “I did very
well the past fall, in fact the fishing was the best it has been for
years. I caught six tons with tweny-six gill-nets. I have every
reason to believe that we are getting results from the plant-
ings from the hatcheries; and why shouldn’t we? The fry
planted in this way stand an equal chance with those hatched
in the lakes, and as for taking care of themselves, I think
nature will look out for that. I should be sorry indeed to see
the hatching of whitefish discontinued.”

F. Perry, a practical gill-netter, of Port Clinton, says: “In
the fall of 1883 my catch of whitefish from nineteen nets was
one ton, and in the fall of 1884, from thirty-seven nets, six tons
—six times the catch of the year previous, with double the nets,
on the same grounds. I think we are getting great results from
the planting of young fish, for before it was commenced white-
fish were fast playing out. But now they are becoming more

50 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

plentiful again, and I know of no cause for it except the plant-
ing of the young in large numbers from the hatcheries.”

From all the places named above, as well as other points on
the lake, much more evidence of the same kind might be offered ;
but it would be merely a repetition of what has already been
given. Accurate data showing the total whitefish catch of the
lake for a term of years, or even for one season, would be al-
most impossible to obtain, from the fact that many fishermen
classify their entire catch simply as “‘hard fish,” ‘soft fish,”
etc., whitefish, of course, being included in the former. The
statements, however, cover sufficient grounds to form a reliable
basis for conclusions. They show that while there was no per-
ceptible increase the past season in the whitefish runs at the ex-
treme west end of the lake, there was a decided increase on the
coast and island reefs further down, and a very marked increase
in numbers still further down on the feeding grounds, in deeper
water, where gill-nets are operated. On the whole, sufficient
is shown to prove beyond a doubt that the aggregate catch was
greater than for several years, that whitefish are decidedly on
the increase in Lake Erie, and that the increase is simply the
legitimate result of the work of the hatcheries. The removal
from the lake every year of thousands and hundreds of thou-
sands of adult fish, whether taken directly from the breeding
grounds or not (the results are the same), must certainly ere this
have caused a very material decrease in the stock but for the
compensation of young from the hatcheries.

Northville, Mich.

HOW TO RESTORE OUR TROUT STREAMS.

BY? A485 SVAN, CLEEE.

In 1877 and the two following years, the supervisors of one
of the counties of the State of New York lying east of the
Hudson River, made appropriations for restocking the waters
of the county with fish, and a committee of which the writer
was the chairman was intrusted with the work.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 51

The supply of fish from the State was liberal, and in each of
the springs of 1878, 1879 and 1880 many thousand small fry of
trout were distributed, those streams which had been noted trout
streams in the past being especially favored.

In one of these years thirty-five streams were restocked. The
fish were deposited under careful instructions, and considerable
effort was made to protect the streams, aud yet after the most
careful inquiry, the committee has failed to hear of any practi-
cal benefit resulting from its efforts.

Many of these streams already abounded to some extent in
trout, and it was hoped that the protection afforded after re-
stocking would result in a marked increase of the fish ; but that
hope was not in any single instance realized, and the committee
has been irresistibly forced to the conclusion that some force
other than excessive fishing had led to the universal depletion .of
these streams, and that the same cause still existed to prevent
their restoration.

After the fullest investigation and examination of these and
other streams, I have become satisfied that the destruction of the
trees bordering on these streams and the changed condition of
the banks produced thereby, has resulted in the destruction of
the natural harbors or hiding places of the trout, that this is the
main cause of the depletion, and that until these harbors are
restored, it will be useless to hope for any practical benefit from
restocking them.

By giving a few of the facts which have led me to this con-
clusion, its correctness will, I think, be made apparent :

t. Inthe heart of the Catskills there is a natural trout lake
of about twenty-five acres. Being too remote for successful
protection, which has only been attempted within the last ten
or twelve years, it has been for many years the resort of anglers
the year round. Trout have been taken in enormous numbers
through the ice, which usually lasts until May, and it has been
the very paradise of poachers by day and by night. And yet
the fish in this lake are substantially as abundant to-day as they
have been for the past twenty years, and during all this time
there has been no marked diminution of the trout.

This lake is fed by a stream which runs through a quarter of

52 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

a mile or more of wet, marshy land, which is so completely cov-
ered by large alders that it is almost impossible to penetrate
them. Inthis stream the small fry and fish of one or two years’
growth aboundin myriads. In other words, the natural harbors
and hiding places for the trout in and about this lake have been
left undisturbed, and this is the secret of its continued wealth of
trout.

2. Thirty or forty years ago a brook in Dutchess county,
about five miles long, was noted for the abundance and size of
its fish. The angler in the early spring was usually rewarded
with a well filled creel, and from this little stream, which a
child could jump across, trout were often taken of from one to
two pounds in weight. Early in each summer the trout disap-
peared, only to appear again the next spring in equal numbers ;
near the center of this stream, it ran through a marsh, which so
abounded in black alders that they protected it from approach.
Through this marsh the stream was much broader and the water
deeper than elsewhere, and the bed was composed of thin, deep
mud, making wading impossible. Some twenty or more years ago
the owner of this meadow cut down every alder, at the only
point where the fish had found a safe refuge, and in a few years
the trout, large and small, practically disappeared, and though
recent efforts have been made to restore and restock this stream,
under full protection, they have substantially failed.

3. In one of the principal streams running through Ulster
and Sullivan counties, it has been my privilege to fish many
times during the last twenty-five years. Here were two pools
which always furnished rare sport, and the adjacent pools were
always full of fish. On one of the banks of each of these pools
the trees had been left standing, their roots had preserved the
upper portion of the bank, but below these roots the ground
had been washed away, so that deep hiding places were thus
formed for the trout. It was very seldom that one or more large
fish failed to rise to the fly at these points.

Some twelve or fifteen years ago these trees were removed,
the stumps decayed, the bank fell in, the fish no longer hada
refuge, and since that time the angler has been fortunate if he
has raised a fingerling at or near either of these points.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 53

The conditions as tothe waterflow are still relatively the same
in all three of these waters, the spawning grounds are unchanged,
the only difference is in the harbors for the trout, which are un-
changed inthe first, totally destroyed in the second, and partially
so inthe third. And the depletion of the fish has been in pre-
cise proportion to such destruction.

Lest these may be regarded as somewhat isolated cases, I will
cite two more.

Near the center of Dutchess county a brook rises in the side
of a small mountain, at the base of which it enters a swamp
through which it runs, with occasional openings for two or three
miles, where it iscompletely protected by the trees and bushes,
which have never been disturbed. In these open places and be-
low this swamp, where for a distance of several miles there are
but few places where the stream cannot be reached, it has been
and still is freely fished, and yet there has been no serious dimi-
nution in the number or size of the fish. ,While other streams
have failed, this one has always yielded good sport, trout of
from one to two pounds being frequently taken.

In the eastern part of the same county there is a long, sluggish
stream running for miles through a marsh. Its very name,
“Swamp River,” indicates its character. Its bottom is one long
stretch of ooze; its banks are almost everywhere covered with
a dense growth of bushes. It has always been noted for the
size of its trout, but on account of the difficulty of access they
are seldom taken. It is fed by several tributaries of three or
four miles or more in length, as well as numerous little streams,
all of which are open and freely fished, and they are all good
trout brooks.

As soon as the water in these brooks becomes low, the trout
disappear, but where? The water flow is increased by the gen-
erous rain, they appear again in large numbers, and at such
times large fish is often taken even in the smallest tributaries.

This last instance is especially interesting, as it shows that when
the streams are full of water the trout will travel a long distance
from their haunts, and that when warned of danger by the re-
ceding of the waters, the instinct of self-preservation leads them
to hasten back to them.

54 . AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Unfortunately very many of our most noted streams are not
favored with lowlands and swamps, where the fish can find safe
refuge, and in these and our mountain streams especially we
must unquestionably lookto the larger pools in time of drouth,
as the principal places of refuge for the trout, and when these
are accessible from every point, the trees are cut and the banks
fall in, so that every pool assumes about the shape of a huge
wash basin. No system of protection will prevent their being
dragged with nets in the night, or the commission of other dep-
redations almost equally destructive of the fish.

I have the most abundant proof that fishing with nets has
been constantly done in our finest Catskill streams, such as the
Beaverkill, Neversink and Rondout, and where the trout cannot
take refuge under the banks, they must necessarily be taken by
the net.

I have not referred to the foregoing facts as in any wise new,
nor in the belief that they may have escaped the observation of
anglers; but rather that their significance bas not been gener-
ally understood or appreciated.

When the trout become scarce, the reason most commonly
given and accepted is that “the stream is fished out.”

It is not the rod, however, but the axe and the net that have
ruined and are ruining our streams.

The natural homes of the trout are the sluggish waters of the
swamp, cold and pure, with their bed of ooze and sheltered bank,
or in our upland streams the deep cavities under banks or roots.

We have destroyed his home, and he has perished. Let us
restore it to him again, and he will thrive.

I believe it possible to restore most of our streams, where the
waterflow has not decreased too greatly, especially when they
are under the control of clubs or associations who can and will
make the effort.

The remedy which I suggest is briefly as follows:

First—Prohibit the further destruction of either tree or bush
upon or near the bank of the stream.

Second—Where the soil is wet and suitable, protect the pools
by an abundant growth of alders or other bushes. ;

Third—Plant trees on the banks wherever feasible, especially

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 55

where their roots will protect the surface of the ground, and at
the same time permit the washing away of the soil underneath,
so that large hollows may be formed as hiding places for the
fish.

Fourth—In each year, after the spring freshets are over, pro-
tect every pool as far as practicable by placing stumps, or trees
or bushes in them, so that fishing with nets will be impossible.
And also that the trout may be provided with artificial harbors
until the natural ones are again restored.

Fifth—As far as possible prohibit fishing with bait, so that
the haunts of the trout may be safe against invasion by the
hook.

Let the home of the trout be regarded as his castle. Entice
him from it if you can, but do not invade it.

Poughkeepsie, NV. Y.

DOES vANSECANTING (AFPPECT, CHE’ FOOD OR
GAME QUALITIES OF CERTAIN FISHES?

BY A. N. CHENEY.

This rather imposing caption opens a wide field with many
ramifications, and I cannot hope to do more than skirmish
around the edges of the subject, but hope thereby to induce
others to give from their personal knowledge that which will
cover more of the field. In one sense it is not a new question
to the members of the American Fisheries Society or the writer,
for the effect of food upon our game fishes has been discussed,
and it is a self-evident proposition that a well-fed fish, trans-
planted or otherwise, makes the best food fish ; therefore, it is
safe to say that if fish are taken from lean waters and planted in
fat waters, their food qualities will be improved.

In another sense, the effect transplanting has upon the game

56 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

qualities of our game fish I do not remember to have read of
being discussed. The question has been asked me a number of
times, in one or both forms, by angling friends, and quite recently
the matter was again brought to my attention by a letter from a
gentleman of long and varied experience as an angler, who asked
if I had found the black bass gamer on the hook in waters to
which they were alien, than in waters to which they were native ;
and he answered the question from his own experience, by say-
ing he had so found them. To me it seems a case of cause and
effect, for an abundance of food and game qualities are insepar-
able, and go hand and hand to produce this desired result. I
never caught a half-starved fish that exhibited marked game
qualities on the hook, and the test of gameness is accepted as
the power of a hooked fish to fight or resist capture by the
angler. I don’t believe a fish can fight on a stomach that is
habitually empty any better than a man whose stomach is in the
same state, for there is a heap of courage in a good dinner,
which is increased by the knowledge that the good dinners are
to bea regular thing in the future.

I can, perhaps, do no better than give a few results of fish
transplanting that have come under my own observation, and {
do so, looking with the eyes of an angler rather than with those
of a fish-culturist.

Before going further I might answer the question asked by
the friend above mentioned, by stating that the gamest black
bass that ever I caught were taken from waters to which the
fish were native, and I never caught black bass that were in bet-
ter condition than these same fish. I have taken bass with more
fat, but it was abnormal fat that took away the dash and vigor
that characterize the bass, and the angler had to overcome but
little more than the avoirdupois of the fish ; but the loss to the
rod was a gain to the gridiron.

Saratoga lake black bass stocked Effner lake. Effner lake
bass stocked Schroon lake, Luzern lake and the Hudson,
Schroon and Sacandaga rivers. It would not be just to com-
pare lake bass with river bass ; but Saratoga lake and Schroon
lake bass are gamer than Effner lake bass. There is, appar-
ently, little difference in the temperature and clearness of the

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 57

water in these lakes, but Effner lake seems to have the poor-
est supply of fish food. Lake George black bass stocked Long
pond, and afterward Long pond stocked Round pond. Long
pond bass are least gamy of the fish in the three waters, but
they are far the largest. Long pond is just a mass of fish food,
and the water is warm and thick. On the contrary, Round
pond, forty rods away, is a great spring of clear, cold water,
lacking outlet or inlet, with an abundance of fish food, and the
bass therein, while not exceeding in size the Lake George bass,
fight like fiends when hooked.

Without further multiplying instances, I think it prudent to
say that when black bass in alien waters are found to possess
superior game qualities, it is because they have found better
pasturage or better water than in the homestead.

Hudson river pike (£. ductus) were used to stock Schroon
lake and river, and both furnish pike of greater growth than
the parent waters, but one cannot compare their game qualities,
for they have none.

It is natural, perhaps, that the quiet lake waters should be
more conducive to aldermanic proportions in the pike than is
the rapid river water, but a recent local newspaper states that
Schroon river has produced a larger pike than the lake.

Oneida pond was also stocked with pike from the Hudson, and
it has yielded these fresh-water sharks of greater size than those
from any of the other waters I have named. The pond is small
and the pike soon cleaned out the food, and then commenced a
warfare of the survival of the one with the largest mouth. The
large fish have been caught, and those that remain are all of the
same size, with the clefts in the mouth yearning to extend back
to the dorsal fin.

I have somewhere seen a statement, and I think it wasin one
of the reports of the New York State Fish Commission, that
whenever the New York lakes containing a remnant of lake
trout have had a contribution of lake trout fry from the great
lakes, the addition or deposit has increased the average size of
the trout in such waters. This, at least, is the idea that has
been fixed in my mind from reading the statement ; but I do
not think that it was coupled with, or contingent upon, an ad-

58 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY,

ditional supply of fish food. I have closely watched this improve-
ment inthe trout of Lake George, New York. Before the lake was
restocked by the State, the trout were very poor and small, and
because of the gradual taper from their heads to their tails
were called “‘ wedges” by the fishermen. I do not know as they
appeared starved so much as they appeared dwarfed. Every
spring during the trolling season when the trout were “on top, ”
quantities of small whitefish were seen at the surface of the
water, so the lake was not entirely barren of food for the native
trout. Five years after the State made the first deposit of trout
fry, it planted some whitefish for trout food. There was a
marked improvement in the trout almost from the first planting
of fry, and each year since the average in size of the catch has
been larger and the condition of the trout better. I have often
wondered if this was entirely owing to the food, for the anglers
can discover no increase in the whitefish fry on the surface in
the spring.

In other words, does not the fresh blood or out-cross improve
the natives and leaven the whole. Among the mammals, this
fresh blood is sometimes necessary to prevent a ‘going to
seed,’ and even man in families of high degree deteriorates or
“peters out” occasionally from too much blue blood and not
enough red. I know it is presumption on my part to intimate
that there is any affinity between the workings of warm blood
—particularly the blue kind—in man, and the workings of cold
blood in fishes, and I only do itto ask the scientists here gathered
together, if it is possible for the infusion of fresh blood to act
upon and improve and strengthen fishes that have been in breed-
ing for ages in circumscribed waters. Whatever scientists may
say about the infusion of fresh fish blood, which would apply
only in certain cases, I am satisfied that fish in alien waters im-
prove in food and game qualities only when they find better feed
or better water, which causes a more vigorous condition, which
is the gameness desired by anglers.

Glens Falls, N. Y.

Mr. Maruer—The observations of Mr. Cheney correspond
with those of others who have given attention to this subject.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 59

As a rule, a transplanted animal does either better or worse
than if left in its native place, especially if carried to a con-
siderable distance. The brown trout, Salmo fario, of Europe,
grow rapidly here, while our eastern trout, Salvelinus fontinalts,
have made rapid growth in Germany. The German carp is an-
other instance of rapid growth after transplanting, for in Amer-
ica they have far exceeded their growth in their native land. I
do not know the history of the black bass in Saratoga and Eff-
ner lakes, to which Mr. Cheney refers, and which he claims
stocked the Hudson. I have been under the impression that the
first black bass in the Hudson river came down the Erie canal
when it was opened, some fifty years ago ; but they have never
increased much below Troy during this time.

ON, SOME, OF, (THE PROTECTIVE, .CONTRIVANCES
DEVELOPED BY AND IN CONNECTION WITH
THE OVA OF VARIOUS SPECIES
OF FISHES.

BY JOHN A. RYDER.

Mr. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: A discussion of the ap-_
paratus by means of which the ova of fishes are protected will,
I think, be of interest to the members of this society. I will
roughly classify the eggs of fishes into four divisions, and call
one of the groups “ buoyant eggs,” another “adhesive eggs,” an-
other “suspended eggs,’ and the fourth “transported eggs,”
the latter class embracing such as are hatched in the mouth or
in receptacles especially developed on the outside of the ab-
domen or under the tail of the parent fish—usually the male—
in nests built by the males, or viviparously developed in the
ovary of the oviduct of the mother.

The egg of the cod will serve as the type of the first group.
It is without an oil-drop, butis buoyant notwithstanding. There

60 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

is another type of buoyant egg, similar to that of the cod, but
with an oil-drop opposite the germinal pole, where the embryo
develops, consequently the egg is rendered buoyant. That type
is represented by the eggs of the Spanish mackerel, of the
bonito in the Chesapeake bay, and of the cusk and a number of
other marine fishes.

The second group, which I have called adhesive, is repre-
sented very well by the eggs of the goldfish, which adhere singly
to plants and weeds. Other species whose eggs are similar to
those of the goldfish, are the blennies, which lay eggs in radi-
ating adherent groups. The gobies have a curiously shaped oval
egg, almost conical at either end, with tufts at one of their tips.
These tufts seem to be made up of small filaments. In other
species, too, the eggs are adherent, as is the case with those
of the cunning little Godzesox. In other cases the eggs are held
together in enormously extended bands or membranes, which
float, as in the case of the goosefish or fishing frog. Yet other
eggs are held together in narrow strips, and adhere together by
means of an exterior mucous or sticky envelope, just within which
again is a very thick, elastic, perforated membrane, as the eggs
of the yellow perch. This sticky substance glues the round
eggs together at their points of contact, leaving spaces between
the ova, enabling the water to pass directly through the open-
ings which are thus left in the bands of eggs. This form of
band of adherent eggs is found in the yellow perch, in contrast

‘to which may be cited the white perch, whose eggs adhere by a
mucous secretion which seems to glide down on one side to the
point where the attachment takes place, and where this mucous
substance hardens under water, firmly fixing the egg to the for-
eign bodies.

The eggs of the slime-eels or hags, which are parasitic upon
the cod and on sharks, are also peculiar. These eggs are sup-
plied with a bundle of hooks at each end. Iam not sure of the
special function of these hooks, but it is probably for suspend-
ing the eggs in some way. There are other cases in which ad-
herent eggs are held together in large masses as thick as a man’s
hand, or they may be spread out over a flat surface. This is
the case with the eggs of the catfish. In these, however, we find

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 61

a contrivance which is peculiarly adapted for protecting the
eges against the violent motions made by the male who erates,
attends and incubates the eggs. In these eggs there is an inner
true egg membrane, and an exterior mucous adhesive layer,
separated from the inner one by elastic pillars, placed at inter-
vals, so that the resulting arrangement is an extremely elastic
one, and yields readily to the motions made by the male with
his fins. In this case the eggs adhere together in masses very
much the same way as in the eggs of the frogs.

There is yet another singular contrivance, which was first de-
scribed by Professor Jeffries Wyman, of Boston. This is
found in a species of the armored catfish of South America.
In this case (Asfredo) the male fish is provided with a numerous
series of little stalks, formed on the under surface of the ab-
domen, and the cup-like extremities of the stalks into which the
eggs are received are supplied with capillary vessels, an arrange-
ment being thus developed which constitutes not only a sup-
porting stalk, but also a kind of placenta. It is said—although I
am not sure that the evidence is very trustworthy—that one
species of the gar lays its eggs in strings in a single row, like
the common toad. There are other cases in which the ova are
uncovered and directly adherent to the abdomen or under side
of the tail, as in the case of some of the pipe fishes of Europe.
In some of our American species of pipe fishes the eggs adhere
beneath the tail in a couple of rows, but are covered by expanded
folds of the skin. There are other cases in which the eggs are
carried into a pouch formed by the ventral fins. In other species
there exists an abdominal or rather caudal pouch which opens
just behind the vent of the male, and into which the eggs are
received and incubated. In one instance a fish of this class
(Hippocampus) hatched out under my observation about 150 ova ;
the drove of embryo sea horses which were finally set free in
the aquarium, were an interesting study.

Then the number of species which suspend their eggs is quite
considerable. The black, leathery case of the common ovipa-
rous ray has four filamentous horns, one at each corner, which
wind around plants and suspend the eggs to weeds, so that as
the tide sweeps by these horns, which .have openings in them,

62 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

fresh water is carried into the case to aerate the embryo and fa-
vor its incubation. This peculiar egg case is formed in the end
of the oviduct, which is different from the egg membrane oc-
curring in any of the true bony or Teleost fishes, since it 1s
formed of horizontally interwoven fibres. The egg case of the
cestracion, or Port Jackson shark, is formed in the same way,
but instead of being flat and quadrangular, is twisted into a spiral.
Iam not positive, however, that the eggs of the Port Jackson
shark are suspended. Another type is found in the Scombere-
soctdeé, in which the entire egg membrane is covered with strong
filaments, which wind round each other and intertwine with the
similar filaments of contiguous eggs, which are consequently,
held together and suspended, sometimes in masses several inches
in length, such masses being commonly found in great numbers
hanging to the meshes of pound nets during July and August.
The egg itself measures one-eighth of an inch in diameter.
There is another somewhat similar type in which the egg is very
much smaller. This is the egg of one of the commonest fishes
found in the waters tributary to the Chesapeake bay, viz., MWenidia,
one of the Antherintde. They are provided with four filaments,
attached to one side of the egg, by which they are in like manner
suspended and held together in strings. Again, there are still
other types in which the ova are hatched in the mouth, as in the
case of Ariing, or marine catfishes. Their eggs are very few in
number, but they are as large as those of a robin. Some of the
smaller blennies take advantage of a dead oyster shell in which
to conceal and deposit their adherent eggs.

There are yet other casesin which the male builds anest. One
of the most extraordinary instances of this kind is the common
four spine stickleback (Afe/fes), which I described four years
ago. The male, which is much smaller than the female, has a
pouch on the right side of the rectum, from which is poured out
a viscid secretion, and which is spun out into threads fitfully by
the animal, as he goes around a bunch of water weeds like a
bobbin to build a little basket-like nest for the eggs. After he
has induced the female to oviposit, he tends the eggs very
faithfully until they hatch. Some investigators go so far as to
say that after the eggs are hatched, the male stickleback will

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 63

follow the young ones which leave the nest too young to take
care of themselves, and put them back in the little cradle in
which they were born, to thus prevent their being prematurely
devoured by other fishes. At one side of the eggs of the stickle-
back there are minute button-like excrescences. These are also
found on the eggs of European species. One of the South
American catfishes (Ca/dicthys) also builds a nest, but the nature
of itI am not familiar with. The male of the paradise-fish ejects
from its mouth bubbles of mucilaginous matter, which floats in
the form of a cake, and on this the eggs are deposited and
hatched out. The Avfennarius and the fishing frogs of the deeper
ocean deposit their eggs on floating masses of sargossa weed.

We are, of course, all aware of the number of forms of sal-
monoids which prepare beds for the better protection of their
eggs. The same may be said also of the black bass, sun perch
ana lampreys.

I also wish to call your attention to the physical behavior of
different species of ova as seen in several groups. This consists
of the disposition manifested by certain types of eggs to place
the germinal disk in some particular position with reference to
the yolk. This disk is directed almost downward in light or buoy-
ant eggs. Inthe case of the salmon, whose eggs are very heavy,
the disk rests on the top of the yolk, and the larger oil drops lie
just underneath the germinal disk. In the case of the shad the
germinal disk always lies at one side of the yolk, no matter in
what position the eggs may be placed. The buoyancy of the oil
drops in the salmon’s egg keeps the germinal disk directed up-
ward. Inthe Spanish mackerel its buoyancy keeps the disk di-
rected downward. This peculiarity has some physiological signif-
cance, but I do not know what it may be, unless it be for the pur-
pose of the better protection of the egg, so that the embryo may
have a better chance to survive. ‘

It was remarked yesterday in Mr. Mather’s paper that the eggs
of the smelt were remarkably hardy and would stand usage
which other ova would not. This calls to my mind the capacity
which some eggs have for resisting adverse conditions. There are
species which, in order to hatch them out successfully, it is only
necessary to change the water once in three or four hours, as, for

64 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

example, in the case of the stickleback. With the shad this
method would not answer. Norcouldthe ova of salmon be suc-
cessfully hatched out by such treatment. What I have said on
this point shows, I think, that there is a great difference in the
power of resistance to adverse conditions manifested by differ-
ent species of eggs under similar conditions. In the case of the
silver gar, for instance, I had at last only threeeggs with which
to work out the later stages of development, and, although I had
them under the microscope fully twenty successive times, each
time brushing off the accumulations of filth which would lodge
among the filaments covering the egg membrane, yet during all
these manipulations the normal development of the embryos
remained unimpaired.

I will call your attention to the viviparous types. The one
which I have worked out most fully is the genus Gamébusia. The
parent fishes were from 1% inches to 13% inches in length, and
are found along the Chesapeake bay and its smaller southern
tributaries. Thisis a fresh-water, or at least anadromous viva-
parous species, spawning in July and August. The ovary is
lodgedin the body cavity, and the vessels pass backward to it,
like the subdivided stem in a bunch of grapes to the single ber-
ries, each one of the follicles in which the single eggs grow re-
ceives a twig from the main vessel and is covered with a net-
work of vessels, which branch off from the main twig which
enters it, and just at the point where the vessel enters the sin-
gle follicle, there isa large round opening which answers to the
micropyle of the ordinary fish egg laid directly in the water. The
egg of Gambusia is, however, without a true egg membrane, the
thin vascular follicle takes its place. The little fish develops
within the follicle, in which fertilization also takes place, the
spermatozoa finding their way to the egg through the round
pore in the follicle spoken of, the male conveying his milt into
the ovary by means of an actual copulation with the female by
means of his prolonged anal fin. The development goes on until
the fish becomes active and the yolk-sac is aborbed. The young
fish then ruptures the follicle in which it is imprisoned, and slips
out through the abdominal pore, perfectly capable of taking care

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 65

of itself. Not more than twenty or twenty-five individuals are
produced at one spawning.

In another type, Amdleps, a form described by Professor Jeffries
Wyman, the yolk-sac itself is covered with villi, and, strange to
say, continuesto grow for some time after the yolk has been ab-
sorbed, but the reason for this I am at a loss to understand, It
may, however, be that the function of the empty yolk-sac is in
this case somewhat similar to that of a placenta.

The eggs of the surf perches of the west coast are developed
in membranous curtain-like folds of the upper wall of the ova-
rian sack. These membranes have a longitudinal direction, and
after the female is pregnant, and the embryos are somewhat ad-
vanced in development, they hang down between the embryos,
the latter being packed into the ovary somewhat like sardines in
a box. The peculiarity about the development of the young in
the ovary is that the vertical fins of the foetuses soon acquire an
exaggerated development and havea special set of blood vessels
sent to them, the fins also develop marginal prolongations which
become highly vascular, but afterward atrophy. This arrange-
ment, as well as the highly vascular skin of the foetuses, clearly
has relation to the respiration of the embryos while in the ovary.
Another peculiarity about this type is tke enormous development
in the embryos of the back part of the intestine beyond anything I
have found in any other kind of fish embryos. This hypertrophy
of the intestine is of transient character, because this structure
afterward gradually diminishes in proportional size, and acquires
the relative proportion in respect to its diameter found in the
adult fishes in which there is no such an exaggerated develop-
ment of the intestine. The earlier writers, Girard and others,
who described these forms, mistook this projecting back part of
the intestine for a yolk bag. The fact, however, is, as we know
from the figures which are in existence, that this was not a true
yolk bag, but merely the intestine developed as I have de-
scribed it to you, with its terminal part thrust down and back-
ward, so as to project below the abdominal profile, somewhat
after the manner of a yolk bag.

Washington, D. C.

66 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

THE USE OF THE THROWING STICK BY THE
ESQUIMAUX.

Everything that exists should have a reason for its existence ;
so I must tell you why I am before youto-day. Prof. Goode, the
assistant director of this museum, came up on my balcony the
other day, and asked me if I would not read a short paper to you
on some one of my studies connected with fishing among the
savage people of the world. So it is at Prof. Goode’s request
that Iam here this afternoon, to say a few words about the use
of the instrument known as the throwing-stick by the Esqui-
mau in fishing. ;

In the east north range of the National Museum you will see
many specimens of modern apparatus for capturing fish, and
probably in the next case you will see the savage apparatus for
the same purpose; and you will be astonished over and over
again at the similarity between the modern and savage forms.

Scarcely a week passes in which some patent office examiner
does not come to the museum to examine the collections to see
whether that for which a patent has been claimed is not merely
a duplicate of something invented years and years ago. Patents
have been claimed for things used in the days of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.

One of the most interesting implements invented by savages
is the little wooden instrument which I am now going to show
and explain to’you.

In southwestern Greenland, the eastern part of Labrador,
mouth of the McKenzie river, Point Barrow, Bristol bay, Norton
sound and Kodiac island this instrument is in use. From Sitka
to Columbia river grow the great cedar trees, out of which
these immense dugout canoes are made, in which the navigator
carries a long spear, twelve or fifteen feet in length, and on the
end of that a harpoon used for whales.

The Esquimau almost lives in his kyak or skin boat, and is so
securely fastened in that any accident to the boat is certain
death to him. Were he to use his spear alone in making a
lunge, he would overturn his boat and expose himself to greater

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 67

danger. So he iscompelled to make use of some means which
will both answer the purpose of giving the required force to his
spear and avoid the danger incurred without its use. He cannot
use the bow in giving the required force to the spear, necessary
in harpooning the seal. It is very difficult to use either a bow
or firearm in a boat. So he is driven to the use of this inven-
tion, happily hitting upon the device of the throwing-stick.

The principle upon which the instrument is used, is this: The
fisher takes the throwing-stick in his right hand, usually with
spear firmly pressed down in the groove of the stick with the
fingers. He then brings it up, throwing it a little back over the
right shoulder... There is a:little hook, generally of ivory, at the
upper end of the groove of the stick in which the spear rests,
which fits in a notch made in the end of the spear. After get-
ting the weapon in position, without moving his body, he gives
a swift and abrupt motion forward, the spear darting from the
throwing-stick with great rapidity, the fingers having been
raised to allow its passage.

An interesting fact has grown out of the study of the throw-
ing-stick, namely, that it is in use in only three different regions
of the world: In Australia in a very simple form, with a hole
for the forefinger; in South America and among the Esqui-
maux of North America. In those three localities alone is it
used.

I shall give you a brief description of some individual speci-
mens, and let you look at the others when I am through talk-
ing. We will commence with this one from Greenland (show-
ing specimen). There is a groove for the spear, notches on op-
posite sides for thumb and forefinger, a small hole midway in
the groove, near the notches, for a peg, which is inserted in the
shaft of the spear. Instead of a hook at the opposite end,
there is an oblique hole in the ivory, into which another peg near
the end of the spear fits. The next is from Cumberland gulf
(showing specimen). Very clumsy and roughly made, a groove
for the spear, a hole for the forefinger, a notch for the thumb,
also three notches on opposite side for the fingers. A goose-
spear is also used with this one, which when thrown at the goose
just as likely hits the gander. Ungava bay (showing specimen).

68 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Shaped very much like a fiddle-head ; a hole for the forefinger.
The bend is a great advantage to the hunter, as it increases the
facility of launching the weapon, and a spear, when used with
this, will go a great distance. Mouth of McKenzie river (show-
ing specimen). Most primitive of all the collection, a very
rude furrow for the spear, a hole for the forefinger.

The Anderson river is the dividing line between the eastern
and western Esquimaux. From that line going westward and
southward the throwing-stick improves very rapidly. The form
begins to greatly resemble the razor strop handle, with hook or
peg at the end of the grove for catching the notch in the end of
the spear, groove, hole for the forefinger, notch for the thumb,
and in some instances ivory pegs are inserted, thus making
spaces for the fingers, affording a better grasp.

In Alaska, great headlands project out into the water, thus
creating barriers among the people and causing sharp dividing
lines and differences in the forms and degree of elaboration of
the throwing-stick. After passing the Island of Nunivak, the
finger hole disappears, and is not again seen until we come to
Kodiak island toward the east. From one of the Aleutian
islands we have a left-handed throwing-stick with hole for the
forefinger, and another left-handed specimen from Nunivak,
razor strop handle, no hole for forefinger, thumb notch and pegs
on opposite side making finger spaces.

I will not try to tell you how far back in the past this inven-
tion must have been made. References are made in old classi-
cal literature to one or two forms of contrivances for giving ad-
ditional force to weapons used in throwing or darting, and I
think probably this device is the descendant or offspring of
something of that kind for giving additional momentum, rather
than a transformation of the bow.

By using the throwing-stick with the spear, the force is given
to that weapon which the bow gives the arrow, or the sling to
the missile thrown. So that this little instrument lends its aid
in the three regions mentioned, supplying a great need, prob-
ably to be met by no other means.

Washington, D. C.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 69

THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORTH
AMERICAN FISH FAUNA.

BY PROF. THEODORE GILL.

I do not think that I can appropriate the time which I was
requested to devote to a communication for your society more
profitably, than by inviting your attention to some of the char-
acteristic features of the North American fish fauna,

If we include the marine as well as the fresh-water fishes in
our study, we would have to consider the constituents of four
primary different geographical divisions or realms, and we are
therefore compelled by the limits of time to restrict ourselves
to the consideration of the fresh-water forms alone. America,
north of Mexico, forms a primary terrestrio-aquatic realm
which has been variously designated as the North American,
Nearctic and Anglogean region or realm. It is one of the very
richest of all in fresh-water types, considerably over six hun-
dred species living exclusively, or nearly so, in the rivers and
lakes, and these represent nearly one hundred and fifty genera
and about thirty-four families. It is a large exhibit compared
with the fauua of any of the other realms.

If we notice the constituents of this North American fauna,
we find that they may be segregated into two primary categories.
A considerable number of the families are shared with Europ-
ean and Northern Asia, and many may be designated as the Arc-
togean, while an exceptional number of families are peculiar to
our continent. Those peculiar are the Amiida, Hyodontide,
Percopside, Amblyopside, Aphredoderida, Elassomide and
Centrarchidz, and several well-marked sub-familiesare also lim-
ited to the regions. Such are the Campostominz, Exoglossine,
Plagopterinze, Etheostomina, Haploidinotine and Hysterocar-
pine. It is possible that even the Lepidosteidz are at present
peculiar, but Dr. Bleeker has named as sucha species, based
upon a Chinese drawing of a fish supposed to have been ob-
tained in China. Fifteen families represented chiefly by marine
species, but with members also in the fresh water, are the Petro-
myzontids, Silurids, Clupeids, Dorosomids, Argentinids, Sal-

7O AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

monids, Cyprinodontids, Anguillids, Gasterosteids, Atherinids,
Labracids, Scizenids, Embiotocids, Cottids and Gadids, and
among these we find the families which are represented by the
same genera in both the old and new worlds.

The fresh-water species and even the genera of most of these
families are, however, to a large extent, peculiar to the interior
waters ; of the others, (1) some are anadromous, like certain of
the Salmonids, Clupeids and Labracids ; (2) others inhabit fresh
and salt water almost indifferently, as the Dorosomids, many
Cyprinodontids, and most Gasterosteids, and (3) one (the eel) per-
haps should be considered as a salt-water rather than a fresh-
water species, inasmuch as it is catadromous and appears to
breed only in the sea. Conversely, these fishes which resort to
fresh water to spawn and therein spend their early days may be
considered to be fresh-water forms. If all species which, to
some extent, run up into fresh water were included, the list
might be very greatly increased, and it is by this inclusion of
these species running up into fresh water that the faunas of
other countries have been unduly enhanced.

If now we consider the bearings of the known facts, we may
deduce the following conclusions:

(1) The number of family types peculiar, or almost peculiar,
to North America and the very large number of genera also
confined to the temperate and cold regions of the continent, indi-
cate that the region specified has such characteristics as to en
title it to be considered a primary geographical division of the
globe, which will appropriately bear the name of the Anglo-
gzean realm, inasmuch as its habitable portions are occupied by
the largest portion of the Anglo-Saxon race. Several of the
families peculiar to this realm are almost coincident in their |
range with its limits, and such coincidence is especially mani-
fested in the case of the family of Centrarchids.

(2) If we compare the constituency of our ichthyic fauna with
that of the Eurasiatic realm, we find several notable contrasts.
The North American is distinguished by the great development
of Acanthopterygian types, while there are few in the Eurasi-
atic one. North America has as many as 180 species, while nine-
teen are all that have been credited to Eurasia. The Centrar-

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 71

chids and certain little fishes related to the perches, which have
been distinguished as Etheostomines, are very characteristic for
the American fauna, and are among the most prominent feat-
ures, while those types are entirely wanting in Europe. The
catfishes so abundant in America, and of which there are at least
twenty-six species, are represented by only one in Europe, and
even that one is of an entirely different type.

Another noteworthy contrast is exhibited by the Cyprinids.
The species of Europe and Asia are almost all of large size, and
are the most conspicuous fresh-water fishes of that region,
whereas the American species of the family are almost all small
and even of minute size, and (if we except the Pacific ‘slope,
which has features in common with Eurasia) there are not more
than a couple of what can be called large species of the family
in the entire region, Itis indeed to a related family, the suckers
or Catastomids (entirely wanting in Europe proper), that we
have to look for analogue of the European Cyprinids. Among
them we havs forms equalling in size the European carp,
barbel and others, and some quite similar in superficial appear-
ance. Summing up all the species we find that Europe has been
accredited with 360 fresh-water fishes, while the North Amer-
ican fauna has at least 625.

The number of the genera common to North America and Eu-
rope is indeed extremely few, and the idea suggested by some
recent authors, that the North American fauna is merely a sub-
division of acommon Arctogean, Triarctic or Holarctic realm,
is entirely traversed and negatived by the fish fauna,

It is also especially noteworthy that a number of the types pe-
culiar to America are distinguished by the care which the par-
ents take of their young; whereas the European forms are
generally indifferent to the future progeny, and after spawning,
leave the eggs to take care of themselves. In this connection
it may be recalled to the American Fisheries Society, that the
care of the eggs and young is accompanied by an apparent dim-
inution of the number of eggs, and we have a sort of analogy
in this respect to the relation between fish-culture and nature.
The fish-culturists assume the parts which, in nature, is exer-
cised by the attentive parent, and the eggs and young being pro-

72 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

vided for, stand a less danger of destruction, and consequently
in such, the ratio between the eggs laid and fertilized and the
young matured, is very much less than that between the number
of eggs of the indifferent parents and that of other progeny
matured.

SOME, OBJECTIVE, POINTS IN) FISH-CULTURE:

BY M. M DONALD.

I do not propose in this paper here presented to the considera-
tion of the members of the American Fisheries Society, either
to describe the apparatus, discuss the methods, or estimate the
results accomplished by the work of artificial propagation and
planting of fish in the inland, river and coast waters of the
United States.

These topics have been and will be discussed during the prog-
ress of our meetings, by gentlemen much better qualified to in-
struct and interest you than I profess to be.

Your attention is invited not to what fish-culture has already
accomplished, but rather to what remains to be done, before we
can consider its mission ended.

It is proposed, as briefly as may be, to indicate the objective
points yet unattained, toward which our efforts, energies and
investigations should be directed, and to suggest some of the
agencies which must be invoked, and which must co-operate in
dealing with the important question: How shall we restore our
inland, coast and ocean fisheries to their former abundance and
maintain them at a maximum of production ?

Less than a generation ago fish-culture was an art rude in ap-
pliances, crude in its methods, sentimental rather than practical
in its aims, and insignificant in its results. To-day it confronts
us as an industrial and economical question of the first rank—
too grave in its issues, too vital in its relations to be ignored or
disregarded.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 73

In its inception, the artificial propagation of certain species of
Salmonide, with the view of planting them in depleted streams in
which the species was native or indigenous, was the aim and
limit of fish-culture as then understood and practiced.

The fish-culture of to-day, broader in its aims, grander in its
achievements, more rational in its methods and infinite in its
possibilities, finds in the artificial propagation and planting of
fish but one of the means to anend. This resource places at
our command, in measure without stint, the seed of the harvest ;
we may scatter it broadcast in rivulet and river, in pond and
lake and tidal waters, but whether the seed thus sown will grow
and ripen to a full fruition depends upon conditions which must
be studied, interpreted and defined, and where unfavorable,
modified or eliminated.

We should be prepared, therefore, to appreciate and provide
for the wide range of inquiry and investigation we, as a society,
are called upon to suggest, to foster, or to inaugurate.

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS.

Each species with which we have to deal has a life history of
its own. In its manner or mode of reproduction and develop-
ment, in its habits, food and habitat, it is in essential relations
to its environment. Our success in repopulating our rivers with
species indigenous to them and in acclimating in new waters
species which are valuable for food or sport, will be measured
by the fidelity and precision with which we study, interpret and
apply the lessons taught us by the naturalist, the biologist, the
physicist and the chemist.

It should be the business of this society to enlist in its service
or to invite to co-operation in its work, all those whose intel-
lectual activities find occupation and engrossment in studies and
investigations which may seem to the casual observer to have no
practical application, but which are just as essential to the ac-
complishment of the work we have set before us, as is the
artificial propagation and planting of fish ; for upon the right
interpretation of such investigations depends success or failure
in the practical work of fish-culture.’

TA AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The biologist with his microscope, is needed to reveal to eye
and comprehension the marvellous story of embryonic develop-
ment, and interpret and define the conditions which are favor-
able or unfavorable. With the thermometer in hand, the phys-
icist marks out the paths traversed by the wandering schools of
fish in the pathless ocean, and circumscribes the limits beyond
which they may not pass.

With balance and reagents, the chemist appreciates those in-
finitesimal differences of salinty or composition which may or
do determine the presence or absence of certain species in cer-
tain areas of water. Nearly all departments of science may be,
indeed must he, laid under contribution to furnish us the data
upon which to build our conclusions.

REGULATION AND PROTECTION OF THE FISHERIES BY LAW.

Another important subject which should enlist the attention
and engage the efforts of this society, is the securing, through
State or Federal legislation, of the enactment and enforcement
of such laws as will regulate the seasons of fishing, the methods
and apparatus of capture, and conserve, as far as may be, favor-
able natural conditions of reproduction.

It is true there are upon our statute books now laws without
number, seeking to regulate the fisheries. Usually, these laws
are dead letters, mere forceless verbiage. In some cases framed
in ignorance, or dictated by the private interest which, for the
time, dominates in the legislative assembly, they invite the very
evils they seek to remedy.

Public sentiment everywhere has awakened to the necessity
of rational legislation in reference to our fisheries. The fish-
cultural and fish-protective associations, and the numerous fish-
ing or angling clubs, in organized and active existence in all
the States, are composed of men who are intelligent, educated
and interested. They largely mould, direct and voice the pub-
lic sentiment which suggests and controls legislation. It is the
function—I may say it is the business—of this society, both as a
body and through individual members and co-workers, to stim-
ulate inquiry and investigation in every direction, to collect

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 75

digest and interpret the data thus obtained, and be prepared to
suggest and recommend necessary legislation in the interest of
the fisheries.

To secure the enactment of such legislation, all these associ-
ations, societies and clubs should be brought into sympathy
with our aims, and into co-operation with our efforts. As or-
ganized bodies or as individual members, they should become
integral factors in the organization and work of this society.

STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES.

A third important objective point to be aimed at by this society
is to secure the institution by the National Government of meas-
ures to collect each season complete statistical returns of the fish-
eries. Such data are of the greatest importance in giving usa
measure of the improvement or depreciation of our fisheries
year by year, and in appreciating and interpreting local fluctu-
ations in the fisheries. I may add that the want of authentic
statistical data of the sea fisheries has already cost the general
Government not less than $5,000,000 under the provisions of the
reciprocity treaty now in force between the United States and
Canada.

Like questions of reciprocity and compensation may arise at
any time between our Government and the Canadian, or other
foreign governments. An accurate statistical presentation of the
extent and value of our own sea fisheries, which we should
always be prepared to furnish, will be our best protection
against the extravagant demands and unwarranted concessions
which have been asked and yielded in the name of reciprocity.

A consideration of the objective points in fish-culture, a few
of which are here briefly brought to your attention, will give
some idea of the extent of the field which is to be exploited be-
fore this society, and the agencies which it may enlist in organ-
ized and concerted action, shall have accomplished the mission
committed to it.

Of the importance of this mission I need hardly speak. The
necessity of utilizing every food resource of land and water
grows more urgent as populations increase. It is an economi-
cal necessity that. sea and lake, pond and river, should be

76 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

brought up to and maintained at a maximum production, and to
this society is largely committed the satisfactory solution of this
important question of political economy. When the methods of
artificial propagation have been so perfected and cheapened as
to be justified even from the standpoint of the utilitarian ; when
the conditions of success in breeding and rearing fish have been
so wel established and secured, that we may be sure that the
seed sown shall ripen to a productive harvest ; when insur-
mountable obstructions no longer bar our migratory fishes from
access to their spawning grounds or hinder the free circulation
of the resident species in our rivers; when factories no longer
discharge their poisonous waste into our rivers, sothat they may
flow from their mountain sources unpolluted to the sea; when
the modes and apparatus of fishing are so regulated and re-
strained by law as not to tax too severely natural resources for
recuperation and the permanent productiveness of the fisheries
is thus established—-then the aggressive mission of this society
will have, in a measure, ended.

It will still remain for us, by incessant watchfulness, vigilance
and surpervision, to conserve the important results which our
efforts will have accomplished.

A GLANCE AT BILLINGSGATE:

BY WILLIAM VAN ZANDT COX,

The Thames being the highway to London and originally the
source of its fish supply, it was very natural that some point
upon it should become the center of the fish trade. Billingsgate
has for centuries been that point. As to the origin of both name
and market there are many traditions. One is that Belin, an
ancient Britain ruler, who lived there three or four centuries
B. C. and was held in great reverence by the fisher folk, con-
structed a gate in the immediate proximity to the present mar-
ket and gave it his name,

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING, 77

Stow, a very practical writer, after considerable research,
comes to the conclusion that a Mr. Beling or Billing, in the time
of Elizabeth, had a wharf there. This commencement, though
less flavored with romance and more of fish than others, we
think more than likely was the beginning of this unpoetical fish
mart. The market has been the property of the city of London
for centuries, and the revenues derived from it, though no
statistics seem to have ever been compiled on the subject, must in
the aggregate be enormous.

Originally the market was very primitive, both in structure
and equipments—indeed, until within the memory of those still
living, it consisted of ‘a batch of uncleanly old sheds, reeking
with fishy smells, and more or less beset by ruffianly company.”

The language used by those who frequented it has, as is well
known, become proverbial for its coarseness. At one time
women were engaged in selling fish in the market, and, it is
said, were largely instrumental in giving the place the bad name
it bore, and though at this time it has entirely changed from
what it once was, it still bears the stigma of coarseness in the
minds of many, illustrating, says a clever writer, that ‘‘as in
the case of men, the evil that women do lives after them.”

The old sheds disappeared some years ago, their places being
occupied by a building which in turn has given way to the pres-
ent market. This structure extends north and south from the
Thames river to Thames street, and was built with the idea of
having not only ground space, but also space in the basement
below and the gallery overhead. The basement part was in-
tended for shellfish dealers. But it was not occupied by them
long, for being twenty-six feet below the level of the river, it was
so dark, damp and disagreeable that few buyers cared to go there.
Several deaths also occurred among its occupants, and those re-
maining being unwilling to stay longer in the “ black hole,” it
was abandoned, except as a place of storage and for lobster-
boiling purposes. The overhead space was for dealers in dried
fish, and is connected with the ground floor both by spacious
stairs and elevators. Being sought, however, by few patrons, it
was also abandoned, and its occupants went below and squeezed
in, as did the shellfish dealers from the basement, so that at this

78 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

time the entire trade is concentrated on the ground floor. With
out going into details concerning the architecture of the build-
ing, it is sufficient to say that it is generally admitted that the
corporation did not act wisely in enlarging the market at a
great expense, and in a way that is of no practical use, instead
of widening the approaches to it on the Thames street side. The
floors of the building are of polished granite, concealed beneath
which are drains of iron for carrying off the dirt and refuse
when the market is flushed, which is done daily at the close of
the market hours.

At the present time there are 156 stalls and fourteen shops on
the ground floor. The former are located in the center, while
the latter are on the sides of the building. There is also a tavern
where fish are served as the leading article of diet. Formerly
there were three taverns, Simpson’s, Bowle’s and Bacon’s,
where in other days the salesmen congregated before daylight,
drank their black coffee and ‘aff and aff,” ate fish and talked
over the prices, sales and supply of fish for the coming day. In
order to have more space, however, the number of taverns has
been reduced to one, which now brings ina rental of $4,000 an-
nually. The stalls vary in size, averaging thirty-two square feet,
according to the clerk of the market, Mr. John Little, to whom
I am indebted for many courtesies. The stalls, according to
location, bring from ten to eighteen cents per square foot per
week, or an annual rental from $166 to $300 each. The shops
bring from $1,700 to $2,000.

Avenues cross the market at regular intervals, and from ne-
cessity are very narrow. Great effort is required to keep them
open, and the rules of the market are very explicit in regard to
placing obstructions in them. Porters carry the fish into and
from the market in baskets, boxes, crates, barrels, in fact, in all
kinds of ways. No one is permitted to perform the duties of
porter without a license, for which he has to pay 2s. 6d. When
on duty, in order to readily distinguish him, the porter is
obliged to wear on his left arm a metallic badge having on it the
armorial bearing of the city of London. If a porter misbe-
haves, uses any abusive or obscene language, gets intoxicated,
steals, commits assaults or violates any of the rules of the mar-

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 79

ket, his license is at once taken from him. I was told that the
present conduct of employes in Billingsgate so happily in con-
trast with “ ye olden times,” is due to rigid enforcement of rules
similar in tenor to those just mentioned.

The porter’s dress consists of cotton overalls, a coarse cotton
shirt, worn on the outside of the trousers, which from the begrim-
med and bespattered appearance are very appropriately called
ferslopsti\, Phe: head is protected) byhai“ porters: knot,iita hat
which has a cushion in the crown, very necessarily padding, it
might be remarked, as the rough and heavy “trunks” are either
borne directly on the top of the head, or resting on the shoul-
ders, back and neck. Wooden sandals are generally worn on
the feet to keep the bottoms of the shoes from contact with the
sloppy surface. The porter receives on an average about a
penny farthing for carrying each box of fish to the salesman.
The taking of it from the salesmen to the conveyance of the
buyer is an optional charge, depending upon the kinds of fish
and distance to be carried.

Land-borne fish enter the building on the Thames street side,
while river-borne fish are brought into the market through the
south door facing the river. The boats bringing them to Lon-
don are not permitted to come alongside the building to unload,
but, for some reason unknown to me, are required to make fast
to fastenings provided for them adjacent to floating pontoons
and barges that intervene. Planks, mostly unprotected by side
rails, extend from boat to market about a hundred feet distant.
Up and down and across these planks the porters tramp with
their heavy burdens, for each trunk weighs about 100 pounds.

Nine steam carriers run toand from Billingsgate and the fleets
in the North sea, and bring the bulk of the water-borne fish.
The unloading of these boats—indeed all kinds of craft—is an
interesting sight. But let Sala tell the story: ‘“ This wharf is
covered with fish, and the scaly things themselves are being
landed with prodigious celerity, and in quantities almost as
prodigious, from vessels moored in tripple tier before the mar-
ket. Here are Dutch boats that bring eels, and boats from the
North sea that bring lobsters, and boats from Hartlepool, Whit-
stable, Harwich, Great Grimsby and other English seaports and

80 AMERICAN FISHRIES SOCIETY.

fishing stations. They are all called boats, though many are of
a size that would render the term ship, or at least vessel, far
more applicable. They are mostly square and squat in rigging,
and somewhat tubby in build, and have an unmistakably fishy
appearance. Nautical terms are mingled with London street
vernacular; fresh mackerel competes in odor with pitch and
tar; the tight-strained rigging cuts in dark indigo relief against
the pale blue sky; the whole is a confusion, slightly dirty, but
eminently picturesque; of ropes, spars, baskets, oakum, tarpau-
lin, fish, canvas trousers, osier baskets, loud voices, trampling
feet and ‘ perfumed gales,’ not exactly from ‘ Araby the blest ’
but from the holds of the fishing craft.” -

The method of handling and carrying the fish may strike the
author of “ Twice Around the Clock” as one of ‘ prodigious
celerity,” but to an American familiar with steam appliances
and labor-saving machinery, it appears to be very tedious,
costly and old-fashioned, and in great contrast to systems seen
with us, where a vessel puts in, unloads, packs up and leaves the
wharf in two hours.

Steam appliances have not been adopted at Billingsgate, I
am informed, because the fish would be more rapidly brought to
the salesmen than they could be handled, and so the old system
is clung to, and porters with trunks on their heads approach the
salesman, stand in waiting, then deposit them only as rapidly as
they can be sold and again borne away.

The salesman or auctioneer gets five per cent. on the sales
made. Many fish were formerly sold at “ Dutch auction,” where
the salesman names a high figure, then drops to a lower one, .
and so on until a bid is made whichis accepted, and the proced-
ure is gone through with de nove. No license is required to sell
fish by Dutch auction, and this method-is still in great favor in
many of the fishing ports.

The Bummaree appears to be an individual essential to Bil-
lingsgate.

Jonathan Bee, in his slang dictionary (‘* Lexicon Balatroni-
cum,”) published 1823, defines the bummaree to be the man who
at Billingsgate takes the place of the salesman, and generally
after 8 o’clock a. M., buys the last lot of fish.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 81

The author of ‘“ London Labor and London Poor,” 1853, says
that at that time Billingsgate was opened at 4 A. M., but for
two hours it was attended only by the regular fishmonger and
the bummaree. At the present time, however, not only is the
bummaree the first to arrive, but, as in 1823, he is the last to
leave. He now purchases from the salesman and sells to small
dealers, costermongers and consumers. Before making a sale,
the bummaree breaks the packages and assorts the fish, supply-
ing the buyers with the kinds, sizes and quality desired. A very
useful function, it might be remarked when we remember that
a “ped” often contains various kinds of fish, suitable and un-
suitable for the uses for whicl they are wanted by different
classes of purchasers. But however useful the bummaree
may be, that such an individual exists at all, only goes to prove
the inadequate accommodations of Billingsgate for the trade,
and whether there is foundation or not for such accusations as
are heard concerning him, the bummaree will exist so long as
the fish supply of populous London has to pass through this
limited, inaccessible market in a limited time.

The market is opened at 5 o’clock in the morning and is prac-
tically over at 10 o’clock. Before the opening, however, the
auctioneers are in their places, behind what are called “ bulks”
or “forms,” upon which the fish are deposited in “trunks,”
“doubles,” ete. Little, if any, opportunity is given buyers to
ascertain the condition of the fish, for no sooner is the box de-
posited on the “bulks” than it is knocked down as sold, and
again borne away. If the buyer is not informed in some way
in regard to the condition of the fish, to purchase the unopened
boxes so rapidly, and with such apparent indiscriminate reck-
lessness, it would seem to an outside observer, to put it mildly,
great confidence in the condition of the fish, and in the honesty
of the salesman.

During the whirl of business all seems confusion and chaos.
Porters are seen rushing hither and thither with reeking bar-
rels, baskets and boxes. Auctioneers with long, narrow account
books in their hands, are bawling to buyers, who, with hands by
the side of their mouths, direct back their shouting answers,
while the uninitiated explorer stands bewildered in their midst

82 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

until he is called to his senses by the exclamation, ‘“ Hout the
way.” ‘The only comparison I can find for the aspect, the
sights and sounds of the place,” says a well known writer, ‘‘is a
rush hither and thither at a helter shelter speed, apparently
blindly, apparently without motive, but really with a business-
like and engrossing pre-occupation for fish and all things fishy.
Baskets full of turbot, borne on the shoulders of the facchini of
the place, skim through the air with such rapidity that you
might take them to be flying fish.”

“At that piscatorial bourse,’’ says Bertram (‘‘ Harvest of the
Sea,” p. 59), we can see in the early morning the produce of our
most distant seas brought to our greatest seat of population,
sure of finding a ready and profitable market. The aldermanic
turbot, the tempting sole, the gigantic codfish, the valuable
salmon, the cheap sprat and the universal herring, are all to be
found in their different seasons in great plenty at Billingsgate
and in the lower depths of the market buildings, countless
quantities of shellfish of all kinds stored in tubs may be seen,
and all over is sprinkled the dripping sea water, and all around
we feel that ‘ancient and fish-like smell’ which is concomitant
of such a place.”

Commercially speaking, fish are divided by the Londoner into -
two classes: 1. Prime. 2. Offal. The former comprehend the
choice varieties, such as sole, brill, turbot, ete. The latter in-
cludes the commoner, coarse kinds, such as place, roker, had-
dock, etc. The quantities that come into Billingsgate are very
disproportionate. Mr. Little says that thirteen boxes of offal
reaches the market to one box of prime. That gentleman has
very kindly furnished me a table showing the quantity of fish
arriving at Billingsgate per month during the year 1883, which
[ shall make a part of this paper, as also a series of tables
showing the amount of fish coming to London since 1875. ° It
will be seen from Mr. Little’s statement, that the quantity com-
ing by water is much less than by land. Special trains bear-
ing fish alone run daily to London from Grimsby, Hull, Yar-
mouth and other places. As these trains do not come in the vic-
inity of Billingsgate, the fish have to be carted through the nar-
row streets and tortuous lanes, across the city to the market, in

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 83

order to be sold, and when sold to be again carted over the same
streets through which it has already with difficulty passed.

Speaking of the approaches to Billingsgate, the Quarterly Re-
view, October, 1882, says: ‘Their badness was of compara-
tively slight importance, so long as the bulk of the fish was
brought thither by water. When, however, it became necessary
to deal each year with some go,ooo tons of railway-borne fish,
and to deliver them at Billingsgate, through choked streets and
narrow lanes which would disgrace a city of 50,000 inhabitants,
the difficulties were so augmented that fish vans sometimes
took eight hours to get from the Great Eastern or Great North-
ern railway terminus to the market where they had to unload.”

This statement has greater force when it is remembered that
the width of the roadway of Lower Thames street, on which the
market is situated is but sixteen and a half feet wide. St. Mary-
at-hill has a width of sixteen feet, while Botolph lane and Pud-
ding lane are each but seven feet three inches wide.

Language fails to convey to one’s mind the bewildered condi-
tion of things in the congested approaches to the market, where
the stopping of a “ shandry,”’ for instance, will block the entire
street. It was shown in an investigation made by Spencer Wal-
pole, late H. M. Inspector of Fisheries, that ordinarily it not
only took hours for fish vans to reach the market, but in one in-
stance a van of “fresh fish” was eleven days ev route, and all the
time trying to get unloaded. A vast amount of good food is
very naturally spoiled before it reaches the market, and after-
wards, too, for that matter, simply from the absence of proper
appliances for its preservation ; and it is not strange that when
the fish reach the consumer it is so enhanced in price as to have
become a luxury instead of an ordinary article of diet.

The Zimes of October 30, 1883, despondingly asks, “Could not
science have fish vaults where the temperature was kept at about
thirty-three degrees at the markets? Could not science improve
on the ice chests fishmongers USE;g),

We answer unhesitatingly in the affirmative, and cordially in-
vite the editor of the ‘ Zhunderer”’ to visit America and see the
fish markets in Boston, New York and other centers, where the

84 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

application of scientific methods of refrigeration to the fish trade
that have long been in use could be seen.

What London requires in order to have the price of fish re-
duced and the quality improved, anda cessation from talk about
“ Billingsgate ring” and “ Billingsgate monopoly,” is to have a
more commodious market—a market with refrigerating apph-
ances, a market on the river side, easily accessible not only for
boats, but for cars, vans and all kinds of conveyances.

Thus far it has been impossible to agree upon a new site. If
the market has to remain where it now stands, so choked for
space and difficult of approach, then if it be desirable to remedy
the patent evils, the streets leading to Billingsgate will have to
be widened. The postponement of the widening to a more con-
venient season will not lessen the cost. In 1862 the approaches
could have been widened for £88,000, and twelve years after-
ward the estimated cost was £525,000, and now, doubtless, it
would be much more.

In conclusion, | regret to say there is little, if anything, at
Billingsgate for American fish dealers to learn, except how far
in advance of them in every respect we are on this side of the

Atlantic.

RETURN OF THE QUANTITY OF FISH DELIVERED AT BILLINGSGATE
MARKET DURING THE YEAR 1883—(JOHN LITTLE,
CLERK, BILLINGSGATE).

Land carriage. Water carriage. Total.
Month. Tons. Tons. Tons.
EN SINE 5 eA Pear er ere peer 6,015 4 2,949 8,9641%4
REDEUATY 5.0 ic Abies aaeh. 5,562 4 1,969 7,531 4%
Mareh Asem Post ase. ..6,983 4 2,622 9,605 4
Tao i? |e ge fe es ne ne eee ee 6,394 3,951 10,305
MAN eRe vetenidais sc stt a7.4, s 2 GOOD g 4,765 10,663 34
MS are eee eet ae i200 PSIG 4,679 1'3;205
NAPS He Selb feictinnts ae ee 659400 3.353% 8,75314
PNMVOMISE) AM AiNet ecko Sait el odd 5,678 w 3,486 9,164
September? .- 24.) ....7,104% 4,671 V1,775 4
Octoberiss: Hw. Ae is 6,583.4 2,028 8,611 %
November. :): A Be a eB 7,401 34 1,984 9,385 34
De Comme neers bai derct tte cy: ..9, 166% 2,529 11,6954

Totals eee owe 80,723 4% 38,9464 119,669 34

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 85

N. B.—There was also from 20,000 to 25,000 tons of fish delivered
in the,immediate vicinity during the year, which is not included in the
above.

The quantity destroyed by the officers of the Fishmongers’ Com-
pany, as being unfit for food, was 273 tons, 16 cwt., 1 qr., and of this
ninety-five tons was composed of shellfish.

APPROXIMATE QUANTITIES OF FISH DELIVERED AT BILLINGS-
GATE MARKET AND VICINITY, 1875-1884.

(British Fisheries Directory and Mr. Little’s Report.)

Tons. Tons.
MO See cer cia at rane: So's AsO) LO OOhgante aan. ei amy eebarcnend 130,62
MG AOm Misra east arava hee QGA2G MOON sa. ne rata < eenesetars cat 137,000
[S37 /fieaig e e A e de Mg TOFAIGS NSO! st renee es ue eae oes me 150,000
BOVOe Coa te PTFAEIAUN PIAL T2O7OA MISSBN? LE Beate COE 144,669 34
RO ZOMEAT AQT A Re Ce, OPE, T2ZOs/SODWUS SAW esas Loe SEMA, oe 156,005

Washington, D.C.

THE OYSTER BEDS OF NEW YORK.

BY EUGENE G. BLACKFORD.

During the past year an investigation has been in progress
in the State of New York, under my charge, for the purpose
of ascertaining the actual condition of the oyster areas of the
State, and to gain some general knowledge of the oyster indus-
try as carried on in our waters.

This work was begun on the supposition that there was danger
of a failure in our oyster supplies in the near future, unless some
steps were taken toward remedying certain practices and evils
which were thought to be detrimental to the success and con-
tinuance of the industry. Thus far only a portion of the
oyster territory of the State has been examined, and that only
superficially ; yet the examination has been sufficient to estab-
lish two points, one of which shows conclusively the need of
such an investigation, and the other that there is no danger of a

86 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

failurein the supply of these mollusks for our markets. These
two points are, first, that the natural oyster areas of the State
are in bad condition and very much less in extent than they
were a score or more of years ago, and, second, that the loss in
the natural areas has been much more than made up in the for-
mation of planted beds, some of which occupy the localities of
natural areas, which have been exhausted of their natural sup-
plies, and have been repopulated by artificial means, and some
of which have been formed on territory that never was natural
oyster ground, and by reason of this increase in the amount of
territory upon which oysters are grown, a great many more
oysters are now sent into market each year than were thus ship-
ped some few years ago. This is truetoavery large extent
of all the oyster regions of our State; the natural areas have
been worked until, in many instances, they have been entirely
depleted, and in all cases very much lessened in productiveness ;
and then the planters have appropriated the exhausted lands for
planting purposes, and extended the planted areas outside of
the old bed limits, but some of the oyster regions show much
greater changes in this direction than the others, This is per-
haps more noted in the neighborhoods of Staten Island and
City Island than elsewhere, since these regions are not only
close to our great metropolitan markets, and therefore can be
drawn upon at short notice, but they have suffered more than
the others from the direct action of the refuse materials thrown
into the waters from the cities of New York, Brooklyn, Jersey
City and their suburbs. This has been a source of great injury,
and where formerly many oysters were obtained from along the
shores of the lower bay, around the northern end of Staten
Island and along the East river, now there are none to be got,
or if any can be secured, they are so contaminated with the
acids and filth of the waters that they are of no value as food.
This is an evil which can only be remedied by careful and con-
sistent legislation regarding the sewerage of the great cities and
the disposal of waste matters.

In the neighborhood of City Island there were formerly many
large tracts of natural oyster beds, from whence great quanti-
ties of fine oysters were obtained ; but as there were no stringent

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 87

regulations in regard to the working of the beds, or the protec-
tion of the oysters during the breeding season, and no system of
guarding the beds, they were gradually despoiled and their
places taken by the planted areas ; and the same may be said as
regards the lower portion of Staten Island, and in fact, of all
portions of our State. Toa certain extent, this is an advantage
to the oyster industry of the State, and to a certain extent it is a
disadvantage. By having these lands brought under the direct
influence of individual oystermen, that is, by transforming
them from public into private property, they can be better pro-
tected than when open to every one, as each individual planter
will feel more of an interest in guarding his own land than in
guarding the land of the public domain, and they can accord-
ingly be worked in a manner to promote the welfare and con-
tinuance of the bed, rather than in such a manner as to exhaust
itas quickly as possible.

It is on the principle, of course, that business, in order to be
successful, must be personal to those engaged in it, and while
this may be largely true as regards the oyster property of the
State, yet if the beds are permitted to become exhausted in this
manner, and then to be taken up, as they have been in the past,
by any one who desires to appropriate this kind of property, it
will cut off a great number of people from obtaining seed
oysters, and furnish private property to a greater or less num-
ber of individuals, without any recompense being given, even
to the State, or to those deprived of the privilege of gathering
oysters from public beds. It would seem as if it would be bet-
ter to guard the public beds, and preserve them as seed grounds,
and encourage the planters to appropriate land for artificial cul-
tivation that is not suitable for natura] growth, enacting suit-
able laws for the protection and guarding of the natural areas,
and for the perpetuity and protection of the planting industry.
Many of the oystermen feel at the present time that there is no
certainty, from the present condition of the laws, that they will
ever gain anything from any improvements they may make, or
for any expense that they may be to in fitting up territory which
is not now natural bottom, but which might be rendered excel-
lent for plants, and so they do not enter into the work as_heart-

$8 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

ily as they otherwise might do. And in view of the chaotic state
of the laws in general, and the peculiar way in which many of
them are carried out, it is somewhat to be wondered at that so
much has been accomplished in the direction of artificial culture,
as has been done. The possibilities in this direction are well
illustrated in Jamaica and Hempstead bays, upon the shore of
Long Island. In the towns bordering upon these bays, laws
have been enacted, under authority from the State, whereby any
resident can appropriate three acres or less of land under water,
for the purpose of oyster cultivation, and the occupant is pro-
tected in his rights and titles to such land, so long as he works
the land and pays the rent upon it. The land under water thus
becomes practically the same as the land above water, a perma-
nent property of the planter, and is worked just as upland is, to
preserve it and yet get as much out of it as possible. The con-
sequence is that where a few years ago only a few oysters were
raised for market, to-day the industry represents hundreds of
thousands of dollars annually, and can be yet greatly increased
by the employment of new methods of getting seed and caring
for the growing stock. As it is, it represents the most active
and progressive oyster center in our waters.

One great difference between this and other oyster regions is,
that here they recognize the value of a thorough working of a
small amount of territory, while in other localities the oyster-
men generally try to get and hold all the territory they can, with-
out any particular regard to how well such territory is worked.
Some of the other regions are following to a certain extent in
the footsteps of the planters of Jamaica and Hempstead bays,
and just in this proportionare they meeting with success. While
the industry inthe State is, as a whole, in fair condition, so far as
regards the number of oysters sent to market, the number be-
ing, perhaps, three or four times what it was fifteen years or so
ago. It is not what it ought to be or may become, and the fu-
ture supplies will depend largely upon the care with which the
oystermen guard the present seed beds and work their planted
territory. The possibilities are great, provided advantage is
taken of all improved methods of culture, and some desire is
shown to perpetuate rather than destroy the natural areas.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 89

It isto be hoped that the oystermen will cordially co-operate
in the work now in progress, and that by means of judicious
legislation the natural beds may be preserved and protected, and
the industry stimulated and permanency given to it in our
waters. :

fulton Market, New York.

THE BIENNIAL SPAWNING OF SALMON.
(THE Bucksrport EXPERIMENTS.)

BY CHARLES G. ATKINS.

After the organization of the establishment for the collection
of eggs of sea-going salmon at Bucksport, on the Penobscot
river, in 1872, it was one of the earliest suggestions of Pro-
fessor Baird that we should attempt, as occasion might offer, to
obtain evidence bearing on the frequency and duration of the
salmon’s migrations and its rate of growth.

To carry out these suggestions it seemed requisite that obser-
vations should be made on individual fishes at successive peri-
ods in their lives; yet, whatever means should be taken to
secure and identify them must, it was evident, not prevent free
movement in the open river to and from the sea, or interfere
in any way with the development of their functions or their
regular growth. They must be distinctly and durably marked,
yet in such a way as to do them no injury. The cutting of
the fins would answer the purpose only in part, since it would
not afford a sufficient variety in form to enable us to distin-
guish a great number of individuals. Branding upon the side
of the fish was thought of and even tried, but the serious mutila-
tion that befel the first fish operated on, and the extreme prob-
ability that those marks that were so lightly impressed as to do
no injury to the fish would soon become illegible, or so nearly

go AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

so as to be overlooked by fishermen, caused that method to be
abandoned. A metallic tag, stamped with a recorded number,
appeared to offer the greatest promise of success. The first tag
tried was of thin aluminum plate, cut about a half inch long and
a quarter wide, and attached to a rubber band which encircled
the tail of the fish. It is possible that most of the bands
slipped off, and that those which were tight enough to stay on
cut through the skin, and produced wounds that destroyed the
fish. At any rate, no salmon thus marked were ever recovered.

The next method employed was the attachment of an alumi-
num tag by means of a platinum wire to the rear margin of the
first dorsal fin. This place of attachment was chosen because,
being near the middle of the fish, it has less lateral motion when
the fish is swimming than any point nearer the head or tail, and
because the tag, lying thus in the wake of the fin and close to
the back, would be better protected from contact with foreign
objects than elsewhere. The attachment was effected by plac-
ing the fish upon a narrow table, confining it by straps, and
piercing the thin membrane of the fin between the last and next
to the last ray, by means of a needle, into the eye of which was
threaded the wire already connected with the tag ; the ends of
the wire were then twisted together, so as to form a loop, and
neatly trimmed with scissors. The tags were stamped with dies.
This mode of marking has been adhered to in all subsequent ex-
periments of the kind, with no change except that the aluminum
tag has been replaced by one of platinum.

The marking was always done in the fall, after the fish had
been relieved of their spawn. They were then liberated, either
in tide water or in fresh water whence egress to the sea was
easy.

Of the salmon marked with rubber bands in 1872, as has been
said, none were recovered. In November, 1873, there were
marked 391 salmon. In the ensuing year rewards were offered
to the fishermen for the return of any marked specimens. In re-
sponse, there were sent in to the station twenty salmon, the first
in January (taken in a smelt net), and all the others in April and
May. All of the twenty retained the wire, by which they wee
with certainty recognized as having been marked in the preced-

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. gt

ing autumn. Sixteen of them still retained the tags. One of
them was found to have lost eight ounces in weight, eight
others had lost from one to two pounds each; all had fallen
away in flesh since November. The males had faded in color ;
the hooks on their lower jaws were still present, but had de-
creased much in size. The females had regained their bright
silvery color to a great extent ; in their ovaries were the germs
of the next litter of eggs, but they were very small. No food could
be found in the stomachs of either sex. It was quite evident
from their condition that these fishes could not have been to
their feeding grounds during the winter. Twelve out of the
twenty were taken in the Penobscot above Bucksport, and nine
of these were taken at Veazie, twenty-five miles above Buck-
sport, in close proximity to the first serious obstacle they would
encounter in ascending the river. Salmon in their condition
should be bound toward the sea, and had they, as may have been
the case with some, reached the upper waters, it is quite impos-
sible that they could have become breeders the same year. That
all these loiterers dropped down to the sea before the first of
June, we may conclude from the fact that after that date no
more were captured. During the whole year nota single marked
fish was recovered or reported, that had in any degree mended
from the condition in which it was released the preceding
autumn,

In 1875 the offer of a reward was renewed, and this time re-
sulted in the recovery, in May and June, of eight specimens,
and among our breeding fish there was found in the autumn an-
other whose mark had escaped observation at the time of cap-
ture. Of these nine fish, four were females, three males, and
two not determined. They were all of good size, weighing
from sixteen to twenty-four and a quarter pounds, and measur-
ing thirty-four anda half to forty and a half inches in length,
and were all fat and apparently healthy. One of the females
was placed alive in our inclosure and yielded in the fall about
11,500 eggs. Unfortunately, the tags, supposed to have been
good aluminum plate, proved deficient in durable properties, be-
came (as we learned by direct observation) weak and brittle after
a short time in water. All of them had fallen off from these

g2 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

specimens, and we could not therefore trace the record of the
individual salmon, but the wire remained and proved beyond
question that these salmon were marked and released in Nov-
ember, 1873, as none others had up to this time been marked in
the same manner, and none at all marked in 1874. They had
thus been absent eighteen or nineteen months, and had (we can-
not doubt) passed the intervening months, including the summer
of 1874, mainly on their feeding grounds in the sea. The ex-
periment was repeated in 1875 and in 1880, with platinum tags,
which proved durable.

In 1875 there were marked and released in tide water, at
Bucksport, 357 salmon. In the spring of 1876 a considerable
number of these were taken in the river ; but without exception
they were, as in 1874, all poor. In 1877 three specimens
were recovered, all in good condition and of larger size than
when released. The first, No. 1to19, was caught on Cape Gel-
lison in April. This was a female fish; before spawning it
weighed twenty-one pounds six ounces, and at time of release
sixteen pounds. When retaken, seventeen months later, it
weighed thirty-three and a half pounds. The second individual,
No. 1,010, was also a female ; weighed before spawning eighteen
pounds two ounces, after spawning thirteen pounds eight
ounces, and on recapture in Lincolnville, nineteen months later
thirty pounds eight ounces. The third individual was also a
female ; weighed twenty pounds seven ounces before spawning
fifteen pounds on release, and twenty-six pounds on recapture
in Lincolnville, nineteen months later. The results of this sec-
ond experiment supported the conclusions drawn from those of
the first in every particular.

The salmon marked in 1880, numbering 252, were released in
the fresh waters of Eastern river, a small branch of the Pen-
obscot. The distance from the point of liberation to tide-water
was two miles, and the only impediment a dam over which they
could easily go down in the spring, or at any high water when
the river was not very low, but which during the winter must
have constituted a serious impediment. There is reason tor
thinking that the larger part of these salmon remained above
the dam until the spring floods. A small reward was offered

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 93

for the return of fish or tags taken the next spring, and twelve
tags were received. Nine of the fish bearing them were weighed
and found in every instance to have fallen away in weight since
marking. No fully or partially mended fish were obtained or
heard of that year. But in June, 1882, five prime salmon were
recovered bearing the tags affixed in October and November,
1880. The following statement shows the date for each indi-

vidual :
RECORD OF MARKING.

Weight Weight Weight

before of on
Date. Length spawning. eges. release.
No. 1880. Sex. inches. Ibs. oz. Ibs. oz. Ibs. oz.
1135 Oct 28" FE. 30 9 7 ta Fine
1136 Oct. 28/// i, 30 9 5 Bayt Te A:
1239 Nov. 5 F. 36 EF He BS 14 8
1248 Nov: 15), FE: 32 10 5 Boe SiG
1247 Nov. 12 M. 30% 8 8
RECORD OF RECAPTURE.
Date. Place. Length Weight.
1882. inches. Ibs, Voz:
1135 June 20 Bucksport Center. 3414 LO! aS
1136 June — Searsport. 35% aa
1239 June 22 Sandy Point. 39% 21,4:
1248 June 27 North Bucksport. 39 ZT Were
1274 June 23 Frankfort. ~~ LAY rz

The results of this third experiment coincide, it will be seen,
with those of the other two, and they leave little room for doubt
that it is the normal habit of the Penobscot salmon to spawn
every second year. Had any considerable number of them re-
covered condition in season to return to the river for spawning
the year after their first capture, they would hardly have escaped
detection altogether ; indeed, they would have been much more
likely to retain their tags, since they would have borne them
only six or seven months, instead of eighteen or nineteen. This
view is further supported by what we know of the reduced con-
dition in which the end of the spawning season finds the salmon,
the short time, only six months, that intervenes between the
spawning season and the time for the next “run” up the river,
the low temperature then prevailing in the river and bay, and
the fact, which is pretty well established, that a large part, per-
haps nearly all the salmon, instead of proceeding at once to sea

94 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

after spawning, linger in the fresh water all the winter, and
descend only with the spring floods. Bucksport, Me.

WORK -AT:.COLED SPRING: HARBOR:
BY FRED MATHER.

In this paper will be given merely a glance at the work done
at the hatchery, under my care, on Long Island, during the sea-
son of 1884-85. The place is leased, and most of the work done,
by the New York Fish Commission, although the United States
Commission on Fisheries has considerable work done there. In
the fresh-water department we can report:

A. SHap.—On May 20, 1884, I received 80,000 shad eggs from
Washington, in compliance with my request to be allowed to
experiment with them in spring water. They were placed in
the McDonald jars, and on May 29, there were planted in the
Nissequoge river, at Smithtown, Long Island, 72,000 fry. ‘This
seems to have been the first trial of hatching this fish in spring
water, and as Col. M. McDonald wrote me that the success pri-
vately reported might revolutionize present methods, I will give
the details in full:

[May 20, received 80,000 eggs at 6:20 P. M., put them in the jars at
7:30 P. M. Temperature of water 58° Fahr.; of eggs, 55°. Eggs be-
gan hatching May 24, finished May 27.]|

Temp. Loss Loss
Date. of water. of eggs. of fry.
IVUAVAP 2 PY eaten ata Sovsye pa tecee voi Marco. Eaanaliade ce NEM ee! 60 30 ahs al
Way, 22ie fhe ae cunts Se Be ae eae 59 45
Way: soda sopsele to eye, yspby Fee usjeyh ae Sage Meer ede te 60 60 AY,
IVI RABIN SA lca chee sce clio ie srinrdin s oye entelinh y aimee che Ree Aen eT 71 40 125
INVA HS Sete oho cass 7s eit sets hac wor oleae eer eneh 62 2 20
IPN 7 Cy Aiea wag Ne Dc Ara Rec ae 60 20 2
i, TET 727 ORO Pune ee nat ieee eee trae Ser say ever gi 58 15 800
INU? Ost otegie hea cuekea oars sheye rc’ oie eke Sues aa proton: .59 Ms 150
Way 2 Ont ee te aeis ie fate wits ic fe om 5. ees eneeae ena 60 40
235
Meadson*umpacking .). oc ech etewlse ae ele enya 380
615 alts 7/
Otal TOSS" 2: fer. esis site hapeler tae Sati dike 15702.

A similar trial made later proved a failure.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 95

From the preceding table of losses and the figures given
as planted, it will be seen that there is a discrepancy of only 208
fish, and these are on my side. Further, my estimate of eggs
received exceeds that of Col. McDonald by about 5,000. The
cool spring water, say of about 60 degrees (the mean of the
above table is 60.7 degrees), seems to account for the absence of
fungus on the dead eggs. Having hatched shad eggs in iced water
(see Report U.S. Fish Commissioner for 1873, 74 and ‘75, pp:
372, 370); and on’ the rivers of the Atlantic) coast from the
Pamunky to the Connecticut, where it has often reached eighty
degrees, I find spring water at about sixty degrees to be the best
medium for shad eggs which I have used. In the summer of
1884, I made an examination of the shad fisheries of the Hudson
for the New York Fishery Commission to find the best place to
take eggs. There are several points on the river where eggs
can be obtained, and these lie between Kingston and Hudson.
The catch of fish during the season of 1884 was a very fair one,
owing, no doubt, to the plantings by the State and by the U. S
Fish Commission.

B. Brown Trout.—On Feb. 24, 1885, we received from the
Deutschen Fischerei Verein a box of 40,000 eggs of the brown
trout (Salmo fario), half of which were billed to Mr. E. G. Black-
ford, and the remainder to me. The loss in transit was 1,020,
and we afterward lost 2,594 eggs and 8,131 fry ; 28,900, accord-
ing to our estimate, were planted in Queens, Suffolk, West-
chester and Rockland counties, N. Y. These fish are destined
to become great favorites, and the demand for them increases.

C. Brook Trout.—We received 7,000 eggs from the United
States Fish Commission at Northville, Mich., Frank N. Clark,
superintendent, and a lot of Rangely and blueback trout eggs
from the Maine Fish Commission, on account of Mr. Francis
H. Weeks, of Cold Spring Harbor, but which were so arranged
that we could not tell which was which, and no careful estimate
of the number was made, as a mistake occurred in shipping ;
probably there were 50,000 in all. These, together with some
16,000 eggs taken from our pounds, were hatched and distributed
on Long Island.

D. Rainsow TroutT.—From 20,000 eggs received from the

96 AMERICAN FISHRIES SOCIETY.

United States Fish Commission, Northville, Mich., we hatched

and distributed 14,500 in Kings, Queens, Westchester, Suffolk
and Rockland counties, N. Y.

E. Satmon (PENopscoTt).—From 500,000 -eggs received from
the United States Fish Commission station at Bucksport, Maine,
Mr. Chas. G. Atkins, superintendent, we planted 269,300 in the
tributaries of the Hudson, in Warren county ; 99,350 in the
tributaries of the Delaware, in New Jersey ; 46,000 in the Oswego
river, and 4,900 on Long Island. The success of former plants
in the Hudson is announced by Mr. A. N. Cheney, of Glens _
Falls, N. Y., who says they are plenty in Clendon brook, and
promises specimens.

F. Lanp-Lockep Satmon.—Of 60,000 eggs of the land-locked
salmon presented to the State by the United States Fish Com-
mission, only 16,300 fry were distributed, owing to their being
retarded in troughs too long awaiting orders. The fish were
assigned to Adirondack waters, but for lack of orders were fin-
ally distributed on Long Island.

G. WuitrerisH.i—We have favorable reports from former
plantings of whitefish on Long Island, but lack specimens, and
therefore have no proof that they have lived. From one million
eggs we distributed 990,000 fry as follows: 600,000 in Great
pond, near Riverhead (where success was reported) ; 340,000 in
Lake Ronkonkoma, and 50,000 in St. John’s lake, Cold Spring
Harbor.

H. Sme.t.—The result of experiments with these refractory
eggs will be found in another paper read before the society
yesterday, and there is nothing new to add.

SALT-WATER DEPARTMENT.

A. CoprisH.—Owing to bad weather and perhaps other causes,
no good eggs of the cod were taken. There has been no de-
cided success in the hatching of this fish, although a few have
been hatched by Capt. H. C. Chester and Prof. J. H. Rider,
both of the United States Fish Commission. This fall we hope
to have a smack come in to the station with live cod, and try to
obtain good eggs.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 97

B. Tom-Cop.—With these eggs we have good results. We
took 280,000, and turned loose 213,000 fish. The eggs are not
adhesive like the smelt’s, nor buoyant like the cod’s. These
hatched in about twenty-five days.”

This record shows that ‘between two and three million eggs
were placed in the troughs at this station, and besides this there
were over 3,000 more handled and repacked for foreign ship-
ment, or received from foreign countries for hatcheries in
America, all the foreign receipts and shipments passing through
my hands for inspection or repacking, in which great successes
have been scored. We propose to begin the artificial culture of
oysters this summer.

Cold Spring Harbor, Suffolk Co., N.Y.

THE RIVER EXCURSION.

On Thursday, May 7th, the society made a trip to the shad
hatching grounds of the Potomac on the U. S. Commission
steamer Fish Hawk, by invitation of Prof. S. F. Baird. Col.
Marshall McDonald acted as master of ceremonies, and was
ably assisted in doing the honors by Lieut. Pietmeyer, Prof.
Goode and Mr. Cox.

Arriving at Fort Washington, an attendant showed four mil-
lion eggs in process of packing for shipment to the central sta-
tion at Washington. At 3 Pp. M. the company sat down to a lunch
of planked shad, corn bread and coffee, and then made ready to
return. On the homeward trip a meeting of the Executive Com-
mittee was held in the cabin, Hon. Theodore Lyman presiding.
Mr. Lyman suggested that the present was a proper time to
transact any unfinished business, and to make any necessary ar-
rangements for the next meeting.

Prof. Goopr moved that a vote of thanks be tendered to Prof.
Spencer F. Baird, Commissioner of Fisheries for the United
States, for his courtesy in placing the /7sk Hawk at the dis-
posal of the society for this trip. Carried.

Mr. Criark moved that the next annual meeting of the society

98 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY,

be held in Chicago. He said that it would bea great gain in
the membership to the society to hold it there, for: many
Western men had held aloof from it, thinking it to be an East-
ern society entirely, and that little or no attention was paid to
Western fisheries.

Prof. Goope.—The remarks of Mr. Clark carry great weight.
It is desirable to meet in other places than New York and Wash-
ington, although the latter is common ground. I think it would
be well to meet in Chicago next year.

‘Dr. Hupson.—In 1876 we met in Philadelphia, but did not
gain any members to speak of, yet if it is believed to be the best
to meet in Chicago, we might try the experiment.

Mr. Maruer.—lIf it is necessary to meet at different points to
avoid the charge of localism, it may be well to do so. But why
any person should consider that the society is in any sense a
local one I fail to see. Its name covers the continent, and the
subjects treated of are not at all restricted to any locality. It
has been suggested, and I thought it understood, that the next
meeting should be in New England, perhaps in Boston, and we
certainly should meet there some time, if we propose to change
about. New York and Boston are the great fish centers, and
Washington, as Prof. Goode has said, is common ground. I do
not think that any place is as good as Washington, but will
agree to anything the majority think best.

Mr. ButTLer.—If we go West one year, we will not lose mem-
bers, but will gain them. The Commissioner of Agriculture
hoped that we would go west of the Mississippi, and if so we
would have a large meeting ; but at Chicago we would certainly
have a most interesting and profitable one.

Mr. May.—lI hope that this question will be decided to-day,
and that it will be in favor of Chicago. We will then begin to
urge Western commissioners, and those interested in fish-cul-
ture and in fishing to attend.

Mr. CLark moved that the next meeting be held in, Chicago,
and that a local committee be appointed to fix the date and make
all necessary arrangements. Carried.

The President appointed as such committee, Messrs. F. N.
Clark, W. L. May; Dr. R. O. Sweeney, A. P. Butler, Fred
Mather and W. V. Cox. The meeting then adjourned.

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FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. IO!

MEMBERS

OF THE

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

H. R. H., the Crown Prince of Germany.

Baird, Spencer F., U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries,
Washington, D. C.

Behr, E. von, Schmoldow, Germany; President of the Deut-
schen Fischerei Verein.

Borne, Max von dem, Berneuchen, Germany.

Huxley, Prof. Thomas H., London; President of the Royal
Society.

Jones, John D., 51 Wall Street, New York.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Apostolides, M. A., Athens, Greece.

Buch, Dr. S. A., Christiania, Norway; Government Inspector
ot Fisheries.

Birkbeck, Edward, Esq., M. P., London, England.

Benecke, Prof. B., Kénigsberg, Germany; Commissioner of
Fisheries.

Brady, Thomas, Esq., Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland; Inspector
of Fisheries for Ireland,

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Day, Dr. Francis F. L. S., Cheltenham, England; late Inspec-
tor-General of Fisheries for India.

Feddersen, Arthur, Viborg, Denmark.

Giglioli, Prof. H. H., Florence, Italy.

Hubrecht, .Prof. A. A. W.3 Utrecht, ‘Holland; (Member) of
the Dutch Fisheries Commission, and Director of the
Netherlands Zoological Station.

Juel, Capt. N., R. N., Bergen, Norway; President of the Society
for the Development of Norwegian Fisheries.

Landmark, S., Bergen, Norway; Inspector of Norwegian Fresh-
water Fisheries.

Lauderdale, the Earl of Stirling, Scotland.

Lundberg, Dr. Oscar, Stockholm, Sweden; Inspector of Fish-

eries.
Marston, R. B., Esq,, London, England; Editor of the /7shzng
Gazette,

Maclean, William, Sydney, N. S. W.; President of the Fish-
eries Commission of New South Wales.

Sars, Prof. G. O., Christiania, Norway; Government-Inspector
of Fisheries.

Solsky, Baron N. de, St. Petersburg, Russia; Director of the
Imperial Agricultural Museum.

Sola, Don Francisco, Garcia, Madrid, Spain: Secretary of the
Spanish Fisheries Society.

Wattel, M. Raveret, Paris, France; Secretary of the Société
d’Acclimatation.

Young, Archibald, Esq,, Edinburgh, Scotland; H. M. Inspector
of Salmon Fisheries.

Walpole, Hon. Spencer, Governor of the Isle of Man.

DECEASED MEMBERS.

Chappel, George.
Garlick, Dr. Theodatus.
Lawrence, Alfred N.
McGovern, H. D.
Milner, Prof. James W.
Parker, W. R.
Redding, B. B.
Redding, George H.
Smith, Greene.

Stuart, Robert L.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 103

MEMBERS.

Agnew, John T., 284 Front Street, New York.
Anderson, A. A., Bloomsbury, N. J.

Annin, James, Jr., Caledonia, N. Y.

Atwater, Prof. W. O., Middletown, Conn.

Atkins, Charles G., Bucksport, Me.

Bailey, W. E., U. S. Fish Commission.

Banks, Charles, 453 Fitth Avenue, New York.
Barrett, Charles, Grafton, Vermont,

Bean, Tarleton, H., Washington, D. C.

Benjamin, Pulaski, Fulton Market, New York.
Benkard, James, Union Club, New York.
Bottemane, C. J., Bergen-op-Zoom, Holland.
Blackford, E.G., Fulton Market, New York.
Belmont, Perry, 19 Nassau Street, New York.
Bickmore, Prof. A. S., American Museum, New York.
Butler, W. A., Detroit, Mich.

Butler, Frank A., 291 Broadway, New York.
Butler, W. H., 291 Broadway, New York.

Bryan, Ed. H., Smithsonian Institution.

Brown, J. E., U. S. Fish Commission.

Brown, S. C., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Bryson, Col. M.'A., 903 Sixth Avenue, New York.
Carman, G., Fulton Market, New York.

Clapham, Thomas, Roslyn, L. I., New York.

Clapp, A. T., Sunbury, Pa.

Comstock, Oscar, Fulton Market, New York.
Conklin, William A., Central Park, New York.
Conselyea, Andrew, Springfield, Long Island, N. Y.
Crook, Abel, 99 Nassau Street, New York.

Crosby, Henry F., 18 Cliff Street, New York.
Carey, Dr. H. H., Atlanta, Ga.

Cheney, A. Nelson, Glens Falls, N. Y.

Clark. Frank N., Northville, Mich.

Clark, A. Howard, National Museum, Washington, D.C.
Collins, J. W., Washington, D.C.

Cox, W. V., Washington, D. C.

Develin, John E., 30 Nassau Street, New York.
Dieckerman, George H., New Hampton, N. H.
Donaldson, Hon. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pa.

Ellis, J. F., U. S. Fish Commission.

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Endicott, Francis, 57 Beekman Street, New York.
Evarts, Charles B., Windsor, Vt.

Earll, R. E., Washington, D. C.

Ferguson, T. B., Washington, D. C.

Foord, John, Brooklyn Unzon, Brooklyn, New York.
French, Asa B., South Baintree, Mass.

Gilbert, W. L., Plymouth, Mass.

Goode, G. Brown, Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
Garrett, W. E., P. O. box 3006. New York.

Haley, Albert, Fulton Market, New York.

Haley, Caleb, Fulton Market, New York.
Habershaw, Frederick, 113 Maiden Lane, New York.
Harris, Gwynn, Washington, D.C.

Harris, J. N., Fulton Market, New York.

Harris, W.C., 252 Broadway, New York.

Hessel, Rudolph, Washington, D. C.

Hewlett, Charles, Hewletts, Long Island, New York.
Hicks, John D., Roslyn, Long Island, N. Y.

Hudson, Dr. William M., Hartford, Conn.

Hayes, A. A., Washington, D.C.

Henshall, Dr. J. A., Cynthiana, Ky.

Humphries, Dr. E. W., Salisbury, Md.

Hutchinson, E. S., Washington, D.C.

Hall, G. W., Union Club, New-York.

Isaacs, Montefiore, 42 Broad Street, New York.
Jessup, F. J., 88 Courtlandt Street, New York.
Johnston, S. M., Battery Wharf, Boston, Mass.
Kauffman, S. H., Washington, D.C.

Kelly, P., 346 Sixth Avenue, New York.

Kingsbury, Dr. C. A., 1119 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.
Kimball, Robert J., 14g Montague Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Kellogg, A. J., Detroit, Mich.

Lamphear, George, Fulton Market, New York.
Lawrence, G. N., 45 East 21st Street, New York,
Lawrence, F. C., Union Club, New York.

Ledyard, L. W., Cazenovia, N. Y.

Lee, Thomas, U. S. Fish Commission.

Leeds, Theodore E., 18 Wall Street, New York.
Loring, John A., 5 Tremont Street, Boston.

Lowrey, J. A., Union Club, New York.

Lyman, Hon. Theodore, Brookline, Mass.

Lydecker, Major G. L., U. S. Engineer.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING, 105

Mather, Fred., Forest and Stream, New York.

Mallory, Charles, foot Burling Slip, New York.

Mansfield, Lieut. H. B., U. S. Navy Coast and Geodetic Survey
Washington, D. C.

Mayor, Prof. Alfred M., Stevens Institute, Hoboken, N. J.

McDonald, Col. M., Smithsonian Institution, Washington.

Middleton, W., Fulton Market, New York.

Milier, S. B., Fulton Market, New York.

Miller, Ernest, Fulton Market, New York.

Moore, George H. H., U.S. Fish Commission,

Morford, Theodore, Newton, N. J.

Munn, H.N., Union Club, New York.

Murphy, W. W. J., U. S. Fish Commission.

May, W. L., Fremont, Nebraska.

McGown, Hon. H. P., 76 Nassau Street, New York.

Milbank, S. W., Union Club, New York.

O'Connor, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Page, George S., 49 Wall Street, New York.

Page, W. F., U.S. Fish Commission.

Parker, Dr. J. C., Grand Rapids, Mich.

Parker, Peter, Jr., U. S. Fish Commission.

Pease, Charles, East Rockford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio,

Post, W., Knickerbocker Club, New York.

Pietmyer, Lieut., commanding Steamer /7sh-Hawh.

Pike, Hon. R. G., Middletown, Conn.

Redmond, R., 113 Franklin Street, New York.

Reinecke, Thedore, Box 1651, New York.

Reynal, J., 84 White Street, New York.

Ricardo, George, Hackensack, N. J.

Rice, Prof. H. J., Fulton Market, New York.

Riley, Prof. C. V., Agricultural Dept., Washington, D. C.

Rogers, H. M., Fulton Market, New York.

Roosevelt, Hon. Robert B., 17 Nassau Street, New York.

Ray, Hon. Ossian, M. C., New Hampshire.

Robeson, Hon. Geo. M., Camden, N. J.

Ryer, F. R., New York City.

Schieffelin, W. H., 170 William Street, New York.

Schuyler, H. P., Troy, New York.

Schaffer, George H., foot Perry Street, New York.

Sherman, R. U., New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y.

Simmons, Newton, U.S. Fish Commission.

Shultz, Theodore, 115 Cliff Street, New York.

106 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Smiley, C. W., Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C,
Spofford, Henry W., Smithsonian Institution.
Steers, Henry, to East 38th Street, New York.
Stone, Livingston, Charlestown, N. H.

Stone, Summer R., 46 Exchange Place, New York.
Swan, B. L. Jr., 5 West 20th Street, New York.
Townsend, Isaac, Union Club, New York.
Thompson, H. H., P. O. box 839, New York.

Van Brunt, C., 121 Chambers Street, New York.
Ward, George E., 43 South Street, New York.
Weeks, Seth; Corry; Erie Go; Penn:

West, Benjamin, Fulton Street, New York.
Whitney, Samuel, Katonah, New York,

Wilbur, E. R., 40 Fulton Street, New York.
Wileox, W. A., 176 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.
Willets, J. C., Skeaneatles, N. Y., or 1 Grace Court, Brooklyn.
Wilmot, Samuel, Newcastle, Ontario.

Wilson, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Wood, Benjaman, 25 Park Row, New York.
Woodruff, G. D., Sherman, Conn.

Woods, Israel, Fulton Market, New York.

Wilcox, Joseph, Media, Penn.

Worth, S. G., Raleigh, D. C.

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TRANSACTIONS

=O) Sho

Qhnerican
o@FISMERIES SOCIETY &

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

HELD AT THE

PALMER HOUSE, CHICAGO, ILL,

Qpril 13th and 14th, 1886.

OFFICERS POR 4866-71

ea ees

PRESIDENT, Dr iW; M. HUDSON;

VICE-PRESIDENT, W. L. MAY,

TREASURER, E. G. BLACKFORD,
REC. SECRETARY, FRED MATHER.

Cor. SECRETARY, We ABUT ER [Re

a re

Hartford, Conn.
Fremont, Neb.

- Brooklyn, Yee Nie

Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.

Detrott, Mich.

EXECU TIMETOCOMMIT TEE,

FRANCIS ENDICOTT, Chazrman,
[D5 ING (GIL AMIR z Z 2

S BARTLETT, - - -
DR R.-O; SWEENY, = =

PHILO DUNNING, - :
A. N. CHENEY, -

LIVINGSTON STONE, -

Staten Island, N. VY.
Northville, Mich.

Quincy, 12.

St. Paul, Minn.

Madson, Wes.
Glens Falls, YN We

Charlestown, N. H.

a li pi ls Lin a ad

The following is the Constitution, as revised and. accepted after the
report of the committee, which was appointed at the last meet-

ing, had been by sections.

ARTICLE I.—NAME AND OBJECTS.

The name of this Society shall be “ The American Fisheries Society.”
Its object shall be to promote the cause of fish-culture ; to gather and
diffuse information bearing upon its practical success, and upon all
matters relating to the fisheries; the uniting and encouraging of the
interests of fish-culture and the fisheries; and the treatment of all
questions regarding fish, of a Scientific and economic character.

MEMBERS.

ARTICLE. If.

Any person shall, upon a two-thirds vote and the payment of three

dollars, become a member of this Society. In case members do not.

pay their fees, which shall be three dollars per year, after the first
year, and are delinquent for two years, they shall be notified by the
Treasurer, and if the amount due is not paid within a month there-
after, they shall be, without further notice, dropped from the roll of
membership. Any person can be made an honorary or a correspond-
ing.member upon a two-thirds vote of the members present at any
regular meeting.

ARTICLE III].—OFFIcErs.

The officers of this Society shall be a President and a Vice-President,
who shall be ineligible for election to the same offices until a year after
the expiration of their terms, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording

Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Executive Committee of seven, which
with the officers before named, shall form a council and transact such
business as may be necessary when the Society is not in session four
to constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE IV.—MEETINGS.

The regular meeting of the Society shall be held once a year, the
time and place being decided upon at the previous meeting, or in
default of such action, by the Executive Committee,

ARTICLE V.— CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION.

The Constitution of the Society may be amended, altered or repealed,
by a two thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting,
provided, at least fifteen members are present at the said meeting.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING

SO 10S VB

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

PbS DANY

TuEsDAY, APRIL 13th, 1886.

The Convention was called to order by Dr. William M, Hudson,
the Vice-President, in the chair, at 11 o’clock A. M.

The Cuairman.—Gentlemen, in the absence of Col. McDonald,
the President of the Society, it devolves upon me to preside
over this meeting to-day. Inasmuch as we are deprived of his
presence by reason of a sudden death in his family, I would say
I have not prepared any opening remarks. I can simply say
that in this first meeeting in the West, I sincerely trust we may
make up in quality what we apparently so far lack in numbers.

I notice, gentlemen, that in accordance with. the course of our
previous meetings, we have first to consider routine business,
which will come up in its regular order, and I would ask the
Secretary for any suggestions which he may have to offer in
regard to this matter.

Secretary MarHEeR.—Mr. President, the usual routine busi-
ness of the opening of the meetings has been the appointing of
committees, and one of those committees, the most important |

6 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

believe, to be a committee for nomination of officers, which
should report to-morrow. At the last meeting of the associa-
tion there was a committee appointed to revise the Constitution
of the Society, They did revise it and presented a draft of
it, which is published in the beginning of last year’s report, and
it was decided to submit it to this meeting. Whether that will be
considered in this morning’s session or not is for the members
to decide. Then there will be a committee, probably to decide
upon the time and place of the next meeting, unless the asso-
ciation should see fit to go into a committee of the whole upon
that subject, before we make our final adjournment on the last
day of this Convention.

Mr. May.—If it is in order, 1 would move the appointment of
a committee of five upon nomination of officers for the coming
year. This being duly seconded was carried.

The CuHatrMan.—Being comparatively unfamiliar with the
names and faces of many of those who are present, it would
be perhaps rather difficult for me to name five men here now
without consultation, and I think we had best wait until the
afternoon.

Secretary MATHER.—Mr. President, as you ask me about
the order of business, I would suggest that members having
papers in their possession to be read, should give the titles of
them, in order that we may form some idea of the length of our
programme, and of the order in which the papers should be read

Mr. CLark.—I notice that Mr. Mather says “‘ members.” Now,
to put matters right here—really I don’t know that the local
committee of arrangements were authorized exactly what to do
in regard to that—I think the invitation has gone out to members
and others. We took it upon ourselves to do that, and we have
done it, and I would like to say, as chairman of that meeting,
that unless there is objection to it, | would like to have that idea
carried out, and make it open to all.

‘Secretary Matuer.—If any gentleman interested in the
fisheries wishes to send a paper to be read, I certainly should be

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 7

the last man to object to it; we have have never confined com-
munications to members. I would simply say if any gentlemen
wishes to send in a paper, I would like to have the title of it in
order that we may cut out our work,

The CHatrRMAN.—We shall be glad to see or hear.anybody
who may be interested in this subject, and it is possible that
any gentleman who may be sufficiently interested to have pre-
pared a paper may desire to join this Society.

Mr. CLrark.—I would ask, if it is in order, to present names
now for membership.

The CHairMAN.—Certainly ; that is always in order.

The Convention then went into a committee of the whole on
applications for membership, and the following gentlemen were
nominated, and duly elected:

Dr. S. C. Adams, Peoria, Illinois; S. P. Bartlett, Quincy, Ili-
nois; J. H. Bissell, Detroit, Michigan; A. Booth, Chicago, I1li-
nois J. N. Dewey, Toledo, Ohio; Philo Dunning, Madison, Wis-
consin; N. K. Fairbank, Chicago, Illinois; C. C. Hinchman,
Detroit, Michigan; Dr. E. S. Holmes, Grand Rapids, Michigan;
Walter D. Marks, Paris, Michigan; James Nevin, Madison, Wis-
consin; Dr. R. O. Sweeney, St. Paul, Minnesota; W. D. Tomlin,
Duluth, Minnesota; Herschel Whitaker, Detroit, Michigan.

The CuHarRMAN.—I would state that in the absence of Mr.
Blackford, our Treasurer, Mr, Mather will act as Treasurer, and
has the necessary blank forms of receipt for membership.

Secretary Matuer.—Mr. Chairman, I have here a letter
directed to William A. Butler, Esq., of the Committee of Ameri-
can Fisheries Society, from Dr. E. C. Stearns, in which he says
he will have a paper on “Intentional and Accidental Distri-
bution of Fishes.” :

I also have a paper on “The Michigan Grayling,” by Mr.
Herschel Whitaker. Those are the only papers I know of, ex-
cept three which I have prepared, the titles of which are “Smelt
Hatching,” ‘‘ Oyster Culture” and ‘ Fish-cultural Work at Cold

8 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Spring Harbor, Long Island.” As I now fondly gaze upon
some of the members here, I feel a little ashamed of myself for
writing three papers when they have not written any.

Mr. Ciark.—Mr. Chairman, I would suggest that as Mr.
Bissell has a paper, the title of which is ‘‘ Fish Culture—a
Practical Art,” I would like to ask if it is a part of teats de-
liberations, that they may be open to discussion ?

The CHairMAN.—It is always our custom whenever a paper is
read, to announce that it is open for discussion by the Society.
It has also been the custom of the Society to listen to any mat-
ters which are germane to its ordinary scope and its interests at
any time after the regular papers are completed, and the more
discussion of that kind we have, the better; and, as I said before,
in regard to each paper that is read, it is always pleasant for the
Society, and generally interesting and profitable, to hear discus-
sions from those who may have knowledge of the subject, and
we sincerely hope that the custom may be carried out at this
time, and that we may have the benefit of the same work at this
meeting that we have had at previous ones.

Mr. BissELL.—Mr. Chairman, in respect to the fisheries in the
West, during the year 1885, if the Society wishes to have that
presented, or any part of it, it can be done at any time when it
is proper to discuss it.

The CuairmMan.—I think the Society would be very much
pleased to hear a paper of that kind, and it would come in very
properly with the discussion in regard to the fisheries on the
lakes.

Mr. BarT.LetrT.—I feel interested in that matter for this rea-
son: Illinois has never done anything toward re-stocking the
great lakes. The fisheries, so far as Lake Michigan is con-
cerned, are practically depleted of white-fish, and if there could
be only one particular branch of that subject discussed, I would
like to have the white-fish given the most prominent place. I
will go to work and prepare a paper on it of five or six lines, if
it is necessary, before the close of the meeting.

The CuairMAn.—The Chair will state that no question will

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 9

be more thoroughly discussed than that of white-fish. There are
great States bordering on the lakes, and I am sure it will be ex-
ceedingly interesting to hear whatever may be said on that
subject.

Whereupon, on motion, duly seconded, the Convention ‘'ad-
journed until 2:30 o'clock Pp. M.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

TuESDAY, APRIL 13th, 1886, 2:30 o'clock P. M.

The Convention was called to order by the Vice-President,
Dr. Hudson.

Mr. Puito Dunninc.—Mr. Chairman, I would like to inquire
what constitutes a member of this Society ?

The CoarrMAN.—AII that is necessary for a man to become a
member is to have his name presented at one of the regular
meetings, to be elected by the members present, and to pay the
annual fee of three dollars, for which he receives the annual
report of the Society, and his name remains upon the records;
he also receives the notices of all kinds which may be issued
in connection with the Society.

The first business of the meeting will be the appointment of
the nominating committee, which will report to-morrow morn-
ing. The Chair would nominate Mr. May, of Nebraska, Mr.
Butler, of Michigan, Mr. Bartlett, of Illinois, Dr. Sweeney, of
Minnesota and Mr. Dunning, of Wisconsin.

TO AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The Chair would state, also, that we have information that
other papers which have not yet been received will be here in
time for to-morrow’s meeting, and such papers as are ready can
be read this afternoon, and a discussion had upon them after the
reading, and then we may adjourn until to-morrow, when we
probably shall have a larger number present, and at the same
time have more papers than we have had time to read to-day.
The reading of papers is now in order, unless some gentleman
has other business to propose.

The first paper which will be read will be on “ The Hatching
of Smelts,” by Mr. Mather.

Mr. MatTuHer.—I would state that my first experiments in re-
gard to the smelt appeared in the report of last year, and that
very little has ever been done in smelt hatching. Professor
Rice and Mr. Atkins have both made some experiments, but
not ona large scale. Both succeeded to a limited extent, as
[ have. This year we had between two and three millions of
eggs and may possibly be able to turn out a million of young
fish.

SMELT HATCHING.

BY FRED MATHER.

At the last meeting of this Society I read a paper on “ Hatch-
ing Smelt,” giving the details of my first experiments, and stat-
ing at the same time that but little had been done with the eggs
of this fish and that the literature of its culture was very limited.
I have continued these experiments the present year and have
but little to add to what I have before said. The eggs of the
smelt are the most unsatisfactory of any fish eggs I have ever
handled. Their glutinous character and small size forbids the
separation of the dead from the living by the automatic jars or
by hand picking, consequently they decay and become foul.

We have this year at the Cold Spring Harbor station of the

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. II

New York Fish Commission placed them upon the straw cover-
ings of wine bottles, hung in ponds, and also placed them in the
hatchery in running water. Others were put on tin pans hung
in the ponds and the McDonald jars, under several different con-
ditions; one of these was to place the newly taken eggs in jars
and by slowly rotating it to leave a covering of eggs all around
the inside. Another mode was to put them into jars and give
them a strong circulation of water to prevent their adhering in
masses as much as possible. The third method was to give a jar
a very slight circulation and let them mass together.

The eggs exposed to light on the straw and tin pans in the
open ponds out of doors, were soon covered with fungus and
did the worst of all, although a few hatched.

The first eggs obtained this year were taken on February
25th, to the number of 400,000. Some of these were placed
upon the straw coverings, referred to above, and others were
put in jars, the main portion being thus deposited. Both these
lots began to hatch on April 5th, forty days after, and when I last
saw them on April 9th, there were perhaps 10,000 already
hatched; while the other eggs, taken on the same day and sub-
jected to the same treatment, looked as though they would not
hatch for four or five days yet. At this same date (April gth)
a lot of eggs taken on March 6th, nine days after the former lot,
had already begun hatching. This seems to be a very wide mar-
gin of time for eggs which only take from thirty to forty days
to hatch. The time occupied in hatching this year exceeds that
of last season, on account of the severe cold weather we have
had throughout March. The eggs which were taken in thin
layers on the inside of the glass jars by rotating, as above de-
scribed, have done very badly. The others are doing fairly
well for smelt eggs.

I sent Mr. F. N. Clark some eggs this year, cautioning him
not to throw them away, no matter how bad they looked on
the outside, how much fungus there might be there, nor how
foul an odor might arise from them. At the same time I had
fears that he might do this; for in our experiments we had
found that the decaying eggs on the outside masses were so foul,
that nothing but previous experience could have convinced us

12 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

that any good could have come from the inside of such a mass,

After looking the eggs over carefully, I came to the conclusion
that it was a possible thing that the outside eggs died because
they were exposed to the light, and made an attempt to get more
in order to test this theory, but we were unable to obtain them.
I had arranged to divide the next lot of eggs into two portions,
putting both into jars which were covered to exclude the light,
and give one a strong and the other a feeble circulation of
water to test this method, which I shall do next year if the
opportunity offers, for so far, our work with smelt has not proved
completely satisfactory. We can hatch forty or fifty per cent.,
and as each little adult smelt has from thirty to forty thousand
eggs, we actually get a great number of young fish, but we don't
begin to get the percentages of fry that we do in operating with
the salmon, the trout and the whitefish. I believe that we will
reach this result by continued experiment; and it is one of those
interesting questions which stimulate a worker to try and dis-
cover the cause of this great mortality.

When we remember the fact that a smelt goes up in swift
brooks and deposits its eggs on stones, it is hard to believe that
the eggs require a feeble circulation, as was suggested by my
friend, the late Professor Rice. I have never had the opportunity
to examine a stream after the smelt had finished spawning, and
see how the eggs are deposited in a state of nature. But the very
fact that a little fish bears such a great quantity of eggs within
it, shows that nature has provided for a great loss at some
portion of the life of the young, either in the egg or afterward.
Their exceedingly minute size when hatched, perhaps a quarter
of an inch in length and the diameter of a thread of No. 36
sewing cotton, renders them subject to be preyed upon by ex-
ceedingly small fishes, and an ordinary brook trout, when first
beginning to feed, could probably accommodate half a dozen
young smelts just from the egg in its stomach without incon-
venience to itself. The young can swim as soon as they are
hatched, and we confine them with brass wire cloth, No. 30
mesh,

Mr. Carman, who supplies me with smelts from Brookhaven,
L.1I., wrote on April 3rd that he had taken a few more spawners,

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 13

the last of the season, and we sent for them immediately; but
before the arrival of the can, the fish had spawned, therefore we
can place the extreme limits of their spawning season on _ his
stream, this year at February 25th and April 3rd. Some two
weeks before the first-mentioned date, Mr. Blackford obtained
some smelts from Long Island which were full of spawn, and I
sent a man down there for more, but we failed to get any that
were ripe. The fish which came to market had eggs extruding
from their dead bodies; probably caused by handling and the
jolting of the railway on their journey to the market. It is pro-
posed this year, at the suggestion of Gen. R. U. Sherman, of the
New York Commission, to plant a few in the Adirondack waters
and see if they cannot be established there, as they have been
in the fresh waters of Vermont; and the result of this experi-
ment will be watched with great interest.

I have spoken of the egg of the smelt as “glutinous,” but
‘adhesive’ would be a better term. On one side of the egg
there is a filmy appendage which is the means of attachment to
whatever it comes in contact with, and under the microscope it
appears like an empty egg shell folded over and attached to one
side of the egg only, while the other side is clean and round.

Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

Mr. CLark.—Mr. Chairman, I would say in regard to the eggs
that Mr. Mather sent me at Northville, that I found them in just
the condition that he said I probably would. The first glance
would give toa fish-culturist the idea that of course they were all
bad; but upon further examination, when you dig into them,
you find that there is a small percentage of them that are good.
I should say of those eggs that were sent to us about 15 to 20
per cent. were good. While Mr. Mather was reading his paper,
a thought occurred to me, and in the recital of his different ex-
periments I listened to hear him say that he had tried one way,
which he did not. About seven years ago, I think it was, I was
at Gloucester, Mass., at the first time they were handling the cod
for the United States Fish Commission. Among the other ex-
periments which Professor Baird tried was that of taking eggs
of the Labrador herring, which are adhesive. They stick solid,

14 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

and I tried a great many different experiments in taking eggs,
and one of the ways was taking them on glass, which I found to
be the best; and I think if a person is going to take adhesive
eges of any kind and let them stick to anything, he will find
glass the best of anything. At that time I made a box for hatch-
ing on glass. It was a small trough, with places in the side for
the glass to slide down. One glass went to the bottom and the
top was half an inch under water. The next glass stood half an
inch above the water like that, so on down through, keeping the
eggs that adhered to the glass on the side toward the water, so
that the water passed up right by the eggs, and in that way we
succeeded in hatching a better percentage than in any other way.
I should think it would be well to try experiments with the
smelt the same as they do with the wall-eyed pike, which I think
Mr. Nevins and others have tried. I have, and I think the
Michigan Commission has tried the same thing.

Mr. Maruer.—Mr. President, I would say in connection with
what Mr. Clark has said, that I had read very carefully his ex-
periments with the herring, and thought that his arrangement
of glass slides was an excellent thing. As I understand it, that
is for hatching in troughs, we have put them on the inside of a
jar, as I have described, keeping them whirling and letting them
adhere on a thin layer, I have now atheory, which of course
‘remains to be proved, that it is the light that is fatal, because we
find where those eggs adhere in masses, perhaps the size of a
hickory nut or larger, that all the outside eggs become bad after
a while and are covered with fungus, but you take hold of this
mass and break it open and you will find the little fellow inside
there all right, protected not only from the action of the light,
but from the water. I don’t understand how water can get into
this mass. If I had been going to hatch them in troughs I
Should certainly have used the apparatus that Mr. Clark devised,
and which I think isan exceedingly good thing for that mode
of hatching.

Mr. Bissetit.—I would like to say a word about that smelt
business. If it is the light that affects the eggs of the smelt,
would not the light affect them in their natural condition in a

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 15

small stream? May it not rather, or more likely be, the motion
of the water? I have been told by our men in the Michigan Fish
Commission that one of the reasons that brook trout eggs can-
not be handled successfully in the jars, is that they have too
much motion. Mr. Marks told me the other day when I pro-
posed that during the first stages of handling the trout eggs
they might be put into the jars and run in great numbers, and
then as the bad eggs were worked off, place them on trays and
hatch them there—he said no, that would not answer, because
if they had too violent a motion of the water it would addle the
eggs. He said that had been proved by experiment. It seems
to me that is much more likely to be the cause of it than the
action of the light, particularly at the season of the year when
the eggs are cast.

Mr. Maruer.—As regards brook trout in jars, no doubt the
violent motion would be injurious to them, but where you have
a little stop-cock you can turn that, and you can give them as
much or as little motion as you like, and you can have a flow.
The trouble in hatching trout in jars begins after you have got
them hatched; they lie down in masses on each other and

smother.

Mr. Ciark.—Yes, but the jar is not the thing for handling
brook trout.

Mr. BissELL.—You must have a good strong current in order
to carry them up and float them in the jars.

Mr. Matuer.—With regard to the smelt eggs, I have never
seen the natural stream after the smelt eggs were deposited by
the fish. I have been on the ground before the hatching season
began, and have seen them take smelts in very swift water, and
it is a possible thing that the smelt eggs that are taken and ad-
here to the top of the stones die, while those which get into the
crevices may escape. I don’t state it as a fact; I simply state it
as a possible thing. They do spawn in tolerably swift water.
That I know, for I know the streams where they spawn.

Mr. BisseLt.—Are they shallow streams ?

16 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Mr. Maruer.—Quite shallow and running over stones. I
have seen them in New Jersey pretty well up on the Hackensack
River, and I have seen them at Locust Valley on Long Island
where they take them, and they are both rapid streams. The
stream at Locust Valley is a trout stream, very swift, running
very rapid, and the eggs which we took last year on stones and
placed in our hatching troughs, where we hatch the brook trout
eggs, all came to nothing—that is those in a single layer, but
where there were four or five deep we could pick off the top
layer of bad eggs and find them good underneath.

Mr. Crark.—I would lke to ask Mr. Mather a question.
What percentage did I understand you to Say—that - you had
forty to fifty per cent. good eggs?

Mr. Matruer.—That is about what we have now.

Mr. Ciark.—Well, Mr. Chairman, I don’t think with any ad-
hesive eggs that were ever hatched, where you leave them to
adhere, I don’t think there is anybody ever hatched anything
better than forty or fifty per cent. of any kind, and I don’t think
they ever will. We don’t with the herring, and we call it good.

Dr. SweENEy.—It seems to me that from all the eggs that are
supplied in the spawning of these fish whose eggs are glutinous
or adhesive, there is a provision of nature that the outer layer
of the eggs act as a protective coat to the inner mass, and as
the gas permeates through the tissues and the air reaches the
eggs on the principle of displacement—as the internal layer of
eggs consumes the air, it is resupplied from the outside, and
this putrid mass of eggs on the outside which seems so unpro-
ductive, may be in part as a defense also against animals, and
is not the experience of Mr. Mather going to show that these eggs
that seem to be spoiled on the outside, work no detriment to
those within. That may bethe principle, that the adhering mass
of eggs is a protective coat to the inner stratum. It may be the
explanation that the gas or vitalized air from the water reaches
the eggs through the outer stratum.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 1:7

DEEP SEA DREDGING ON THE U.S. STEAMER
“ALBATROSS.”

BY F. L. WASHBURN.

Though the appropriateness of discussing the above subject
inthe Society of American Fisheries might at first be questioned,
second thought assures me that the work now being done by the
Albatross will, in the near future, prove of the greatest value to
fish-culture and fishery economy.

Thus assured, I ask your attention for a few minutes, hoping
not to tax too severely those who are familiar with the pro-
cess of marine dredging, and trusting the article may be of some
interest to our western friends, whose opportunities for deep sea
fishing are naturally limited.

In the first place, a word about the Adéatross and the purpose
for which she was built. She is a twin screw iron steamer of
1,000 tons displacement, 235 feet in length, built in 1883 by the
Pussey & Jones Co., of Wilmington, Del. She was constructed
for the United States Fish Commission, and intended to make
extensive trips along our coast and to other countries, for the
purpose of making observations on the ocean fisheries. Her
work, principally, consists in determining, by sounding opera-
tions, the temperatures of the water of the sea, the nature of the
bottom, and the effect of the same on the migrations and breed-
ing of the mackerel, cod, menhaden and other varieties of
economic importance to our fisheries. When the vessel can be
spared from the regular work of the Fish Commission, she. is
loaned to the Navy Department, who use her for the purpose of
observing the ocean depths, surveying harbors, and especially
in determining the existence of ledges and shoals hitherto un-
known. Hercrew numbers between fifty and sixty men. Her
commander at present is Capt. Z. L. Tanner, U.S. N., and she
is officered by lieutenants of the navy.

Mr. J. E. Benedict is the naturalist in charge, and there is gen-
erally associated with him on board a scientific staff of two or
more to assist him in obtaining data and preparing specimens.

18 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The ship is admirably planned and constructed. The captain’s
cabin occupies most of the after part of the deck, is spacious
and well furnished with everything necessary for the com-
mander’s comfort. This cabin contains two staterooms, and is
lighted during the day by port holes on the side and a skylight
above on the poop deck. The officers’ ward room is below this,
having seven spacious staterooms, a bathroom, and other con-
veniences not generally found on steamships. The ship is
lighted throughout with the incandescent electric light, which
not only makes the wardroom particularly cheerful in the even-
ing, but also illuminates the entire deck, so that at night the
vessel, as seen from the shore, looks like a brilliantly lighted
ball-room.

Another thing rendered possible by the presence of the electric
light is surface collecting at night. Mr. G. W. Baird, chief en-
gineer of the ship, is the inventor of a cable to which he attaches
a screen-covered electric light. This, when the vessel is at an-
chor, can be lowered into the water just below the surface, and
the numerous young fish, marine worms, squids and shrimp,
attracted by the brightness of the light, are captured by means
of a hand net and transferred to the laboratory table for exami-
nation. This laboratory is amidships. There are really two
laboratories, an upper and lower; the first furnished with work-
ing tables, a sink, a library of books for reference, a microscope
and convenient tanks of alcohol; the second, called the “‘ lower
laboratory,” is below this, has benches for chemical work, and
opportunities for general carpentry and work connected with
the collections. Here guns are cleaned and mended, and here
too are tiers of drawers in which specimens are stored. Be-
neath these drawers are large metal tanks filled with alcohol,
for containing the larger fish and specimens whose size prevents
them from being stored in the small glass jars. Below this
second laboratory, in the hold of the vessel, is still a third store-
room, of much the same nature, and used for much the same
purposes as the one above it.

The apparatus for deep sea sounding, which is placed on the
port bow, consists of an easily running wheel supported ina
frame. Over this wheel runs a steel piano wire from a cylinder

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 19

or drum, which holds about 4000 fathoms. When a sounding is
to be made, a brass cup is attached to the end of the wire to
catch and bring up some of the bottom, that its composition
may be observed. Just above the cup is a thermometer which
records the temperature of the deep water. To the above-men-
tioned cup a heavy shot is fastened to accelerate the downward
motion, When a sounding is to be taken the ship is kept
stationary, that the wire may be straight up and down, and.
everything being ready, the weight sinks rapidly to the bottom,
The concussion caused by striking the bottom detaches the
heavy weight, at the same time the cup grasps a portion of the
bottom’s surface, and a donkey engine turns the cylinder, where-
by the wire is quickly reeled in. Each sounding station is
given a number, and a record is kept of the depth of the water,
the nature of the bottom and the temperature at that depth.

A long article might be written on the various appliances and
mechanisms of the ship, but it would be too great a digression
from the subject originally proposed. Most worthy of mention,
however, are the annunciators on the upper deck, placed against
the wheel house. These are two contrivances, one for the star-
board engine and a similar one for the port engine, which indi-
cate to the officer of the deck the movement of both engines.
This is also an invention of Engineer Baird, as is, too, the
process by which the ship is furnished with a never failing
supply of pure, fresh drinking water distilled from the salt
water. Neither must T omit to mention the ship’s boats which
form so important a part of her equipment. A steam launch, a
steam “gig,” and numerous row-boats render effective service
when in harbors. Now, as to deep sea dredging. Just forward of
the wheel house, attached by one end to the foremast, is a boom
capable of being raised like a derrick and swung over the side.
Just below this boom is a donkey engine, and below that, in the
hold of the vessel, is coiled a strong, wire cable, about one-half
inch in diameter and about four miles long. This runs along
the under side of the boom and overa wheel at its free ex-
tremity. To this end of the cable is attached the dredge, or
trawl, as it is sometimes called. This consists of a strong,
baggy net, fastened to what looks like a pair of huge iron sleigh

20 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY,

runners, kept at a distance of about eight feet from one another
by means of an iron rod. It is between these “sleigh runners,”
in the intervening eight feet of space, that the net is placed. To
these sleigh runners is also attached by ropes a stout canvas bag,
the mouth of which is kept open by iron jaws. The position of
this bag is just behind the small end of the net, and on the sea
bottom it is dragged along after the large net, scraping up mud
or sand and rocks, thus relieving the meshes of the net from a
strain which would be too heavy for them. |

Everything being ready for dredging, and soundings having
first been taken to ascertain the depth, the net is lowered care-
fully into the sea, the progress of the vessel being stopped. If
the sounding gave 1,200 fathoms then 1,700 fathoms of dredge
cable has to be let out, or even more than that before bottom is
reached. This has to be done slowly and necessarily takes a
long time. Sometimes when the water is 3,000 fathoms deep,
as is often the case, four hours are consumed in one lowering
and hauling. This process is also called “trawling.” When
the bottom is reached, the dredge is dragged slowly along for
half an hour and then hoisted on board by means of the donkey
engine, at first slowly, then, as it gets clear of the bottom, very
rapidly. |

It is an exciting moment when the huge net and canvas bag
emerges from the water and hangs dripping over the deck. The
net is then opened at the bottom and its contents allowed to roll
out into tubs, while mud and sand and rock in the canvas bag
are emptied into a large sieve on the forward deck, then to be
carefully washed and examined for small marine animals.

The contents of the net which have been emptied into tubs
consist of many curious forms of life from the deep sea, which
are carefully picked out and sorted, each class by itself, and
then placed in glass jars containing alcohol. A minute report
of each haul is kept in a book for that purpose.

Sometimes the “catch” is extremely interesting, beautiful
specimens of Actinide (sea anemones), Corals ; Echinoids, or Sea
urchins, varieties not found in shallower waters. Also speci-
mens of Octopus (the cuttle fish), rare sponges and deep sea forms
of Holothurians, or Sea cucumbers. These latter so much dis-

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 21

like being torn from their ocean bed, that they often use a power
given them by nature and split into fragments before reach-
ing the surface. Rare forms of starfish sometimes delight
the eye of the naturalist who is sorting the contents of the
dredge; and deep sea fish, which, on being released from the
tremendous pressure to which they were subjected in the deeper
water, become distended by the gases contained within them
and often burst, reaching the ship’s deck in a rather dilapidated
condition. Often, however, the dredge comes up nearly empty,
or with but little life in it. To my question as to whether such
work was not very disappointing at times, the captain replied:
“Not at all; we consider ourselves fortunate if we get the
dredge back safely,” for it occasionally happens that the dredge
and many fathoms of cable are lost by the catching of the
apparatus on the bottom.

When the bottom is supposed to be so rocky that lowering a
dredge would be unsafe, ‘“tangling” is resorted to, which con-
sists in dragging over the bottom large bunches of hemp rope
attached to iron bars. These bunches of rope catch and hold
in their strands small marine animals with which they come in
contact. Inthe April 2d number of Scence, Mr. Benedict has
described the method of surface collecting, so | need do nothing
more than refer to it here. It consists in dragging a large but
fine-meshed net from the end of a swinging boom, along the
surface and through the water just below the surface. It is
often done on the port side while dredging is going on on
the starboard side. This secures all the surface life found in
the seaweed and just below the surface of the water. Varieties
of TZentennarius, a little, brown-mottled fish frequenting the
masses of seaweed, are caught thus in large numbers, as well as
small crabs, which also live in the seaweed; a great many marine
worms, various kinds of molluscs and other forms lower in the
scale of life.

Washington, D. C.

22 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

SECOND, DAY.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14th, 1886, 10:30 A. M.

The Convention was called to order by the Vice-President,
Dr. Hudson.

The Cuarrman.—I am pleased to state we have received this
morning some very interesting papers by mail and express,
which will be read in the course of the day. Unless the Society
shall order otherwise, I would suggest perhaps that we first lis-
ten to some letters which Mr. Mather has received, and which
will be of interest to the Society. No objection being made,
that will be the sense of the meeting.

The Secretary then read the following :

WASHINGTON, D. C., APRIL toth, 1886.
FRED MATHER, ESQ.,

Secretary Fisheries Society,
Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois.

SiR :—I am requested by Col. McDonald to inform you that his baby
died this morning, and it will be impossible for him to attend the
meeting of the Fisheries Society, which he exceedingly regrets.

I send you by to-day’s express, package of papers, minute book, etc.

Very respectfully yours,
J. J. O'CONNOR.

Dr. Sweeney.—Mr. Chairman, if it be in order, I would move
that the Secretary express our regrets at Col. McDonald’s
inability to come, and also our sympathy with him in his be-
reavement.

Carried unanimously.

New York, APRIL 11th, 1886.
FRED MATHER, Esq.,

DEAR SiR:—I regret exceedingly that other engagements will pre-
vent my attending the annual meeting of the Fisheries Association,
I trust that you may have a successful session and a large attend-

ance. Yours truly,
FRANCIS ENDICOTT.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 23

WASHINGTON, D. C., APRIL gth, 1886.
COLONEL M. MCDONALD:
I am sorry I cannot be with you in Chicago. I send you two papers:
one by A. H. Clark, one by myself.
W. V. Cox.

New YorRK, APRIL 12th, 1886.
Mr. FRED MATHER,
Secretary American Fisheries Society,
Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois.
I regret being prevented attending meeting of the Society.
G. S. PAGE.

Bay City, MICHIGAN, APRIL 13th, 1886.
Mr. FRED MATHER,
Palmer House.

Unavoidably detained to-day. How long will you be there? Will
come if possible. ‘
D. H. FITZHUGH.

Mr. Barriett.—I would like to state that H. N. Russell,
business manager of the Citrus Fair, now at Battery D Armory,
has extended an invitation to the members of this organization
to attend the Fair this morning, or at any time they may choose,
in a body.

Dr. SwEeeNEY.—I move the invitation be excepted and that we
proceed to the Fair immediately after the adjournment.

Which motion being duly seconded, was carried unanimously,

The CuarrMAn.—-I would inquire if the committee appointed
yesterday is ready to report.

Mr. May.—Mr. President, the committee appointed to make
nominations of officers for the ensuing year, beg leave to report
the following :

For President, Dr. W. M. Hudson; Vice-President, W. L. May;
Treasurer, E. G. Blackford; Recording Secretary, F. Mather;
Corresponding Secretary, W. A. Butler. Executive Committee:
Francis Endicott, chairman; F. N. Clark, S. P. Bartlett, Dr. R.
O. Sweeney, Philo Dunning, A. N. Cheney, John Gay.

Mr. Bissett.—I move the report be adopted, and that the

24 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Secretary be requested to cast the ballot of the members present
for that ticket.
Which motion being duly seconded, was carried unanimously.

The CuairMAn.—A matter which comes over from last year |
suppose should be acted upon, and perhaps there will be no
better time for it than the present. Those of you who were
present last year, know that there was a proposed constitution
read at the meeting of last year, and it has been published with
the proceedings; it must be acted upon at this meeting. If the
Society desires, the Secretary will read the proposed constitu-
tion, and then it may be acted upon either article by article or as
a whole, as the Society deems best. The Secretary will read the
constitution.

Secretary MatTuHer.—I would state by way of explanation
that this Society has been known for years as ‘‘The American
Fish-cultural Association,’ but that it was deemed best to
change the title last year when the new constitution was formed.

It was moved by Mr. Bissell, and duly seconded, that each
article be taken up separately and acted upon by the Convention.

No objection being heard this course was adopted by the
Society. (See Constitution, page 3.)

Secretary Matuer.—Mr. President, I would like to say that
we had a society called “ The Central Fish-cultural Society,”
which met twice here in Chicago and died. Its first meeting was
held in the Palmer House, on October 1st and 2nd, 1879, and
the second was held in the Grand Pacific Hotel, on December
15th and 16th, 1880. We never met since.

Last evening there was a little meeting of the few survivors
gathered in the Palmer House to view the remains, and this is
the result, which I respectfully beg leave to submit :

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 25

THE CENTRAL FISH-CULTURAL SOCIETY.

A meeting of officers and members of the above Society was
held in the Palmer House, Chicago, on the evening of April 13th,
7986, Present; Dr..R..O. Sweeney,’ S. P.. Bartlett, Fo N.Clark,
Recording Secretary; and Fred Mather, Corresponding Sec-
retary, all of the late Society. Mr. Bartlett was called to the
chair. Mr. Mather stated that the object of the meeting was to
determine what disposition should be made of the funds, if any,
remaining in the hands of the Treasurer. Mr. Clark moved
that they be paid into the treasury of the American Fisheries
Society. Dr. Sweeney seconded the motion. Carried. The
Secretary was instructed to inform Mr. Booth, Treasurer of the
defunct association, of this action and the meeting adjourned.

Moved by Mr. Bissell that the thanks of the Society be ten-
dered to the Central Fish-cultural Society for the donation of the
remaining funds of that society, as soon as the treasurer ac-
knowledges the draft and pays it.

Dr. SweeneEY.—As one of the mourners, I object to that kind
of an acceptance. If we can’t receive it with any more grati-
tude than that, I move we do not say anything until the money
is paid over. Then they can pour out their affectionate regards
for it.

Mr. Farrsank.—I think we can compromise this matter. I
will amend Mr. Bissell’s motion by moving that the members of
this Society thank the other society for their kindly and benevo-
lent ¢nfentions.

Mr. Booru, as custodian of remaining fund of the defunct
society, stated that there was a small balance, the amount of
which he was not at present prepared to state, but he would
ascertain the amount of the same and turn it over to this
Society.

The motion of Mr. Fairbank, receiving a second, was then put
to a vote and carried unanimously.

The CHairMAN.—Unless there is an objection, Mr. Mather
will proceed to read one of the papers before us.

26 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Secretary Maruer.—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen: This
is a paper on “Oyster Culture,” from my own experiments at
Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, where I superintend one of
the hatcheries of the State of New York, and also do a great
deal of work for the United States Fish Commission, and this
report I should preface by saying that while New York has four
commissioners of fisheries, it has but one oyster commissioner,
who is also one of the commissioners of fisheries—Mr. E. G.
Blackford, and this paper is from my report to be made to him.

OYSTER CULTURE.

BY FRED MATHER.
Mr. E. G. BLacKForD,
Commissioner of Fishertes of New York:

Sir:—I herewith submit to you the report on ‘*‘ Oyster Propa-
gation” at Cold Spring Harbor, during the summer of 1885. I
had watched the experiments of the late Prof. Henry J. Rice,
the previous season, with great interest, and saw that while he
hatched many oysters in the great tank, they came to nothing,
because, as I believe, the temperature of the water was too high,
the tank being in the sun without cover, and supplied with a
very small stream of water through a %-inch hose. This tank
was made of two-inch pine plank, twelve feet long six feet
wide and three feet deep, coated with coal tar inside and out. I
moved the tank to the north side of the fish-hatchery building
where it would be shaded, and covered it with boards to keep
it clean. The water for the experiments was supplied by a hot
air engine belonging to the Fish Commission, and was pumped
from our salt-water pond some 7oo feet distant from the hatch-
ery, and thrown up on the hill in a cemented reservoir, from
whence it was brought into the building through two-inch pipes.
Two to three hours pumping daily was all that was required for
these operations.

We also made experiments in the large salt-water pond
spoken of above. This pond is some 280 feet long, by 150 feet
wide, and receives water at high tide through a flood gate which

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 27

holds it at all times. It will be noticed by the record given
below, that the water in this pond, which has a depth of two to
six feet, was warmer asa rule, than that in the wooden tank in
the shade of the building, and it was in the pond that our great-
est success was made.

We obtained oysters at the spawning season from the oyster-
men here, and these were opened, and all whose appearance
denoted ripeness were selected and placed one side. The sign
of ripeness was the peculiar fulness and milky appearance of
the ovaries and spermaries which is readily seen by any person
who is at all familiar with them. The oysters then, lying on
one shell, were taken and the mantle and gills trimmed off
with small sharp scissors; pressure was then applied with the
scissors to the ovaries and the exuding drop was placed upon a
glass slide under the microscope, where the eggs can readily be
distinguished from the milt of the male, after a person has once
had the difference pointed out to him.

The male oysters were separated from the female, so that we
could see what proportion we had of each. Sometimes we
would lack the male element and consequently could get no
impregnation. At other times there was a fair amount of both
sexes. The eggs were stripped from the female by pressure,
and then the male was treated in the same manner, taking both
the eggs and milt in an ordinary milk pan and adding water
gradually. In a short time a drop of this water placed under
the microscope would be seen swarming with the spat in the
swimming stage of its existence, and then they were placed in
the tank or in the pond. The bottom of the tank was covered
with gravel, and scollop shells were suspended on strings across
it. The current was very light and the spat seemed to sink and
catch upon the gravel, for we caught none upon the hanging
shells in this water. Toward the last of Angust, the tank was
examined and the few oysters adhering to the gravel were
removed and placed in the salt-water pond. The success in this
wooden tank was not as complete as the experiment in the pond,
and but few oysters were got from it.

During July and August, while the record was kept, the
variations in temperature were very slight, while the density of

28 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

the water was remarkably uniform; the greatest specific gravity
being 1,020 and the least 1,018, and the temperature of the water
in the tank was at all times below that of the pond, in which the
sun shone directly. .We made no attempt to estimate the num-
ber of these minute eggs, which are only visible under the
microscope, but took all we could get from the four bushels of
oysters.

The bottom of the large pond was covered with scollop shells;
stakes were driven about twenty feet apart all over its bottom
and strings were stretched between these, while on the strings
we hung perforated shells. We obtained a good “set” of oysters
in this pond, the best on the shells at the bottom, and, while
there was six feet of water in the center of the pond, we obtain-
ed no “set” whatever on the suspended shells beyond three feet
from the bottom. At three feet we noticed an occasional oyster,
within two feet of the bottom they were more plentiful, and in-
creased as the bottom was approached. On September roth, we
drew off the pond and examined it for the last time before
winter; there were thousands of young oysters of the size of a
dime.

Prof. John A. Ryder, of the U. S. Fish Commission, has sug-
gested an admirable way to collect spat, by means of a canal
provided with ledges near the top to support receptacles for the
cultch. These receptacles are formed by wooden strips and
wire cloth, and hold about three bushels of shells each, the
“basket” being three feet wide, three feet deep, and only six
inches thick, so that the shells are thickly presented to the float-
ing spat. The experiments of Prof. Ryder, have been very
valuable, and so have those of Prof. Brooks, Lieut. Winslow,
Prof. Rice and Col. McDonald in America, and those of Profs.
Hock, Horst and Mobius, and M. Bouchon Brandeley in Europe.
Prof. Ryder lays down the following principles:

1. “Oyster embryos under ordinary conditions in open water,
diffuse and affix themselves throughout the three dimensions of
such a body of sea water. This is a well-known and readily
verifiable fact.

2. “The fry will adhere to smooth surfaces as well as to
rough ones.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 29

3. ‘The surface upon which spatting occurs must be kept as
free as possible from sediment and organic growths, in order
that the tiny young molluscs may not be smothered and killed
during the most critical period of their lives.

4. “Artificial fertilization of the eggs of the oyster is feasible,
and will become an important adjunct to successful spat culture.

5. “Water charged with embryo oysters may be passed
through a steam pump without injury to such embryos.

6. ‘Oyster fry adheres to the under surface of shells or other
collectors most abundantly, because the lower side is cleanest
and most favorable to the survival of the animals.

7. “The spat of the oyster will grow and thrive with com-
paratively little light.

8. “The specific gravity of the water may range from 1.003 to
1HO2 35,

g. “The most favorable temperatures of the water for spatting
seem to be from 68 degrees to about 78 or 80 degrees Fahr.

to, “Spatting will occur just as freely in ponds or tanks as
in the open water.

“These are well ascertained elementary facts, and upon them
we must base our new method, which is essentially a system of
spat culture, or method of rearing seed oysters for the purpose
of cultivation on the open beds or any suitable bottom. We
must, however, first of all throw aside as too expensive any and
all systems in which tiles or slates are used, especially if these
must. be fastened together in nests and coated with lime and
cement, as practiced in Europe. Oysters are too cheap in
America to be produced by any of the old fogy systems which
are available there, as it will not pay to flake off the spat from
the collectors under ordinary circumstances in cultivating the
the American oyster for market, because of its low price.”

The experiments at Cold Spring Harbor have attracted some
attention from the oystermen about there, and:some of them
have expressed themselves pleased with the results, and incline
to think that seed oysters could be raised in quantities by any
person who had an inclosed pond such as ours, where the water
came in at times of high tide, and that they would be reasonably
certain to get a fair “set’’ on proper cultch.

30 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The following is from the journal kept by my foreman, Mr.
F. A. Walters:

July 1—Received first lot of oysters: opened one bushel, found
17 ripe females and r ripe male; took spawn from these. After
9 hours, as there was no sign of life, considered not good.

July 4—From half bushel, 9 females, 3 males, milt not active,
no sign of life after ro hours.

July 5—From half bushel, 11 females, 1 male. Three hours
after taking spawn young were swimming; put in tank.

July 9—Put in tank 3 pans of spawn.

July 1o—From 200 oysters 175 were ripe females, 18 not
spawning, and 7 partly ripe males; had\to lose all.

July 11—From 80 oysters 60 ripe females, 4 unripe males, and
16 not spawning.

July 14—Cleaned tank.

July 16—Ground-gate of salt pond had to be taken out owing
to a leak, poor tides followed, pond did not fill for five days,
could not pump and consequently no circulation in tank for
that time.

July 2o—Opened 70 oysters, found 20 ripe males, 30 females
and 20 not spawning. Took two pans of spawn at 10:20 A. M.,
swimming at 2 P. M., put in salt pond.

July 22—Put spawn from 200 in salt pond.

July 26—Cleaned tank, could find no set.

July 28—Put in pond 4 pans of spawn in good condition.

July 31—Put in tank 4 pans of spawn, the best lot taken.

August 11—Cleaned tank, and put in spawn from 1 bushel
oysters.

August zo—Discovered set in tank.

September 8—Cleaned tank, found a number of shells and
about a peck of gravel with sets on, but all dead. There were
no sets on the hanging shells; the reason for this, I think, is
owing to lack of current, which should be quite strong ; there is
more danger of getting too little than too much. Lowered
salt pond.

September r9—Found a good set; the hanging shells had sets
three feet from the bottom, but the shells on the bottom did the
best.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING, 31

During July the temperature of the water in the tank ranged
from 65 to 73 degrees, and during August from 70 to 74, while
in the pond it ranged from 71 to 87 degrees. The density
varying in each from 1.017 to 1.020, standing at the latter figure
steadily from July 19 to the close of the season.

Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

Mr. BarTLert.—Can you tell us what indicates the ripeness
of the oyster?

Mr. Maruer.—The appearance of ripeness is a milkiness
and swollen appearance of what you might call the body of the
oyster, and when you press it you get a milky substance; in fact,
the whole oyster is distended a great deal as a ripe fish is.

Mr. BARTLETT.—It is quite apparent then?

Mr. MarHer.—Very apparent to a person who is at all
familiar with it, as I have explained in this paper.

Mr. Ciark.—I would like to ask Mr. Mather if any one has
tried to make any computation of how much spawn there is in
one female ? :

Mr. MatHer.—It has been done. I cannot give you the fig-
ures now, but I think if I were home and had access to my
library I could very easily give that to you. I have an idea that
perhaps an oyster of ordinary size may have nine or ten
millions of eggs, and that it would vary as it does in the case
of fish.

Dr. Hupson.—The Chair would state in answer to that ques-
tion that the estimates vary considerably, and many of them
are made very much higher than what Mr. Mather has stated.
It has been estimated in many cases as high as fifty millions.

Mr, CLark.—Have you any idea of your own, Mr. Mather,
what portion you impregnated ?

Mr. Maruer.—I have not, because to get at this it will be
necessary to go over the whole mass with the microscope, and
you would have very few in the field atatime We made no
effort to estimate the amount of any impregnation. We recog-

32 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

nise the fact that this thing is in its infancy. Several gentlemen
have experimented before I did, whose names I mention in the
paper read, and from whom I obtained considerable knowledge
before I attempted it. I don’t know what percentage we did
get. We were contented to just work along, the main thing be-
ing to get ripe oysters and hatch something, doing the best we
can. There is no trouble in hatching them. Every year along
our bays and harbors there is a greater or less amount of spawn.

Mr. FairBANK.—The set has been found to be best, I under-
stand, on the bottom ?

Mr. MaTHer.—Yes, sir; but where there are swift tideways
there comes a time in the life of the little oyster when it wants
to settle down to steady habits and quit this roving life, and
whatever it takes hold of must be clean, and if it falls down in ,
the mud it is gone. You can easily see, gentlemen, that ina
state of nature, many millions of spawn must be sent out and
but few are impregnated. When the female oyster gets ready,
she opens her shells and lets her eggs go, and they must run
their chance of a current from somewhere bringing them to the
milt of some male oyster who has also just reached the supreme
moment, and the chances of their coming in contact at the proper
instant of course are very small. The great mass must remain
unimpregnated, and then, of those which are impregnated,
many of them fall into the mud and into other unsuitable places,
not to mention dangers after their shells grow.

A Memper.—Would the impregnation. by artificial means be
an economic way ? |

Mr. Maruer.—-I think so, and I think Prof. Ryder thinks so
too, and the means which he gives to catch the spat I think to
be a better way of procedure than the process I have adopted.

Mr. Booru.—I think perhaps it may be interesting to some of
you gentlemen to give you one of my little experiences. The
results I have just heard are very good, very nice indeed. It
shows that oysters can be propagated, but it can be done so
much more cheaply and in a more practical manner. Some
four years ago, | planted 12,000 bushels of shells that- we had

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 33

thrown away in the week, in the water in Delaware bay, where
there were no shells or oysters in the neighborhood. Last year
we took up from those shells, without planting any oysters on
them a little over 40,000 bushels of as fine oysters as you ever
saw in your life, and I think there are quite as many left on that
ground. I say this to give you alittle idea of how rapidly
oysters will grow. If they would only plant, as Mr. Mather
says, the proper shell or material at the proper time, that is all
that is necessary. The time oysters spawn is usually in June or
July, varying according to the warmness of the atmosphere and
the condition of the water. Those are the months that they
spawn, and at the time that the oysters are ripe throw over your
old oyster shells and try and have no fungus or vegetable matter
on them and the spat adheres to those oyster shells and you have
no difficulty in getting more oysters than you can handle. Just
take oyster shells and scatter them and you will find oysters
enough to re-supply the whole territory. I have done that on
the Delaware and also on the Baltimore, but in Chesapeake bay
we have no right to any grounds there, have no title and conse-
quently no water. In the Connecticut waters this has been done
for the last eight or ten years, so where there were no oysters a
few years ago there are millions of bushels. Of the enemy to
the oyster there is the starfish ; they come sometimes in myriads
and they kill all the oysters, unless they are taken up and re-
moved to some other place. There is not the slightest trouble
in the world to replenish our oyster product on this coast or any
other section of the country where you have warm weather in
June or July.

Mr. Maruer.—From Mr. Booth’s remarks it may be inferred
that our mode of artificial hatching is not adapted to practical
work. Wethink that it is) The method which he speaks of is
a very old one and often is all that is sufficient, but there are
years when the oystermen will tell you “there is no set,” mean-
ing that the young failed to hatch or to catch on to something
after hatching. Often a heavy rain kills the swimming oysters,
or there may be currents which take the eggs to sea. It will
readily be seen that the conditions must all be favorable in

34 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

order to secure a good set, and nature provides for the loss of
immense numbers of eggs and embryo oysters, and it is this
great waste which we are trying to save. If we do no more
than to mix the eggs and milt together it is a great improvement
on nature’s methods which only brings an occasional egg within
reach of the fecundating fluid.

Dr. Hupson.—I could talk of course on this subject for hours,
for this is a matter we have had a great deal to do with in Con-
necticut for the last six years. I would simply add to what Mr,
Booth has said that in Connecticut and on Long Island Sound,
the time for spawning oysters varies from about the middle
of June to the first of September. It is governed entirely by the
depth of the water. Where the water is shallow it becomes
warm more rapidly than where it is deep water. Oysters there
grow where it is ten feet deep out to where it is ten fathoms or
sixty feet. Mr. Booth has described sufficiently for practical
purposes the method of cultivation, which is the one universally
carried on there, and were it not for the starfish, as he has said,
I think the product would be almost unlimited. The only other
enemy that we have on Long Island Sound is the drill, which is
nothing like as dangerous in its effect as the starfish. There is
another enemy to the oyster in portions of New York State—
the drumfish, a very powerful fish with powerful jaws, which
crushes the oyster and destroys a good many, It is called the
drumfish owing to the peculiar sound which it emits, and which
can be heard by those who are immediately over it.

Mr. BissELL.—I would like to ask if your Commission have
ever attempted to spawn the oyster, or have you simply at-
tempted to catch them in the water?

Dr. Hupson.—We have never done that as a general thing.
Some of these experiments have been made, and the most in-
teresting one in our water was by Lieut. Winslow, who has been
engaged in this business. He came to Connecticut some four
or five years ago; he had acan invented, and he could drop
this can to the bottom of the Sound, and then when it reached
the bottom by a peculiar contrivance he could pull out the bot-

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 35

tom, so whatever was inside was let loose. Just previous to
that he had taken oysters in the same manner which Mr. Mather
has described, and had hatched out a very Jarge number. You
gentlemen may be all aware, probably, that the great difficulty
up to a very recent time has been to induce these young oysters
to live beyond three days. There has been no difficulty about
hatching out oysters and in keeping them alive through what is
called the free swimming stage, which is about three days. At
the end of that time it is their nature to attach themselves to
something and they have invariably, up to a very recent period,
died when they reached that stage. Some recent experiments
have been made by which they have succeeded in carrying them
beyond that. Prof. Rice, whom some of us have met, told me
he had succeeded in carrying some of them three or four weeks.

Mr. MatuHer.—Yes, in a small aquarium, but they finally died.

Dr. Hupson.—The experiment that was tried in Connecticut
was to take these young oysters during this free swimming
stage, put them down on good bottom on Long Island Sound
and there release them. The product of that particular locality
was remarkably good afterward, but the general set of the
sound was so great that it was very difficult to appreciate just
how much the set was increased by this peculiar process. As
Mr. Booth has said, the system that was adopted in Connecticut
of distributing clean shells has been attended with great success.
Some large dealers distributed as many as three thousand
bushels of shells, during the season and the young spat cling to
the “cultch,” as it is called, in immense quantities, such quanti-
ties that in very many instances they have to be culled out and
removed to other localities for fear that they will smother each
other, and as I said before, were it not for the enemies, the
amount of oysters which might be produced would actually be
almost unlimited.

Mr. Fairpank.—When are they destroyed by starfish ?

Dr. Hupson.—Generally when they are very young. The
starfish is a very peculiar animal. They have a faculty of ex-
truding the stomach and covering the entire oyster or other

36 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY,

mollusk. They surround a little oyster, perhaps the-size of a
half dollar, more or less. The starfish puts its fingers round the
oyster and it is supposed by some, smothers it, so that it has to
open its shell; by others it is supposed that the starfish emits a
peculiar acid, which obliges the oyster to open its shell and
then the starfish protrudes one of its fingers into the shell and
devours the stomach of the oyster.

FISH-CULTURE—A PRACTICAL ART.

BY JOHN H. BISSELL.

|

I do not forget, gentlemen of the American Fisheries Society,
that 1am but a student in the craft which we profess, and for
the encouragement of which this Society exists; nor that many
of you have grown gray in this honorable, nay, may I not also
say, patriotic, service ; and so I should bevsitting at the feet of
some piscicultural Gamaliel, instead of standing before you as
an essayist, but for the summons of your committee which left
me no room for excuses or refusal.

A younger generation is coming upon the field to take its part
in carrying forward fish-culture, to apply the precious stores of.
knowledge, which have been laid up by the practical observation
and scientific research of the past twenty-five years, to the
practical solution of some very important economic questions
that are beginning to clamor loudly for solution.

The question most urgent just now is not, can fishes be arti-
ficially hatched and reared, and acclimated in alien waters, but
can the fisheries of this country now be saved? That the men.
of whom this question is being asked are the members of this
Society, once called “ Fish-cultural,’ may not improperly be
regarded as evidence of the ability with which the elder genera-
tion, the pioneers of fish-culture, have done there work, as well
as of the value of their work and the appreciation in which it is
justly held by the people of this country.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING, Si

At former meetings of the Society you have been favored by
the eloquent speeches of statesmen who judged rightly that
fish culture was worthy the statemen’s consideration. Unless
the statesmen of this generation have lost the art of wise and
wholesome statecraft, we shall hear from them still further on
this subject, if not in our deliberations, yet more potently in the
State capitols and in the halls of Congress. You have been
honored by papers and addresses from men of your own num-
ber who have won distinction by knightly deeds—no less
knightly and honorable because won in the unromantic armor
of waterproof coats and rubber boots—in conflict for the secrets
of nature, wresting from nature’s willing hands the knowledge
that practical men have been gathering and storing up against
the day when the millions that are peopling and are to people
this continent, shall cry out for more and better and cheaper
food. You all know the men to whom I refer, so there is no
need of mention of their names. I know them, not by personal
acquaintance and familiar discourse, but none the less really,
through their writings and experiments, which have made it
possible for men of the class to which I belong to accomplish
something for the States which have honored us with the over-
sight of their fishing interests. Without the knowledge which
has been gained and freely disseminated by these intelligent
and devoted men, the fishery establishments of many of the
States would have no existence, or their officers no reasonable
and sufficient answer to make to their State governments when
asked as they so frequently are, ‘Can fish-culture do anything
worth the expense for the food supply of the people of this
State ?”’ Have we then any such answer to make? That we have,
—that the answer is reasonable and sufficient I shall try brietly
to show. While we have not learned all there is to know about
the culture of fishes and artificial propagation of them, enough
is known both scientifically and experimentally to place the
practical art of fish-culture beyond the domain of mere curious
research, and make it a useful, and to the same extent, a neces-
sary department of the public business. To this practical
aspect of fish-culture I invite your attention. In using the
expression “fish-culture,” I mean to be understood as including

38 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

artificial propagation of fish and the protection of them until
they are marketable.

Consideration of fish-culture as a department of the public
business is growing every year to greater prominence, particu-
larly in the States bordering upon the sea and the great lakes.
Of course I only profess to speak with accuracy about the con-
dition or needs, of the fisheries of my own State—Michigan ;
but, the state of affairs there is in some measure analogous to
the circumstances of other States, and the subject from my
point of view may prove of more than merely local interest.

Are our fisheries worth saving ? .

Michigan has a coast line of more than 2,000 miles in length
upon the great lakes and their connecting rivers, by actual
measurement upon the Government charts. Its fisheries pro-
duce annually over 13,000 tons of food, the value of which is
something over $800,000 at first cost. The capital invested in
the prosecution of this industry is about $1,200,000; it gives
employment to 1,800 men, which means that over 7,000 people
are dependent upon the prosecution of the fisheries for their
living. The pound nets used in this industry placed end on end
will stretch 200 miles, the gill-nets placed end on end measure
1,588,852 fathoms—over 1,800 miles.

From this brief statement it appears that Michigan has in-
dustrial fisheries that are worth caring for. A few additional
facts will show that they need care. Forty years ago at one of
the seine fisheries on Detroit river, the number of whitefish
constituting a fair catch was from 90,000 to 115,000 fish, averag-
ing in size about four pounds. That fishery has been abandoned
for more than fifteen years, and the last vestige of docks, houses
and pounds have rotted away. Another fishery having as fine a
plant as any on the lakes, about nine miles below Detroit, as
late as the fall of 1883, had over 12,000 whitefish, which was
thought the poorest catch ever known. In 1884, at the same
fishery the total of whitefish was 3,400, and for the season of
1885, less than 2,000 whitefish were taken there by actual count,
This we know, for we bought and handled the tntire catch to
take the eggs for the State hatcheries. At many points on Lake
Michigan hundreds of thousands of whitefish under one pound

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 39

in weight, one, two or three years old, which have been planted,
have been caught, shipped to market when worthless, or thrown
upon the shore to rot as not worth handling, or salted and sold
as herring. Such complaints have come to us by the fishermen
themselves and by nearly every dealer who handles Michigan
fish.

But there is not space here and now to multiply examples to
prove, and I therefore content myself with stating the facts very
generally. In Michigan waters every year, the area of fishing
operations is greatly extended; miles of ground once productive
are abandoned; the average size of whitefish is gradually grow-
ing less; the price is gradually getting higher in the market;
and while some large firms are getting fairly profitable returns,
the fishermen as a class are getting poorer; where formerly the
nets were served by sailboats and rowboats, steamboats are fast
coming into common use; the demand for fish is increasing
steadily as the population increases; the total supply is compara-
tively stationary or falling below the increasing demand; and
all this means that the fisheries of our lakes are fast becoming
exhausted and ruined. These facts suggest some pertinent
inquiries, just such as are being asked of the State Fish Com-
missioners by the representatives of the people every year.
Has artificial propagation then been a failure? No, for it has
not had a fair chance in several ways.

First—It has not been conducted upon a scale adequate to
accomplish the results.

Where we are hatching about fifty millions of whitefish we
need from six to eight times that number every year to restore
the wasted and deserted grounds, as also to replenish and keep
up the stock in others yet productive. Numerous early experi-
ments were made of planting whitefish fry in interior lakes of
various sizes, where we now know they will not thrive because
the conditions of food and temperature are not favorable. This
could not be known without trial. But it does not follow that
the experiments should not have been tried. It was no waste of
time or money. The lessons learned from such failures are
perhaps more valuable than constant successes. There are large
and deep lakes in the interior of Michigan and other States

40 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

where the whitefish are indigenous. In such lakes they can ana
should be grown to the utmost capacity of the food supply.
Such lakes in Michigan we are planting now as preserves from
which to draw a future stock of breeding fish, to furnish eggs
for keeping up the supply for the industrial fisheries of the
Great Lakes.

There are many localities on the Great Lakes where the
planting of whitefish has resulted in the appearance of vast
schools of small fish coming in upon the inshore feeding
grounds, during the summer months, at points where that phe-
nomenon had never before occurred within the memory of the
oldest fishermen. That they were the planted fish is beyond
question, as it is not doubted by the practical fishermen and
others who have examined them, that these young fish are
identical with the Lake Erie fish, that being the source whence
all our ova and almost all of that used by the U. S. Commission
are taken,

Second—Artificial propagation has not had a chance in point
of time.

It is only within the first few years of the second decade of
its existence—say from 1882 or 1883 that we ever hatched and
planted over 15,000,000 of whitefish in any one year. The same
period will cover also the most extensive operations of the U. S.
Commission in this direction. The force of this point will be
appreciated when it is understood that from our present knowl-
edge we have no reason to expect important results from these
plants before the expiration of four, I think probably five, possi-
bly six years, from the time of planting. Operations during the
first decade were, as | have said, only experiments, and they were
successful beyond anything that we could in reason expect. In
summoning this practical art to the judgment hall, it must not
be overlooked that the ruin caused by wasteful and unconscion-
able fishing methods, which it is called upon to repair, has
been going on for thirty or forty years. And it is always more
difficult to cure than to prevent disease, whether physical, politi-
cal or economic.

Again, fish-culture has not hada fair chance with us, and I
am informed the same is true of almost all the States, because

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 4!I

we have lacked proper municipal regulation of the fishing in-
dustry.

It is not enough that the State Commissioners should be able,
at very moderate cost, to hatch and release in the lakes enough
young fish to take the place of the adults captured and marketed.
The young fish so hatched and released in the waters must be
protected until they come to maturity and are marketable ; other-
wise the wasteful fishing, which has once depleted the waters
stocked by nature, will do the same thing, only more surely and
speedily for the waters replenished artificially.

So the two things must go together. Artificial propagation
cannot do it alone; municipal regulation cannot do it alone,
within a period that will avail anything for one generation,
possibly not even then. The two things are mutually depend-
ent conditions, they must concur to assure valuable or lasting
success. In the combinations of these two conditions we have
the complete definition of the practical art of fish-culture.

There is not time here to go minutely into the facts or the
arguments which logically flow from them to support the necess-
ity for proper inspection or regulation.

Ican only point out generally that municipal regulation, to
be of value in saving or extending the operations of the indus-
trial fisheries of the great lakes, must cover these points, namely:

(a) The sizes of the meshes of the nets to prevent the destruc-
tion of immature fish.

(4) Market restrictions as to the size at which various kinds
of fish may be handled or sold.

(c) Prohibition of inshore fishing during the season or at the
points where the young fish are running in to feed.

(Zz) Discretionary authority to allow the use of nets below
standard size at certain times, in certain localities, for certain
kinds of fish.

(ce) The demarcation of spawning grounds and their absolute
rest from fishing at the spawning season; or, if that is imprac-
ticable, a “close season” at spawning time.

(7) Inspectors and wardens of the fisheries with ample means
and powers to enforce all regulations, whether of apparatus,
fishing operations, packing or marketing.

42 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

(g) A reasonable and equitable system of license, which will
furnish the means to pay the cost of inspection and regulation,
and also of replenishing and keeping up the stock by artificial
propagation.

There is one more requisite which cannot be provided by
statute law, the spread of reliable information of our purposes
and operations among the fishermen and fishing communities,
which will create a strong public opinion in support of the laws
and their stict and just enforcement.

It has been urged that this whole business of fishery regulation
should be undertaken by the Federal Government, so far at
least as the fisheries of the Great Lakes are concerned. Is there
any reason why the Federal Government should undertake the
establishment and enforcement of fishery regulations in the
States bordering the Great Lakes, that does not apply with equal
force to the obligation of assuming the burden of the other de-
partment, that of restocking and maintaining the supplies of fish
in the same waters?

The reasons for this course or the desirability of it are not to
my mind clear. The subject of fishery regulation is one, even
if it were a new and open question, which seems from the very
necessities of the case to be so local, domestic and municipal in
its character as to fall naturally within the police power of the
several States, and not within any defined powers of the Federal
jurisdiction, legislative or judicial. But it is no longer an open
question. It has been passed upon by the courts of last resort
in almost all the States, as well as by the Supreme Court of the
United States. And this view seems to have been adopted by
all the States that have established fishery regulations, however
meagre and insufficient, as well as to have been acquiesced in by
the United States Congress by a century of silence.

But what can the practical art of fish-culture as above defined
(although but briefly and imperfectly outlined) do for the fish-
eries of the Great Lakes? What promise does it give which
will warrant the expenditure of public funds in its prosecution?
I hardly need to make answer before this assembly of its dis-
ciples, or rather its discoverers; but that same echo, however
faint, of these questions and the answer, may possibly reach the

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 43

dull ears of our people, and their representatives who make the
laws and provide the means, and who are charged by the law of
the land with the responsibility of preserving the public weal,
let it be said without hesitation. All barren waters may be
made productive again! The ruin of the great industrial fish-
eries of these great public domains may be arrested! The fish-
eries that produced thirteen thousand tons of food fn 1885, may
be brought up to the production of thirty, and then fifty thousand
tons of wholesome nutritious food within the reach of all men!
The money value in yearly product may be increased from one
to five millions of dollars, and contribute no mean share to the
prosperity of a great State, and the well-being of its citizens.
Detroit, Mich.

Mr. Booru.—I would like to state for the benefit of some of
the gentlemen here, to show the enormous results to be derived
from fish-culture, that at the cannery I am interested in on the
Columbia River, in the state of Oregon, they pack 600,000 cases
of salmon per annum. It is worth four to five dollars a case on
the ground. Now you can readily see that is $3.000,000. It
takes three fish to the case. That is less than 2,000,000 of fish.
Now the salmon there produce, I understand, from 15,000 to 20,
ooo fry, so you can readily see it doesn’t take many salmon to
re-supply by artificial propagation the salmon that are taken
from that river to produce $3,000,000 per annum. In other
words, we catch 3,000,000 of fish which produce $3,000,000, and
they can be replaced by artificial propagation for at least $10,000
in money. Now if there is anything in this world you can
speak of that will produce so much for so little investment, I
should like to know it.

Mr. Bissett.—Mr. Booth has spoken about the comparative
cost of policing and artificial propagation. It is a very com-
prehensive subject, and I have stated in outline in my paper just
what my conclusions are, drawn from agreat many facts and a
great deal of thought and consideration of the subject. It is
true that artificial propagation, if carried on on a proper scale,
can be done very cheaply. I made some figures for presenta-
tion to the committee by our register two years ago, and if I re-

44 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

member rightly it was something like this: That if we produced
about three hundred millions of whitefish in the way that we
were then and are now doing it, that the cost per thousand fish
planted in the lakes wherever they were to be be planted, would
be about one-third of a cent per thousand. I think it was that
—one-third of a cent, or less, per thousand. After you get over
a hundred millions you begin to scale down the average very
rapidly. Even if it were a cent a thousand, I think that the cost
of proper policing, inspection and regulation of the fisheries
will not cost what Mr. Booth seems to indicate. We asked the
last Legislature to give us $15,000 for two years’ work. That
was on a careful estimate of what we could get an inspector and
probably four or five wardens for. It will not be necessary to po-
lice the entire 2,000 miles of coast to prevent the use of nets of
improper size if we have the power of inspection. If we could go
to Mr. Booth’s packing house, if our inspector could go there with
ample authority and power to seize and confiscate all fish that
were under one pound in weight, then Mr. Booth would not buy
those fish any more. It would not be necessary for us to goa
thousand miles to prevent all intrenchment on the coast if we
could go to the market and inspect there. That is one way.
Another way is when the nets are being made up, we could in-
spect the nets and seize those which were under the size.
Another thing I indicated in my paper was about forming a
healthy state of public opinion. We have taken some pains in
reference to that, and in the latter part of February or early in
March, we succeeded in securing a meeting of representative
fishermen of Detroit. I think there was something over fifty
fishermen present. That meeting went so far as to perfect an
organization, which I hope will be permanent among fishermen
for the discussion of useful knowledge and practical good sense
with reference to the purposes and and the objects, and this
work among the fishermen will go as far as anything else
towards the enforcement of the law. I doubt if among the three
or four hundred fishermen in Michigan with whom we have
been in communication the last year, there are half a dozen
that would not be prosecuted if we had reasonable laws to regu-
late the fisheries; so that the cost of police power exercised

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 45

with reference to the fisheries I think is very slight, and the im-
portance of preventing the capture of small fish is not by any
means an insignificant part of rearing marketable fish in great
numbers. A single man with a pound net, such as I know of
near the straits of Mackinaw, where he couldn't find any net
with a mesh that was small enough, he used sacking for the
back of his pound net so nothing could get through. Such
aman as that might destroy a quarter or a tenth of the product
of one of our large hatcheries.

There is another thing in that connection. I say these fishers
must be licensed, not only as a part of the exercise of police
power, but to protect the citizens of the State. Now, it would
not be fair if the State of Illinois were spending fifteen to
twenty thousand dollars to stock the shores of Illinois and
Michigan with whitefish, for my friend Dewey to come over here
and catch all those fish and ship them to Toledo and Cleveland;
neither is it right that the people of Illinois and of the city of
Chicago, should be fed with fish which we have planted in the
waters of Michigan. Now, for that reason I want the fisheries of
Michigan to be licensed. I want a regulation which will pre-
vent Mr. Booth from coming into our territory and catching
our fish unless he pays a license. I know Mr. Booth will do it.
He would be very glad for the right to use good fishing ground,
just as any of us gentlemen would be very glad to pay for the right
to fish in a pond where we knew there were three pound trout
in great numbers., Now, when we get to that point, the fees
that will result froma very reasonable and very low license, our
fishing will not only pay all the cost of regulation and inspec-
tion, but it will pay all the cost of hatching and planting as
many as Mr. Booth thinks we ought to plant in Lake Michigan.
It will pay for hatching and planting six or eight times the fifty
millions that we are now hatching.

One other thing has been alluded to and that is the question
of what the United States Government should do. I said in my
paper very briefly that the question of the regulation of the
fisheries was officially settled. It has been settled for more than
thirty years, although it has not been generally understood.
The United States Supreme Court has passed definitely and

46 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY

finally on that question. The regulation of the fisheries of each
State out to the State border is a matter of municipal regulation,
a matter of State legislation. That is so even in tide water. In
the State of Maryland they passed a law preventing the dredg-
ing for oysters, and the State officers have seized a boat that was
doing that, a vessel which was chartered and which was register-
ed in the United States Customs office at Baltimore. She was
replevined from the State constable who seized and condemned
her, and under which proceeding she had been sold. That case
went from the Supreme Court of Maryland to the Supreme’
Court of the United States. Benjamin Curtis being the justice
who gave the opinion, said that the condemnation was right,
that it was within the police power of the State to regulate fish-
eries of that State to the State border, and it was not a matter
for the United States Government to interfere with, yet it was
in tide water, and notwithstanding the vessel was one which
was registered in the United States Customs Office, and although
the United States Government had the right to regulate the
navigation of those waters, the control of the fisheries was with-
in the police power of the State. Ata meeting of the Commis-
sioners held in October, 1883, at Detroit, this subject was very
fully examined and presented to the meeting by the Attorney
General of the State of Michigan very clearly and forcibly.
That I regard as entirely final.

There is one other thing I want to speak of that Mr. Fairbank
referred to, and that is the work of the United States Fish Com-
mission. Now, if any gentleman will take the pains to examine
the law under which the United States Fish Commission is con-
stituted, he will see that the sole purpose of the creation of that
commission was to procure scientific researches with reference
to the fishes, the fisheries and the food supply, and see what the
causes of the decrease were. It was also deemed proper under
the definition of that law to undertake experiments in artificial
propagation, but it was not the purpose of the United States
Fish Commission to stock the waters of the United States. The
procuring of information by scientific research, which we could
get in no other way, has been admirably done by the United
States Fish Commission. The planting of whitefish in the Great

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 47

Lakes and the propagation of shad have only been incidental to
the work ofthe United States Fish Commission. It was directed
that under that law and the provisions to carry out that law that
they should make experiments in artificial propagation, and be-
cause, in the course of their experiments, they were able at very
slight increased cost, to get more eggs than they wanted for that
purpose, it was thought to be perfectly right to return the fully
developed eggs, young fry, to the waters where they were taken
from, and also to plant some of the young whitefish in interior
lakes where they did not exist, to see if they could not be prop-
agated there ; but it is not the purpose of the United States, and
it is not the business of the United States Government, as I con-
tend, to plant our own waters. That is our own business. The
waters are ours ; they are under our own control ; they are just
as much a part of the State as is the land of the State, and it is
the business of the State, therefore, to see that its public waters,
which are its only domain left, should be properly cultivated
and properly used.

Mr. Booru.—I must beg to differ with my friend with refer-
ence to the amount of the cost of policing and propagation.
From his own figures, and the most exaggerated estimate of the
cost of propagation of whitefish or trout, it would be about one
cent a thousand if we have gathered twenty-four millions of
pounds, in other words, eight millions of fish. Now, at onecent
a thousand, how much is that? It is about $800. It seems to
me that is very much the cheapest way of reproducing the fish
in these lakes. You could scarcely hire one man for less than
$800 a year. I thoroughly indorse his ideas for exacting a
license fee from any and everybody, from every man engaged
in’catching fishin the waters of the States of Michigan or Illinois
or anywhere else. I believe that is a great source of revenue.
I don’t want to ask the United States Government to assist one
dollar in this matter. I think the people that are making their
money out of catching these fish are perfectly willing to pay a
license for the privilege of doing so. I have a great many nets
and a great many boats, and Iam perfectly willing to paya
license if that amount is spent for the reproduction of the fish.
These small meshes—you say they have put in canvas to catch

48 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

them—TI would allow them to use canvas if they please to catch
them. How long would it be if you put in fish at one cent a
thousand in the waters—these small fish are comparatively
worthless—before they would increase the size of the mesh and
they would catch nothing but the big fish? It would be only
four or five years before you would be willing to reduce the size
of the net. There area few unscrupulous men, Iam sorry to
say, belonging to the business Iam connected with that would
use those small meshes, but they are few. If there is any way
you can reach them, you have my indorsement to do so.

Mr. BisseLt.—They are all in Wisconsin.

Mr. Booru.—Well, Wisconsin has not got so much territory
to fish in as the State of Michigan. We tried that on the Col-
umbia River. There was a law passed in the State of Oregan
licensing every boat at so mucha piece, and every fisherman.
[ think it was gro for a boat, and $5 for a fisherman, to the fisher-
men who fished with a boat. The law was passed and they
collected the license, and they agreed to spend the amount of
money they collected to the propagation of salmon in that river,
and one of these foreign knights of labor or communists—or
other classical name, I don’t know what they were—he discovered
in his great learning that it was unconstitutional. We were
getting along nicely and everybody was paying his little license,
and he thought it was unconstitutional. Well, he refused to pay
and we sued him and got a judgment against him and went up
to the last court, and it was declared unconstitutional. Now,
we may strike sucha thing as that. I don’t think the people
of the States of Illinois or Wisconsin or Michigan would resort
to such a course. I think they would be perfectly willing to
pay a license; but I must say I think the cheapest way we can
reproduce our fish is by artificial propagation, and not with this
vast amount—I think you say it will take eight or ten thousand
a year—for policing, and it will be only a few years before you
accomplish all which you now seek to attain.

Mr. FairBpanK.—I want to say one word on the subject of the

general Government taking hold of the thing. I understand
Mr. Bissell to state the purport of the law as it exists, and also

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 49

the expenditures of the money that are made. Now,a consider-
able amount of money has been expended in artificial propaga-
tion—more in shad than anything else—and I can see no reason
why it is not a subject that the general Government should take
up and spend money upon. There is an injustice in the State of
Ohio, for instance, spending money in hatching shad and deposit-
ing them in the Ohio River, when they go down the river and
are caught all the way down the river. Louisville, for instance,
would spread her nets and take the fish propagated by Ohio, and
the fish that Michigan propagates Illinois will catch, for white-
fish migrate, and so they do in all the waters; and it is an ex-
penditure from which all the people would reap an equal benefit,
and an expenditure purely within the scope of the general
Government to take hold of. I want to see the present law
amended. I want to see some action on the part of parties
interested inthis matter with our representatives, to have some
legislation on the subject, and some new restrictions put upon
the appropriations. The scope of the United States Fish Com-
mission, their labors and their work, have been very much en-
larged since the passage of the first bill, since the appointment
of the first commission. There is only one commissioner.
There should be more than one commissioner. There should be
three or five commissioners, representing the different interests.
A larger amount of money should be appropriated, and the work
and scope of the commission should be very much enlarged.
That is the idea I want to get before the meeting.

Mr. Crark.—In regard to this question—speaking as Mr.
Bissell did in his paper in regard to showing results to the peo-
ple and to his legislature and other legislatures, I wish to say to
you who were present last spring when this paper—this poorly
gotten up paper—was presented by myself, you will remember
I gave you some facts in regard to what we could show that
artificial propagation and planting of whitefish had done in the
great lakes, and why I claimed it must be due to that, because it
had shown quicker in that than in any other way. ‘The figures
I gave you go to show it. They show there that there was
some 65,000,000 or 70,000,000 of whitefish that had been planted
up to a certain day in 1882 in Lake Erie. From all the facts we

5° AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

could learn in our gathering statistics a year ago last fall, it
showed they were on the increase there. These fishermen say
so here in the lower end of the lake, but not in the upper end of
the lake. That goes to show again that whitefish do migrate ;
that the whitefish planted in the Detroit River by the State of
Michigan and in the upper end of the lake by the United States
Fish Commission show the increase more inthe lowerend of the
lake. It goes to.show your fish migrate. Now the fish that
are hatched by the Michigan Commission are caught down in
Erie, Pa. Is that right to do that?

Mr. BissELL.—I would like to ask if whitefish are migratory to
the extent it is claimed, why they don’t migrate back to the
grounds that have been once fished in Lake Michigan ?

Whereupon, upon motion duly seconded, the convention ad-
journed uatil 10:30 o’clock A. M. to-morrow. Wednesday, April
14th, at the same place.

INTENTIONAL AND UNINTENTIONAL DISTRI-
BUTION OF (SPECIES:

BY DR. R. EE. C. STEARNS.

The geographical distribution of species is one of the most
inviting fields which nature offers to the student. Once entered
upon, every path is found to lead to new and attractive vistas,
and to point the way to curious and interesting phenomena. At
every step we receive delightful impressions, and from every
side, hints and suggestions as to nature’s methods.

Through the estabiishment of the United States Fish Com-
mission and of Fish Commissions in many of the States, as well
as by the organization of societies and various private enter-
prises, the propagation of food fishes has become an important
protective resource, and the economic aspect of ichthyology has
been made familiar to a great number of persons. Incidentally,
too, but to a smaller extent, the scientific side has attracted in-
creased attention froma class of persons who would not have

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 51

become interested in the biological aspect if the latter had been
presented to them first. With the selection of species for prop-
agation and distribution, there naturally followed the investiga-
tion as to the habits, habitat, etc., of each selected species ; and
one inquiry led to another, for in order to insure success from
the business standpoint, it is necessary to pursue as closely as
possible the various steps, and follow the various methods and
order that nature follows. Soa knowledge of the character or
peculiarities of the environment or native haunts of the selected
species has to be obtained.

Preceding the distribution and planting of the young fish,
occur the inquiry and consideration of the factors or physical
character of the region in which it is proposed to make a plant
and so on. In this way much special and abstract knowledge is
accumulated and brought to public attention, and more general
notice ; the laws of life are better understood and the relation of
species to species, and of all life to its environment, are made
more clearly perceptible and more widely known. It will be
seen by the foregoing that fish propagating operations and enter-
prises, both from the scientific and natural history side, as well
as from the economic point of view, are incidentally useful as
promoters of public education.

I am sure it will not be an uninteresting digression if we turn
for a few moments from the consideration of the distribution of
species by natural methods, that is to say by the hand of nature,
as well as that intentional and artificial distribution by the hand
of man, which is such an important and interesting part of
modern fish-producing operations, to take a glance or side view
through the collateral vista of unintentional, accidental, or more
properly incidental distribution, and see what or where it leads
tor

The transplantation of animal and vegetable species from
their native haunts to some other part of the earth, more or less
distant from their indigenous habitat, as an incident of traffic or
commercial intercourse and enterprise, has many peculiar and
striking illustrations. We havea notable example in the geo-
graphical distribution of the common rat. With the extension
of commercial intercourse and international trade, the brown rat

52 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

or, as it is often called, the Norway rat, as a species, became
more and more cosmopolitan. At the beginning of the last cen-
tury this rat, anative of India, made its appearance in Europe,
having stolen a passage on the ships engaged in the India trade.

It first appeared in England in 1730, and twenty years later it
had reached France. In Europe it drove out the black rat which
appeared in that continent during the middle ages ; the black
rat coming from no one knew where, having previously driven
out the native mouse which was the only representative of the
family known to the ancients. At the present time the brown
rat is everywhere, pretty much; on the main lands of the globe
and the islands of all seas, wherever commerce sends its ships,
So too with the cockroaches (Blatta orientalis), a very cosmo-
politan and very disagreeable form of insect life. These two
familiar species are exceedingly active animals, and make their
way on board of vessels or hide in packages or merchandise, and
are thus carried on ships or cars, their inconspicuous size enab-
ling them to steal a passage.

Again we have other illustrations of unintentional distribution
by man, where the trees, plants or seeds of one region are sent
to another. Upon the trees and plants thus transported often
occur forms like the scale bark lice, Aspedtotus and Lecanium ; also
the eggs of various insects. Many seeds contain the grub,
maggot or larve of insect forms. If the roots of the trees or
plants are protected by a ball of the earth in which they grew,
and the earth if protected, by a cover of bagging, from crumb-
ling away and separating from the roots, a precaution which is
usually practiced by careful nurserymen, both earth and bagging
afford a hiding place for small animals, such as insects (and
larve of insects), worms, slugs and othersmall forms. If traffic,
through the facilities of its machinery, assists in distributing
plans that are useful to man, by the same system it contributes
to his discomfort and pecuniary loss. It is highly probable
that the scale bark lice, Aspidiotus aurantia (red scale) and Lecan-
zum olee (black scale), now such great pests to the orange growers :
of California, found their way into the citrus orchards of that
State, directly or indirectly, from the Australian acacias or. some
similar species of exotic trees, imported or planted for use or

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING, 53

ornament. The Australian acacias have long been popular in
California, and many of these beautiful trees may be seen grow-
ing there in the towns and country places. In the same State,
less than a dozen years ago, the inspection of a bushel or two of
apples or pears would perhaps have resulted in finding one or
two specimens of the larve of the codling moth (Z77ypeta pomon-
ella, Walsh). Since that time the fruit growers have had to fight
it as a pest, and have been put to great expense to cleanse their
orchards of this and other injurious insects, the stock of which
was incidentally introduced, as is generally believed, on trees
from the East. In the climate of the west coast, which is par-
ticularly favorable to the development of this class of animal
life, the increase of pestiferous insects has been surprisingly
rapid,

The trade in plant seeds is enormous and extends throughout
the entire world. The increase and spread of noxious plants is
largely owing to their seeds being mixed with the seeds of de-
sirable plants, and the weeds of one region thus become the
weeds of another, remote from the original habitat. The May
weed of the New Englander, Anthemis cotula, or European dog-
fennel, has through the operations of nature and the incidental
assistance of man, puta girdle around the earth. The Cfrys-
anthemum vulgare isa pretty, but to the farmer an obnoxious cos-
mopolite, popularly known as white-weed and ox-eye daisy.
Another plant pest, Czcus arvensts, familiarly called Canada
thistle, though of European origin, has spread it might be said
to the uttermost bounds of the earth. So far as America is con-
cerned, it, the latter country, has reciprocated by contributing
the horse weed, Lrigeron canadensis, to the pestiferous plant stock
of Europe.

From mammalian, insect and vegetable forms, let us now
briefly glance at molluscan species. The slowness of the snail’s
pace is proverbial. Yet we find that several species are widely
dispersed, not by reason of their own means of locomotion, but
as an incident of commercial intercourse. A species of slug,
Limax hewstowni, Cp., has become quite common of late years in
the grass plots and lawns of San Francisco and vicinity. There
is good reason for regarding it as an incidental importation.

54 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Both, or rather all of these are pests, the insect forms especially,
as they entail a heavy burden upon an important industry. The
slugs‘are a pest, though the damage done by them is trifling, in-
somuch that they are slimy and disagreeable, and therefore a
nuisance. There are other molluscan forms, which in this con-
nection are worthy of notice.

The common land snail of Europe, Helix hortensis, which
annoys the gardeners of portions of the old world by eating the
lettuce and other tender vegetables, is found on several of the
islands along the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Cape
Cod, and on the main land, plentifully at Gaspe, Canada East,
along the St. Lawrence River, also in Vermont, Connecticut,
etc., etc. Another land snail, Helix aspersa, one of the principal
European species, and largely used in France and elsewhere on
the Connecticut as an article of food, has become naturalized in
the gardens of Charleston, S. C., and vicinity, where it has ex-
isted for‘fifty years; it has also been detected at New Orleans
and Baton Rouge, La.; Portland, Me., Nova Scotia, etc. In
addition to those named another well known land snail, Stexogyra
decollata, is numerous in Charleston, S. C., where it has been liv-
ing for many years. It is also foundin Cuba and Brazil. I
found it abundant in January, 1869, in Charleston, among the
ruins caused by the civil war. These three species of mollusks,
as before mentioned, are indigenes of Europe, and have been in-
cidentally introduced through commerce into the portions of
Eastern North America I have indicated.

By the same medium, one of our American species of pond
snails has been transported to England. In November, 1869,
the late Dr. Jeffreys announced the discovery of P/lanorbis
dilatatus, in the Bolton and Gorton canals at Manchester. Sus-
pecting that this American species had been introduced into the
canals through the cotton mills, he wrote for information and
learned that in one habitat, the waste from the first process or
“blowing machine,” was discharged close to that part of the
canal where the P/lanorbis occurs. This littlhé mollusk was
doubtless conveyed in the raw cotton, either in the egg state or
otherwise, from some point in the Southern States.

It is not necessary to enlarge by adding to the illustrations

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 55

above presented, I have submitted but afew, a very few, and
the few submitted relate only to such forms as have maintained
themselves, and increased their numbers and extended their dis-
tribution in the regions into which they have been incidentally
placed. Of the species thus unintentionally transplanted, it will
be noticed that they are generally obnoxious or pestiferous.
Some of them are harmless, others seriously detrimental to
human interests. Rarely a highly useful species is incidentally
planted. We have, however, one interesting instance on the
profitable side in the accidental planting of the soft-shelled or
long-neck sand clam or mananose, JZya arenaria, of the Atlantic
seaboard, in the waters of California. Soon after the comple-
tion of the Central Transcontinental Railway, the oyster dealers
of California, many of whom have a large capital invested in the
business, commenced the importation of small oysters, Ostrea
virginica, from the Atlantic coast by the car load, for planting in
San Francisco Bay, where they soon grow to a merchantable
size. This was somewhere about 1872 or 1873. The small
oysters were obtained in part from Newark Bay. Among and
adhering to them was the spat of the clam, for in November,
1874. several specimens of JZya half or two-thirds adult size,
were collected by Mr. Hemphill on the eastern shore of the bay
where the oyster beds are. Since that time it has multiplied so
wonderfully and the environment has proved so favorable, that
it has spread in every direction and attains a large size. It is
now the principal clam ; it has so monopolized the bay region
that the indigenous forms that were previously sought for food,
have become comparatively scarce, and the cockle, Caradtum corbis,
and the thin shell tellen, dJ/acoma nasuta, once so abundant,
are seldom seen on the market stalls and are not easily obtained.
Outside the bay of San Francisco, the mananose (J/ya) has either
incidentally or intentionally been planted at Santa Cruz, at the
northern end of Monterey Bay, and an intentional {plant was
made at Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory, a few years ago,
by Capt. Simpson, of San Francisco; he informed me that it
resulted in an abundance of this excellent clam.

As proof of the previous non-occurrence of JZya arenarta on
the West coast ; it may be well to state that the shore from Cape

56 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

St. Lucas, northerly, has been explored by many competent
naturalists at various times, extending back to nearly the begin-
ning of the present century. Since the American occupation of
California, commencing with 1849, several intelligent collectors
have resided there, and others have visited the coast. It would
have been impossible for so familiar a form, inhabiting, too, the
easily accessible litoral zone, to have escaped detection : and
corroborative of the above, we have the further evidence of the
kitchen-middens or shell heaps of the aborigines, many of which
have been examined by me without detecting any sign of this
easy recognized species.
Washington, D. C.

TRANSPORTING -FPISH IN THE ‘BRITISH TSEES:
BY W. V. COX.

The improved methods of refrigeration so extensively prac-
ticed in the meat and fish carrying trade of the United States,
were not applied to those industries in England at the time of
the International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883.

Even the old method of packing fish in boxes with ice for
transporting purposes, was very defective, if we may judge
by the condition of the fish when they arrived and the boxes
were opened.

In the markets of London, I frequently saw whole boxes of
fish that came from a comparatively short distance ‘‘ packed in
ice,” that were spoiled and totally unfit for food. Very often
the fish were discolored, and seldom were they very inviting in
appearance. If it had not been that a fugitive piece of ice was
occasionally discovered in the box with wet straw, there would
scarcely have been a suspicion that there had been an attempt
made to carry the fish in ice. It seems strange that there was
such a lack of application of the well-known discoveries of pre-
servation, not only in inland and local water transportation, but

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 57

in the markets themselves, when these methods are in such com-
mon use in ocean transit, whole cargoes of frozen meats, being
daily brought to London from all quarters of the globe, even
from New Zealand. Of the fish coming to London from adjoin-
ing waters, I found those that came by railway in a worse con-
dition than those that came by water.

Aside from the more frequent handlings of railway-borne fish,
the unwholesome condition of unsuitable cars had, doubtless,
considerable to do with their deterioration. No objection could
be made against many of the cars run on the special fish trains
to London, for they were as good, perhaps, as any of an old and
obsolete style ; but there were others for sanitary reasons that
would have not been permitted to run were it not for a blunted
and indifferent public sentiment. I shall not speak of these my-
self, but state the case through the words of others.

A witness before the corporation said: “You all think we
load our fish in proper fish trucks. That is a great mistake.
We load it nearly all in bullock trucks not cleaned out. Seven
out of ten come in ordinary bullock trucks.”

Another witness stated that ‘most of the fish comes in old
cattle trucks, lime trucks, manure trucks, or any kind of truck
that happens to be handy at the station. I have had plenty of
barrels which had contracted so much filth that my man had to
wash them before taking them on his back.”

“Were you ever on the platform when a return Grimsby fish
van was being shunted?” asks an English editor. ‘If you
were, you are not likely to forget it.””, Having stood onthe plat-
form, candor, a love of truth, and an olfactory not over-sensitive
either, will not permit us to disagree with this gentleman, for
truly, as he says, “the stench is abominable, and there is little
wonder that fish are condemned when they arrive at the markets.”

Such a nauseating condition of things seems almost incredible
to us Americans familiar with the cleanly-kept refrigerator cars
fitted up by Chase, Ridgway and others, thousands of which bear
fresh meat and fish to and from island points hundreds of miles
distant, yea, even from ocean to ocean. But still more incredi-
ble is it that railways in the British Isles have not long since
found it to their selfish interests, if not the public welfare, to

58 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

adopt some modern methods of transporting perishable objects.

How far behind the age, and how short sighted it proves them
to be when we find an English paper asking, ‘Cannot science
persuade the railroad companies or large smack owners, or mer-
chants, to have suitable fish vans, refrigerating or ice vans?”

The exhibition did much to educate the English people on
this subject, and toward its close, in October, 1883, the Fish
League, (limited) of London, placed refrigerator cars, (Knott's
patent) on the London & Northwestern Railway. The trial trip
proved successful, when sixty baskets of fresh herring were
brought from Wyck, in North Scotland, toLondon. They were
sixty hours ex route, the shipment moving at the rate of nine
miles an hour.

From an English standpoint it seemed wonderful that the fish
came 550 miles inland in good condition, and one of the papers
stating that “they were as dry and sweet, and clear about the
eyes, as though they had only been drawn up from the North Sea
a short half hour or so before.” These fresh herring, the first
ever brought from North Scotland to London, retailed in mar-
ket at from four to six cents a dozen.

The Fish League contemplated extending the system from
various important fishing ports to the chief centers of popula-
tion. Extortionate rates of the railways were found to be the
chief obstacle the League had to encounter. It was plain that if
the companies would not make concessions that the era of the
refrigerator car was almost as remote as before, and the problem
of cheap fish would not be solved in this way. Since 1883, I am
informed there have been some concessions by the railway com-
panies, but with true proverbial conservatism, there has been but
little progress made in adopting that which has proven such a
boon to all classes in all parts of America.

Washington, D. C.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 59

THE MICHIGAN GRAYLING.

BY HERSCHEL WHITAKER.

The grayling (ZAymadllus tricolor) is found native to the waters
of Michigan alone of all the States of the Union. Vague
rumors from time to time have hinted at its presence in other
waters, but the authenticity of such statements has never been
verified. A few facts concerning the distribution of the gray-
ling of Michigan, its habits and the experiments that have been
made here looking to its artificial propagation, may not be de-
void of interest to this Society.

The waters of Michigan in which it has its habitat, may be
generally described as within the territory bounded on the south
by 43:30, extending as far northas 45:30. The streams included
within this territory discharge their-waters into Lake Huron
and Lake Michigan. An imaginary line.drawn from the mouth
of the Muskegon on the western. border of the State to the
mouth of the Au Sable on the east, will perhaps better indicate
the southern limit of the grayling. The waters most famous as
grayling streams, owing to their magnitude, accessibility and
their popularity with sportsmen, are the Au Sable and the
Manistee. The Hersey, the Pere Marquette, the Maple, the
Pigeon, with their tributaries, and numerous other streams of
less importance included within the boundaries already men-
tioned, are also fairly stocked with this fish. The Boardman,
the Boyne and the Jordan were once famous resorts for sports-
men who angled for the grayling, but their glory as grayling
streams has long since departed, the grayling having given way
to the predacious and combative trout, yet now and then an
occasional grayling is taken.

Although the subject has often been discussed by writers upon
game fishes, allow me briefly to refer to the general character
of this fish. To the sportsman who has always angled for trout
and isunfamiliar with the habits of grayling, this fish will excite
some surprise upon first acquaintance. Unlike the trout you
are not likely to find him in pool and shady haunt, but on the
swift ripple and shallow, hovering like the hawk in air. While

Ls

60 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

you are adroitly seeking with your tront-fisherman’s experience,
to reach some shaded pool where you should expect to find him
if he were a trout, you suddenly find your fly taken most unex-
pectedly in open water, and you are taken somewhat at a dis-
advantage. Once securely hooked comes the beauty of the fight,
and here the grayling differs most radically from the trout. In-
stead of seeking shelter by retreating to the deep pool or be-
neath some root, he will perhaps leap clear of the water from two
to three or more times, and with a vicious shake of the head
seek to free himself from the hook. When landed you try in
vain to determine which has the superiority, the grayling or the
trout, but you finally conclude that you have forgotten exactly
how the trout acts when hooked, and if you are a philosopher
you inwardly argue that it is such a close question, you will
leave its determination to such time as you shall catch your
next trout.

The large dorsal fin is the distinguishing characteristic of the
grayling. In repose the fin lies folded upon its back, but in a
state of activity or when excited, the anterior portion becomes
rigid, and the posterior portion waves like a banner inthe air.
When freshly taken from the water the dorsal fin is iridescent
and its variegated coloring is gorgeously beautiful and vivid.
The fish itself is covered with small light steely gray colored
scales, and above the median line has a few faint brown mot-
tlings about the size of the head ofa pin. Its head is quite small
and the general contour of its body is slim and graceful. A
faint odor is discernible resembling the wild thyme, hence its
name, Ziymallus.

As early as the year 1854 or 1855, the grayling was first called
to the attention of local scientists in Michigan, by Mr. Wright
Coffinbury, a gentleman in the employ of the general govern-
ment, who was then making surveys of the wilderness lying ad-
jacent tothe Muskegon and Hersey rivers. At this time the
grayling was plentiful in all these streams, and afforded the sur-
veyor, explorer and hunter a grateful change from pork and
hardtack, and the fish was known among them as “ Michigan
trout.” Mr. Coffinbury had the grayling especially called to his
attention, as he busied himself during his leisure hours in an

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 6t

attempted classification of the fish found in the Muskegon and
tribtitary waters, and as I have before mentioned he was instru-
mental in calling local attention to the grayling. Later on and
about the year 1885 or ’56, Dr. Parker of Grand Rapids, Mich-
igan, (now president of the Michigan Fish Commission), suc-
ceeded in procuring a specimen of the grayling, beautifully pre-
served in homely salt and wrapped carefully in a newspaper,
minus a few fins, and of course almost devoid of its natural
color, and after a careful study of the specimen and a compari-
son with a cut of the English grayling, and a description of the
same, he pronounced it a true Zhymallus,and in a paper read
before the local scientific society of Grand Rapids, named it
Thymallus michiganensts, a patronymic by which it was known
locally for some years ; in fact up to the time that a specimen
was sent by Prof. Miles to Prof. Cope in 1864. Specimens sub-
sequently submitted to Prof. Agassiz through the efforts of Dr.
D. H. Fitzhugh, of Bay City, Michigan, who is beyond question
the greatest authority on grayling in the country, were classi-
fied by that eminent scientist, and determined beyond question,
to be the grayling.

During the period to which I have referred, the streams em-
braced within the territory already indicated were swarming
with this beautiful fish. So plentiful were they for many years
that the settlers were accustomed during the spawning period
to come to the dam, at or near the site of the present village of
Hersey, and capture them with baskets, carrying them away by
the wagon load. There are many people yet living in that
vicinity who can vouch for the truth of this statement, were it
necessary, but I think I can safely presume that the courtesy of
gentlemen who are interested in the propagation of fish and the
fishing industries and interests, will scarcely require the fortifi
cation of this statement by affidavit.

It would seem unaccountable that this state of things having
once existed, that in late years the grayling should have so
rapidly disappeared from these streams ; yet the fact remains
that many of the streams that once knew them now know them no
more. This is notably true of such noble staeams as the Jordan,
the Boyne and the Boardman. From those streams which flow

62 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

to and discharge their waters on the extreme northern coast of
the Lower Peninsula the grayling have entirely disappeared,
although now and then an occasional straggler may be found.
The cause of this depletion is, however, directly traceable to the
lumberman and the trout. The grayling cannot successfully
run the gauntlet of log-running and the vicious attacks of the
trout, who loves the dainty and succulent fry and the youngster
grayling, and overcomes them both. It is a fact that until with-
in the last thirty or forty years, brook trout were unknown in
the northern streams of Michigan, while the streams of the
Upper Peninsula, discharging their waters into Lake Michigan,
are stocked almost exclusively with the trout. The theory ad-
vanced and generally accepted by those familiar with the facts,
is that a migration of the trout has taken place from the streams
emptying their waters into Lakes Michigan and Huron to those
grayling steams. There is much reason, it woulda seem, for this
argument. It is a peculiar fact that the waters of the Maple
River, lying in the extreme northern portion of the Lower Pen-
insula, are well stocked with grayling. This stream flows in a
southerly course, which is contrary to the direction of most of
the streams in that portion of the State, discharging its waters
into Burt Lake, one of the larger lakes of the ‘ Inland Chain,”
which extends from Cheboygan to Petoskey, and is famous for
its bass and pike fishing. To carry the argument to its seem-
ingly just conclusion, it might be inferred with reason that the
trout would be shy of entering upon waters in the possession of
these voracious and predatory fish, and the probabilities are
very strongly in favor of the theory that if they did enter upon
such territory and lie down peaceably together, it would be that
peaceful quietness of the trout lying down inside the bass or
pike. On the other hand, the Maple is a swift, brawling, gray-
ling stream ; its waters are cold, a peculiarity of all grayling
streams, offering no inducement to the bass or pike to take up
their abode within its borders, and the consequence is that the
grayling remains in full possession, having the advantage of the
watchfulness of vigilant sentinels standing guard at the mouth
of the river to prevent the entrance of the trout. The other
streams I have mentioned discharge their waters either directly

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 63

into the Great Lakes or into tributary waters which are not in-
fested with bass or pike.

Upon the formation of the Michigan Fish Commission the
merits of the grayling were recognized, and the fact that it was
a fish peculiar to Michigan, appealed strongly to the Board to
investigate its possibilities of artificial propagation. Lack of
funds and the knowledge that the commercial fish of the State
demanded its first attention, compelled the Board to postpone
attempts to solve this question. Not until the year 1877, wasan
attempt made to experiment in this direction and test the possi-
bilities of success. In the spring of that year a camp was estab-
lished upon the headwaters of the Manistee, and an effort was
made to secure a stock of eggs, to be transported from the camp
to the hatching station. Owing to the lateness of the season,
the spawning period having passed, this attempt failed of any
result, and the expedition returned with no further light. This
party reached the Manistee April 14th. The following year an
earlier start was made, the force arriving at Manistee, March 30th,
but again found themselves too late, the fish having again passed
the spawning period. A few fish were obtained which yielded
a very small quantity of eggs and milt, but the eggs were imper-
fectly impregnated, the fry produced died early, and in the lan-
gauge of the superintendent, “much lamented.” Before leaving
the stream, however, it was decided to procure as many adult
fish as possible, convey them to the station, and make the attempt
to handle the fish in the succeeding year when the proper per-
iod should arrive. A number of fish were procured, but for un-
explained causes no success was obtained. Adult fish have
been obtained at three different times with the same object in
view, but up to this time with no satisfactory results. The diff-
culties surrounding the taking of the grayling during the spawn-
ing period are very great. The fish spawn in about February
and March, perhaps even earlier. The rivers in which they
abound are remote from civilization, the roads almost impass-
able, and the streams filled with logs and ice, rendering it ex-
ceedingly difficult to procure the necessary fish. Experience has
proven very clearly that the grayling will not stand domestica-
tion or confinement in ponds in which trout may be successfully

04 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Nee ee ee aE

carried. Two years ago a number of adult grayling were pro-
cured by the Michigan Commission, and placed in the trout
ponds of Paris. Out of the number nota single fish has ever
spawned or showed the slightest inclination to do so. They
have gradually died, and there are now but a very few remain-
ing. The same care and attention has been given the grayling
in'these ponds that is ordinarily given to trout.
About the year 1878, Mr. Ira Metcalf, of Battle Creek, Michi!

made some attempts at artificial propagation of the grayling,
and claims to have been successful in raising a small amount of

fry.
‘An instance illustrating the prolific character of the grayling,

Mr. George H. Jerome, formerly superintendent of the Commis-
sion, states in his report that in transporting the first grayling
taken to the station from the Manistee, it was observed by the
men having charge of the fish while zw ¢ransitu, that there was a
fully ripe spawner in one of the cans; that she was removed
and the eggs taken, but there being no milter with which to
fertilize the ova, they were lost ; that the eggs after being taken
were counted by two reliable persons, and there were found to
be 3,555 fully developed perfect eggs. The fish after being
stripped weighed exactly 9 oz. This shows beyond question
thit the grayling is much more prolific than the trout, and under
favorable circumstances good results should certainly be ob-
tained.

The Michigan Commission has within the last year acquired
the ownership of a fine spring stream upon property adjoining
its trout station, to which the grayling had been natural, one or
two having been taken in the stream within a year. This prop-
erty affords opportunity for extended experiments looking to
the solution of the question of whether the grayling may be
successfully propagated. Arrangements are now being made to
secure an ample supply of stock fish, which will be held in this
stream in sucha manner that the confinement will be felt as
little as possible consistent with control. As far as possible the
natural conditions of the stream will be preserved ; pool and
shallow, light and shade. At the same time care will be taken
to afford an opportunity for experiments which may from time

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 65

to time suggest themselves, based on present knowledge, and
such information as may be obtained by a careful observation
of their habits. The experiments will extend over a sufficient
period of time, and be followed up by earnest endeavor, until it
shall be definitely determined whether successful propagation of
the grayling can be carried out.

Detroit, Mich.

Mr. May.—I notice that Mr. Whitaker credits Mr. Metcalf
with hatching grayling in 1878. I have seen in Prof. Goode’s
“Epochs in Fish Culture,” that Fred Mather hatched the first
grayling in 1874, just four years previous to Mr. Metcalf.

Mr. Ciark.—I think the grayling is the easiest fish to propa-
gate and handle of any fish we had anything to do with, after
we get the fish. Mr. Whitaker doesn’t say this in his paper,
but I will say that if a person can get the fish on the stream
they can get five hundred thousand fish, which they can handle
for one quarter of the cost of brook trout.

Mr. Fatrpank.—How long are they in hatching ?

Mr. CLark.—From seventeen to twenty-five days. They are
easy to handle. The fish are easy to take care of after they are
hatched, and you can grow a greater per cent. of them than you
can of trout.

A Memsper.—Don’t they require much cooler water.

Mr. Ciark.—I think you can put trout in a natural stream of
warmer water than you can the grayling. 1| haven't tried the
experiments on that. I got about twenty-five thousand eggs
last spring from six or eight fish. A fish that weighed one and
a quarter pounds we took five thousand two hundred eggs from.
All we had to do was to get the fish, and you give meathousand
graylings, and if I don’t take you over a million eggs I will miss
my guess,

Mr. FatrBank.—lIt is difficult to get the fish at that season of
the year.

Mr. Ciark.—It is difficult to get them, because the streams
are fished out. The streams are not high, not at that time. You

66 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

want to be on the ground on the first of March, and you may not
get any eggsuntil the r5th of April. I am speaking of hatching
in seventeen to twenty-five days, that is, in water that is fifty to
fifty-eight degrees.

Mr. FairBANK.—The water in those streams would be cooler
at that time.

Mr. CLark.—Yes, the water is cooler, and I think that the
driving of logs is cleaning the grayling streams out of those fish
in the State of Michigan. I think it is more from that cause
than it from any other, either fish or fisherman.

Mr. Tomuin.—Even granting what Mr. Clark says, notwith-
standing the survival of the fittest, the grayling is being extin-
guished. In my mind there is no question about it. You take
Sweden, Norway, Japan, Germany, Italy, France and England
and you will find the trout and grayling side by side. You put
the trout into any stream where the grayling is and in a little
while the trout will clean them out. I have fished the streams
that Mr. Whitaker has spoken of in his paper. Years ago I
fished the Jordan, Pine River, the Pigeon, and the Sturgeon,
and later years the Muskegon River. When I first went to the
Jordan, way back in 1860, there used to be a considerable num-
ber of grayling. I got to paying frequent visits to Michigan,
and I love it as much as my own State for its beauty. I found
out that the history of the trout was a far more recent one than
I had supposed. I had always imagined that trout was to be
found in certain streams. There was an old man on the Jordan,
long enough before Pine River was cleared out, who well re-
members the coming in of the trout. He says when he first
went there to fish—he was an old Methodist itinerant preacher
I think—he used to catch one trout perhaps to ten graylings ;
in five years from that time they were equal. Well now, we
know from the structural appearance of the fish, that the gray-
ling doesn’t stand the shadow of a chance beside our trout. You
take for instance a body of water and put in trout and small
black bass,and the trout will clean the bass out. They will
chew him up, eat his tail and fins off, and by and by there isn’t
a bass there at all. This is the way the American trout are

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 67

cleaning out our grayling. So far as the two fish are concerned,
I say if we can’t have but one, let us have the trout. I have
fished for them both carefully ; I have waded up to my waist
when I have been so blinded with mosquito and fly bites, that I
have scarcely been able to see, yet I have kept on fishing, and
my conscience never accused me of having caught them in large
numbers. I don’t think I ever caught over twenty at a time.
Mr. Whitaker doesn't make any difference in his paper about
the appearance of the grayling. You take the grayling foundin
the Sturgeon and Pigeon, and flowing through into the Cheboy-
gan, you will find them very different in appearance from those
on the west side of Michigan. You take the grayling found in
Pine River flowing into the Manistee, and the Manistee itself,
and compare them with rivers flowing into Lake Huron, and
the western grayling are by far the smallest. The eastern
trout, those in Pigeon River and Sturgeon River, sometimes
weigh three pounds, whereas on the other side we have never
got them weighing more than a pound and a half.

Mr. Maruer.—Trout and grayling have lived together in the
streams of England and Germany for centuries. The trout
were the brown trout, however, S. “arvzo, and not our American
trout or charr, S. fontinalis, but | cannot think the latter more
predaceous than the former. Nor do I understand why certain
grayling streams of Michigan were destitute of trout, and were
full of grayling, because the lakes into which these streams
empty contain trout which go into neighboring brooks. If any
one can account for this we would like to hear him. If there
are no further remarks, however, it might be well for us to ad-
journ,

On motion, duly seconded, the Convention here adjourned to
attend the Citrus Fair at Battery D Armory, to meet again at
three o’clock Pp. M.

—

68 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14th, 3 P. M.

The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Dr. Hudson,
and the Secretary read the following :

HISTORY, OF THE ICED: BISH AND: (FROZEN (FISH
TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES,

BY A. HOWARD CLARK.

The iced fish trade of the United States began about the year
1842. Prior to that date the inland trade in fresh fish was very
limited, and could be carried on only in the winter months. In
1845 the fishing vessels of New England began to carry ice for
keeping the catch fresh. Care was at first taken that the ice be
kept separate from the fish, being placed in a corner of the hold.
It was soon found, however, that packing the fish in crushed ice
did not materially injure them, and this method was soon in
general use on all the vessels, and largely superseded the trade
in live fish north of Cape Cod. For many years it was thought
impossible to transport fish inland, even if packed in ice, and it
was not until 1859 or 1860, that Gloucester dealers could be in-
duced to try the experiment of sending fish in ice to Boston and
New York. Old sugar boxes were used for packing, and asthe
experiment was perfectly successful, a large trade was quickly
developed, and iced fish were sent west as far as Minnesota and
south to St. Louis, or even to more distant markets.

For ten years or more prior to 1842, Boston and Gloucester
dealers had carried ona trade of frozen fish during the winter
and early spring, sending the fish by teams inland as far as
Albany and Montreal; but aswarm weather advanced the frozen
fish gave place to dry and pickled fish. In the winter of 1854
an enterprising Gloucester fisherman tried the experiment of
bringing frozen herring, cod and halibut from Newfoundland
to Gloucester, where the herring were sold to the cod fishermen

FIFTEENTH. ANNUAL MEETING. 69

to be used for bait. From that experiment began a rapidly in-
creasing trade in frozen herring from Newfoundland and New-
Brunswick for the supply of the Georges codfishermen, and this
bait is still the principal kind used by the fleets fishing from
Gloucester in winter. The frozen herring also found a ready
market in Boston, New York and other places as a cheap food
supply. These fish have always been frozen by simple exposure
in the open air, a warm spell interfering with the work. After
freezing they are packed in bulk in the vessel’s hold, snow being
often mixed with them.

In Russia and other cold countries of Europe and Asia, for
very many years there has been a trade in frozen fish, and other
animal foods. In Thibet, as early as the year 1806, the flesh of
animals was preserved by frost drying—not simply freezing--
and in this condition it would keep in good condition for many
months. Meat thus preserved did not have a raw appearance,
but in color resembled that which had been well boiled, the
ruddiness being removed by the intense cold.

Thus far I have spoken only of iced fish and of fish frozen
by natural means. The first definite record we have of fish
frozen by artificial method is the patent (No. 31,736) granted in
March, 1861,to Enoch Piper, of Camden, Maine. It is described
as a method of preserving fish or other articles in a close cham-
ber by means of a freezing mixture, having no contact with the
atmosphere of the preserving chamber. Mr. Piper states that
the most important application of his invention is for the pre-
servation of salmon, which had heretofore been preserved ina
fresh condition only by being packed in barrels with crushed
ice, which in melting had moistened and injured the fish. The
ice, he said, could not keep them more than a month, whereas
by the new method they could be kept in good order for years,
if need be. The apparatus used by Mr. Piper is described as a
box in which the fish are placed in small quantities on a rack,
this box being surrounded by a packing of charcoal or other
non-conducting material. Metallic pans filled with ice and salt
are then set over the fish, and a cover shut over the box.
About twenty-four hours is needed to complete the freezing,
the ice and salt being renewed once in twelve hours. The fish

is

7oO AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

are then removed to be packed in the storage or preserving box.
If desired, the fish may be coated with ice by immersion in iced
water ; they may then be wrapped in cloth and a second coat-
ing of ice applied, or they may be coated with gum-arabic,
gutta-percha, or other material, to exclude the air and to pre-
vent the juices from escaping by evaporation. The storage box
is a double one, the inner one without a cover; the space be-
tween the sides and bottoms of the two being filled with char-
coal or other non-conductor. Metallic tubes for the freezing
mixture pass through the cover of the outer box and through
the bottoms of both boxes, connecting with a small pipe to
carry off the brine. The combined area of the tubes is required
to be about one-fifth of the area of the inner box, in order to
keep the temperature below the freezing-point.

Numerous and complex methods of freezing fish have been
devised since Mr. Piper obtained his patent, but the simplest
methods are perhaps as effective, and are surely more econom-
ical than the expensive machinery sometimes used.

In 1869 Mr. William Davis, of Detroit, patenteda freezing pan
for fish, which he describes as a thin sheet metal pan or box in
two sections or parts, one made to slide over the other, the ob-
ject being to place the fish or meat in one part of the box, and
to slide the cover on to or in contact with the freezing mixture.
The pans are packed on top of one another ina freezing box
with iced salt overand around them. By this method from thirty
to fifty minutes is said to be sufficient to complete the freezing,
when the fish may be taken from the pans and stored in a keep-
ing chamber, where the temperature is constant at six to ten
degrees below the freezing point.

In 1869, Mr. Davis also patented a preserving chamber, which
may be a room, box or chamber of any desired form. It has
two walls with the intervening space filled with a non-conduct-
ing material. Within this are metal walls of less length than
the outside walls, so that between the two a freezing mixture
may be placed. Entrance is obtained through the top or side
by closely fitting doors or hatches. Other methods of freezing
fish have been patented, such as making a series of seven cir-
cular pans of a size to fit ina barrel, and of putting the fish in

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. afer

rubber bags while they are being frozen. In 1880, Mr. D. W.
Davis patented a method of packing fish in finely crushed ice
in a barrel and freezing the mass solid, the fish being so stowed
as not to come in contact with each other.

Freezing pans, with or without covers, are now in common
use in most of the fishing centers of the Great Lakes, as also in
some Eastern markets. In Boston, New York and at other
points large buildings are devoted to the freezing and storage
of bluefish, salmon and other species. The large species are
frozen by hanging them in the freezing room or by ranging
them on shelves. The improved systems of refrigerator cars
and steamers render it feasible to transport frozen fish to any
part of the United States, or to foreign countries whenever the
trade may require.

Washington, D.C.

Secretary Maruer.—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I would
like to say a little something not laid down in the programme
nor embodied in a regular paper, and that is about work of the
United States Fish Commission in its experiments of stocking
the Hudson with salmon. For the past three years 1 have had
the hatchery under my charge on Long Island, and _ been
hatching some sea salmon from the Penobscot for Prof. Baird.
They have been placed mainly in the Hudson, and some few in
the Salmon river, in the State of New York, which empties into
Lake Ontario, not the Salmon river entering the St. Lawrence,
and also last year in the Oswego river. We have made some
effort to find out if there was any prospect of getting evidence
of the success or failure of these plans. The fish were taken
away to the headwaters of the Hudson, and deposited in trout
streams there where they would find food, which they would
not find suitable for young fish in the main body of the river.
It has been Prof. Baird’s idea that the Hudson never was a
salmon stream naturally, because of mechanical obstacles, such
as the falls at Cohoes, which prevented the ascent to the tribu-
taries of the Mohawk, and Baker’s Falls on the upper Hudson,
which prevented theirascent any further in that way, and any fish
which entered the river before the white man put up his dams

—E ——————— nee eS

72 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

were debarred from the spawning grounds ; therefore we have
deposited the young fish there. Last summer I wrote a letter
to Mr. A. N. Cheney, of Glens Falls, a member of this Associa-
tion and a gentleman who takes a very great interest in anything
of this kind, asking him if it would be possible to employ some
man there to examine those trout streams, and see if there was
any trace of those young fish left, and the following letter from
him, tells of the success of last year’s plant.

GLENS FaLts, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1885.—MWr. E. G. Blackford—Dear Sir:
As requested in your letter of July 2, | send you to-day by National
Express specimens of the young salmon from Clendon brook. I was
absent when your letter came and have been home very little since,
which is the cause of the delay. I told Mr. Mather that I would cer-
tainly get them before winter. I engaged a man to take the fish, but
he was not successtul, owing to high water. Yesterday I went to the
brook with a friend, Mr. W. D. Cleveland, of Houston, Tex., and ina
short time caught the number I send. You will, perhaps, remember
that Mr. Mather sent me 40,000 salmon fry on May 21, 1884, and 60,000
salmon fry and 150 yearlings April 29, 1885, from Cold Spring Harbor,
and all were deposited in Clendon brook, a tributary of the Hudson.
The Clendon was once a famous trout stream, yielding trout of four
pounds and upward, and still there are some few baskets of small fish
taken from it. Yesterday the stream seemed fairly alive with salmon
fora mile, and residents tell me that this is the case its entire length.
As the trout were attending to their domestic duties up stream the
brook was given over tothe salmon. They were in the deep holes
and at the foot of the riffs, but everywhere in numbers. There
seemed to be two distinct sizes, one four to six inches long, the other
two to three inches long. With the exception of a few chubs, silver
chubs or fall fish, .S. 62/arzs, 1 found no other fish than salmon in the
stream. One bright-colored male salmon as I took him from the brook
discharged milt from the pressure of my hand. This particular fish
I caught in swift water where it ran over gravel. I hope Brother
Mather will have an opportunity to interview these young things
that were graduated from his University at Cold Spring Harbor before
they are sent to Prof. Baird. It would have been an easy matter to
catch a hundred yearlings during the time I was at the brook, and in
their eagerness to take the lure they jumped clear above the water.
After catching the first salmon, Mr. Cleveland exclaimed: “If that

beggar weighed thirty-two pounds” (he had in minda salmon caught

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

~I
we

this summer by Mr. H. P. Wells) ‘““and game in proportion, and I had
fought and killed him, it would have taken just six months to recover
from the excitement.” TheClendon brook is posted its entire length
and the people are interested in protecting the fry that have been de-
posited therein by the United States Fish Commission. I trust that
you will receive the salmon in good order. I send but one of the
smaller size, as the other and larger salmon gave no kind of show to
take the hook. A. N. CHENEY.

These salmon were seven or eight inches long, showing that
they had lived there, and were about ready to go to sea that
fall.

Mr. Fatrspank.—Mr. President and gentlemen, I thought it
might be of interest to say a word or two, to the gentlemen here
in relation to the matter of planting fish in waters where they
are not indigenous. We have made verv great strides in artifi-
cial propagation of fish, and have mastered all the difficulties of
hatching fish, procuring the eggs, hatching and obtaining the
young fry, and a great deal of work and a great deal of money
has been expended in planting fish in various waters in all of
the States. We started off with a degree of enthusiasm eight
or ten years ago, that was worthy of a better outcome than we
have had, but it was done with more zeal than wisdom I think.
We have planted shad, for instance, jin the Calumet river here,
which empties into Lake Michigan, and we have planted trout
inthe Kankakee river and brook trout in the streams of Iowa,
and lake salmon in all the little lakes in Michigan and Illinois,
and wherever there was a little stream we thought at that time
all we had to do was to hatch the fish and put the young fry in
there and we would have an abundance of fish. It is needless

to say, at least I have not heard of any instance where any of.

these efforts have been successful. I was anxious to demon-
strate the fact, and I decided to make an experiment in Lake
Geneva, Wisconsin, which I did on a large enough scale to de-
monstrate thoroughly whether it was practicable. Lake Geneva
is a lake about eight miles long and from half a mile to three
miles wide. It is a very pure body of water, as blue as Lake
Michigan. It is 185 feet deep, I have foundin some places, but it
averages too feet deep all over it, bold shores and very clean.

74 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

There is not a bulrush ora lilly pad in it, and in every way is
particularly adapted to the salmon-trout, because it seemed in
all its characteristics just like the small lakes of New York
State in which the salmon trout are indigeneous—Canandaigua
lake, Cayuga lake, and several of the lakes there. Not feeling
sure about it, I wrote to Mr. Seth Green, who was an old friend
of mine, to come out and spend a week with me, which he did,
because | wanted his judgment in the matter; and we sounded
the lake and found the depth of the water and we dredged the
bottom. We caught all the small varieties of fish to see what
food there was for the salmon trout. Lake Geneva is somewhat
celebrated for abounding in the small fish known as the cisco.
There are in that lake and one or two other small lakes of Wis-
consin, and they are there in great abundance, living in deep
water. The cisco is the natural food of the lake trout, and we
therefore very naturally came to the conclusion that Lake Geneva
was particularly adapted, if any lake on the face of the earth
‘was, for planting and growing the Mackinaw trout, or lake
trout. So I builta hatching house and I employed one of Mr.
‘Green’s men, Mr. Welcher, who was afterward superintendent
of the Wisconsin fish hatching establishment, and went to work.
The first year I bought the eggs from the New York State Com-
mission, 200,000, and after that Mr. Welcher went every fall to
Lake Michigan and took the supply of eggs. I have laid in
about 590,000 each winter, and I pursued that faithfully and put
in about 500,000 good, healthy fry in the lake every spring for
five years; but I have never seen, and no one else, as near as I
can find out, has ever seen the shadow or sign of a salmon trout
in Lake Geneva, large or small.

A MemMBER —How deep is the water ?

Mr. FairBANK.—About 150 fect or an average of 1ooft.
Qurstion.—And what is the temperature ?

Mr. FarrBank.—It is a cold lake. I don’t know.

The Secrerary.—They ought to be there, Mr. Fairbank.

Mr. FarrRBANK.—Well, they are not there. Mr. Green, said
“ They are there, but you don't know how to fish forthem. They

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 75

are in deep water.” ‘ Well,” I said, ‘‘ you come out and spend
another week with me and we will fish for them.”” He said he
was not able to come, but replied, “I will send my son out.” I
offered to pay all his expenses, and his son came out. I think
that was two years ago, and he spent a week with me, and we
spent the week fishing faithfully in the deep water with Mr.
Green’s methods, with a heavy sinker and leaders, and we fished
the lake thoroughly, and Mr. Welcher came down with some gill
nets—that was three years ago. We set gill nets across the lake
in four or five different places, and followed that up fora week,
and we never took or saw one sign of a salmon trout. Now,
the reason of it is this, and that is the reason I call the attention
of you gentlemen to it. It isa subject we have got to look at
fairly, and it is the main thing in planting fish, and thatas, what
food is there in the waters where you propose to plant the fish
for the young fish or fry? Salmon trout would live in Lake
Geneva if they could come to maturity. The cisco is there in
great abundance, and furnish a most excellent and natural
food—the fish that they live on in Lake Michigan, but in looking
at it, I was satisfied that all the young fish died. The fry
starved to death because their food was not there.

Now, in looking at it you will see what the trouble is. The
salmon trout breed in the Great Lakes wherever there is a reef,
and there you catch them in three, four, or five hundred feet of
water, or less, wherever there are extensive reefs of rock, there
the gill nets are set and there the salmon trout are taken. Here
are the Racine reefs, you-sail over those reefs any time in the
summer and throw out a trolling lineand you take salmon trout.
My theory of it is that on the face of that rock there is some
animal life, animalcula, that the young fish stick their noses in
and feed on until they are old enough to eat other fish. Lake
Geneva has no reefs of rock. Where there are stones at all it
is a boulder bottom, or it is a mud bottom, earth and clay cov-
ered largely with leaves. It is surrounded toa great extent
with timber and the leaves blow in every year. Youtry it and
you will find on the bottom of Lake Geneva to be a layer of
dead leaves, so there is evidently nothing there for the young fry
to feed upon and the fry have all died, and that has been the

———————————eeEeEeEeEeEeEeeeaumms

76 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

case in hundreds of other instances. I have sent themto Crystal
lake. Mr. Dole who lives there is a friend of mine, and I have
sent several hundred thousands for two or three years. [always
gave hima lot to put in there. That is a small deep lake of
perhaps three or four thousand acres, very pure water, and very
clear, but there never has been a young fish seen, and I think it
is money and work thrown away,and that it is utterly useless to
hatch fish and put them in waters unless we know to a certainty
that the food for the young fry is there. [I made still another
experiment in the same line by going into one of the neighbor-
ing lakes near by in Wisconsin, and taking a large amount of
the spawn of the wall-eyed pike, | brought those down and
hatched millions of them, and put them into Lake Geneva, and
there never has been a wall-eved pike seen there. Evidently

there is nothing for those young fish to live upon. They breed

and live and thrive where all the conditions are right for them,
orin trout lakes where they are indigenous and there is some-
thing for the young fish to live upon, You may take the fry and
put them into waters where there is no food for the young fish,
and you will never have any result. This isa thing we might
as well look in the face and understand that it is useless work.
Now, see the work of the lowa Commission, and they did a great
deal, they took a great deal of spawn, salmon trout, | don’t know
where they deposited them—all over lowa—but I have yet to
learn that one has appeared. The same way I did with white-
fish. [took about an equal number of whitefish as lake-trout,
taking the spawn the same time of year and hatched about as
many. I suppose I put into Lake Geneva 2,500,000, both of
whitefish and lake trout. I was determined to make the experi-
ment thorough enough to demonstrate that one question,
whether these small lakes could be stocked with the better classes
of food fishes where they were not indigenous to the waters. I
knew that of course by putting a few thousand ina lake occa:
sionally, or every year, five to ten or twenty thousand, was not
enough to demonstrate it. They could easily be destroyed ; but
by putting enough in, piling them in year after year, it would
demonstrate it, and I spent ten or twelve thousand dollars in the
experiment. | think this is a question that is very vital for us

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. Thal

to consider in our work hereafter—what there is in the waters
where we propose to put fish for the young to live upon, and I
apprehend there is not much to be gained in trying to plant fish
in waters where they are not indigenous, or where they have
not been some time. [ also procured from Professor Baird, and
hatched, perhaps half a million of California salmon the same
seasons that I was hatching the others, which I deposited in the
lake ; but there is a little stream entering Lake Geneva—the
lake is fed by springs. There is really no inlet to it except the
springs around it, but at the upper end of the lake there is about
a mile of low land, andthe springs running down through make
a little creek. I deposited the young California salmon in those
little streams, little springs, and they ran down into this creek:
Some of them I kept—perhaps fifty to one hundred thousand,
about half of the amount I hatched, I kept from the streams
until they were yearlings, and then turned them out, and we
have taken occasionally a California salmon, but they are not at
all plenty. For the last two years there has not been any taken.
Three years ago a boy took one, a very fine fish, which weighed
twelve and three quarter pounds, as handsome a salmon as I
ever saw anywhere—showing that salt doesn’t enter into the
question at all as to the life of the salmon; that they will grow
just as well in fresh water as in salt, if they have enough to eat.
There is an abundance of food there, and the California salmon
are a very hardy fish. I have no doubt if I had put as many
California salmon into Lake Geneva as I did salmon trout, that

we would had more of a'result from it, still I don’t apprehend

that they would do much. I think a lake of that size and purity
of water, and with all the food there for the maturing of fish,
the California salmon might be made to flourish there if we had
two or three miles of good gravel bottom stream in which they
could spawn. I found in this little stream which runs up through
the marshy meadow, very low ground—it is only a small stream,
and the bottom is mud and the water is very cold but sluggish—
I found in there one day four or five large salmon that would
run § to ro lbs., splashing around up in there—it was evidently
their spawning season—looking for a place to spawn; but if
they did lay their eggs they sank down in the mud and were

~

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

ba |

lost. There is no place there for them to hatch. I couldn't get
any spawning ground for them. I also made an experiment in
brook trout in these little streams, springs around those hills,
and in this creek running down there, and established a fish
farm up there, quite a trout pond, and stocked this little
stream. This is eminently successful, because in the stream,
in the weeds and growth in the bottom they are alive with
the natural food of the brook trout, the little fresh-water
shrimp, and now that mile and a half of stream running through
this marsh is full of brook trout, as fine trout as I ever saw. In
fact, I never saw fatter and finer brook trout than I find in there.
| can go in there any time and take twenty-five or thirty trout in
an hour or two. Thatexperiment has been eminently successful,
because the food is there for the fish. I thought I would give
you gentlemen the benefit of my experience. I have never
written anything about it, because it was a good deal of a ques-
tion in my mind whether I ought to do it, and whether I ought
to discourage the attempts that might be made; but I am so
thoroughly satisfied that it is utterly useless that I think it
should be made public.

Mr. Dunninc.—Mr. Chairman, I would agree with Mr. Fair-
bank in regard to Geneva Lake. He has taken a great deal of
pains in stocking this lake, and it is as beautiful a lake as you
ever saw in your life, and it is true, as he says—! have been
there—that it has bold shores, deep water, and it would seem as
though it was the most perfect place that ever was made for lake
trout, but it is also true that they are not there. I am intimate
with Mr. Fairbank and know about this matter, and there was
no success whatever in the experiment, and it was very dis-
couraging. Mr. Fairbank has done more to stock the inland
lakes than any man I know of in the country, but I am satisfied,
and | think Mr. Fairbank is, that is not the fault of the water,
but it is the want of fish food. Now, Mr. Forbes in this State
Professor Forbes, told me, in a conversation with him at our
place in Madison, we had a great epidemic among our fish there
the summer we was there, and he came there to investigate it,
the perch died by the hundreds of thousands, and when he was

FIFTKENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 79

there we were talking about this same thing, and we dredged in
our lakes to find the fish food, to see of what it was composed,
to see if that was the cause of the epidemic in the fish. In the
conversation he said to me, “Mr. Dunning I find in dredging
in one haul more fish food than I would in Lake Geneva.” It
is mere nothing there, and the cause of the fish not doing any
better [ think is for the want of the food. Now, Mr. Fairbank,
in the lake you speak of, you will find your fishing is rather
crude tor a body of water as large as that.

Mr. Fatrpank.—There is good black bass fishing there.

Mr. Dunninc.—They are not as plenty as they should be
and they lack food, and it is a lack of the food more than any-
thing else.

Mr. FairsaANnk.—Oh, there is an abundance of food for the
black bass, and for the other fish that are indigenous to the
place.

Mr. Dunninc.—Now, in our lakes, Madison—we are sur-
rounded by lakes there, we have had the lake trout annually,
and they were put in. We got discouraged because they were
put in in unlimited quantities and we didn’t see any result, but
we continued to put them in and they began to show themselves.
A year ago last season, and this last season, and this winter they
have been caught in quite good numbers, because people have
learned to know how to fish for them. There have been a great
many of these fish caught by people who didn’t know what they
were and they put them back, supposing they were dogfish, not
being a fish they had been in the habit of seeing in our waters.
Last fall during the spawning season of the trout, I took as
many as five, that were partially digested from the stomach of
a pickerel, from half a pound to nearly a pound. I took five.
Now I account for that in this way. The trout were spawning
at the time and the fish taking advantage of it took them.

Mr. Farrpank.—Have the fishermen taken any salmon trout
of any size in your lakes?

Mr. Dunninc.—Oh, yes, weighing 3 lbs. to 3% lbs.

Mr, Fairsank.—That is very encouraging, but your lakes

TT

a

SS
Tm =

80 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

there bear out what I said. I think you have some lime forma-
tion and rocks.

Mr. DunniNG.—Yes, and some sandbanks. So I want the con-
vention, as well as Mr. Fairbank, to think that Wisconsin inland
lakes will produce fish—that is, the trout. There is no question
about it.

Mr. FarrBANK.—I have no doubt there are lakes where the
food will be found. As I say, you find a lake where the proper
stone formation exists, and you will undoubtedly find food for
them; but I think in the majority of the small lakes it would be
utterly useless to put lake trout in them. I have never heard
what the success was there at the Madison lakes. I knew some-
thing had been done there, but not the result. So if you have
succeeded there you ought to go on and put in a very large
amount of them every year.

Mr. Dunninc.—As remarked, it requires different fishing to
fish for the lake trout than for the salmon.

Mr. Farrpank.—Yes, you have got to fish for them in deep
water.

Mr. Maruer.— Mr. President, there is one thing that strikes
me that is a little singular about Geneva Lake, and that is this,
as I understand it, the food of all these young fishes belonging
to the salmon family, including the brook trout, the lake trout,
etc., which are all grouped in one family, there are only three
classes of food which they feed upon ; one is the small crusia-
ceans, another is the insects and flies on the surface, and the
third is the larvz of those fliesand worms in the water, and they
all feed upon that class of food, and if there is food in Geneva
lake for the brook trout and for the California salmon, I do
not know why the lake trout should not be found there also.

Mr. FarrsaANnk.—The brook trout and the California salmon
were put into this little stream up above, and there is where they
found their food. There is insect life of course that the cisco
feeds on. The young of the cisco find their food there. I don’t
know what it is.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 81

Mr. MaruHer.—It rather surprises me that there is food for all
these and none for the lake trout.

Mr. Tomiin.— Within a few miles of Duluthsome years ago,
some very wise men petitioned for the deposit of two hundred
thousand of these salmon trout, just as Mr. Fairbank speaks of
seven years ago. Now, I have been up to the lake several times
and fished there, especially to see if there was any chance of
getting these fish, and I was puzzled beyond my comprehension
to understand why in seven years there had not any of them
turned up. I thought surely in that seven years there would
have been some young ones taken. As Mr. Mather said, I think
the salmon family live all the way through on the same kind of
food, and if there was food for the brook trout there would be
for the salmon trout. Now, after the first plant of two hun-
dred and fifty thousand was put in, the next year they put in
another plant of two hundred and fifty thousand, so there has
been five hundred thousand put in there. This lake I speak of
has all the properties of a good lake for fish, except the lime-
stone formation. It is boulders there, but any quantity of lily-
pads and what are called fresh water plantain, and in addition
there are millions of chubs or shiners, and just as soon as you
get the small fish over the preliminary stage of their existence,
there is plenty for them to live upon. But in that seven years
Ihave yet to hear of one salmon trout being caught. I have
wondered a great many times why it is so.

Mr. Farrspank.—I think you have got to have the rock forma-
tion.

Mr. CLiark.—I think there is one point that they all overlook—
something I have been working on two or three years, and per-
haps other fish-culturists, and that is we are planting our brook
trout, salmon trout, young salmon and all of that class of fish
in new waters too young. They should be grown or partially
grown before we plant them. Another point which goes to
prove that you get results quicker is, that wherever you have a
hatching house on a stream that trout will live in it at all, you
will get that stream stocked ten times quicker than any that you
plant with fry, because your partially

grown fish are always

82 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY

getting away. Now, to stock new waters which are not trout
streams proper, I think the way is to put the fish in from four
months to six months, up toa vear old; then you have a good
stout healthy fish that has got something to live upon until it
can accustom itself to the new class of food.

Mr. Tomuin.—I would like to ask Mr. Clark to come back to
the subject which Mr. Fairbank started on—is it possible to
stock waters which are not indigenous to salmon or trout, with
trout or salmon, and make it a success ?

Mr. Criark.—Certainly it is possible, because it has been
done.

Mr. Maruer.—-In regard to this matter which Mr. Tomlin
has just brought up, and the question which he asks Mr. Clark
about stocking with fish which are not indigenous to the water,
I will say that within the past few years this lake trout, whose
natural habitat is the great lakes and the small lakes of New
York, has been introduced into Virginia. Col. McDonald has
had success with them at Wytheville, and all of us who know
anything about the distribution of this fish, know that our lake
or salmon trout, never existed in Virginia in a state of nature.
Tam now hatching for Professor Baird one hundred and fifty
thousand of these lake trout, which he has requested me to keep
on Long Island for four or five months, in accordance with Mr.
Clark’s theory, and then distribute according to his order in
the fall, and he tells me that Col. McDonald says that these lake
trout will bear warmer waters than any of our salmon. That
is not my experience. I have always believed them to be the
most delicate in regard to temperature of any of our fishes, and
have believed they require colder water ; at the same time I am
trying it, 1 am anxious to see if they will live in our warm
waters on Long Island. Col. McDonald has raised them in
Virginia, where there is not much difference in temperature.

Mr. Ciark.—I have one hundred and fifty thousand that we
are keeping for the United States Commission to-day, from the
same lot that Mr. Mather speaks about. Mr. Mather’s one hun-
dred and fifty thousand came from Northville. That is the pur-

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 83

pose of the United States Fish Commission from now on. Now,
one remark that Mr. Dunning just spoke to me about—he
thought that if you keep them in the troughs too long they be-
come too much domesticated. Now, there is the point—you
want to keep them long enough until they grow so that you
have a good healthy fish, I mean a fish of two or three months
about. Keep them there as long as you see fit and put them in
your pond and feed them. That is my idea of it, keep them
until you get a good healthy fish. We have had at Northville
probably twenty-five thousand trout from a year old and up-
ward, and next week shall probably plant one half of these fish.
Some of them are probably at least a foot long.

Mr. FarrBaNK.—I have no doubt that these fish, kept until
they become a mature fish, say a year old, will live in Lake
Geneva, because there is enough food for them there, minnows

and young fish that they can eat; but I don’t believe that if

they spawn there that the young fry which they hatch would
ever come to maturity, because I don’t think there is any food in
that lake for them. The object of my making these remarks is
that gentlemen when selecting a lake to put trout in, should
look to the matter of the food for the fry, the young fish, and
look particularly to the rock formation, the stone formation
about it. I think that is the secret of it, and if you put your
young fish in, keeping them until they are six months or a year
old, andthen put them in a lake where there is no food for the
fry, it will never amount to anything. These mature fish will
grow, but there will never be a second generation.

Mr. MarHer.—What Mr. Fairbank has said about planting
fish in suitable waters is no doubt true, and what Mr. Clark says
about raising these young fish is also true, but it has been my
experience that a young lake trout would preferto have the tail
or fin of his brother, to anything you can offer him. These
little devils eat each other up.

Dr. Hupson.—I would inquire if there are any more papers
to be read ? If there are not, of course the more discussion we
have, the better.

The Secrerary.—There is but one more paper, and if it is in
order I will now read it.

S84 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

WORK AT COLD SPRING HARBOR! NOW,
BY FRED MATHER.

This station of the New York Fish Commission, of whichI am
the superintendent, is on the north shore of Long Island and is
intended for both salt and fresh water fish. Some work is also
done for the United States Fish Commission, and the expense
of this is borne by the general Government; the fish hatched are
mainly distributed within the State. These latter fish are
salmon, land-locked salmon and lake trout. In some cases such
as the whitefish and shad, the eggs are given by the United
States, and distributed by the State, an arrangement of great
value to the latter.

During the past season we have had 262,000 trout fry at the
station. Of these there were 40,000 eggs taken at the station,
112,000 eggs bought by Mr. John D. Hewlett, of Cold Spring
Harbor, from James Annin, Jr., and W. L. Gilbert, the fry from
which went into the waters of the north and south sides of Long
Island, and 110,000 fry were received from the New York hatch-
ery at Caledonia, in charge of Mr. M. A. Green. We have on
hand at present writing 3,000,000 eggs of the smelt, 1,000 eggs
of the Oguassa trout from Sunapee lake, New Hampshire, a gift
of Mr. Elliott B. Hodge, Commissioner of that State. One
million whitefish from eggs sent from the Northville, Michigan
station, of the U. S. Commission, ‘under charge of Mr. F. N:
Clark, by order of Prof. S. F. Baird, have been hatched and dis-
tributed to Great Pond, near Riverhead. Long Island, and to
Lake Ronkonkoma, a large lake in the center of the island.
Previous plantings have been made in these lakes, but we have
been unable so far to learn the result of them. It is hoped, how-
ever, that this fish may find a suitable home in these waters.

On this subjectthe County Treasurer of Suffolk County writes
me from Riverhead, under date of January 30, 1886, as follows:

lrred Mather, E'sg.: DEAR SIR—I will be very glad to assist you in
any way. I have two parties out trying to get a specimen of the
whitefish for you, but have failed so far on account of the ice, but will
give it a thorough trial when the ice is gone and report to you. Iam
having anet fixed now to try to catch one or more. There is a pond

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

ie)
On

one and ahalf miles long just above Riverhead, good running water,
which I hired two men to clean out of all worthless fish, such as cat-
fish, suckers and what we call ‘‘roach.” They caught about two and
a half tons of turtles, which we carted off and buried. I was in
hopes to get some black bass to place in this pond, and would like
some whitefish for it now. We havea good place for lake trout, and
if you will send us some and let us know when they will arrive, I will
take especial pains for their care. Perhaps the brown trout might
do well here. (Signed) J. HENRY PERKINS.

In the salt-water department, we have hatched and turned out
over two million tomcods, or as they are sometimes called on
the coast, frost fish, a small relative of the cod which seldom
exceeds a pound in weight but is quite an important little food
fish in our harbors. In January we had some 2,000,000 codfish
eggs of whicha very fair percentage were developing, until a
blizzard blew through our old delapitated shanties, which we
use for hatching houses, and froze up the pipes and the eggs in
the jars. We had watched the development of these eggs daily
under the microscope with great interest, and felt sure of suc-
cess until the cold snap put a stop to all further development.

Of the brown trout, which by the way I believe to be the
gamest trout in America, we had some three thousand eggs from
our own fish, and have received some 25,000 from Germany
through the courtesy of our good friend, Herr von Beir, presi-
dent of the German Fishery Association, with a promise of
50,000 more from Herr von dem Borne, the well-known fishcul-
turist of Berneuchen.

From the United States Fish Commission we have. 500,000
salmon hatched from eggs received from the hatching station

at Orland, Me., under charge of Mr. C. G. Atkins. These will

go into the headwaters of the Hudson, the Salmon river empty-
‘ing into Lake Ontario, the Oswego river and some 50,000 will
go by request of State Commissioner R. U. Sherman, to the
waters of the Saranacs, whose outlet is into Lake Chaplain and
down into the St. Lawrence. These fish are now ready for dis-
tribution. We have also about 34,000 land-locked salmon from
the United States works at Grand Lake stream, Me, in charge
of Mr. H. H. Buck, also sent at request of General Sherman

—_——.—-

—

86 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

for the waters near the Adirondack hatchery, either in Saranacs
or in Lake Brandon, formerly known as Little Clear pond, now
set apart for the State hatchery, on whose outlet it is located.
The hatching season has been exceptionally good, and the losses
of eggs and fry have been down to the minimum. The work at
the station was done by two men and myself, until in February
we were reinforced by Mr. F. A. Walters, superintendent of the
Adirondack hatchery, who in former years had been my fore-
man, but who by an accident to the dam at the hatchery under
his charge was relieved from duty there for the present. Last
fall some new ponds were made; the only ones which were
there when the State took possession, were drained and quanti-
ties of eels taken from them, which, do doubt, destroyed many
fry in former years. A fence has been put around the place and
the grounds greatly improved. A new hatchery is really needed,
as the two buildings now used forthis purpose are not only
small but so decayed as to be ready to tumble down. The men
have worked in these buildings with six inches of ice under
their feet, and at times with water freezing within ten feet of a
red hot stove, and while ice has occasionly formed to the depth
of a quarter of an inch in the hatching troughs it has done no
damage there. But the two-inch iron pipes which convey the
salt water to the jars did freeze and the flow was stopped. The
eggs of the cod being so light that they would not beara strong
current, consequently the flow had to be shut down to a very
small quantity, and all froze, as did some small English soles
also.

The station, with these advantages of fresh and salt water,
could be made, with a proper expenditure of money, the most
important one in the United States. Its flow of fresh water is
‘not anything like as great as at some other stations, but the
height from which this water is taken—some forty feet above’
the hatchery, renders it possible to use the water over many
times—in fact, we do so now. The brick building on the hill,
in which there are twelve troughs with a capacity for 30,000
salmon each, receives the water first ; it then flows into a little
pool, where egg shells and dirt may settle, and is conveyed on
the upper floor of the main hatchery, in which there are eleven

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 87

troughs, and it then passes into the ponds. Another spring
supplies the lower floor of the hatchery, which has nine troughs
and hatching tables, on which twenty-five McDonald jars can
be placed, and either salt or fresh water turned into them.

The fresh-water supply is capable of running more troughs
than we now use, but the floor surfaces of the buildings will
not permit them. The salt water which is within three hun-
dred yards at low tide, is pumped into a reservoir on the hill
and led into the buildings through a two-inch iron pipe, so
that practically the sea is above us. The density of.the water is
sufficient to hatch codfish and oysters, and many oysters were
hatched here last season by order of Mr. E. G. Blackford, of
the New York Fish Commission, who is in charge of the oys-
ter investigations of the State,an account of which is given in
‘another paper. We have successfully hatched shad in the spring
water here, and may repeat the experiment this year. It is
now three years since we began work here, and our last sea-
son's work will foot up to about six millions of fry of different
species, hatched and distributed.

Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., April to, 1886.

The CHairMan.—The treasurer’s report has not yet been read,
and perhaps that should be read now. If the gentlemen will
listen the secretary will read the report of the treasurer.

After the reading, it was moved and seconded that the report
of the treasurer be accepted and placed on file. Carried.

The CHatrmMan.—Article IV. of the Constitution, which was
adopted to-day, provides that the regular meeting of the Society
shall be held once a year, the time and place being decided upon
at the previous meeting, or in default of such action, by the ex-
ecutive committee. It will, therefore, devolve upon this meet-
ing to determine the time and place of the next meeting of the
Society. Will any gentleman present make a suggestion in
regard to that matter ?

Mr. Tomuin.—Before this matter comes up there is one resolu-
tion here I would like to read and get an expression of opinion

of the gentlemen present. Yesterday the preponderance of the

evidence brought before us showed that it was better to propa-

———

—————

ee

88 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

gate fish than it was to police the great waters of the lakes. I
should like to present this resolution for consideration:*

Resolved. That it is the sense of this meeting that the public good
of the States bordering on the chain of upper lakes would be best
served by the establishment of fish hatcheries for the propagation of
the spawn of whitefish and lake trout, and we do pledge ourselves to
urge on our Congressional representatives and Senators to obtain an
appropriation from Congress at this session to be devoted to this
purpose.

Mr. Tomiin.—I will say this has been a matter of considera-
tion in Duluth for some time. We have communicated with our
representative there, and also with the Senators, and the matter
is in their hands. Since I have been in the meeting here I have
been making some inquiries as to the best method of procedure,
and learn it can only be done by Congressional appropriation or
grant. If it is the sense of the meeting, | would like to have the
matter discussed, and would offer it as a resolution if it will be

accepted.

The CHaAIRMAN.—You have heard the resolution that has been
read, What action will you take upon it?

Mr. Matruer.—I should rather think, Mr. President, that this
was a matter more pertinent to the Commissioners of Fisheries of
the States and to the gentlemen who are interested in the stock-
ing of the great lakes really, than one that came within the scope
of this organization, because it is a local matter, as much so as if
the Society should move that the hatching of codfish be ex-
tended, or the stocking of the Mississippi or some other local
stream be recommended. That is the view I take of the matter.

The CHairMAN.—It doesn’t seem to me that there is any ob-
jection if the gentleman simply wishes to get the opinion of the
members present, from the bordering States perhaps, but other-
wise, as Mr. Mather has suggested, it would be just as proper to
petition Congress to stock the Connecticut river with shad, it
seems to me, as it would be in this matter. The matter belongs
more particularly to the State Commissioners and the citizens,

* Mr. Tomlin was elected a member of the Society, but has failed to complete his membership.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 89

the inhabitants of the various States in this immediate neighbor-
hood and not for the Society, which is supposed to represent the
whole United States. That is the idea that presents itself to the
chair. It is open of course for discussion by the Society.

Mr. Dunninc.—I move that the resolution be laid aside until
we get through with the business now under consideration.

The CuatrmMan.—Will any gentleman make any suggestion
as to the time and place of the next meeting, either in the form
of a motion or remarks in regard to the matter?

Mr. May.—In order to bring the matter before the Society, I
move that the next annual meeting of this Society be held in
Washington, on the second Tuesday of May, 1887.

Mr. Barr_etr.—I move the next annual meeting of the So-
ciety be held at Quincy, Illinois, the “Gem City of the West,”
the speaker tendering the hospitalities of the city to the Society
should they conclude to hold the meeting at that place.

Mr. Dunning suggested that the Society meet at Madison,
Wisconsin, at the next annual convention.

Mr. FairBank.—I second the motion of Mr. May. I want to
say here that I feel absolutely mortified at the lack of interest
that our people have taken in this meeting. The Commissioners
in the Western States, where they have a Commission, have not
come here.as 1 expected they would, and as they ought to have
done, and they don’t deserve another meeting. We could have
had more interest from the general public if the matter had been
a little better understood, and I supposed it would be. I don’t
know exactly where the fault is, but we have relied on Dr. Rowe
to disseminate the matter in the press, and have the general
public understand the full scope and intention of the meeting:
and awaken some outside interest in it, but I have been absent
myself and have been very much engaged in other things, and I
supposed the matter was being attended to. I think we ought to
rest on the laurels'we have won this time, and try a meeting at
Washington, which is really headquarters.

¢
Mr. Maruer.—Mr. President, lagree with what Mr. Fairbank

go AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

has said about the advantages of Washington. Washington isa
central point; it is at the head of the National Government, as
some of you may know, and there is a vast museum of fishculture
to be seen there. All the apparatus which has ever been devised
is in the National Museum, and there are many advantages to be
gained by having the meeting there. We have had the most
successful meetings we have ever had in Washington, and while
these questions come up about the East or West, I don’t think
it is worth while entertaining them. The Society is a national
one in its scope and in its aim, and I do not hesitate to avow my-
self for Washington.

Mr. May.—I will amend my motion, Mr. Chairman, by mov-
ing that the next annual meeting of the Society be held at Wash-
ington, on the rath, 13th and 14th days of May, 1887. Which
motion, being duly seconded, was carried.

Mr. FarRBANK.—I want to say a word or two more about the
history of the Illinois Fish Commission, which the modesty of
my associate, Mr. Bartlett, has prevented him from saying any-
thing about. He has done all the work, and it is a little different
work from what any other commission or State has done, and it
has been so successful that I feel it is important.to say something
about it here, and call vour attention to it, especially to the Com-
missioners from the Western States. You, most of you, know
the character of the water we have here, and in my talks with
him in relation to planting and hatching fish, I said I didn’t think
he could do much of anything in that work, and Mr. Bartlett
suggested that as there were millions of fish that were left every
vear along the Mississippi river by the receding water, the
young fish in the spring going to the shallow water near the
shores, and as the river went down they were left on the bottom
in the pools and ponds there, millions and millions of them to
die, the best work we could do would be to gather up those fish,
sort them out and distribute them, and that is the work we have
been on for the past few years. We have a boat and a gang of
men that go along the shores of the river and gather up these
fish; and we have all varieties, from the small-mouthed black
bass to the buffalo, and we take them up there by the bushel and

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. oI

sort them out, and have a tank car, and that car is filled up with
the young fish and is run over all the railroads in the State, and
wherever we cross a river we stop and dump in our fish, and we
have distributed a great many hundred thousand of fish with
very gratifying success, as we get from all portions of the State
reports of the pickerel, bass and perch where they never were
known before. This isa work that is easily and cheaply done,
and considering the numbers of the fish we have distributed, it is
much cheaper than any other work that is done in that line. It
is so very effective that I feel like suggesting it to the members,
particularly of the Western States here, believing it is really a
much more effective and profitable way of spending money than
by hatching and attempting to plant the fish where they are not
indigenous.

Mr. CLark.—I understand they are planted in streams where
they were not before. Do you think you would have got the
same result if you had planted little fry in those same streams ?

Mr. Fairpank.—Oh no, I agree with you the larger the fish
the better, still the character of the water of the small streams
is similar to the Mississippi. Before the fish are sorted he picks
out the best varieties, thinking that is the best way to plant them,
and last season he has taken all kinds and thrown them in, so
that the poorer varieties may make food for the others.

Mr. Dunninc.—There isa fish that is becoming quite common
all over the country, from north to south and east to west, and I
would like to have an expression of this meeting in regard to
the fish being a profitable one for propagation. It is the carp,
and we read what a great size it attains in a very few years, and
how prolific it is.

Mr. Barrcerr.—I would simply say that in my opinion it
solves the question of the cheapest food for the greatest number
of people, for the least amount of money. This question can be
solved in the propagation of carp. In the state of Illinois there
are now 6,000 carp ponds, anda great many of them are pro-
ducing fish to-day. Applications this year on file for carp num-
ber 2,500, in round numbers, and they are increasing every day.

Q2 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Out of that whole number I have not heard of twenty-five that
have denounced it as a failure. I have one carp in my posses-
sion now that I think isamong the first received from the general
Government, a male carp, which measures 36 inches long and
weighs 22 pounds. A large proportion of the ponds in the
United States are ordinary farm ponds.

The resolution of Mr. Tomlin being called up for re-considera-
tion, the same was read by the Chairman. The resolution and
movement was supported by remarks from Dr. Sweeny, and
opposed by Secretary Mather and President Hudson. The ques-
tion occurring on the adoption of the motion, it was carried by
a vote of the members present, standing six in affirmative to two
in the negative.

Mr. BarrLerr.—I have a resolution I would like to offer:

Resolved. That the thanks of this Society be extended to Mr. Potter
Palmer for his courtesies to the members of this Convention, and for
the use of this room.

Carried unanimously.

Mr. May.—I do not think it will be out of place for the
Society to tender thanks to the local committee here, Mr: Fair-
bank, Dr. Rowe, and Mr. Bartlett, for the exhibit of live fish,
etc., made at the Exposition Building, for the benefit of the
members in attendance upon this meeting, and I move that the
thanks of the Society be tendered to them. The motion was
seconded and carried unanimously.

Dr. Sweeny.— While we feel grateful in our return of thanks,
if it has not already been done, I move that the thanks of the
Society be tendered to the gentleman who invited us to look at
his oranges, bananas, etc. The motion receiving a second, was
carried.

Mr. BartTLertr.—I would move the thanks of this Society be
tendered to the reporters of the papers for their courtesies and
kindness to us during the sessions.

Carried unanimously.

On motion, duly seconded, the Convention here adjourned
sine ate.

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FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 95

MEMBERS

OF THE

AMERICAN GISHERTES, SOCIETY.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

H. R. H., the Crown Prince of Germany.

Baird, Spencer F,, U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries,
Washington, D, C.

Behr, E. von, Schmoldow, Germany; President of the Deut-
schen Fischerei Verein.

Borne, Max von dem, Berneuchen, Germany.

Huxley, Prof. Thomas H., London; President of the Royal
Society.

Jones, John D., 51 Wall Street, New York.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Apostolides, Prof. Nicoly Chr., Athens, Greece.

Buch, Dr. S. A., Christiania, Norway; Government Inspector
of Fisheries.

Birkbeck, Edward, Esq., M. P., London, England.

Benecke, Prof. B., Kénigsberg, Germany; Commissioner of
Fisheries.

g6

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Brady, Thomas F., Esq., Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland ; Inspec-
tor of Fisheries for Ireland.

Day, Dr. Francis, F. L. S., Kenilworth House, .Cheltenham,
England; late Inspector General of Fisheries for India.

Feddersen, Arthur, Viborg, Denmark.
Giglioli, Prof. H. H., Florence, Italy.

Hubrecht, Prof. A. A. W., Utrecht, Hclland; Member of
the Dutch Fisheries Commission, and Director of the
Netherlands Zoological Station.

Juel, Capt. N., R. N., Bergen, Norway; President of the Society
for the Development of Norwegian Fisheries.

Landmark, S., Bergen, Norway; Inspector of Norwegian Fresh-
water Fisheries.

Lauderdale, the Earl of, Stirling, Scotland.
Lundberg, Dr. Rudolf, Stockholm, Sweden; Inspector of Fish-

eries.
Marston, R. B., Esq., London, England; Editor of the /7shzng
Gazette.

Macleay, William, Sydney, N. S. W.; President of the Fish-
eries Commission of New South Wales.

Sars, Prof. G. O., Christiania, Norway; Government-Inspector
of Fisheries.

Solsky, Baron N. de, St. Petersburg, Russia; Director of the
Imperial Agricultural Museum.

Sola, Don Francisco, Garcia, Madrid, Spain; Secretary of the
Spanish Fisheries Society.

Wattel, M. Raveret, Paris, France; Secretary of the Société
d’Acclimatation.

Young, Archibald, Esq., Edinburgh, Scotland; H. M. Inspector
of Salmon Fisheries.

Walpole, Hon. Spencer, Governor of the Isle of Man.

DECEASED MEMBERS.

Chappel, George. Redding, B. B.
Garlick, Dr. Theodatus. Redding, George H.
Lawrence, Alfred N. Rice Protos
McGovern, H. D. Smith, Greene.
Milner, Prof. James W. Stuart, Robert L.

Parker, W.R. Shultz, Theodore.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 97

MEMBERS.

Persons elected at last meeting and who did not pay their dues do not appear in this list.

Adams, Dr. S. C., Peoria, Illinois.

Agnew, John T., 284 Front Street, New York.
Anderson, A. A., Bloomsbury, N. J.

Annin, James, Jr., Caledonia, N. Y.

Atkins, Charles G., Bucksport, Maine.

Atwater, Prof. W. O., Middletown, Conn.

Bailey, W. E,, U. S. Fish Commission.

Banks, Charles, 453 Fifth Avenue, New York.
Barrett, Charles, Grafton, Vermont.

Bartlett, S. P., Quincy, Illinois.

Bean, Dr. Tarleton H., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Belmont, Perry, 19 Nassau Street, New York.
Benjamin, Pulaski, Fulton Market, New York.
Benkard, James, Union Club, New York.

Bickmore, Prof. A. S., American Museum, New York.
Bissell, J. H., Detroit, Michigan.

Blackford, E. G., Fulton Market, New York.

Booth, A., Chicago, Illinois.

Bottemane, C. J., Bergen-op-Zoom, Holland.
Brown, J. E., U. S. Fish Commission.

Brown, S. C., National Museum, Washington, D. ©.
Bryan, Edward H., Smithsonian Institution.
Bryson, Col. M. A., 903 Sixth Avenue, New York.
Butler, W. A., Jr., Detroit, Mich.

Butler, Frank A., 291 Broadway, New York.

Butler, W. H., 291 Broadway, New York.

Carey, Dr. H. H., Atlanta, Ga.

Carman, G., Fulton Market, New York.

Cheney, A. Nelson, Glens Falls, N. Y.

Clapp, A. T.. Sunbury, Pa.

Clark, Frank N., Northville, Mich.

Clark, A. Howard, National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Comstock, Oscar, Fulton Market, New York.
Conklin, William A., Central Park, New York.
Conselyea, Andrew, Springfield, Long Island, N. Y.
Cox, W. V., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Crook, Abel, 99 Nassau Street, New York.

Crosby, Henry F., 18 Cliff Street, New York.
Develin, John E., 30 Nassau Street, New York.

gs

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Dewey, J. N., Toledo, Ohio.

Dieckerman, George H., New Hampton, N. H.
Donaldson, Hon. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pa.
Dunning, Philo, Madison, Wis.

Earll, R. E., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Ellis, J. F., U. S. Fish Commission.

Endicott, Francis, 57 Beekman Street, New York.
Evarts, Charles B., Windsor, Vt.

Fairbank, N. K., Chicago, Ill.

Ferguson, T. B., U. S. Fish Commission.

Foord, John, Brooklyn Union, Brooklyn, N. Y.
French, Asa B., South Baintree, Mass.

Garrett, W. E., P. O. Box 3006, New York.
Gilbert, W. L., Plymouth, Mass.

Goode, G. Brown, National Museum, Washington, D.C.
Habershaw, Frederick, 113 Maiden Lane, New York.
Haley, Albert, Fulton Market, New York.

Haley, Caleb, Fulton Market, New York.

Hall, G. W., Union Club, New York.

Harris, Gwynn, Washington, D.C.

Harris, W. C., 252 Broadway, New York.

Hayes, A. A., Washington, D. C.

Henshall, Dr. J. A., Cynthiana, Kentucky.
Hesse!, Rudolf, U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Hewlett, Charles, Hewletts, Long Island, N. Y.
Hicks John D., Roslyn, Long Island, N. Y.
Hinchman, C. C., Detroit, Michigan,

Holmes, Dr. E. S., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Hudson, Dr. William M., Hartford, Conn.
Humphries, Dr. E. W., Salisbury, Md.
Hutchinson, E. S., Washington, D. C.

Isaacs, Montefiore, 42 Broad Street, New York.
Jessup, F. J., 88 Courtlandt Street, New York.
Johnston, S. M., Battery Wharf, Boston, Mass.
Kauffman, S, H., Washington, D. C.

Kelly, P., 346 Sixth Avenue, New York.

Kellogg, A. J., Detroit, Michigan,

Kingsbury. Dr. C. A., 1119 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
Lamphear, George, Fulton Market, New York.
Lawrence, G. N., 45 East 21st Street, New York.
Lawrence, F. C., Union Club, New York.
Ledyard, L. W., Cazenovia, N. Y.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. O9

Lee, Thomas, U. S. Fish Commission.

Loring, John A., 5 Tremont Street, Boston.

Lowrey, J. A., Union Club, New York,

Lydecker, Major G. 1., U. S. Engineers.

Lyman, Hon. Theodore, Brookline, Mass.

Mallory, Charles, foot Burling Slip, New York.

Mansfield, Lieut. H. B., U. S. Navy Coast and Geodatic Survey,
Washington, D. C.

Mather, Fred , Cold Spring Harbor, Nise

May, W. L., Fremont, Nebraska.

McDonald, Col. M., U. S. Fish Commission, Washington.

McGown, Hon. H. P., 76 Nassau Street, New York.

Middleton, W., Fulton Market, New York.

Milbank, S. W., Union Club, New York.

Miller, S. B., Fulton Market, New York.

Miller, Ernest, Fulton Market, New York.

Moore, George H. H., U. S. Fish Commission,

Murphy, W. W.J., U. S. Fish Commission.

Nevin, James, Madison, Wis.

O’Connor, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Page, George S., 49 Wall Street, New York.

Page, W. F., U. S. Fish Commission.

Parker, Dr. J. C., Grand Rapids, Mich.

Parker, Peter, Jr., U. S Fish Commission.

Pease, Charles, East Rockford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio,

Pietmyer, Lieut., U. S. N., commanding Steamer /7sh-Hawh.

Pike, Hon. R. G., Middletown, Conn.

Post, W., Knickerbocker Club, New York.

Ray, Hon. Ossian, M. C., New Hampshire.

Redmond, R., 113 Franklin Street, New York.

Reinecke, Theodore, Box 1651, New York.

Reynal, J., 84 White Street, New York,

Ricardo, George, Hackensack, N. J.

Riley, Prof. C. V., Agricultural Dept., Washington, D. C.

Robeson, Hon. Geo. M., Camden, N. J.

Rogers, H. M., Fulton Market, New York,

Roosevelt, Hon. Robert B., 17 Nassau Street, New York.

Ryer, F. R., New York City.

Schaffer, George H.. foot Perry Street, New York.

Schieffelin, W. H., 170 William Street, New York.

Schuyler, H. P., Troy, New York.

Sherman, Gen. R. U., New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y.

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Simmons, Newton, U.S. Fish Commission.
Smiley, C. W., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Spoftford, Henry W., Smithsonian Institution.
Steers, Henry, 1o East 38th Street, New York.
Stone, Livingston, Charlestown, N. H.

Stone, Summer R., 46 Exchange Place, New York.
Swan, B. L., Jr., 5 West 20th Street, New York,
Sweeny, Dr. R. O., St. Paul, Minn.

Thompson, H. H., P. O. Box 25, New York.
Townsend, Isaac, Union Club, New York.

Van Brunt, C., 121 Chambers Street, New York.
Ward, George E., 43 South Street, New York.
Weeks, Seth, Corry, Erie Co., Penn.

West, Benjamin, Fulton Street, New York.
Whitaker, Herschel, Detroit, Mich.

Whitney, Samuel, Katonah, New York.

Wilbur, E. R., 40 Fulton Street, New York.
Wilcox, Joseph, Media, Penn.

Wilcox, W. A., 176 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.
Willets, J. C., Skeaneatles, N. Y., or 1 Grace Court, Brooklyn.
Wilmot, Samuel, Newcastle, Ontario.

Wilson, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Wood, Benjamin, 25 Park Row, New York.
Woodruff, G. D., Sherman, Conn.

Woods, Israel, Fulton Market, New York.

Worth, S. G., Raleigh, N.C.

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1887.

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TRANSACTIONS

THE—

+ American *
FISMERIBS SOCIETY

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. -

RATIONAL PRUSEUM, WASHINGTEN, D. &.

MAY 31ST, AND JUNE 1ST, 1887.

OMPICERS POR 13en-3.

th . eee
PRESIDENT, Wea Tes McAvy* < = Fremont, Neb.
VICE-PRESIDENT, Ee be GAR Ye = = Atlanta, Ga.

REC. SECRETAAY, FRED MATHER, ~ Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.

Cor. SECRETARY, We ALY BUin bE Reaie - Detrott, Mich.
TREASURER, E. G. BLACK FOBD, = Brooklyn, N.Y.
>.

EXECUTIVE COMMITEE.

CALVERT SPENSLHEY, Chazrman, = Mineral Potnt, Wis.
i. HH. BISSEEL, = - - - - Detrott, Mich.

DR. KO: SWEENEY, - - . St. Paul, Minn.
Dre W. M: HUDSON, 4 - - - Hartford, Conn.
LIVINGSTON STONE, - - - Charlestown, N. H.
CoL. M. MCDONALD, - - . - Berryville, Va.

FRANK N. CLARK, - - - Northville, Mich.

OO ING DELON:

ARTICLE I.—NAME AND OBJECTS.

The name of this Society shall be “ The American Fisheries Society.”
Its object shall be to promote the cause of fish-culture; to gather and
diffuse information bearing upon its practical success, and upon all
matters relating to the fisheries; the uniting and encouraging of the
interests of fish-culture and the fisheries; and the treatment of all

questions regarding fish, of a scientific and economic character.

ARTICLE II.—MEMBERS.

Any person shall, upon a two-thirds vote and the payment of three
dollars, become a member of this Society. In case members do not
pay their fees, which shall be three dollars per year, after the first
year, and are delinquent for two years, they shall be notified by the
Treasurer, and if the amount due is not paid within a month there-
after, they shall be, without further notice, dropped from the roll of
membership. Any person can be made an honorary or a correspond-
ing member upon a two-thirds vote of the members present at any

regular meeting.

ARTICLE IJI].—OFFICERS.

The officers of this Society shall be a President and a Vice-President,
who shall be ineligible for election to the same office until a year after

the expiration of their terms, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording

Secretary, a Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of seven, which,
with the officers before named, shall form a council and transact such
business as may be necessary when the Society is not in session—four

to constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE IV.—MEETINGS. y

The regular meeting of the Society shall be held once a year, the
time and place being decided upon at the previous meeting, or in

default of such action, by the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE V.—CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION.

The Constitution of the Society may be amended, altered or repealed,
by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting,
provided, at least fifteen members are present at said meeting.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING

—oF THE—

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

i che P a4 od a Bs ep a

The Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Society was held in the
lecture room of the National Museum, at Washington, D. C,, on
Tuesday, May 31st, and Wednesday, June rst. In the absence
of Dr. W. M. Hudson, President of the Society, Vice-President
W. L. May called the meeting to order at 11 A. M. on Tuesday,
and after a short address the meeting adjourned until 3 o’clock
in the afternoon.

On assembling again the following new members were elected:
M. B. Hill, Clayton, N. Y.; Calvert Spensley, Mineral Point,
Wis.; Walter D. Marks, Paris, Mich. The following were elected
corresponding members: K. Ito, Hokkaido, Cho, Sapporo, Japan,
member of the Fisheries Department of Hokkaido, and President
of the Fisheries Society; W. Oldham Chambers, Esq., Secretary
National Fish-Culture Association, South Kensington, London,

Dr. H. H. Cary said he had recently been examining oysters
on the coast of Georgia with a view to planting in Lake Worth,
Fla. The lake is situated on the east coast in one of the south-
ern counties, near Jupiter Inlet, and is twenty-three miles long,
It was once a fresh water lake, separated from the ocean by a
barrier of coquina formation; but the inlet has been cut for the
transportation of boats of ten tons or more, and now the lake is
partially salt. The temperature of the Gulf Stream is not far

6 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

from 79 degrees Fahrenheit, and the lake is about the same.
The question now arises, is this temperature too high for the
breeding of oysters? The average depth of the lake is eight
feet, and the bottom of the south end is muddy; other parts
have hard bottom.

Mr. WHITTAKER.—What is the temperature of the Indian
River?

_ Dr. Cary.—I think itis lower. The Gulf Stream diverges
almost northeast, and the inlet to.the lake is ten miles south of
Jupiter Inlet. _I believe that Mr. Mather has had some experi-
ence in raising oysters, and perhaps he can give us some infor-
mation on this point.

Mr. Maruer.—My experience has not been extensive enough
to say at what temperature the eggs of the oyster will decline
to hatch or the young will die. In 1885 Prof. Henry J. Rice
came to Cold Spring Harbor to make some experiments in
the propagation of oysters, and I loaned him a large wooden
tank, in which he placed some young oysters immediately after
hatching. The tank was put on the south side of the hatchery,
and was fed by a stream of salt water not larger than a lead
pencil; it was exposed to the sun and the water attained a
temperature of go degrees, and no result was obtained. The
next year I continued the experiments in the same tank placed
on the north side of the building, with a temperature never
exceeding 80 degrees, fair results being attained. How much
higher a temperature they would have stood, I have no means
of knowing.

* Dr. Cary.—I can place layers of shells on the bottom for
catching the spawn, but there is a great deal of moving sand,
and I would like to know if this would be injurious to the
young oysters.

Mr. Eartyt.—No doubt moving sands would be injurious to
the young oysters, because the shells to which they were attached
would be buried and the young woutd be mothered.

Dr. Cary.—There are oysters,in Indian River, but it has been

tery

TEESE SN ew geet é i an aS eae

2A ame Bore S

~alady

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 7

a question whether there would be food in Lake Worth, the kind
that oysters feed upon.

Mr. Maruer.—The oyster feeds mainly upon diatoms, and
attains a size in proportion to the food it gets. Some of the
best feeding grounds on Long Island are in the brackish waters
of the bays.

Mr. Eartit.—While I don't know the limit of temperature at
which oysters will spawn, I will say that I have found adults in
water 84 degrees, and at 80 they spawn readily, Chesapeake Bay
being 80 deg. every summer. Chrisfield, near Pokomoke Sound,
and Tangiers Sound, famous oyster places, are often 80 to 85
degrees, and oysters spawn there in June and July.

The Secretary then read a paper by Prof. W:-O, Atwater,
entitled ‘Chemical Changes Produced in Oysters in Floating
and their Effect upon the Nutritive Value.” The meeting then
adjourned until the following day.

.

SECO WD DiAvye

The meeting was called to order at 11:30 A.M. A telegram
from Treasurer Blackford, stating his inability to attend, was
read. The committee, consisting of Messrs. Whittaker, Spens-

ley, Cary, Nevin and Earll, appointed on the previous day to

nominate officers, made the following report:

For. President.—W. L. May, Nebraska.

For Vice-President.—H. H. Cary, Georgia.

For Recording Secretary.—Fred Mather, New York.

For Corresponding Secretary.—W. A. Butler, Jr., Michigan.

For Treasurer.—E. G. Blackford, New York.

Executive Committee.—Calvert Spensley, chairman, Wiscon-
sins J. H. Bissell, Michigan; Dr. R. O. Sweeney, Minnesota;
Dr. W. M. Hudson, Connecticut; Livingston Stone, New Hamp-

8 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

shire; Col. McDonald, Virginia; Frank N. Clark, Michigan;
and upon vote these officers were declared duly elected.
The following paper was then read:

WORK AT COLD SPRING HARBOR.

BY FRED MATHER.

The past season has been the most successful one we have had
since operations were begun here in 1883. We have turned out
more fish than ever before, the figures for 1886 footing up to
over 6,000,000; while this year the figures are Over 9,000,co0.
There was a decrease in the numbers of salmon hatched and
planted; also in trout, but an increase in shad and Adirondack
frostfish and other species. -

SaLMON.—We received 300,000 eggs from the United States
station on the Penobscot River, which hatched in such excellent
condition that our loss was only about 8,o00, which is the best
we have ever done; of these fish 50,000 were planted in the
Housatonic River, near Kent, New Milford and Falls Village,
Conn.; 50,000 were placed in the Salmon River, near Albicn,
Oswego County, N. Y., and the remainder were placed in the
smaller trout streams on the Upper Hudson, near North Creek,
Warren County, N. Y., the terminus of the Adirondack Railroad.
Mr. J. W. Burdick, General Passenger Agent of the D. and H.
Canal Co., at Albany, very kindly gave us free transportation
for cans and mento Albany, and Mr. C. E. Durkee, Superintend-
ent of the Adirondack Railroad, offered us the same facilities
over his road. Very encouraging accounts of our plantings of
salmon in the Hudson are continually coming in. Last year over
fifty were taken by different persons, and this year we are hear-
ing of captures every day. A letter from Judge Danaher, of
Albany, says that some of the fish have gone above the dam at
Troy, and it is to be hoped that fishways will be placed there
this year, a bill for that purpose being now before the New York
Legislature. One salmon of 28% Ibs. has been taken this spring,

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 9

just below the dam at Troy, the largest fish of which we have
any record of being captured in the Hudson. It has been proved
conclusively that the Hudson can be made a saimon river. A
bill introduced into the Legislature by Mr. Collins, which pro-
vides that.no person shall at any time catch salmon in the waters
of the State of New York with any device, save that of angling
with line or rod, held in the hand, and then only from March rst
to August 15th in each year, passed both Houses and is now in
the hands of the Governor.

LANDLOCKED SaLMoN.—From 40,000 eggs received from the
United States station at Grand Lake Stream, it was decided to
plant 25,000 in the tributaries of the Hudson River, and the ma-
jority of the fish were sent to Mr. A. N. Cheney, of Glens Falls,
who placed them in Clendon Brook, a trout stream where the
sea salmon have done well for several years, while the remainder
of the fry were planted in Long Island waters.

Brook Trout.—We have received 90,000 eggs from the New
York station at Caledonia, and from these and eggs which we
took from our limited number of stock fish, we have distributed
in waters in the State 148,986 fish and fry, and we may say that
in all cases where the numbers are given there is no guess work
about it. The eggs are counted in a measure, and the rest are
measured in the same glass; then when they are placed in the
hatching troughs an account is kept of the number of dead eggs
and fry taken from each trough, so that we can tell exactly how
many fish there should be remaining in each compartment.

Brown Trout.—We received several consignments of the
brown trout, Sa/mo fario, the common brook trout of Europe,
from the Deutchen Fishcherei Verein, and also from Herr Max
von dem Borne, the well-known fishculturist of Berneuchen.
These were on account of the United States Fish Commission,
and some of the eggs were sent to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Vir-
ginia and Washington. We hatched and distributed 34,000.

Locu Leven Trout (Salmo levenensis).—The eggs of this famous
Scotch trout were sent to us by James Gibson Maitland, Esq.,
proprietor of the Howietown Fishery at Sterling, Scotland;
24,000 fry were produced from the eggs.

| fe) AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Rainsow Trour.—From 10,000 eggs sent us from the New
York station, Caledonia, we have 8,000 strong, healthy fry.

SaIBLinG (Salmo salvelinus)—TVhis handsome trout, which isa
native of the cool lakes of Germany and Bavaria, and attains a
large size, being one of the chars, is a very brilliant fish. I have
seen a specimen of 5 lbs., a male in breeding dress, in October,
which was a brilliant crimson up to and above the lateral line.
The eggs of this fish were distributed by the order of the United
States Fish Commissioner in several States, some going to Vir-
ginia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. We sent some fry to Mr.
Cheney for Lake George, and have retained some for breeders.

WHITEFISH.—From 1,000,000 eggs received from the United
States station at Northville, Mich., we have planted in Dutchess
County, N. Y., and on Long Island, over goo,000 fry.

FROSTFISH (Prosopium guadrilateralis).—Vhis fish, which is found
in the Adirondacks, where in Chateaugay Lake it is called
“Shad,” while in Maine and perhaps other places it is variously
known. as frost-fish, shad-waiter, etc. We received some 250,000
eggs from the New York station at Lake Brandon, and planted
200,000 fry in Duchess County, N. Y.

GRAYLING.—From 10,000 eggs sent to Mr. Blackford from
France, we first thought we could not save a fish, but we hatched
and brought to the point of taking food 350 fry from these eggs.
We placed ‘these in a small pond of about 15 feet in diameter
and 1% feet deep, where there was a good flow of water, but we
have never seen one of the fish since.

SuNAPEE TrRout.—From Mr. E. B. Hodge, of the New Hamp-
shire Commission, we received 10,000 eggs of the large trout
recently aiscovered there; it is of the Oquassa type, concerning
which there has been considerable dispute as to its species. We
hatched 3,000 fry which seemed strong and healthy, which we
placed in a pond similarly described for the
have never been able to see them since.

grayling, but we
WuitE Percu.—We obtained some eggs of these fish from
St. John’s Lake, near the hatchery, and we also took some by

hand from the fish; in all about 10,000 eggs. The eggs are ad-

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. II

hesive, and when laid by the fish are scattered similar to those
of the carp. The fry are the smallest of any that I have hatched,
and it requires a second look to see them in a small glass aqua-
rium. We tried to retain a few, but we were not successful, as
they died shortly after the absorbing of the sac.

SMELTS.—Out of over 4,000,000 eggs we hatched and planted
2,000,000, or about 50 per cent., which is as good as we have ever
done. I have on two former occasions read papers on the hatch-
ing of the fish before your honorable body, and have nothing
new to add. The little smelt carries a great many eggs for its
size; from 30,000 to 60,000, or perhaps more, and from roo ripe
females of good size, probably 5,000,000 could be obtained.

SHap.—We received from the United States Commission at
Washington, over 5,000,000 eggs taken on the Potomac River,
packed there and sent to Cold Spring Harbor. From this lot we
hatched 2,000,000 fry, the last lot of eggs being a total loss; per-
haps, because they remained in New York a day and were placed
in a refrigerator, for the shad egg will not bear the chilling
changes necessary to preserve the eggs of salmon or trout. Of
the fry obtained, 800,000 were placed in the Hudson River at
Albany, and 1,200,000 in Long Island streams, shipments being
made to the Nissequoge River, at Smithtown, on the north shore
of Long Island, and to the Connetquoit River, emptying into
the Great South Bay; the planting in the latter river was made
at Bridge Hampton. The weather was very favorable for hatch-
ing, and we used only spring water for them, and at no time the
temperature of the water fell below fifty-nine degrees.

Last winter was the third winter we hatched the little tomcod
and we turned out 3,400,000 in the harbor. This little fish, al-
though not in great demand in the markets, forms an important
item in the food supply of the inhabitants of Long Island, especi-
ally on the north side, as the boys catch them by hundreds and
sell them to people in the vicinity. Shorty after we began our
hatching operations and paid some attention to this fish. Cold
Spring, Huntington and Oyster Bay harbors have been literally
swarming with little tomcods, which are all credited by the
people here to our hatching operations. We made no attempt

EEE Ee

1a) AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

to hatch codfish, because of the condition of our hatchery, in
which we could not keep the salt water pipes from freezing; but
if we get a new building, as we expect, we will no doubt be able
to proceed with the hatching of the cod, as has been done at
Wood's Holl. Last winter, when every salt water pipe froze,
we had a portion of our tomcod eggs in jars, and as salt water
was not available we tried fresh water; and after hatching them
in fresh water, we kept a large number in fresh water until they
were ready to take food. No doubt this little fish could be
acclimatized in the Great Lakes, and if not valued for food,
would be desirable as food for the other fishes; but on Long
Island the tomcod is regarded as a very desirable fish, and they
are taken from all sizes up to perhaps 1¥% lbs., which is the
largest I have ever seen. They resemble the common cod in
having three dorsal and two anal fins.

The following table gives a summary of this year’s work:

Penobscot salmon planted in Hudson River........ 192,000
Penobscot salmon planted in Salmon River. ... 2. 50,000
Penobscot salmon planted in Housatonic River... 50,000
Landlocked salmon planted in Hudson River... . 25,000
Landlocked salmon planted in Hatchery Pond..... 12,000
Brook trout planted im) Stake waters Aji 009) 4.130 eee 148,986
Brown. trout planted in State waters..c: 0:5. .ljeeslthe 34,000
Rainbow trout planted in State waters........... é 8,000
Loch Leven trout, planted in State; waters’. ono): 24,000
Saibling: planked’ imvState watercress. \s02))\.)) Poitene 5,000
Wihitensh plantedsn State watenseme his.) se tetas ole 985,000
Tomcod planted in Cold Spring Harbor....... s'a'»), 3340G,000
Smelt plantedin' Cold Springs” Hlanbor sy. tis ees 2,000,000
Shad planted in Hudson River and Long Island.... 2,000,000
Hrosthistae Adit ondack)nemer oceetaeiciee clei cine alae 200,000
Garaly IMG re thal a. ae ee ede sc) eae eae rake e tA et ea ae 350
Sunapee, Lake; NvHy Oquassa trout ci. i2)5 i Genee 3,000
Wine: PenGin ts. beh iase, sf ae ed ay ly tae ata chit oy of eas 10,000

9,157,336

Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 13

Cot. McDonatvp.—So far, I have found no satisfaction in hand-
ling glutinous eggs, and the only real success I have met with
was with the eggs of the white perch. We had collected some
adult fish for Mr, Mather to send to Germany, and they were
put in a perforated can in the river to keep for a few days, and
on taking it out we found the side of the can coated with eggs,
and sent it to the central station, hardly expecting any results,
as we were not certain that the eggs were impregnated. In three
or four days a large proportion of the eggs hatched; we had
given them no attention at all, but simply left them alone. The
eggs were evenly distributed on the can, and not hung in masses;
now, perhaps as good a thing to do with glutinous eggs is to let
them alone. The eggs of the yellow perch are laid in rows and
hung over twigs and are merely suspended, where the eggs hatch
without being disturbed. The catfish also lays glutinous eggs,
but they are not stuck together; when the female lays them she
leaves the male to hover over them. Now, it may be, that in all
our attempts to hatch glutinous eggs we have only tried the
same methods which we used in handling eggs which are non-
adhesive, and have departed too far from nature in this matter.

Mr. Matruer.—You will notice in my report I mention the
fact that all the white perch which we tried to keep and feed
died. |

Cot. McDona.p.—So did ours, and I would like to hear from
Mr. Marks about the “jack-salmon,’” or pike-perch, and what
success he has had in hatching the glutinous eggs of this fish.

Mr. Marks.—We have hatched them for the past two years,
and always by separating the eggs, and never in any other way.
Although it is a long and tedious process to break the adhesive
character of the eggs, it is the only way we have ever succeeded.
Mr. Nevin has a paper on the hatching of the fish, and I can only
say that our method isthe same as his. The eggs are taken in
the rivers and transported to the hatchery on trays.

The Society then adjourned until 2 p. M.

At the opening of the afternoon session, the Secretary read
the following paper:

14 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

HATCHING THE WALLA BY Rh (Prk)

BY JAMES NEVIN.

The eggs of the wall-eyed pike cause more trouble while
undergoing the process of hatching, than those of any other of
our better class of fish, owing to their great adhesiveness. If
not attended to properly before being placed in the hatching
jars, they will stick together in bunches and float off through
the outlet from the jar; and should screens be used to prevent
this, they will be blocked up and the eggs carried off with the
overflow. In our Milwaukee hatchery we have been raising
pike fry for the past three seasons, and after trying various
plans to counteract this evil, I have found the following to
answer most satisfactorily:

As soon as impregnated the eggs are placed in tubs or some
such vessels, and kept in constant motion by gently stirring
until they have become hard, usually about five hours after being
taken from the fish. They are then placed on cotton flannel
trays and shipped in boxes in the same manner as whitefish
eggs. As soon as they are received at the hatchery they are put
into tubs, each tub to be not more than three parts full of eggs;

they are then gently stirred with the hand until thoroughly’

loosened or separated. Immediately alongside should be a
screen about three inches deep, and with holes just large enough
to allow the egg to pass through. This screen fits into a tub of
clean water and the eggs are dipped into it, and by gently shak-
ing the screen they all pass through. By this means we know
that each egg is separated from those surrounding it. | then
take some of the sediment from the bottoms of the supply tanks
and mix thoroughly with the eggs. A certain amount of this
sediment adheres to the eggs and prevents the “bunching” when
placed in the jars. After carefully following this plan the eggs
can be placed in the jars, and if given a sufficient current of
water to keep them moving very gently, there will be no danger
of their floating off; nor do they require continual watching for
the first forty-eight hours, as in the old method.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. T5

They take from fifteen to thirty-five days to hatch, according
to the temperature of the water; the colder the water the longer
the time required. When the fry are seven or eight days old,
the little fellows will begin eating one another, and hundreds
of them can be seen swimming in the tanks, each with a fish in
his mouth that seems as large as himself. A small percentage
of loss can be put down to this cause. We usually ship 50,000
in a twelve-gallon can, and find it necessary to use ice to keep
the temperature of the water sufficiently low for them to stand
the journey.

If fifty per cent. of the eggs can be hatched it can be consid-
ered very fair success. My opinion is that the general average
is lower, although one case that came under my notice very
much exceeded this. Inthe instance I refer to, there were two
small shipping boxes of eggs sent to a hatchery and fully 75 per
cent. were dead before leaving the spawning grounds, and the
man who took the eggs told me that the rest of them died when
put in the jars, and there were no more pike eggs sent to that
hatchery that season; yet, on reading the annual report for the
same season’s operations at that hatchery, I saw that ten millions
of wall eyed pike fry had been distributed! Men claim that they
can hatch 50, 75 and even go per cent. of the eggs of certain fish;
but here is a case that calls for special attention — several hun-
dred per cent. from dead eggs. .Why each egg, even if dead,
‘must have brought forth twins or triplets, at least. I think it
would be a capital idea for all of us that are engaged in pike
culture to get our eggs from that locality in the future, and we
should work hard to get very stringent laws passed protecting
the locality, so that such a very prolific and peculiar class of fish
should not be killed or destroyed.

There is no doubt that such deception as this injuriously affects
the science of fishculture. The people of the country on read-
ing or hearing of certain waters being stocked with thousands or
millions of fry, as the case may be, naturally look for some bene-
ficial result in the near future; and when no such result shows
itself, they are inclined to say that artificial propagation of fish
is very much over-estimated, nor can we blame them.

During the season just passed we secured for our Milwaukee

16 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

hatchery about 30,000,000 wall-eyed pike eggs, estimating them
at 120,000 to the quart measure, and though as fine a looking lot
of eggs as one could wish to see, I do not expect to have more
than 10,000,000 fry to distribute. These 10,000,000 will fill about
one hundred of the applications we have on file, leaving nearly
another hundred to be left over until next year.

The best breeding grounds in Wisconsin for this fish are Green
Bay, and Fox River emptying into it. Last winter our Legis-
lature passed a law preventing the killing, buying, selling or
having in possession any wall-eyed pike from these waters
weighing less than 1% lbs. A similar law for protecting our
whitefish in Lakes Michigan and Superior, and their bays, was
passed, and I have no doubt that a very few years will prove the
wisdom of these laws, as the fish will be enabled to reach an age
and size that will make them useful as breeders, and valuable as
commercial fish. The main trouble hitherto has been that our
lake fish have been caught when weighing a pound, and even
less; consequently they had no opportunity of being reproducers
of their kind, and brought such a low price per pound that a
fishermen could hardly make more than living expenses.

In conclusion, I will give a brief summary of the fry that have
been turned out and the number of applications filled in 1887 up
to the present time, by the Wisconsin Fish Commission :

No. of applica- No. of fry
tions filled. planted

Brook. trot. det tk aey Aah 212 2,930,000
Mountain trout. 4254 (Siaa.e. 1 vento) 1,350,000
Mackinaw, or lake trout....... Ave aks 500,000
Wlntbem SI yess lifer ke . b ae h etbeaet she 31,500,000
Wiall-ey.ed) pike, 75.284 Bieter | 7 8,000,000
MOtal ste tact glee = Soa shy WuanehOfe) 44,280,000

Madison, Wisconsin.

By request, Mr. K. Ito, President of the Fisheries Society of
Northern Japan, spoke on the Fishing Industries of his country,
and his remarks were taken down by Mr. J. C. O'Connor, Secre-
tary to Col. McDonald, of the United States Fish Commission.
They were as follows:

a

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. iF

THE PISHHRIESVOR-s(4P AN.

Bio Ke she Os

Gentlemen: My intention in being present at this meeting is
simply to benefit myself by gathering the crumbs that fall from
your table, and not to benefit you by any talk, as I am not pre-
pared to make any remarks; but at the same time I am very
much interested in this society. I have heard and read so much
about it while in my own country that it gives me great pleasure
to be able to be present at this meeting, my great interest in
which has prompted me to make the bold attempt of addressing
you in a tongue with which I am not familiar.

Fish constitutes the chief article of food in Japan, and the
fishing industries are necessarily the most important pursuit of
the Japanese. It gives employment to 1,654,178 men, and yields
$35,000,000. The peculiar features of the country afford every
kind of fishing, and a great many varieties of the marine animals
and plants are collected and utilized. It is not possible, how-
ever, Without some previous preparation, for me to enumerate
them or to give any account of the methods used for catching
and curing them. I will, therefore, limit my subject to the fish-
eries of Northern Japan, or Hokkaido, with which I am more
familiar. Hokkaido, more familiarly known to you under the
name of Yesso,is one of the islands constituting the Japanese
Empire, and is situated between 40 deg. 21 min. and 45 deg. 30
min. north latitude. It covers an area of about 319,000 square
miles. The fisheries industry is the oldest and most important
of the island. I will give a brief, description of some of the
principal fisheries of the Hokkaido.

First in the order of importance are the spring herring fisher-
ies. The spring herring (C/upea harengus) approaches the western
coast of the island in tremendous groups in the spring and early
summer, and fishing is carried on from the first part of April to
the last of June. The implements used for the capture of this
fish are of two kinds—the gill-net and the moored trap-net.

18 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The fish caught are gutted, and the bones and head taken off and
dried upon scaffoldings. They are then made into bundles and
sent to the southern part of Japan for food, while the roes, whica
are left, are dried on the flake or pickled and used for food. The
head bones and gills, left after making the boneless herring, are
also dried and utilized as fertilizers. But since the introduction
of traps, about thirty years ago, and also the introduction of the
pocket attachment after that, the catch became so enormous that
every fish caught could not be utilized in the old way, and so
the guano and oil industries were inaugurated. This industry,
has grown from year to year, and at present is the most import-
ant of the fisheries of the Hokkaido. At present the total
amount of the dried scraps manufactured reaches the enormous
quantity of ninety thousand tons.

Next in importance is the salmon fishery. Our salmon be-
longs to the same genus as the Pacific coast salmon. There are
two principal species of salmon, namely, the spring salmon
(Oncorhynchus perry?) and the fall salmon (Oncorhynchus haber‘).
The spring salmon ascend the waters for the purpose of spawn-
ing in the months of May and June, and the fall salmon in the
late fall months. The fall run is the more numerous of the two
but inferior in flavor.

The methods used in the capture of this fish are several, but
the principal kinds of nets used are the drag-seines, traps and
gili nets in the seas, while only the drag-seines are used in the
rivers. Some of the chief salmon rivers in the island can still
compare with any salmon rivers in this country. The most
important river for salmon is Ishikari, emptying into Strogonof
Bay, on the western coast. Curing in salt used to be the only
way of preparing salmon for market, but about eight years ago
the Government employed Mr. Treat, of Eastport, Me., to intro-
duce the method of canning the fish, and the new industry is
growing constantly, and some of the articles are now sent to
France. About three years ago a gentleman commenced a
smoking business there, and this we hope will soon become one
of the principal industries in the salmon fisheries.

Now, I will make a few remarks on the cod fisheries. The
cod are most abundant in the winter and early spring. The fish-

©

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'
i
4
‘
4

ae

Oe oe ae nas, tes Pa Fae

SIXTEENNH ANNUAL MEETING. 19

ing ground at present is limited more to the in-shore, being from
five to twenty-five miles from the shore and in water of roo or
200 fathoms deep. The gear used for capture is the trawl ex-
clusively, the construction of which is on the same principle as
the trawls used in the New England fisheries of this country.
The vessel used in this work is very small. It is an open, flat
bottomed boat, about 36 feet in length, and is furnished with a
single mast and one large clumsy rectangular sail. The most
common method of treating the cod is to take off the head and
bones and dry them very hard, like the Norwegian stockfish.
The second way is to split and thoroughly cure them with salt.
Still, some of the fish of the early catch are just gutted, slightly
cured and sent away for more immediate consumption.

Another important fishery is the iwashi (Clupea melanosticta), a
kind of herring that comes into the open sandy beach of the
eastern coast in the months of June and July. Their schools are
not so large as those of the spring herring, and are sometimes
mixed with “seven dots” (#trumeus micropus) and also with the
young of the spring herring. The principal contrivance for the
capture of this species is the drag-seine. The fish are all made
into scrap and oil.

Next, I will mention the trepang fisheries. Trepangs, or sea-
cucumbers, occur in the sandy bottom of the sea all along the
coast, and are gathered by the use of a dredge. The fish caught
are gutted and boiled in a decoction of mugglewolts or arte-
mesia, and are then spread ona sort of cleat with bamboo bot-
tom, and dried for exportation to the Chinese market.

Another fish for the Chinese market and of great importance,
is the awabi. The awabi is a gigantic gasteropod, which is
known on the Pacific coast of this country as ‘“‘abalone.” It is
speared from an open boat just like the dories used by the New
England cod fishermen, in water from two to four and a half
fathoms deep. The fishermen formerly used cod oil in order to
look into the bottom of this deep water, but water glass is now
almost universally used for this purpose. About five years ago
some adventurous fisherman introduced the diving apparatus,
but in consequence of its injurious effect upon the propagation
of the shellfish it was finally prohibited by legislation The

20 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

fresh product of this fish is separated from the shell, cooked,
slightly smoked and dried, and then sent to the Chinese market.

Next comes the squid. The squid, which has its run in the
fall, lives in big schools and is caught with the jig. It is split
open, pressed and dried, and sent over to China.

Another product of the sea I would like to mention is the
kémbu. The kombu is a kind of alge belonging to the species
of Laminaria. They occur in great abundance all along the
coast, but the best kind is obtained on the northeastern coast,
where the cold current comes down from the north. They are
taken from the rock upon which they grow by the use of the
wooden hook; they are then dried on the sandy beach, made into
bundles and exported to China.

Now, let me say a few words in reference to the fishermen on
the island. They are divided into three classes: First, outfitters;
second, fishery proprietors; and third, employees. Outfitters are
those who furnish the fishing gears, or capital or food supply to
the fishermen who cannot fit out for themselves; the fishery pro-
prietors are those who own the fishing vessels, fish houses and
all fishing gears, and the employees are those employed by the
fishery proprietors for the prosecution of the fisheries. Some
of the fishing is done on shares, like the cod fishery of this
country, while others are part in shares and part in wages, and
in some cases certain parts of the entire catch are given to the
gang of employees, besides regular wages.

The fishermen of my country are a most Open-hearted and
frank set of people, and are sometimes superstitious. Among
the fishery proprietors there are a great many well educated, in-
telligent and progressive men. They have formed associations
there for the purpose of preventing the manufacture of inferior
articles and to adjust any disputes arising between fishermen.
They have a fishery society there under the name of Hokusui
Kyokwai, for the promotion and improvement of the fisheries.
They publish monthly reports and distribute among the fisher-
men important and useful information in regard to the fisheries.
They also publish the translated account of valuable tnforma-
tion from this country. I think it will be of some interest to you
to know that a recent number of a publication which I have

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 21

received contains a translation of the paper read before the Fish-
ery Convention in London, by one of your prominent members,
Prof. Goode. This society holds fairs for competing in the kind
of articles manufactured by the different fishermen.

Now, I will say a few words in regard to the measures adopted
by the Government for the promotion of the fisheries on the
island. Under this head there are only a few laws for the pro-
tection of salmon. The principal feature of the legislation pro-
tecting salmon is that no stationary apparatus is allowed in the
river, and the only kind of net allowed is the drag-seine. The
next feature is that all nets must be taken out of the water from
sunset to sunrise, that is, every night they must cease fishing.
The next prominent feature is that fishing of any kind is prohib-
ited in the spawning tributaries; and during the spawning season
the Government appoints fish wardens to protect the fisheries
from the poachers. In addition to this legislation in regard to
salmon, there is also a law, which I have already mentioned,
against the use of diving apparatus for the capture of the awabis.

Next, let me refer to the measures adopted for encouraging
the fishermen. The Government has a fund which is loaned to
the fishermen when they meet a bad season, and when they can-
not borrow the capital to furnish their outfit. The Government
also exempts for a certain length of time from the fishery tax all
those fishermen who open new fishing grounds or who make
new fishing establishments wherever it is impossible to make
them without the expenditure of large sums of money.

Lastly, let me just touch on the legislation for regulating the
fisheries. Under this head I may mention the method which
has been adopted by the Government to govern all fishing
grounds. In every fishing locality the position of all traps and
seines is located on a map, and this map is filed in the county
offices for the reference of fishermen, so that when they have any
quarrel in regard ‘to the position of nets it can be settled very
easily. Under this head comes the regulation for inspecting the
manufacture of “*kombu.’’ The manufacture of ‘‘ kombu” lately
became inferior, and to check this evil the Government has made
a regulation requiring that all kinds of kombu must be inspected

22 SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

and branded before it is exported, just as the mackerel are
branded in this country.

Now, before I finish my remarks, let me read a few statistics
concerning the fisheries of the island, which I prepared some
time ago for the United States Fish Commission Bulletin :

NUMBER OF PERSONS, BOATS, SEINES AND NETS ENGAGED IN THE
FISHERIES OF HOKKAIDO IN 1884.

Hakodate Sapporo Nemuro

district. district. district. Total.
Fisheries propriet’rs 3,218 3,324 1,338 7,880
Employed hands... 173440), 4| 33,030 14,703 65,773
ISOAUS URW um btccenecets s 15,100 16,800 3,473 ECV:
SElmeSiet nn ete: 496 267 26 1,089
Prap-NEts <}5 2:0 es4< hi 935 1,828 335 3,098
GENE LS 6 Ne ea. or a 150,820 33,305 65 184,250
Miscellaneous nets.. 6,406 40 65 6,511

VALUE OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERY PRODUCTS OF HOKKAIDO IN 1884,

Fishery. Cee tee aetna Total.

Yens.* Yens. Yens. Yens.
Lea epg ab cae hi Abr omeeae 1,412,762 2,023,883 108,003 3,544,648
Fall salmon ........ 31,389 221,993 281,874 535,856
Spring salmon...... 1,528 5,617 118,675 125,820
Coden oe ete he 16,396 $5,048 712 102,156
Ewashilecteoe.! 116,577 15,434 1,640 133,65)
Prepane.’\ ako. cht 5,061 23,210 14,623 43,494
Banrzshelll 2 eee 26,818 COL eho SAAC Ae be 121,941
Squid eee eC eT 35,250 2,817 AA 38,067
Kombi tens taeoes 49,993 189,811 164,440 404.244
SCAR OLDER. ee ce ecco alte: eh ede ae el eee 3,150 3,150
ONISCOR (a csgeatorts seated) 0 onesie mete sella komen aes 13,413 13,413
Motalets mae ee: 1,696,974 2,662,936 706,53 5,066,440

*One yen equals about 80 cents.

I will remark here, however, that the figures just given are
rather smaller than the average, on account of the poor catch and
low prices during the year; but I think they will give an idea of
the amount of the fish caught on the island.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

to
ios)

At the conclusion of Mr. Ito’s remarks, a vote of thanks was
accorded him for his very interesting statements of the fisheries
of a country of which we know so little, but which has made such
rapid strides in acquiring the knowledge possessed by what a
few years ago was an outside world to it. It is interesting to
note, how closely all foreign methods have been copied by these
exceedingly intelligent people, as soon as their ports had been
opened to the world.

Mr. Earll then made the following remarks upon the changes
and conditions of fish-culture, and the duties of fish commision-
ers under the new conditions, which were also taken down by
Mr. O’Connor.

STATE FISH COMMISSIONERS.
BY R. EDWARD EARLL.

Mr. President—I do not intend to occupy the time of the So-
ciety with a paper, but it has occurred to me that this would be
an excellent opportunity to bring to the attention of its members
a matter, the importance of which, has been growing upon me for
some time, namely: the changedcondition of the duties of Com-
missioners of Fisheries. During the past few years it has been
the one great and sole aim of all the Commissioners to hatch our
and plant in the waters of their respective States as many fish of
the different kinds as it was possible for them to hatch and dis-
tribute, with the means placed at their disposal; but we find
that the time is rapidly approaching when it will become ne-
cessary forthe officials to present to their respective govern-
ments, or to the appropriation committees of said governments,
a clear and concise statement of all that is being accomplished
with the money appropriated for fish-cultural work.

There has thus far been very little effort on the part of most
of the States, and until recently upon the part of the general
government, to obtain definite and detailed information regard-
ing the extent and value of the fisheries of the various localities. It
is,in my judgment, especially important that each Commissioner

eee eee

24 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

of Fisheries should make himself, as far as possible, thoroughly
familiar with the details of the fisheries of his own State. I say
the fisheries, I mean more especially the commercial fisheries—
that he should give special attention to the kinds of apparatus
that are being introduced into the waters, and to the effect of
each particular kind of apparatus upon the abundance of fish. It
isonly by this means that he will be enabled to tell what the result
of his labors in stocking the waters is proving to be; and, fur-
ther,it is only by this means that he will be enabled to stand be-
tween the man who condemns all fishing for profit and the man
who wants no restrictions placed upon the fisheries. We have
at the present time two contending parties—on the one hand,
the angler, who wants fishing only for sport, and wishes to pro-
hibit the use of every form of implement for catching fish that
will interfere with the enjoyment of his summer vacation ; and
on the other hand, a large class of men who derive their entire sup-
port from the catching of fish for market. Each class comes with
its complaints to the legislative bodies of the country, and the one
that makes the best impression upon the legislature is very apt
to carry the day. Wearethus coming to have a series of laws
enacted, some of which are very unwise and ought never to ap-
pear upon the statute books,

It is only recently that the U.S. Fish Commission has under-
taken to familiarize itself with the details of the fisheries. Through
an arrangement with the Census Office in 1879, Professor Baird,
as you all know, was allowed an opportunity of carrying out an
elaborate scheme for the investigation of the commercial fish-
eries. The work was placed under the direction of Prof. Goode,
and the results of that work are beginning to appear. Owing to
the exhaustion of the appropriation of the Census Office, they
were able to print only a small portion of the material that was
given them, but all of the manuscripts were retained by them
until recently, when they were returned to the U. S. Fish Com.
mission. Professor Goode and his associates has given much
time to the preparation of these reports, the first two volumes
of which have already appeared, anda large amount of additional
material is now in type and will soon be ready for distribution.
At least half a dozen more volumes similiar in size to those al-

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 25

ready out will be published. These will describe in detail the
fisheries of all the more important fishing towns, the history,
methods and present extent of each of the special fisheries ; the
characteristics of the fishermen bothat home and at sea, the char-
acter, extent and location of the principal fishing grounds, the
apparatus of the fisheries, and in addition will give an exhaus-
tive statistical review of the fishery industries of the country.

But these reports will picture the fisheries asthey were in 1880,
and if they are to be available for present use, they must be kept
up to date. With the desire to keep abreast with any changes
that might take place, Professor Baird has frequently, since that
time, sent out committees for the investigation of special subjects.
It has been my privilege to be on several of these committees of
investigation, and I have found how comparatively easy it is for
one, even though a stranger to the locality, to get control of the
details of the fisheries of any village or stretch of coast. From
my experience I have been convinced that it would be entirely
practicable for the Commissioners of several States to familiar-
ize themselves with the changes that are taking place within
their own borders, and to collect from year to year full and com-
plete statistics of the fish caught in the territory under their con-
trol, and to publish these for the information of the public in
their annual reports.

I have been much pleased to see in the States of Michigan and
Wisconsin a very commendable effort in this direction. [ think
the Commissioners of both of these States have so familiarized
themselves with the details of the fisheries in their own waters
and with the influence of each kind of apparatus of capture, that
they will be better able to cope with the problem of legislation
than the Commissioners of other States, and also to show more
clearly the influence of their fish-cultural operations upon the
yield of the commercial fisheries. Any one who has heard the
conflicting statements of the fishermen when summoned to give
evidence regarding proper legislation for the protection of the
fisheries, cannot fail to appreciate the importance ofa full
knowledge of all important details. In the Great Lake fisher-
ies the gill net and pound net fishermen are at sword points ; one
claiming that the other is using the most destructive apparatus

ee ee ee el

26 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

that could be devised, while the angling element, especially in
the more eastern lakes, is opposed to both. There have been
frequent attempts in various States to entirely prohibit the pound
net fishing, and there have been equally strenuous efforts to pro-
hibit the use of the gill net, and again laws have been framed for-
bidding the use of haul seines, while fishing with pound nets and
gill nets was in no wayrestricted. Numerous attempts have also
been made to control and protect the fisheries by regulating the
size of the mesh, but the utter inability of legislation to protect
the small fish by this means is shown very clearly by the remark
made to me yesterday by one of the gentlemen present, who
claimed that if it were possible to insist upon the use of a given
size of mesh, the fishermen could still regulate the size of the fish
taken quite as his pleasure, by simply pulling hard upon the
upper cork line at one end of the net, and upon the lead line at
the other end, so as to draw the meshes together, and thus pre-
vent the very smallest fish from going through.

I bring this matter to your attention because I have come to feel
the importance of a definite and positive knowledge in this con-
test, when parties interested and parties whose interests are not
apparent are clamoring for legislation. [think the time has
arrived when the Commissioners of the different States should
stand between the contending elements and should settle defin-
itely in the minds of the law makers, the questions which are
up for consideration, and nothing, in my judgment, is more
necessary to a proper understanding of these questions than a
careful comparison of the yield of the fisheries of the various
localities from year to year.

With a desire to obtain as reliable statistics as possible, the
U.S. Fish Commission has recently, through the co-operation of
the Treasury Department, established a series of reports in which
I think you will all beinterested. The Secretary of the Treasury
has consented to require of the owner and master of each vessel
engaged in the fisheries of the United States, regardless of the
locality, a detailed statement regarding the size, the value and
the rig of the vessel ; the number of men employed; the kind of
apparatus used; the locality where fishing ; the quantities and
values of the fish caught, and other questions of importance af-

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 27

fecting that particular vessel. We are receiving hundreds of
these reports every month from all portions of the coast, includ-
ing the Pacific coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the numerous fish-
ing ports of the Atlantic ; and we are thus gathering a very large
amount of information regarding the vessel fisheries, but thé boat
fisheries are still unprovided for, and if it were possible for the
Commissioners of each of the States to arrange to get reliable
estimates of the quantity of fish caught yearly within their own
borders, the number of men that are dependent upon these fisher-
ies, and the distribution of the catch, I think we would be able to
show what legislation is needed, and consequently, which I con-
sider more important, to show clearly the importance of fishcul-
ture in the commercial fisheries and the achievements that fish-
culture has already attained. I should be very glad if some of
the Commissioners present would give us a statement of what
has already been done in their waters and of the difficulties, if
such exist, in carrying out the line proposed. It has been sug-
gested this afternoon in conversation, that there would be consid-
erable difficulty owing tothe fact that many of the Commission-
ers have only limited appropriations placed at there disposal,
while others receive nothing whatever for their services, these
being gratuitous, but it occurred to me that by having intelli-
gent correspondents in each of the leading centers, men in whom
they had confidence, it would be possible to get together for the
State reports, very valuable contributions to our information re-
garding the condition of the fisheries.
* * * * * * Be * *

I will simply add for the information of any one here who sees
no way of sending out agents to inquire as to the extent and
value of the fisheries, that there is a growing prejudice among
the commercial fishermen in favor of the work of the various
State Commissioners and of the U. S. Fish Commissioner, and
thatthey are now quite willing togiveto the different commissions
reliable information in answer to questions that may be asked.
As a proof of this I will state that a circular was sent to each of
the 1,600 vesselsemployed in the food fisheries of New England,
and answers have been received from 1,560 of them, leaving only
about 40 vessels out of the 1,600 that failed to respond. In the

28 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY..

case of the fisheries of the Great Lakes, inquiry circulars were
recently sent to every fisherman on each of the five lakes, and
more than ninety per cent. of them have been returned, and when-
ever, during the past two or three years, there has been an effort
to obtain information by correspondence, this effort has been
met with hearty co-operation on the part of those engaged in
the commercial fisheries ; so that even without the expenditure
of any considerable amount of money, it will be possible for those
who are familiar with the localities and with the more intelli-
gent resident fishermen to obtain possession of information from
which very satisfactory reports can be prepared.
Washington, D.C. .

The meeting then adjourned until the following day,

Ap SHOSID EID WANN

On assembling the Secretary read the following paper.

PISH .PRESERV ATION, \\ BY \\ THE) USE) OR ACR aiG:
BORACIC, SALICYLIC ANDO THERA CIDS
AND COMEOUNDS.

BY A. HOWARD WCLARK?

An important method of preventing decomposition of animal
flesh, is the application of antiseptic salts in a powdered form to
the surface of the substance or to impregnate it with a solution
either by atmospheric or hydraulic pressure. Among the com-
monest and most effective anticeptics, exclusive of chioride of
sodium (common salt) are acetic, as contained in vinegar, and
boracic acid. The latter preservative is fast coming into favor
in the preparation of fishery products, because of its very satis-

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 29

factory properties. As compounded with salt in the form of a
powder or in solution with tartaric acid, boracic acid is found to
effectually preserve either dry or pickled fish in good condition
for a long time.

At the Fisheries Exhibition, at London, in 1883, some Pacific
salmon were shown which had been packed in a solution of bo-
racic acid and other ingredients for several weeks, and after their
long landand water journey, they were removed from the solution
and exposed to the atmosphere at the fish market for several
days, still retaining most of their original flavor and fresh-
ness.

It is my purpose in this paper to enumerate some of the more
important methods of preserving fish by chemical treatment.
Only afew of the numerous compounds which have been brought
to the notice of fish curers have come into commercial use, though
it is probable that many of them would upon trial be found ef-
fectual and profitable.

At the Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia in 1876, there
were some exhibits of fresh oysters and clams preserved in chem-
ical liquids, and whichthe juries on awards pronounced of good
quality. Boracic acid was reported to preserve animal matter
for several months without changing the texture as common salt
does. Citric and acetic acids also proved good preservatives,
and fish cured in these acids were, after a little soaking in fresh
water, found free from all unpleasant flavor.

In Portugal, fish are kept fresh for a considerable time by re-
moving the viscera and sprinkling the abdominal cavity with
sugar, when they are hung up to allow the sugar to impregnate
the flesh as much as possible.

I shall notice the several methods in the order of their com-
mercial importance, beginning with acetic acid, which, next to
common salt, is perhaps the principal antiseptic in use in this
country.

Vinegar, Spices, etc—Lobsters, oysters, oyster crabs, mussels,
scallops and some other marine products are preserved in vine-
gar alone, and packed in glass jars, are common inthe New
York markets under the name of,“ pickled” products. Herring,

30 AMERICAN FISHERLES SOCIETY.

mackerel, and other fish are largely prepared with compounds of
vinegar and spices and sold as Russian sardines, maranated fish,
soused fish, and by other trade names. The preparation of Rus-
sian sardines from the common sea herring, was introduced in
this country by some enterprising New York merchants during
the Franco-Prussian war. The principal seat of operations was
Eastport, Me., and the methods employed, as patented in 1875 by
Messr. Sellman, Reessing and Wolff, have been as follows:
The fish while alive are thrown into strong brine contained in
suitable casks on board the fishing vessels. This part of the
process is important, as it not only kills the fish but prevents
them from spoiling while being cleaned and cured. After being
kept in the brine for at least ten days they are beheaded, gutted,
scaled, and thoroughly cleaned in clear cold water and placed in
large willow baskets or in sieves to drain off the superfluous
water. In five or six hours they are spread upon packing tables
and assorted as to size, each size being packed by themselves.

The fish are preserved and at the same time flavored by being
packed with the following ingredients, the quantities given be-
ing for 120 lbs. of fish; Two gallons vinegar, 1% Ibs. allspice,
202. pepper, 4lbs. sliced onions, 2lbs. sliced horse radish, 11b. bay
leaves, %lb. cloves, lb. ginger, 3/lb. coriander seed, 41b. Chili
pepper, and 24%oz. capers.

In packing the fish a small quantity of vinegar and a thin layer
of the other ingredients are placed in the bottom of the vessel
and a layer of fish, placed back upward, are put inand gently
pressed down. Another small quantity of.vinegar and a thin
layer of the other ingredients are put in and another layer of
fish, and so on until the vessel is full. The fish are ready for
market and consumption in about four days in summer and three
to four weeks in winter.

Method of Sousing—Soused mackerel and other fish may be
prepared as follows: The fish are cut into pieces about 2 in.
longand cleaned. A souse is made of cider vinegar and cloves,
nutmeg or other spices, with parsley, bay leaf and onions, and
the fish are immersed in this souse for twelve hours, when they
are put in a second souse, made'the same as the first with the ad-

ow oe

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 31

ee ee ea

dition of tapers, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and extract of
anchovy and lemons. After remaining in the second souse for ten
hours, they are heated in the souse for four to eight hours at
about 140 deg. Farh. and are then packed with the souse in air-
tight pots or Jars.

2. Acetic Acid and Corbonate of Soda.—The fish to be preserved
are put in barrels, or other packages, with a liquid composed of
acetic acid and carbonate of soda, in sufficient quantities to make
a slightly acid solution of acetate of soda, to which is added
enough water to give the liquida density of three to five degrees.
A few grains of salt may be added to give an agreeable taste, and
about five drops of nitrate of soda for each pound of the liquid
to preserve the color of the substance. Prepared chalk may be
used instead of carbonate of soda. The fish may be kept in this
solution, or after being saturated with a denser liquid may be
dried.

3. Boracic Acid and Common Salt.—In the United States, until
within a very few years, little advantage has been taken in the fish
trade of the effective preservative power of boracic acid in com-
bination with common salt. In 1883, the writer found that at
Gloucester, Mass., the headquarters in this country for the cur-
ing of dry salted fish, the use of boracic acid was just begun,
and then only by a few curers. Since that date, however, ‘‘Pre-
servaline” and other chemical powders having the above sub-
stances as their base have come into quite general use, partic-
ularly in the warmer months, when without this preservative it
is often found impossible to keep dry fish in good condition for
many weeks or even days. This powder checks the peculiar
reddening so commonly seen on dry salted fish in summer.

The chemical powder used by the Norwegians in preserving
fresh herring for export, isa mixture of boracic acid and salt,
using about two pounds of salt to each pound of boracic acid.
Herring are packed in barrels, in the ordinary method with alter-
nate layers of fish and powder, and after the barrel is headed they
are “pickled” with a weak solution of pure boracic acid. Fish
preserved in this way will keep perfectly fresh and of their nat-
ural flavor for a week or even longer. The Norwegians have

_

ee

es a ee

to

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIET V2

ios)

already succeeded in profitably competing with Scotland in sup-
plying the London market with fresh herring thus prepared. A
more complete preservation of herring, so that they will keep in
good order fora long time, is obtained by the Sahlstrom process
and by the Roosen method by which a_ solution of boracic acid
and salt is thoroughly impregnated into the flesh, under a pres-
sure of 60 to roolbs. to the square inch. Successful experiments
have been made in Scotland in treating fresh salwaon by the
Roosen process. Three hundred pounds of fish were packed in
a strong steel barrel, and with a pressure pump the solution was
forced into the salmon until they were thoroughly impregnated.
After three weeks subjection to this process the fish were cooked
andfound of excellent flavor. Strongly made wooden barrels
may be substituted for steel barrels, or, after being treated under
pressure, the fish may be repacked with the solution in common
fish barrels.

4. Eckhart's Method.—By this process, devised by John Eck-
hart, of Munich, and patented in 1880-’82, fish are prepared in a
preserving salt consisting of a mixture of 50 per cent. common
salt, 47% per cent. chemically pure boracic acid, 2 per cent. tar-
taric acid, and % per cent. salicylic acid. The fish are first strip-
ped of skin and bones, and the flesh is mixed with the preservative
in the proportion of 20 grams of the mixture to one kilogram of
fish flesh. They are then packed in cases of parchment or other
material and put into casks which are filled with a gelatine solu-
tion made in the proportion of 50 grams of gelatine, 20 grams
of the preservative, and 1,000 grams of water. The casks are
then headed and connected with a force pump and more of the
solution is forced in until the contents are well saturated. The
sacks or cases of fish are then removed from the cask, and may
be strewn over with more of the salt indry condition and packed
for shipment, or they may be shiped in casks with the liquid.

5. Boractc and Acetic Acids —By the Am Ende process, boracic
acid eitherin a liquid or pulverous state, is compounded with
acetic acid inthe proportion of about one drop of acetic to every
ounce of boracic acid, and the compound is applied in the usual
manner, The acetic acid is said to prevent the formation of fungi,

SIXTEENNH ANNUAL MEETING. 33

while the boracic acid prevents putrefaction by hindering the
formation of bacteria.

6. Boracic Acid, Chloride of Potassium, etc—Vhe process devised
by Hugo Jannish, consists in subjecting fish to a compound pre-
pared of chloride of potassium, nitrate of soda, and chemically-
pure boracic acid, which ingredients are dissolved in water, then
mixed under exposure of heat, thus forming an antiseptic salt
composed of hyponitrate of potash, hypochlorate of soda, borate
of soda, borate of potash, and free boracic acid. The compound
is applied either as a salt or in a more or less strong solution ac-
cording to the time for which the fish are to be preserved.

7. Borax, Saltpetre, etc—By the Herzen preserving process, meat
is soaked for 24 to 36 hours ina solution of three parts borax,
two boracic acid, three saltpetre, and one salt, in one hundred
parts of water, andthen packed in some of the solution. Before
use the meat must be soaked 24 hours in fresh water.

8. Glycerine and Antiseptic Salts —Oysters, fish, meats, etc., may
be preserved by the use of a mixture of glycerine with phosphate
of soda, or other antiseptic salt in connection with aldehyde,
formic ether or acid in a solution of carbonic acid, water, gly-
cerine, etc., and the preserved substance is then covered with
paraffine or stearine.

9. Miscellaneous Compounds—Among the many other chemical
compounds that have been experimented with, and some of which
have been successfully used in the commercial preservation of
fish, may be mentioned:

a. A solution of gelatine and bisulphite of lime forced under
pressure.

6. Fish flesh ground into fine pieces, pressed, moistened with
glycerine, and wrapped in tinfoil.

c. A solution of saltpetre and alum in proportion of 5 lbs. of
saltpetre and 4 oz. of alum to 60 gallons of sea water.

d. A solution of thymol, thymic acid, or any of the thymate
salts and water, alcohol or glycerine.

e. Acetate of lime solution in water at a density of six degrees
by the arometer, to which is added acetic acid of eight degrees,

_

ee ————

34 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

so that the liquid will produce sensible acid reaction upon blue
reaction paper.

J. Sulphite of soda and carbolic acid in solution in proportion

of 5 gals. water, 2 lbs. selphite of soda and 20z. carbolic acid.

gy. Hydrocarbon substituted for the air, which occupies the
space in and around the substance to be preserved and subject-
ing the same to a temperature of about 30 deg. Fahr., the gas en-
tering by a hole at the top and the air escaping through a hole
in the bottom of the package.

hi. A solution of salicylic acid dissolved in water, with which
the fish is impregnated under hydraulic pressure.

?. Salicylic acid dissolved in hot glycerine and mixed with hot
water. Preserving cans are coated on the inside with the above
solution, then the fish are hermetically sealed in the ordinary
manner.

7. A brine of composition for preserving fish, meat, etc., con-
sisting of a solution of starch, sugar or glucose and common salt.

k. Fish are packed in a dry powder of gypsum and carbonand
then enveloped with plastic shell, composed of gypsum, carbon,
silicate of soda and water.
~~. Fish washed in lime water then rubbed with pepper, salt-
petre and fine salt.

m. Fish packed in air-tight packages and subjected to vapor of
chloroform.

a. Gaseous sulphide of carbon is forced into the fish.

o. A solution of equal parts of water and bisulplute of lime.

p. Fish are covered with a coating of gum and immersed in
acetate of alumina then a solution of gelatine allowing the whole
to dry on the surface.

g. Fish are immersed in a solution of gum, benzoin and alum.
Washington, D. C.
Mr. May—The paper just read treats of preserving fish by

means of acids and other compounds, but does not say what effect
these preservatives have upon the human stomach. Is there any

Ml

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 35

member present who has eaten fish which had been kept by any
of these processes ?

Mr. MarHer—lI once ate a trout which had been kept for some
ten days without ice. It was given to me by Mr. Thomas J.
Conroy, of New York, the dealer in fishing tackle,and had been
preserved by a patent process or powder called Rex Magnus,
not now on the market, and which probably may have been
largely composed of boracic acid, and the fish was fairly eat-
able, a little dry but still better than no fish.

Mr. May—As our worthy secretary still lives, it is fair to
presume that the use of these preparations does not bring on in-
stant death, but what would be the result of eating a thousand
such prepared fish ?

Mr. Maruer—I cannot say. Prawns preserved in some acid
come to New York from Charleston and other southern ports,
and I see them at Blackford’s daily. I have here the quarterly
number of the /ournal of the National Fish Culture Association,
edited by J. W. Willis Bund, Esq., and published by the Fish-
culture Association of England, in which there are two items
referring to this matter, which I will read. The first one favors
the use of acids and the second one condemns them.

There are two sides to all questions. The Aritish Medical
Journal writes thus as to herrings cured with boracic acid:
“Large quantities of herring preserved with salt and boracic
acid being at present imported from Norway, and sold in the
London and Newcastle markets, attempts have been made to
prevent their sale. The National Sea Fisheries Protection As-
sociation discussed the question at a recent conference at Fish-
mongers’ Hall, but no decision as to such fish was arrived at.
It may, therefore, be worth while to point out that boracic acid,
being the essential ingredient of our many food preservatives—
be it in the form of the acid, of boroglyceride, or of borax—has
been used for years, especially to preserve milk in hot weather,
and no evidence has ever been brought forward even to suggest
injurious effects upon the health ; it mav, therefore, be taken to
be perfectly harmless. The Norwegian herrings preserved with
salt and boracic acid are of exceptionally fine quality, are per-

36 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

fectly fresh when brought into the market, and are, of course,
subject to the usual process of inspection by the market inspec-
tors, whose power of rejection is almost absolute. If, neverthe-
less, an outcry is heard against this sale, it is difficult to resist
the belief that it is dictated by the jealousy which is notoriously
rife in Billingsgate circles.

‘The introduction of cheap food from new sources, welcomed
as it always is by the public, is invariably opposed by the trade
who, after all, reap the chief advantage in the long run. One
has but to recall the sneers of the meat venders at American and
Australian meat to value the agitation against Norway herrings
at its proper worth. Hitherto, happily, we have been spared the
bitter discussions which have on the Continent led to legislation
against certain food preservatives, such as salicylic acid, which
we in England admit without hesitation. The question is mainly
one of public economy: Shall good food be wasted for want of
a preservative, even if certain objections may be urged against
their use, or shall we put up with these objections and aim at
cheapening food for the masses, provided, always, that nothing
which could injuriously affect their health is allowed to be pres-
ent? <A sufficient guarantee is afforded by the vigilance of
medical officers, public analysts and market inspectors against
the abuse of antiseptics and food preservatives.”

On the other hand, a fish trader writes to the Arsh Trade Ga-
sette: “ Hundreds of barrels of herrings from Norway out of one
cargo were condemned, and also, that there were about 1,500
barrels unsold lying in London at that time. France will not
admit the Swedish and Norwegian herrings nor any other fish
cured by the process named. Many shopkeepers soon find out
to their cost that once their customers have tasted herrings cured
with acid they don’t ask for them a second time.”

Mr. S. G. Worth explained a new method for outlets of fish-
ponds which he illustrated by a diagram upon the blackboard,
and of this no notes were taken as Mr. Worth promised to send
them, but as the report goes to press, they have not arrived.

mele |

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 37

THE CHEMICAL CHANGES PRODUCED IN OYSTERS
IN FLOATING, AND THEIR EFFECT UPON
THE NUTRITIVE VALUE:

BY PROF. W. O. ATWATER.

It is a common practice of oyster dealers, instead of selling
the oysters in the condition in which they are taken from the
beds in salt water, to first place them for a time, forty-eight
hours, more or less, in fresh or brackish water, in order, as the
oyster-men say, to ‘‘fatten” them, the operation being called
“floating”’ or “laying out.” By this process the body of the
oyster acquires such a plumpness and rotundity, and its bulk
and weight are so increased as to materially increase its selling
value.

The belief is common among oyster-men, that this “ fattening ”
is due to an actual gain of flesh and fat, and that the nutritive
value of the oyster is increased.

A moment’s consideration of the chemistry and physiology of
the subject will make it clear, not only that such an increase of
tissue-substance in so short a time and with such scanty food-
supply is out of the question, but that the increase of volume
and weight of the bodies of the oysters is just what would be
expected from the osmose or dialysis which would naturally take
place between the contents of the bodies of the oysters as taken
from salt water, and the fresh or brackish water in which they
are floated.

If we fill a bladder with salt water and then put it into fresh
water the salt water will gradually work its way out through
the pores of the bladder and, at the same time, the fresher water
will enter the bladder; and further, the fresh water will go in
much more rapidly than the salt water goes out. The result
will be that the amount of water in the bladder will be increased.
It will swell by taking up more water than it loses, while, at the
same time, it loses a portion of the salt.

It does this in obedience to a physical law, to which the term
osmose and dialysis are applied. In accordance with this law,

38 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

if a membraneous sac holding salts in solution is immersed in a
more dilute solution or impure water, the more concentrated so-
lution will pass out and at the same time the water or more dilute
solution will pass in and more rapidly. The escape of the con-
centrated and entrance of the dilute solution will be, in general
the more rapid the greater the difference in concentration and
the higher the temperature of the two solutions. After the os-
mose has proceeded fora time, the two solutions will become
equally diluted. When this equilibrium between the two is
reached the osmose will stop. If the sac which has become dis-
tended is elastic, it will, after osmose has ceased, tend to come
back to its normal size, the extra quantity of solution which it
has received, being driven out again.

We should expect these principles to apply to the oyster.
Roughly speaking, the body of the animal may be regarded as
a collection of membraneous sacs. It seems entirely reasonable
to suppose, that the intercellular gpaces and probably the cells
of the body would be impregnated with the salts of the sea-water
in which the animal lives, and this supposition is confirmed by
the large quantity of mineral salts which the body is found by
analysis to contain, and which amounts, in some cases, to over
14 per cent. of the water-free substance of the body.

It seems equally reasonable to assume that osmose would take
place through both the outer coating of the body and the cell
walls. In the salt water the solution of salts within the body
may be assumed to be in equilibrium with the surrounding me-
dium. When the animal is brought into fresh or brackish water
.é.,intoO a more dilute solution, the salts in the more concen-
trated solution within the body would tend to pass in and pro-
duce just such a distension as actually takes place in the floating.
If this assumption is correct, we should expect that the osmose
would be the more rapid the less the amount of salts in the sur-
rounding water; that it would proceed more rapidly in warm
and more slowly in cold water; that it would take place whether
the body of the animal is left in the shell or is previously re-
moved from it; that the quantity of salts would be greatly
reduced in floating; and that if it were left in the water
after the maximum distension had been reached, the imbibed

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 39

water would pass out again and the oyster would be reduced to
its original size. Just such is actually the case. Oyster-men
find that the oysters “fatten”? much more quickly in fresh than
in brackish water; warmth is so favorable to the process that it
is said to be sometimes found profitable to warm artificially the
water in which the oysters are floated; although oysters are
generally floated in the shell, the same effect is very commonly
obtained by adding fresh water to the oysters after they have
been taken out of the shell, indeed, I am told that this is a by no
means unusual practice of retail dealers; oysters lose much of
their salty flavor in floating; and it is a common experience of
oyster-men that if the “fattened” oysters are left too long on
the floats they become “lean” again.

This exact agreement of theory and fact might seem to war-
rant the conclusion that the actual changes in the so called fatten-
ing of oysters in floating are essentially gain of water and loss
of salts. The absolute proof however is to be sought in chemical
analysis. In the course of an investigation conducted under the
auspices of the United States Fish Commission, and which in-
cluded examinations of a number of specimens of oysters and
other shell-fish, 1 have improved the opportunity to test this
matter by some analysis of oysters before and after floating.
The results of the investigation are to be given in one of the
publications of the Commission. From this the following state-
ments are selected as perhaps not without interest tothe Fisheries
Association. It is not improper that I should add here, that a
portion of the expenses of the investigation was borne by one of
the prominent officers of the association, Mr. E. G. Blackford.

The account just mentioned of the experiments is preceded by
some citations regarding the practice of floating oysters which
I insert here, adding that I should be greatly obliged for any
further information upon the subject.

The following very opposite statements* are by Prof. Persi-
for Frazer, Jr., who attributes the changes mentioned to dialytic
action.

* Note on Dialysis in Oyster Culture in Proceedings of Philadelphia Academy of Sciences,
1875 p. 472.

E————eE———————

———o

40 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

“The oysters brought to our large markets on the Atlantic
seaboard are generally first subjected to a process of “laying
out,” which consists in placing them for a short time in fresher
water than that from which they have been taken.

‘Persons who are fond of this animal as an article of food
know how much the ‘fresh’ exceed the ‘salts’ in size and con-
sistency. The ‘Morris Coves’ of this city, (Philadelphia) while
very insipid, are the plumpest bivalves brought to market. On
the other hand, the ‘Absecoms’ and ‘ Brigantines,’ while of a
better flavor (to those who prefer salt oysters), are invariably
lean, compared to their transplanted rivals, as also are the ‘ Cape
Mays,’ though from some reason, not to the same extent.

“The most experienced oyster dealers inform me, that the
time for allowing the salt oysters taken from the sea-coast to
lie out, varies, but is seldom over two or three days. At the end
of this time the maximum plumpoess is attained, and beyond
this, the oyster becomes lean again, besides having lost in
tlavor.”’

The subjoined statements by Prof. J. A. Ryder are interesting
in this connection. They are taken from a letter to Prof. Baird,
U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries on ‘Floats for the
so-called fattening of oysters.”*

“The simplest and most practical structures of the kind which
I have seen are the storage and fattening floats used by Mr.
Conger, of Franklin City, Md., and now in use by all the ship-
pers and planters in the vicinity of Chincoteague Bay. I have
been informed that similar structures, or rather structures serv-
ing similar purposes, are in use on the oyster-beds along the
shore of Staten Island, New York.

“Tt is probably a fact that in all these contrivances they take
advantage of the effect produced by fresher water upon oysters
which have been taken from slightly salter water. The planters
of Chincoteague call this ‘plumping the oysters for market.’
Ic does not mean that the oysters are augmented in volume by
the addition of substantial matter, such as occurs during the
actual appropriation of food, but only that the vascular spaces

* Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission, 1884, p. 302.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 4I

and vessels in the animals are filled with a larger relative amount
of water due to endosmose. It is a dealer’s trick to give his
product a better appearance in the market, and as such I do not
think deserves encouragement, but rather exposure.

“Mr. Conger has actually resorted to warming fresh water to
60 fahr. in winter by steam pipes running underneath the wooden
inclosure surrounding the ‘ fattening’ or ‘ plumping’ float. One
good ‘drink,’ as he expressed himself to me, renders the animals
fit for sale and of better appearance.

“Conger’s floats are simply a pair of windlasses supported by
two pairs of piles driven into the bottom. Chains or ropes
which wind upon the windlasses pass down to a pair of cross
pieces, upon which the float rests, which has a perforated or
strong slat bottom and a rim 18 inches to 2 feet high. These
floats I should think are about 8 feet wide and 16 feet long, per-
haps 20. These structures are usually built alongside the wharts
of the packing and shipping houses and are really a great con-
venience in conducting the work.”

Elsewhere Prof. Ryder speaks of the floats thus:

“The diaphragm itself was constructed of boards perforated
with auger holes, and lined on the inside with gunny-cloth or
sacking; and the space between the perforated boards was filled
with sharp, clean sand. The space between the boards was about
2 inches; through this the tide ebbed and flowed, giving a rise
and fall of from 4 to 6 inches during the interval between suc-
cessive tides.”

Mr. F. T. Lane of New Haven, Conn., writes as follows about
the method of floating practiced by himself, andas I understand,
by other New Haven growers :

“We do not always leave them two days in the floats,—as a
rule, only one day. We put them into brackish water and take
them out at low water or in the last of the falling tide as then
the water is the freshest and the oysters are at their best. As it
is not convenient for us to put them into the floats and take them
out the same day we do not want the water too fresh. On one
occasion, wishing to know what the result would be of putting
the oysters into water that was quite fresh I had one of my floats
taken up the river half a mile further than where we commonly

—

42 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

use them and too bushels of oysters put into it at high water and
taken out at low water. They were’ in the water from 6 to 7
hours and came out very nice, fully as good as those floated 24
hours in the brackish water. It was a warm day and the water
was warm. Under these conditions they will drink very quickly.
| have seen them open their shells in 10 minutes after they were
put into the water.”

For the following valuable information I am indebted to Mr.
R. G. Pike, Chairman of the Board of Shell-fish Commissioners
of Connecticut:

“Connecticut. oysters, when brought from their beds in the
salt waters of Long Island Sound, are seldom sent to market
before they have been subjected to more or less manipulation.
As soon as possible after being gathered, they are deposited in
shallow tide rivers where the water is more or less brackish; and
are left there from one to four days; the time varying according
to the temperature of the season, the saltness of the oyster, and
the freshening quality of the water. Generally two tides are
sufficient for the two ‘good drinks’ which the oyster-men say
they should always have.

“ This ‘floating,’ as it is called, results in cleaning out, and
freshening the oysters, and increasing their bulk; or, as many
oyster-men confidently assert, ‘fattening’ them. If the weather
is warm, they will take a ‘drink’ immediately, if not disturbed,
but if the weather is cold they will wait sometimes ten or twelve
hours before opening their valves. (Good fat oysters generally
yield five quarts of solid meat to the bushel; but after floating
two tides or more, they will measure six quarts to the bushel.
After they have been properly floated they are taken from the
shell—and as soon as the liquor is all strained off, they are
washed in cold fresh water—and are then packed for market.
In warm weather they are put into the water with ice, and are
also packed with ice for shipping. Water increases their bulk
by absorbtion and by mixing with the liquor on the surface of
the oysters. The salter the oyster the more water it absorbs.
In twelve hours one gallon of oysters, with their juices strained
out, will take in a pint of water; but when very salt and dry they
have been known to absorb a pint in three hours.

asf

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 43

“Water always thickens the natural juices that adhere to the
surface of the oyster; and makes them slimy. If too much water
is added the oyster loses its plumpness and firmness and becomes
watery and flabby.

“Oysters that have been floated bear transportation in the
shell much better than when shipped directly from their beds.
Oysters, too, that are taken from their shells and packed in all
their native juices spoil much sooner than when their juices are
strained out and the meats are washed in fresh cold water.

‘Long clams are not floated—but roundclamsare. But both,
when shucked are washed in fresh water. This cleanses them
of mud, sand and excess of salt; increases their bulk and im-
proves their flavor. After washing they will keep much longer
without risk of spoiling. If the salt is left in them, as they
come from their native beds, their liquor will ferment and they
will quickly spoil.

“The above facts are gathered from the most intelligent men
in the shell-fish business in Connecticut,—men who have had
many years experience in gathering oysters and clams and pre-
paring them for home and foreign consumption. They are all
agreed that by judicious floating in the shell, and by washing
and soaking when out of the shell, the oyster and the clam in-
crease in bulk and improve in quality and flavor. We will not
presume to say that this increased bulk is anything more than a
mechanical distension of the organs and the cellular tissues of
the oyster by water; or that its improved flavor is not due simply
to a loss of bitter sea salt dissolved out by the water. Many in-
telligent cultivators are confident that the increase in bulk is a
growth of fat; while just as many, of equal intelligence, declare
that it is mere ‘bloat’ or distention, akin to that of a dry sponge
when plungea into the water. The exact nature of the change
the chemist alone can determine.”

The following experiments were made with oysters supplied
by Mr. F. T. Lane, of New Haven, Conn., a communication from
whom was just quoted, and for whose courteous aid as well in
furnishing the specimens as in giving useful information, I take
this occasion to express thanks.

The oysters had been broug ht from the James and Potoma

eee

44 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Rivers and “planted” in the beds in New Haven Harbor (Long
Island Sound) in April, 1881, and were taken for analysis in the
following November.

Two experiments were made. The plan of each experiment
consisted in analysing two lots of oysters, of which both had
been taken from the same bed at the same time, but one had been
“floated” while the other had not. The first specimen was
selected from a boat-load as they were taken from the salt water,
and the second from the same lot after they had been floated in
the usual way in brackish water for forty-eight hours. For each
of the two experiments, Mr. Lane selected, from a boat-load of
oysters as they were taken from the salt water, a number, about
three dozen, which fairly represented the whole boat-load. The
remainder were taken to the brackish water of a stream empty-
ing into the bay and kept upon the floats for forty-eight hours,
this being the usual practice in the floating of oysters in this
region. At the end of that time, the oysters were taken from
the floats and a number fairly representing the whole were
selected as before. Two lots, one floated and the other not
floated, were thus taken from each of two different beds. The
four lots were brought to our laboratory for analysis.

The specimens as received at the laboratory were weighed.
Thereupon, the shell-contents were taken out and the shells and
shell-contents both weighed. The solid and liquid portions
of the shell-contents, @.e., the flesh or ‘‘solid”’ and “ liquor” or
liquids were weighed separately, and then analyzed. We thus
had for each lot, the weights of flesh and liquids, which, together,
made the weight of the total shell contents, and the weight of
the shells, which with that of the shell-contents made the weight
of the whole specimens. We also had, from the analysis, the
percentages of water, nutritive ingredients, salts, &c., in the flesh
and in the liquids. From these data the calculations were made
of the changes which took place in floating. For the details,
which are somewhat extended, I may refer to the publications
mentioned above. It will suffice here to give only the main re-
sults.

The body of the animal may be regarded as made up of water
and so-called water-free substance. The water-free substance

4

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 45

contains the nutritive ingredients or “nutrients.” These may
be divided into four classes: (1) Protein compounds, the so-
called “fleshformers” which contain nitrogen; (2) fatty sub-
stances, classed as Fats; (3) Carbohydrates; (4) Mineral Salts.*
These constituents of the flesh of oysters have been but little
studied. It is customary to assume them to be similar to the
corresponding compounds of other food-materials, but very prob-
ably the differences, if known, might prove to be important.
The mineral matters especially which are very large in amount,
appear to include considerable of the salts of sea-water. Of the
nature of the ingredients of the liquids but littleis known. They
consist mainly of water and salts and the amounts of their in-
gredients which are here reckoned as protein, fats and car-
bohydrates are very small, so that whatever error there may be
in classing them with the ordinary nutrients of food, it will not
very seriously affect the estimates of nutritive values.

GERERAL RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTS.

During the sojourn in brackish water both the flesh (body)
and the liquid portion of the shell-contents of the oysters suf-
fered more or less alteration in composition. In order to show
clearly what the principal changes as shown by the chemical
analysis were, some statistics may perhaps be permissible here.

CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE FLESH (BODY) OF THE
OYSTERS IN FLOATING.

1. The changes in the constituents of the body were mainly

* The technical terms here used demand perhaps a word of explanation. The ‘‘ water-free
substance”’ is the dry matter which is left when the water has all been driven out. Over
three-quarters of the whole weight of the flesh (‘‘ solids ’’) of oysters is water, so that the
water-free substance makes less than one-fourth of the whole weight. As the oysters are
ordinarily sold, z.e. after being floated, the flesh averages abont one-fifth water-free sub-
stance. Taking both the flesh (‘‘meat’’) and liquids (‘‘liquor’’) together, the oysters as
commonly retailed in our markets are about seven-eighths water and one-eighth water-free
substance. That is to say the actual nutritive material in oysters as we usually buy them
makes on the average just about one-eighth of the whole weight. It is worth noting that
this proportion of actual nutriment is very near the same as in milk. The protein includes
the parts of the oyster that are similar to the lean of meats, white of egg, casein of milk,
&c. The quantities of protein and of fatty and oily substance in the flesh of oysters is
smaller, while that of carbohydrates (substances allied to sugar and starch) is far larger
that in ordinary meats,

46 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

such as would be caused by osmose, though there were indica-
tions of secretion of nitrogenous matters and, especially, of fats,
which are not so easily explained by osmose. This I will speak
of later. .

2. The amounts of gain and loss of constituents which the
bodies of the oysters experienced may be estimated either by
comparing the percentages found by analysis before and after
dialysis, or by comparing the absolute weight of a given quantity
of flesh and the weights of each of its ingredients before, with
the weights of the same flesh and of its ingredients after dialy-
sis. For the estimate by the first method we have simply to
compare the results of the analyses of the floated and the not-
floated specimens. Taking the averages of the two experiments,
it appears that :—

The percentages of Dailyaie Diaivel 5
Weaterirose from O42) set | see cracls TF OD \\tOu \WGO2RA
Water-free substance fell from ......... ZR he 17.6

Potalvilesh Melaka ye NN eee ea ads tes 100.0 100.0
Proteinvtell trom: .ciis oo sin heel natant LOLS. 8.9
Fat fellatio. s.).). 422" er Oa chet dete here vas aU 1.9
Carbohydrates &c.,. fell from... ./: S21 POL Oui: 5.2
Mineralisalts tell nonin eens ee Qe2Miniies 1.6

Total water-free substance of flesh.. 22.1 17.6

There was, accordingly, a gain in the percentage of water and
a loss of that in each of the ingredients of the water-free sub-
stance. This accords exactly with the supposition that during
the floating the flesh gained water and lost salts and other in-
gredients.

It will be more to the point to note the absolute increase and
decrease in amounts of flesh and its constituents—in other words,
the actual gain or loss of each, in the floating. Estimates by
this method have been made and explained in the detailed ac-
counts referred to. They make it appear that 100 grams of the
flesh as it came from the salt water was increased by floating,
in one specimen, to 120.9, and in the other to 113.4 grams. This
is equivalent to saying, that the two specimens of flesh gained

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 47

in the floating, respectively, 20°9 and 13.4 per cent., or, on the
average, 17.3 per cent. of their original weight. By the same
estimates the water-free substance in the too grams of flesh be-
fore the floating, weighed, on the averrge, 22.1 grams, while that
of the same flesh after floating weighed only 20.6 grams making
a loss of 1.5 grams or 6.6 per cent. of the 22.1 grams which the
water-free substance weighed before dialysis. The main re-
sults of the two experiments thus computed, may be stated as
follows:—

In the “ floating ”’ of 100 grams of flesh (body) of the oysters:

The Weight of Before Dialysis. After Dialysis.
Water rOSErErOmn Per Mae ahaa at's 77.9 grams to 96.6 grams.
Water-free substance fell from .. 22.1 ‘ a PZO!OEA Vien
Whole flesh rose from ...... LAae TOO;ONI as, oh ary peels
Protein was assumed to remain
thersanie ns. 5.2). pita. We dre th) BORG: ovpes SEOs Ss ce
Fat (ether extract) fell from ..... 2 Bie hae Sha 2a 8le 0 te
Carbohydrates &c., fell from .... GzOnn ae COL OLOM its
Mineral salts (ash) fell from..... Bio ii aoe (a an
2OAN 20.6

Estimating the increase or decrease of weight of each con-
stituent in per cent. of its weight before floating :—

Per cent of
original weight.

SNe era ele A MMe Giese ley elec ns laser alate gawk ingaleusht seer ac ee
he water-iree substance lostyeyh. . 2c) sia% RSNA Ny coe Mum 6 HO,
aiihe whole mesh, (body) gained) '.).)/4). 2a wee. l7a3
The protein was assumed to neither gain nor lose.

AROSE cH) S 8 ASCt RIED SRR ei PADS SOREL Bre eich ae ic ee 8.8
Mile carwompanates, OC., LOSU ..\.45 ie vee 12.5
Phe MMe rASAlLSMOSE #90.) hoki the keel mteere Sen 15.5

In brief, according to these computations, the flesh lost be-
tween one-sixth and one-seventh of its mineral salts, one-eighth
of its carbohydrates, and one-twelfth of its fats, but gained
enough water to make up this loss and to increase its whole
weight, by an amount equal to from one-seventh to one-fifth of
the original weight.

These estimates are based on the assumption that the amount

—— ————————————————eeeeeerlcl ll

48 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

of protein in the flesh remained unchanged during the floating.
It seems probable however that the flesh may have lost a small
amount of nitrogenous material. If this was the case the actual
gain of flesh and of water must have been less and the loss of
fats, carbohydrates and mineral salts, greater than the estimates
make them. But there appears to be every reason to believe
that the error must be very small, and since it would affect all
the ingredients in the same ratio, the main result, namely, that
there was a large gain of water and a considerable loss not only
of mineral salts, but of fats and carbohydrates as well, can not
be questioned.

CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE LIQUID PORTION. (LIQUOR).

3. The liquids might be expected to receive material from
the flesh, and to yield material to the surrounding water. The
materials coming from the flesh would be such as the latter
parted with by either osmose or secretion. Those yielded to the
water would either escape by diffusion or be washed away when
the shells were open wide enough to allow. What share each
of these agencies had in effecting the changes that actually oc-
curred in the liquids, the experiments do not and, in the nature
of the case, cannot, tell. Comparing the percentage composi-
tion of the liquids before and after floating, as shown by the
averages of the analyses in the two experiments, it appears
thats

The percentages of oie Dialysis.
Water rose from, Mii.) ret sistent: Ni A QANOMN TOMO RNG
Water-tree substance fell-tromie sci a SST RA pepe
PoOtalitey. gcc hae wnccein eee See el eae ay 100.0 ‘* [00,0
Protein mose irom ss. 4 aac Beale \ahstet RRO Lona
Carbohydrates, &c., rose from..-.... we Coy Aa pd gh
Mineral’salts fell fromy i. 5) sume et. ais Db avies duals

The increase in the percentage of water, and the decrease in
that of mineral salts are very marked. The quantities of fats
(‘ether extract”) are too small to be taken into account. The in-
crease of nitrogen and that of carbohydrates, though absolutely

a

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 49

small, are nevertheless outside the limits of error of analysis,
and must, like those of the salts, represent actual changes in the
composition of the liquids.

The experiments give no reliable data for the determinations
of the absolute increase and decrease of the liquids and their
constituents, so that it is imposible to say with entire certainty
whether there was or was not an actual gain of protein or fats
or carbohydrates. It would seem extremely probable however
that the liquids received and retained small quantities of these
materials from the flesh (bodies) of the animals.

CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE WHOLE SHELL-CONTENTS,
FLESH AND LIQUIDS.

4. Comparing the average percentage composition of the
total shell-contents before and after floating in the two experi-
ments, it appears that:—

The pereontages of estima
Water ro Ser mnietn sau scsa tise yo earue ciel sicnes 85:2), to, Sz
Water-frée substance fell) from 2.0.1... 45: PALS to 0
Motaliyj7 uy; SGT ARS LS URE Oe EES: Me SE OO.O 100.0
Protem Ny ..0;25) fell froma. dulce, 4. SP HGLOn are fe TONG
Hats i(ethermextract) tell irom... . 82 226. TEA tae eae
Garbohydrates, Kc: tell from tl anes). 5. 7 Ne Us RP
Mineraksalts;;(ash) fell from ys i8 2, 34 Biol ERC STKE
Total water-free substance ....... Pate Lica.) 12.9

After so much detail, I ought perhaps to simply summarise
the results in a few words and close. But one or two matters
call for brief notice.

If the changes in composition of the oysters in floating were
due to osmose or dialysis alone, we should expect simply a gain
of water and loss of salts (and perhaps of carbohydrates). But
the flesh seems to have lost a little carbohydrates and fats and
probably protein also, along with the salts, while it was absorb-
ing water. A way in which this may have come about is sug-
gested by my colleague, Prof. H. W. Conn, who calls attention to
the fact that some mollusks, when irritated, produce an extremely

a

lc eee

50 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

abundant secretion of mucous or ‘‘slime,’’ so much, indeed, as
to sometimes render a small quantity of water in which the
animals may be confined, quite sensibly gelatinous. He sug-
gests that the change to fresh water may, indeed, induce such a
secretion of mucous and perhaps of carbohydrates and fats as
well, which would account for the increase of these substances
in the liquids. The observation of oyster dealers that water al-
ways thickens the natural juices that adhere to the surface of
the oyster and makes it slimy,” accords with Prof. Conn’s
statement.

If such secretion did take place, the flesh must probably have
lost a little protein during the floating. The estimates of ab-
solute gain and loss of weight of flesh and ingredients (see de-
tailed accounts of the experiments) are based upon the assump-
tion that the quantity of protein was unaltered in floating. If
protein was given off, therefore, the estimates are wrong. But
the quantity of protein secreted and the consequent error must
be, at most, very slight. If there is an error its effect would be
to make the quantities of nutrients after floating appear larger
than they really were. In other words, if the error was cor-
rected it would make the loss of nutritive material in floating
greater than it appears to be in the figures above given. As ex-
plained in the detailed report above referred to, I have assumed
that the changes due to the ordinary processes of metabolism
would be too small to materially affect the results.

The experiments might have been so conducted as to decide
this question. It would have been necessary to simply take a
larger number in each lot before and after floating and be cer-
tain that the number, weight, and bulk were the same in the
floated and not-floated lots of each experiment. For instance,
we might, in each experiment, carefully select two lots of, say
a bushel, each, as taken from the beds, have the number of oys-
ters the same in each bushel as an additional assurance that the
two lots were alike, float one bushel and weigh and analyze
both. A few experiments of this sort made under different con-
ditions of time, temperature, kind and age of oysters, &c,, would
give reliable and valuable data. Unfortunately the means
at my disposal did not permit so thorough experiments. I am

SIXTEENNH ANNUAL MEETING. 51

persuaded, however, that the results of such series of trials, if
they could be made,—and I wish they might be—would be very
similar to those of the trials here reported.

It is very interesting to note that these processes which we
have been considering in the body of oyster are apparently very
similar to processes which go on in our own bodies, namely
those by which our food, after it is digested, finds its way
through the walls of the stomach and other parts of the alimen-
tary canal into the blood, to be used for nourishment. Physi-
ologists tell us that the passage of the digested materials through
the walls of the canal is in part merely a physical action, due to
osmose, but that it is in part merely dependent upon a special
function of the organs. In like manner the changes in the com-
position of the oyster, if the above explanation be correct, are
caused partly by osmose, and partly by special secretive action,
the cell walls and outer coating of the body of the oyster cor-
responding to the walls of the alimentary canal in the human
body.

CONCLUSIONS.

The main points presented in this paper may be very briefly
summarized thus.

In the floating of oysters for the market a practice which is
very general and is also used for other shell-fish, the animals
are either taken direct from the beds in salt water and kept for
a time in fresher (brackish) water before opening, or water is
added to the shell-contents after they are taken out of the shell.

When this treated, the body of the animal takes up water and
parts with some of its salts; and small quantities of the nutritive
ingredients escape at the same time. The oysters thus become
more plump and increase considerably in bulk and weight. But
the quantity of nutritive material, so far from increasing, suffers
a slight loss.

In the experiments here reported, the increase in bulk and
weight amounted to from one-eigth to one-fifth of the original
amounts. This proportion of increase is about the same as is
said to occur in the ordinary practice of floating or “fattening ”
for the market. According to this, five quarts of oysters in their

—_

yo

—

) a - AY

SO. ee ees ee

52 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

natural condition would take up water enough in “ floating” to
increase their bulk to nearly or quite six quarts, but the six
quarts of floated oysters would contain a trifle less of actual
nutrients than the five quarts not floated.

The gain of water and loss of salts is evidently due to osmose.
The more concentrated solution of salts in the body of the ani-
mal as taken from salt water, passes into the more dilute solu-
tion (fresher water) in which it is immersed, while a larger
amount of the fresher water at the same time enters the body.
But part of the exchange and especially that by which other
materials, namely fat, carbohydrates, protein, &c., are given off
in small quantities, is more probably due to a special secretory
action. There is thus a very interesting parallelism between
these processes of secretion and osmose (dialysis) in the oyster
and those in the bodies of higher animals, including man, by
which the digested food is carried through the walls of the ali-
mentary Canal into the blood.

The flavor of oysters is improved by the removal of the salts
in floating and they are said to bear transporting and to keep
better. When therefore the oyster-man takes ‘good fat oysters”
which “‘yields five quarts of solid meat to the bushel” and floats
them so that “they will yield six quarts to the bushel” and thus
has an extra quart of the largest and highest priced oysters, to
sell, he offers his customers no more nutritive material—indeed,
a very little less—than he would have in the five quarts if he
had not floated them. But many people prefer the flavor of the
floated oysters and since they buy them more for the flavor than
for the nutriment, doubtless very few customers would complain
if they understood all the facts. And considering that the prac-
tice is very general and the prices are regulated by free compe-
tition, the watering of oysters by tloating in the shell, perhaps,
ought not to be called fraudulent. But rather than pronounce
upon this and other questions suggested by the above consider-
ations, I should prefer to leave them to the Association for
discussion.

sae

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 5

NORTH CAROLINA ENCOURAGEMENT TO
SHELLFISH CULTURE.

BY S. G. WORTH (RECENT STATE COMMISSIONER).

Mr. PresipENt—The subject to which I desire to direct the
attention of the Association is the new oyster law of my native
State, North Carolina. When, four years ago, I met Lieut.
Francis Winslow urging before this body the adoption of a re-
solution declaring in favor of private ownership of oyster bot-
tom, I became impressed with his views, and brought about, after
months of ceaseless work, the passage of a resolution in the
North Caroline Legislature of 1885, instructing the State Board
of Agriculture to expend $2,000 on a survey of the oyster area,
looking to the adoption of the principle of ownership in fee
simple. Accordingly the work was done, and two years later,
in the session of January-February, 1887, in consequence of the
able report of Lieut. Winslow, an act was passed which puts on
sale, at twenty-five cents an acre, nearly a million acres.

Owing to apprehensions of assemblymen, lest too big a step
should be taken at once, the bottom within two miles of the
shore was exempted from the general provisions of the act and
left under jurisdiction of the several counties, but the main body
of Pamlico Sound and much additional area was put on sale,
except the well established natural beds. These, as public beds,
were exempted and still remain the common property of the
people. Under laws operative prior to the new act, no person
could own more than ten acres in a county, and as a consequence
the limited areas precluded the use of dredges and restrained
healthy growth. Under the new act a person can own any
amount up to a square mile. The new law is regarded by the
press of North Carolina as an advanced movement, and as the
law found its origin in a meeting of this body, I now gladly lay
it before you entire, with all that may be good or bad in it, and
invite friendly criticism from members practically experienced
in such legislation, looking to modifications which may be sug-
gested to the next General Assembly in the interest of the people
at large.

\

54 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

The Board of Shellfish Commissioners is elected outside the
membership of the State Board of Agriculture, and consists of
three—W. J. Griffin, Elizabeth City, Pasquotank county; I. B.
Watson, Hyde county, and W. T. Caho, Bayboro, Pamlico county.
Lieut. Francis Winslow, schooner Scoresby, of the U. S. Navy, is
conducting all details of a complete survey.

THB AGE

An act to promote the cultivation of shellfish in the State [of North
Carolina].

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

SECTION 1. That the State shall exercise exclusive jurisdiction and
control over all shellfisheries which are or may be located in the
boundaries of the State, south of Roanoke and Croatan Sounds and
north of Core Sound.

Sec. 2. In order to carry out the purposes of this act, the southern
boundary line of Hyde county shall extend from the middle of Ocra-
coke Inlet to the Royal Shoal Lighthouse, thence across Pamlico
Sound and with the middle line of Pamlico and Pungo rivers to the
dividing line between the counties of Hyde and Beaufort, and the
northern boundary line of Cartaret County shall extend from the
middle of Ocracoke Inlet to the Royal Shoal Lighthouse, thence to
the Brant Island Shoal Lighthouse, thence across Pamlico Sound to
a point midway between Maw Point and Point of Marsh, and thence
with the middle line of the Neuse River to the dividing line between
the counties of Carteret, Craven or Pamlico, and that portion of Pam-
lico Sound and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers not within the bound-
aries of Dare, Hyde or Carteret counties, and not a part of any other
county, shall be in the county of Pamlico, and for the purposes of this
act and in the execution of the requirements thereof the shore line as
now defined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey shall be accepted
as correct.

Sec. 3. The State Board of Agriculture shall, at the next regular
meeting following the passage of this act, elect three commissioners
of shellfisheries, whose term of office shall be one year, and the said
Board of Commissioners of Shellfisheries shall be maintained so long
as may be necessary to carry out the special duties confided to them
by the provisions of this act and no longer,and they shall employ

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 55

such engineers and clerks as may be necessary for the execution of
the said duties, and fix their compensation.

Sec. 4. The Board of Shellfish Commissioners shall make or cause
to be made a survey and map of the area hereinbefore described,
whereon shall be shown the location and area of all the natural beds,
and of all the grounds which may have been occupied under authority
of previous acts for the growing, planting or cultivation of shellfish,
and upon the completion of the said survey in and maps of each or
any county, the Board of Commissioners of Shellfisheries shall deter-
mine the location, area, limits and designation of each and every
public ground in the county, and such public grounds are to include
the natural beds, together with such additional areas adjacant thereto
as may be deemed by the Board of Commissioners as necessary to
provide for the natural expansion of the said natural beds; and having
decided upon the location, area, limits and designation of the said
public grounds, the Board of Commissioners of Shellfisheries shall
publish the same for the period of thirty days at the court house door,
and in four other public places in the county wherein the said public
grounds are located, and any person or persons objecting to the decis-
ion of the Board of Commissioners of Shellfisheries, as published,
may file a written protest, stating the ground for his or their objec-
tions, within the said thirty days, with the clerk of the Superior Court
of the county wherein the said publication is made; upon payment
to the said clerk of the sum of twenty-five cents, and at the expiration
of the said thirty days, the said clerk of the Superior Court shall for-
ward all such written protests to the Board of Shellfish Commis-
sioners, and in case such protests are so filed and forwarded, the said
Commissioners, or a majority of them, shall upon fifteen days’ notice
in writing, mailed or personally delivered to all parties in interest,
hear and pass upon such protests or objections in the county in which
the said public grounds are located; and the said Board of Commis-
sioners of Shellfisheries, having fully informed themselves of the facts
in the case, shall make within twenty days from the conclusion of the
hearing a decision, which shall be final, and shall be so considered
until reversed on appeal to the Superior Court. And at all hearings
authorized by this act said Commissioners may, by themselves or
their clerk, sapoena witnesses and administer oaths, as in court of law.

Sec. 5. The Board of Commissioners of Shellfisheries shall, upon
making the said final decisions as to the location, limits, area and de-
signation of the several public grounds in the county, publish the
same in the county in which the said public grounds are located, and
in two newspapers having a general circulation in the State, and shall

56 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

announce in the said publication that at the expiration of twenty days
from the first day of publication, the territory within said county and
embraced within the provisions of this act will be open for entry in
manner and form as hereinafter provided, and any person or persons
desiring to raise, plant, or cultivate shellfish upon any ground in the
county which has not been designated as public ground by the Board
of Shellfish Commissioners, may, at the expiration of the said period
of twenty days, make an application in writing, in which shall be stated
as nearly as may be, the area, limits and location of the ground desired
to the entry-taker of the county in which the said area for which
application is made is situated, for a franchise for the purpose of rais-
ing or Cultivating shellfish in said grounds, and the said entry-taker,
having received said application, shall proceed as with all other entries,
as provided in Section 2,765 of the Code, as amended, except that the
warrant to survey and locate the ground or grounds shall be delivered
to the engineer appointed bythe Board of Commissioners of Shellfish-
eries and not to the county surveyor, and the said engineer shall make
such surveys in accordance with the provisions of Section 2,769 of the
Code, except that it shall not be necessary to employ chain-bearers,
nor to administer oaths to assistants, nor to make surveys according
to the priority of the application or warrant.

SEC. 6. The Secretary of State, on receipt of the Auditor’s certificate
as provided in Section 2,778 of the Code, shall grant to the applicant
a written instrument conveying a perpetual franchise for the purpose
of raising and cultivating shellfish in and to the grounds for which
application is made, and the said written instrument of conveyance
shall be authenticated by the Governor, countersigned by the Secre-
tary, and recorded in his ofice. The date of the application for the
franchise and a description of the ground for which such franchise
was granted shall be inserted in each instrument, and no grant shall
issue except in accordance with acertificate from the engineer of the
commissioners of shellfisheries, as to the area, limits and location of
the grounds in which the said franchise is to be granted, and every
person obtaining such grant or franchise, shall within three months
from the receipt of the same, record the said written instrument in
the office of the register of deeds for the county wherein the said
grounds may lie, and shall define the boundaries of the said grounds
by suitable stakes, buoys, ranges or monuments; but no franchise
shall be given in or to any of the public grounds as determined by the
Commissioners of Shellfisheries, and all franchises granted under this
or previous acts shall be and remain in the grantee, his heirs and legal
representatives, provided that the holder or holders shall make in

- zs *

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 57

good taith, within five years from the day of obtaining said franchise,
‘an actual effort to raise and cultivate shellfish on said grounds. And
provided further that the area hereinbefore described, lying within
two statute miles of the main land or any island, shall be entered or
held only by residents of the State of North Carolina, and no grant
shall be made to any one person of more than ten acres of said terri-
tory, and no person shall hold more than ten acres in any creek unless
the same shall be acquired through devise, inheritance or marriage.
And all that territory within the provisions of this act and lying more
than two miles from the mainland or any island, shall be subject to
entry by any person, but no person shall be permitted to enter in any
one period for five years, more than six hundred and forty acres.

SEC. 7. Twenty-five cents per acre shall be paid to the State Treas-
urer for all franchises granted, and all moneys received for the grant-
ing of franchises, or for taxes laid on the said grounds or on property
thereon, shall be set apart and kept separate for the purpose of defray-
ing the expenses entailed by the provision of this act,and any moneys
remaining after the payment of said expenses shall be paid into and
credited to the school fund.

Sec. 8. The Secretary of State is hereby authorized and empowered
to hire and take upon leases, not exceeding a term of ten years, in the
name and behalf of the State, any such plot or plots of ground within
the State as may be deemed necessary for the constructing, erecting,
setting, maintaining and protecting of signals, beacons, bound-stones,
posts or buoys to be used in designating, locating, surveying or map-
ping any shellfish grounds, and any person who shall willfully injure or
remove any such beacon, bound-stone, post or buoy, or any part, ap-
purtenance or enclosure thereof, or any buoy, stake, mark or range
of any private or public shellfish ground, shall be guilty of a mis-
demeanor.

Sec. 9. All grounds taken up or held under this or previous acts
shall be subject to taxation as real estate and shall be so considered in
the settlement of the estates of deceased or insolvent persons.

Sec. 10. The Board of County Commissioners shall have entire con-
trol and jurisdiction over all public grounds lying within the bound-
aries of the counties, shall place and maintain suchs marks, and shall
prescribe and publish at the court-house door and at four other public
places in the county, such rules and regulations as may be neces-
sary for the governance and control of the fisheries on such public
grounds.

Sec. 11, Any person who shall willfully commit any trespass or in-

58 : AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

jury with any instrument or implement upon any ground designated
under this act, upon which shellfish are being raised or cultivated, or
shall remove, destroy or deface any mark or monument set up by the
Board of County Commissioners, by virtue of Section 10 of this act, —
or who shall violate the rules and regulations prescribed by the said
board of the governance and control of the fishery on the public
grounds, or who shall work on any oyster ground at night shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor. But nothing in the provision. of
this or any act shall be construed as autnorizing interference with the
capture of migratory fishes or free navigation or the right to use on
any private ground any method or implement for the taking, growing
or cultivation of shellfish.

SEc. 12, Entry takers shall make return to the Secretary of State of
all franchises granted under this act in the same manner as provided
in Section 2,776 of the Code, and the provisions of Sections 2,777 and
2.778 of the Code are hereby extended so as to cover the grants or
franchises in grounds for raising or cultivating shellfish as authorized
by this act, and all applications, grants, warrants and assignments of
franchises in or to oyster grounds, shall be in manner and form as ap-
proved by the Attorney General of the State.

SEc. 13. All grants of grounds under previous acts for the purpose
of cultivating shellfish in the territory within the provisions of this
act are hereby confirmed and made good in the grantees, their heirs
and assigns, provided the holders of said grounds shall, within one
year, file with the Secretary of State certified copies of their licenses
and surveys, and that the said surveys be found correct by the en-
gineer of the commissioners of shellfisheries, and in case such surveys
are said to be incorrect, the grounds shall be resurveyed by said
engineer as soon as practicable, and in designating lots any person
who has made in good faith an actual effort to raise or cultivate shell-
fish on the area for which application is made, shall have the prior
right to a grant or franchise in said grounds; but nothing contained
in the act shall be construed to validate any entry heretofore made of
a natural bed.

SEC 14. The Commissioners of Shellfisheries shall keep books of re-
cord,in which shall be recorded a full description of all grounds
granted under the provisions of this act, and shall keep a map or maps
upon which shall be shown the position and limits of all public and
private grounds.

SEC. 15. Any person who shall. steal or feloniously take, catch or
capture, or Carry away any shellfish from the bed or ground of another,
shall be guilty of larceny and punished accordingly.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 59

Src. 16. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with the preceding sec-
tions are hereby repealed.

SEC. 17. This act shall take effect on and after the day iter its rati-
fication.

Ratified this, the 28th day of February, A.D., 1887.

SALMON IN THE EU DSON-

Mr. Maruer said that most of the members were aware that
he had been hatching and planting salmon in the Hudson on ac-
count of the U.S. Fish Commission; that these fish had reap-
peared on the third and fourth vears after planting. The first
deposit was made in the spring of 1882, and many had been taken
last year, also some this season which had been recorded in the
pages of Forest and Stream and other papers.

The following letter bearing upon this subject, had just been
received from Hon. Franklin M. Danaher of Albany, a gentle-
man well known as taking great interest in the protection of
game, aud who is the counsellor for the Eastern New York Fish
and Game Protective Association.

Judge Danaher writes as follows

Mr. Frep. Maruer, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

My pear sir: A friend of mine, now in my office, tells me
that he saw three small salmon (the largest estimated at six
pounds) taken in a net yesterday above the dam at Troy, and
near the lock which does not exceed one hundred feet above the
dam. They evidently had come in this lock which had just
been emptied. The fish were returned to the water. The in-
formation is reliable and I thought it would please you to know
it. If they were true salmon’. What do ‘you think of it?
He knows of others taken last week just below the dam.

Yours, F. M. DANAHER.

60 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

MIGRATION, OF LAKE SUPERIOR. FISH.
BY W. D. TOMLIN,
Tue whitefish of Lake Superior waters is prized for its edible

qualities, and the increasing scarceness is causing much concern
among those whose tastes incline toward this really fine fish for

table use; already the supply is being drawn largely from Can-_

adian waters and from Lake Winipeg; year by vear men en-
gaged in fishing have seen their feeding grounds almost deserted
and the numbers still deminishing, until at last to find a large
whitefish in their nets is indeed a curiosity. The present season’s
fishing finds scarce any body of fish north of Ontonagan, Mich-
igan,

The fishermen of Wisconsin and Minnesota are thus deprived
of any chance of obtaining this fish, by the gradual desertion of
the old spawning grounds. I have said gradual because the dis-
appearance has been fluctuating; some years the catches were
prolific, then growing scarcer.

In the memory of men living in Duluth to-day, whitefish could
be seen in Sucker Bay, twenty years ago, so thickly crowding
one another that the water seemed alive with them. A thousand
barrels of whitefish could have been put up from this single
spawning or feeding ground.

Captain Vose Palmer, an old fisherman who owns property
on this Bay, states that twenty-five years ago, it was enough to
send an enthusiast wild to see the immense quantities of fish
come in on the swells until the waters were apparently a com-
pact mass of fish.

Captain R. H. Palmer, a brother of Vose Palmer, who has
fished Superior waters nearly thirty years, says that beginning
at Sucker Bay or Stony Point, and following the north shore
line eastward up to Thunder Bay, near the mouth of the many
rivers and streams that come tumbling into Lake Superior, you
could find the feeding grounds of the whitefish, and in the bays
near to them millions of young whitefish could be seen in their
season.

Captain Alex. McDougall, a lake captain, whose earlier years

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. , 61

were spent in fishing, has cruised in almost every bay, creek,
river or stream in this end of Lake Superior, and has carefully
noted the habits of the whitefish, and knew both their spawning
grounds, and feeding grounds, and has seen the young fry of
whitefish by the million along the shores both of Minnesota and
Wisconsin. Captain McDougal}! has endeavored for years to call
attention to the alarmiug decrease of whitefish and to find some
remedy for the same.

With the demand for whitefish, and the opening up of towns
in the great Northwest, larger areas of nets were spread, more
men were employed in the business, steam tugs were employed
to carry the fish to the trains that delivered the fish to the towns
on the prairies of the West and beyond the Mississippi; then
came the first notice of any spasmodic migration or variation of
the schools of fish on their feeding grounds. It became so notice-
able as the years rolled by that the most observant and intelli-
gent fishermen counted the years. There came an immense glut
of fish, markets were overstocked, the nets in the water were
filled, and before the men could dispose of the first catch and
get to their nets, the fish were dead and thus useless. That sea-
son much fish was destroyed, not by any carelessness, but by
such immense schools coming into the nets that the men could
not take care of them.

The year following the season’s catch was a diminution of the
usual catch; the next season was still smaller; the fourth season
was almost a failure; these singular periods vary, sometimes
coming every fourth or fifth year, and until the men ceased ex-
pecting catches of whitefish they almost knew about the propor-
tion of whitefish they might expect. These facts are confirmed
by Captain Martyn Wheeler and Captain Ed. S.. Smith, both en-
gaged in fishing for some years, as well as fishermen of other
nationalities who have been fishing these waters for more than
twenty years.

The fishermen were at one time prodigal of the fishing wealth
of this inland sea; it was each for himself, and undoubtedly grew
careless both of the manner of netting and the disposing of offal
when cleaning the fish for the market. When the facts began
to present themselves in fierce array, “that there was a possibility

62 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

of over-fishing Lake Superior,” then the fishermen began to en-
large the size of the mesh of their nets, and to discontinue the
use of the pound nets; and using only seine nets for their work,
the size of meshes was increased from 3¥%in. to ain. Still find-
ing their catches diminishing they inquired for causes; at this
point the U. S. Fish Commission by some means had circulated
along the chain of the Great Lakes the information that all offal
dumped intu the lake near to spawning grounds was injurious
to spawn, and that both trout and whitefish would seek other
grounds to spawn if fish offal was dumped into the lake.

One after another all the old grounds had been deserted until
fishermen who went to Sucker Bay, twenty miles from Duluth,
now have to go one hundred miles away, and then only get an
occasional whitefish; while the fishing grounds proper lay in the
body of the great lake, too far for fishermen at the eastern end
of Lake Superior to reach them. It looked as if the fishermen
had “killed the goose that laid the golden egg,” not by any
greed or gross carelessness, but by ignorance and inadvertence.

Many of them believe firmly that the coming of the schools of
whitefish and lake tront are spasmodic, though they cannot as-
sign causes for this. They think that after a season of unusual
northeasterly gales succeeding spawning time the spawn is de-
stroyed by a too violent agitation of the waters. And as Lake
Superior eastern storms are often long continued and of destruc-
tive force, the next season’s supply of young fry is very small
in numbers. Another cause may be the careless dumping of
fish offal on the feeding grounds, this causing the whitefish to
seek new grounds until this substance is destroyed, and thus in
three or four years the fish again return to the feeding grounds.

The fishermen of Lake Superior have learned that the white-
fish is a very timid fish; that continued netting for two or three
seasons will drive them to seek new grounds; and that once
driven away it takes years for the schools to come to the same
grounds again. The sentiment is increasing that the utmost care
must be taken not to drive away the young fry that have been
planted by the Minnesota Fish Commission, and are finding their

way to feeding grounds that were fished ten years ago.
Duluth, Minn.

}

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SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 63

The subject of the time and place of the next annual meeting
then came up for discussion. Mr. Spensley moved that the
meeting be held in Detroit on the third Tuesday in May, 1888.

Dr. Cary moved to amend by substituting Washington for
Detroit. A general discussion followed, in which the compara-
tive merits of Washington, New York and other cities were
discussed.

Mr. May thought that as Washington was the headquarters of
the United States Fish Commission and the National Museum,
where all articles and implements used in fish-culture could be
seen, that it was the most interesting place in the country to
hold the meeting; that there would be a better attendance,
especially if Congress was in session, and that more valuable
papers and discussions would come to the meeting there than at
any other place.

Mr. Mather agreed with Mr. May, and said that as an original
member, if not the founder of the Society, and speaking as one
who had never missed a meeting since the first one in 1872, he
could say that he had met with the Society at Albany, New York
and Chicago; that it was his opinion that there were only two
places that a good successful meeting could be held, —these
were, as Mr. May has said, Washington, if Congress is in session
at the time, and the second place was New York City; but as
Michigan was strongly represented in the present meeting, and
if in the judgment of the members the next meeting should be
held at Detroit, he would pledge himself to attend it if possible,
and do all in his power to make it a success.

Mr. Whittaker assured the members that he and his colleagues
of the Michigan Fish Commission, would do everything in their
power to make the meeting a success, and he felt assured that the
Society would be well attended. The question was called on the
amendment of Dr. Cary to meet in Washington, and was lost.
The question on the original motion was then put and carried. It
was resolved that the next meeting should be held in Detroit
on the third Tuesday in May, 1888. Messrs. Whittaker, Mather
and Bissell were appointed a committee to invite persons and
papers for the next meeting.

64 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

A telegram from Treasurer Blackford was received, saying
that he had been delayed by a press of business, but that his re-
port had been forwarded by mail. On motion it was decided to
accept his report, and the meeting adjourned.

The tollowing is the report of the Treasurer for the last year.

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SIXTELNTH ANNUAL MEETING. 67

MEMBERS

OF THE

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

: HONORARY MEMBERS.

H. R. H., the Crown Prince of Germany.

Behr, E. von, Schmoldow, Germany; President of the Deut-
schen Fischerei Verein.

Borne, Max von dem, Berneuchen, Germany.

Huxley, Prof. Thomas H., London; President of the Royal
Society.

Jones, John D., 51 Wall Street, New York.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERs.

Apostolides, Prof. Nicoly Chr., Athens, Greece.

Buch, Dr. S. A., Christiana, Norway; Government Inspector
of Fisheries.

Birkbeck, Edward, Esq., M. P., London England.

Benecke, Prof. B., Kénigsberg, Germany; Commissioner of
Fisheries.

Brady, Thomas F., Esq., Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland; Inspec-

Chambers, Oldham, W. Esq., Secretary of the National Fish
Culture Association, South Kensington, London.
tor of Fisheries for Ireland.

68

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Day, Dr. Francis, F. L. S., Kenilworth House, Cheltenham,
England ; late Inspector General of Fisheries for India.

Feddersen, Arthur, Viborg, Denmark.

Giglioli, Prof. H. H., Florence, Italy.

Hubrecht, Prof. A. A. W., Utrecht, Holland, Member of the
Dutch Fisheries Commission, and Director of the Neth-
erlands Zoological Station.

K. Ito, Esq., Hokkaido Cho., Sapporo, Japan, member of the.
Fisheries Department of Hokkaido, and President of the
Fisheries Society of Northern Japan.

Juel, Capt. N., R. N., Bergen, Norway; President of the Society
for the Development of Norwegian Fisheries.

Landmark, S., Bergen, Norway; Inspector of Norwegian Fresh-
water Fisheries.

Lauderdale, the Earl of, Stirling, Scotland.

Lundberg, Dr. Rudolf, Stockholm, Sweden ; Inspector of Fish-

enies.
Marston, R. B., Esq., London, England; Editor of the Fvshzng
Gazette.

Macleay, William, Sydney, N. S. W.; President of the Fish-
erieSs Commission of New South Wales.

Sars, Prof» G. O., Christiana, Norway ; Government-Inspector
of Fisheries.

Solsky, Baron N. de, St. Petersburg, Russia; Director of the
Imperial Agricultural Museum.

Sola, Don Francisco, Garcia, Madrid, Spain; Secretary of the
Spanish Fisheries Society.

Wattel, M. Raveret, Paris, France; Secretary of the Société
d’Acclimation.

Young, Archibald, Esq., Edinburgh, Scotland; H. M. Inspector
of Salmon Fisheries.

Walpole, Hon. Spencer, Governor of the Isle of Man.

DECEASED MEMBERS.

Baird, Hon. Spencer F. McGovern, H. D.
Carman, G. Parker, W. R.
Chappel, George. Redding, B. B.
Develin, John EK. Redding, George H.
Garlick, Dr, Theodatus. Rice, Prot; Ebsls
Lawrence, Alfred N. Smith, Greene.

Shultz, Theodore.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 69

MEMBERS.

Persons elected at last meeting and who did not pay their dues do not appear in this list.

Adams, Dr. S. C., Peoria, Illinois.

Agnew, John T., 284 Front Street, New York.
Anderson, A. A., Bloomsbury, N. J.

Annin, James, Jr., Caledonia, N. Y.

Atkins, Charles G., Bucksport, Maine.
Atwater, Prof. W. O., Middletown, Conn.

Bailey, W. E., U. S. Fish Commission.

Banks, Charles, 453 Fifth Avenue, New York.
Barrett, Charles, Grafton, Vermont.

Bartlett, S. P., Quincy, Illinois.

Bean, Dr. Tarleton H., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Belmont, Perry, 19 Nassau Street, New York.
Benjamin, Pulaski, Fulton Market, New York.
Berkard, James, Union Club, New York.

Bickmore, Prof. A. S., American Museum. New York.
Bissell, J. H., Detroit, Michigan.

Blackford, E. G., Fulton Market, New York.

Booth. A., Chicago, Illinois.

Bottemane, C. J., Bergen-op-Zoom, Holland.

Brown, J. E., U. S. Fish Commission.

Brown, S. C., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Bryan, Edward H., Smithsonian Institution.

Bryson, Col. M. A., 903 Sixth Avenne, New York.
Butler, W. A., Jr. Detroit, Michigan.

Butler, Frank A., 291 Broadway, New York.

Butler, W. H., 291 Broadway, New York.

Carey, Dr. HH; Atlanta, Ga:

Cheney, A. Nelson, Glen Falls, N. Y.

Clapp, A. T., Sunbury, Pa:

Clark, Frank N., Northville, Mich.

Clark, A. Howard, National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Comstock, Oscar, Fulton Market, New York.
Conklin, William A., Central Park, New York.
Conselyea, Andrew, Springfield, Long Island, N. Y.
Cox, W. V., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Crook, Abel, 99 Nassau Street, New York.

Crosby, Henry F., 18 Cliff Street, New York.

Dewey, J. N., Toledo, Ohio.

7°

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Dieckerman, Goorge H., New Hampton, N. H.
Donaldson, Hon. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pa.
Dunning, Philo, Madison, Wis.

Earll, R. E., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Ellis, J. F., U. S. Fish Commission.

Endicott, Francis, 57 Beekman Street, New York.
Evarts, Charles B., Windsor, Vt.

Fairbank, N. K., Chicago, IIl.

Ferguson, T. B., U. S. Fish Commission.
Foord, John, Brooklyn, N.Y.

French, Asa B., South Baintree, Mass.

Garrett, W. E., P. O. Box 3006, New York.
Gilbert, W. L,, Plymouth, Mass.
Goode, G. Brown, National Museum, Washington, D. C.

Habershaw, Frederick, 113 Maiden Lane, New York.
Haley, Albert, Fulton Market, New York.

Haley, Caleb, Fulton Market, New York.

Hall, G. W., Union Club, New York.

Herris, Gwynn, Washington, D.C,

Harris, W. C., 252 Broadway, New York.

Hayes, A. A., Washington, D.C.

Henshall, Dr. J. A., Cynthiana, Keutucky.

Hessel, Rudolf, U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Hicks, John D., Roslyn, Long Island, N. Y.

Hill, M. B., Clayton, N. Y.

Hinchman, C. C., Detroit, Michigan.

Holmes, Dr. E. S., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Hudson, Dr. William M., Hartford, Conn.
Humphries, Dr. E. W., Salisbury, Md.

Hutchinson, E. S., Washington, D. C.

Isaacs, Montefiore, 42 Broad Street, New York.

Jessup, F. J., 88 Cortlandt Street, New York,
Johnston, S. M., Battery Wharf, Boston, Mass.

Kauffman, S. H., Washington, D. C.

Kelly, P., 346 Sixth Avenue, New York.

Kellogg, A. J., Detroit, Michigan.

Kingsbury, Dr. C. A., 1119 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 7/2!

Lamphear, George, Fulton Market, New York.
Lawrence, G. N., 45 East 21st Street, New York.
Lawrence, F. C., Union Club, New York.
Ledyard, L. W., Cazenovia, New York.

Lee, Thomas, U.S. Fish Commission.

Loring, John A., 5 Tremont Street, Boston.
Lowrey, J. A., Union Club, New York.
Lydecker, Major G. I., U. S. Engineers.

Lyman, Hon. Theodore, Brookline, Mass.

Mallory, Charles, foot Burling Slip, New York.

Mansfield, Lieut. H. B., U. S. Navy, Washington, D. C.

Mather, Fred, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

Marks, Walter D., Paris, Mich.

May, W.L., Fremont, Nebraska.

McDonald, Col. M., Fish Commissioner of the United States,
Washington, D. C.

McGown, Hon. H. P., 76 Nassau Street, New York.

Middleton, W., Fulton Market, New York.

Milbank, S. W., Union Club, New York.

Miller, S. B., Fulton Market, New York.

Miller, Ernest, Fulton Market, New York.

Moore, George H. H,, U.S. Fish Commission,

Murphy, W. W. J., U. S. Fish Commission.

Nevin, James, Madison, Wis.

O’Connor, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Page, George S., 49 Wall Street, New York.

Page, W. F., U.S. Fish Commission.

Parker, Dr: J. C., Grand Rapids, Mich.

Parker, Peter, Jr., U. S. Fish Commission.

Pease, Charles, East Rockford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Pietmyer, Lieut., U.S. Fish Commissioner, commanding Steamer
Fish-Hawk.

Pike, Hon. R. G., Middletown, Conn.

Post, W., Knickerbocker Club, New York.

Ray, Hon. Ossian, M. C,, New Hampshire.
Redmond, R., 113 Franklin Street, Eew York.
Reinecke, Theodore, Box 1651, New York.
Reynal, J., 84 White Street, New York.
Ricardo, George, Hackensack, N. J.

72 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Riley, Prof. C. V., Agricultural Dept., Washington, D.C.
Robeson, Hon. Geo. M., Camden, N. J.

Rogers, H. M., Fulton Market, New York.

Roosevelt, Hon. Robert B., 17 Nassau Street, New York.
Ryer, F. R., New York City, ;

Schaffer, George H., foot Perry Street, New York.
Schieffelin, W. H., 170 William Street, New York.
Schuyler, H. P., Troy, New York.

Sherman, Gen. R. U., New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y.
Simmons, Newton, U. S. Fish Commission.

Smiley, C. W., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Spensley, Calvert, Mineral Point, Wis.

Spofford, Henry W., Smithsonian Institution.

Steers, Henry, 10 East 38th Street. New York.

Stone, Livingston, Charlestown, N. H.

Stone, Summer R., 46 Exchange Place, New York.
Swan, B. L., Jr., 5 West 20th Street, New York.
Sweeny, Dr. R. O. St. Paul, Minn.

Thompson, H. H., Bedford Bank, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Townsend, Isaac, Union Club, New York.

Van Brunt, C., 121 Chambers Street, New York.
Ward, George E., 43 South Street, New York.
Weeks, Seth, Corry, Erie Co., Penn.

West, Benjamin, Fulton Street, New York.
Whitaker, Herschel, Detroit, Mich,

Whitney, Samuel, Katonah, New York.

Wilbur, E. R., 39-40 Park Row, New York.
Wilcox, Joseph, Media, Penn.

Wilcox, W. A., 176 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.
Willets, J. C., Skeaneatles, N. Y., or 1 Grace Court, Brooklyn.
Wilmot, Samuel, Newcastle, Ontario.

Wilson, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Wood, Benjamin, 25 Park Row, New York.
Woodruff, G. D., Sherman, Conn.

Woods, Israel, Fulton Market, New York.

Worth, S2G,,, Raleigh, Nic:

JOHN M. DAVIS, TYPOGRAPHER, 40 FULTON STREET, N, Y.

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Fisheries Society.

1888.

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

* EMBRIGAN

FISHERIES “SULIT Ee

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

HELD IN
Sey a rey Weel LJ) Eo EO) Es MET Crs

MAY 15TH AND 16TH, 1888.

OFFICERS POR 138388--9.3

PRESIDENT, JOHN H. BISSELL, Detroit, Mich.
VicrE-PRESIDENT, S. G. WORTH, Washington, D. C.

Rec. SECRETARY, FRED MATHER, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

Cor. SECRETARY, HENRY C. FORD, Philadelphia, Pa.
TREASURER, E. G. BLACKFORD, Brooklyn, IN. Y.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

PHILO DUNNING, CuHarrMay, - - Madison, Wis.
SP BAR TEE, - - - - Quincy, 111.
Dr. R. O. SWEENY, - - . St Paul, Minn.
Dr. W. M. HUDSON, - - - flartford, Conn.
Cy V.-OSBORN, - - . - Dayton, Ohio.
MARSHALL McDONALD, - - Washington, D. C.
JAMES V. LONG, - - . - Pitisburgh, Pa.

FOR CONSTITUTION SEE PREVIOUS REPORT.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING

— ORF THE——

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.

Pas! G; DAY:

The Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Society was held
in the room of the Detroit Lodge of Elks, No. 34, in Detroit,
Mich., on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 15 and 16. The
attendance was larger than usual and many States were repre-
sented, the result of a special invitation of United States Fish
Commissioner McDonald to the different State Commissioners
to meet him and devise some system of co-operation between
the States having common fishery interests, and also between
them and the general Government. There was a meeting of
the Commissioners in the evening.

The meeting was called to order Tuesday morning, May
15, President W. L. May, of Nebraska, in the chair. Dr. R.
O. Sweeny, of Minnesota, made a happy opening address in
which he alluded to the call of Col. McDonald for a conference
of Commissioners and pointed out the great benefits that would
come to all by uniting and working in concert. The following
new members were elected: Messrs. Henry C. Ford, James
V. Long, and W. H. Powell, of the Pennsylvania Fish Com-
mission; M. E. O’Brien, Superintendent Nebraska Commis-

———8

4

sion; Richard Rathbun, of the U. S. Commission ; Hon. C. V.
Osborn, James C. Hofer, John H. Law and A. C. Williams, of
the Ohio Commission; Hon. J. J. Stranahan, of Chagrin Falls,
O.; and Daniel H. Fitzhugh, of Bay City, Mich.

An invitation to visit the Lake St. Clair Fishing and Shoot-
ing Club was tendered by its president, Mr. W. C. Colburn,
and accepted for Wednesday afternoon. The Society then
adjourned until 2 P. M. and visited the white-fish hatchery of the
Michigan Commission, in the city, where several millions of
the eggs of the pike-perch were to be seen in the jars, and some
trout and adult grayling were shown in aquaria, the whitefish
season being passed.

On assembling in the afternoon the following paper was
read :

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FRESH-WATER YN BISHES:

BY PROF. DAVID STARR JORDAN.

When I was a boy and went fishing in the brooks of west-
ern New York, I noticed that the different streams did not
always have the same kinds of fishes in them. Two streams in
particular in Wyoming County, not far from my father’s farm,
engaged in this respect my special attention. Their sources
are not far apart, and they flow in opposite directions, on oppo-
site sides of a low ridge—an old glacial moraine, something
more than a mile across. The Oatka creek flows northward
from this ridge, while the East Coy runs toward the southeast
on the other side of it, both flowing ultimately into the same
river, the Genesee.

It does not require a very careful observer to see that in
these two streams the fishes are not quite the same. The
streams themselves are similar enough. In each the waters are
clear and fed by springs. Each flows over gravel and clay,
through alluvial meadows, in many windings, and with elms and
alders ‘fin all its elbows.” In both streams we were sure of
finding trout (Sal/velinus fontinalis Mitchill), and in one of them
the trout are still abundant. In both we used to catch the

5

brook chub (Semmotzlus atromaculatus Mitchill), or, as we called
it, the “ horned dace”’ ; and in both were large schools of shiners
(Notropis megalops Rafinesque) and of suckers (Catostomus teres
Mitchill). But in every deep hole, and especially in the mill-
ponds along the East Coy creek, the horned pout (Ameturus
melas Rafinesque) swarmed on the mucky bottoms. In every
eddy, or in the deep hole worn out at the root of the elm trees,
could be seen the sunfish (Lepomis sibbosus Linnaeus), strutting
in green and scarlet, with spread fins keeping intruders away
from its nest. But in the Oatka creek were found neither
horned pout nor sunfish, nor have I ever heard that either has
been taken there. Then besides these nobler fishes, worthy of
a place on every school-boy’s string, we knew by sight, if not
by name, numerous smaller fishes, darters (Etheostoma flabellare
Rafinesque) and minnows (Rhznichthys atronasus Mitchill),
which crept about in the gravel on the bottom of the East Coy,
but which we never recognized in the Oatka.

There must be a reason for differences like these, in the
streams themselves or in the nature of the fishes. The sunfish
and the horned pout are home-loving fishes to a greater extent
than the others which I have mentioned ; still, where no
obstacles prevent, they are sure to move about. There must
be, then, in the Oatka some sort of barrier, or strainer, which
keeping these species back permits others more adventurous to
pass ; and a wider knowledge of the geography of the region
showed that such is the case. Farther down in its course, the
Oatka falls over a ledge of rock, forming a considerable water-
fall at Rock Glen. Still lower down its waters disappear in the
ground, sinking into some limestone cavern or gravel-bed, from
which they reappear, after some six miles, in the large springs
at Caledonia. Either of these barriers might well discourage a
quiet-loving fish ; while the trout and its active associates have
sometime passed them, else we should not find them in the
upper waters in which they alone form the fish-fauna. This
problem is a simple one; a boy could work it out, and the
obvious solution seems to be satisfactory.

Since those days I have been a fisherman in many waters—
not an angler exactly, but one who fishes for fish, and to whose

te ee ee ———

6

net nothing large or small ever comes amiss; and wherever I
go, I find cases like this.

We do not know all the fishes of America yet, nor all those
well that we know by sight; still this knowledge will come
with time and patience, and to procure it is a comparatively
easy task. It is also easy to ascertain the more common
inhabitants of any given stream. It is difficult, however, to
obtain negative results which are really results. You cannot
often say that a species does not live in a certain stream. You
can only affirm that you have not yet found it there, and you
can rarely fish in any stream so long that you can find nothing
that you have not taken before. Still more difficult is it to
gather the results of scattered observations into general state-
ments regarding the distribution of fishes. The facts may be
so few as to be misleading, or so numerous as to be confusing ;
and the few writers who have taken up this subject in detail
have found both these difficulties to be serious. Whatever
general propositions we may maintain must be stated with the
modifying clause of ‘other things being equal’’; and other
things are never quite equal.

Still less satisfactory is our attempt to investigate the causes
on which our partial generalizations depend—to attempt to
break to pieces the “other things being equal’ which baffle
us in our search for general laws.

We now recognize about six hundred species of fishes as
found in the fresh waters of North America, north of the Tropic
of Cancer, these representing thirty-four of the natural families.
As to their habits, we can divide these species rather roughly
into the four categories proposed by Professor Cope, or, as we
may call them—

(1) Lowland fishes; as the bow-fin, pirate perch, large-
mouthed black bass, sunfishes and some catfishes.

(2) Channel fishes; as the channel catfish, the moon-eye,
gar-pike, buffalo-fishes and drum.

(3) Upland fishes; as many of the darters, shiners and
suckers, and the small-mouthed black bass.

(4) Mountain fishes; as the brook trout, and many of the
darters and minnows.

ee irieteatl

fi

To these we may add the more or less distinct classes of (5)
Lake fishes, inhabiting only waters which are deep, clear and
cold, as the various species of whitefish and the great lake
trout ; (6) Anadromous fishes, or those which run up from the
sea to spawn in fresh waters, as the salmon, sturgeon, shad
and striped bass ; (7) Catadromous fishes, like the eel, which
pass down to spawn in the sea; and (8) Brackish-water fishes,
which thrive best in the debatable waters of the river-mouths,
as most of the sticklebacks and the killifishes.

As regards the range of species, we have every possible
gradation from those which seem to be confined to a single
river, and are rare even in their restricted habitat, to those
which are in a measure cosmopolitan,* ranging everywhere in
suitable waters. *

Still, again, we have all degrees of constancy and incon-
stancy in what we regard as the characters of a species. Those
found only in a single river-basin are usually uniform enough ;
but the species having a wide range usually vary much in differ-
ent localities. Continued explorations bring to light, from
year to year, new species; but the number of new forms now
discovered each year is usually less than the number of recog-
nized species which are yearly proved to be intenable. Three
complete lists of the fresh-water fishes of the United States
have been published by the present writer. That of Jordan and
Copeland, + published in 1876, enumerates 670 species. That
of Jordan?¢ in 1878 contains 665 species, and that of Jordan§$ in
1885, 587 species, although upwards of 75 new species were
detected in the nine years which elapsed between the first and
the last list. Additional specimens from intervening localities
are often found to form connecting links among the nominal
species, and thus several supposed species become in time

* Thus the chub-sucker (Erz#ayzon sucetta) in some of its varieties ranges everywhere from
Maine to Dakota, Florida and Texas; while a number of other species are scarcely less widely
distributed.

+ Check L’st of the Fishes of the Fresh Waters of North America, by David S. Jordan and
Herbert E. Copeland. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural History, 1876, pp. 133-164.

¢ A Catalogue of the Fishes of the Fresh Waters of North America. Bulletin of the United
States Geological Survey, 1878, pp. 407-442.

§ A Catalogue of the Fishes known to inhabit the Waters of North America North of the
Tropic of Cancer. Annual Report of the Commissioners of Fish and Fisheries for 1884 and 188s.

8

merged in one. Thus the common channel catfish (/ctalurus
punctatus Rafinesque) of our rivers has been described as a
new species not less than twenty-five times, on account of
differences, real or imaginary, but comparatively trifling in value.

Where species can readily migrate, their uniformity is pre-
served ; but whenever a form becomes localized its representa-
tives assume some characters not shared by the species asa
whole.

Comparing a dozen fresh specimens of almost any kind of
fish from any body of water with an equal number from some-
where else, one will rarely fail to find some sort of differences
—in size, in form, in color. These differences are obviously
the reflex of differences in the environment, and the collector
of fishes seldom fails to recognize them as such ; often it is not
difficult to refer the effect to the conditions. Thus, fishes from
grassy bottoms are darker than those taken from over sand, and
those from a bottom of muck are darker still, the shade of
color being, in some way not well understood, dependent on the
color of the surroundings. Fishes in large bodies of water reach
a larger size than the same species in smaller streams or ponds.
Fishes from foul or sediment-laden waters are paler in color and
slenderer in form than those from waters which are clear and
pure. Again, it is often true that specimens from northern
waters are less slender in body than those from farther south ;
and so on. Other things being equal, the more remote the
localities from each other, the greater are these differences.

It is evident, from these and other facts, that the idea of a
separate creation for each species of fishes in each river basin,
as entertained by Agassiz, is wholly incompatible with our
present knowledge of the specific distinctions or of the geo-
graphical distribution of fishes. This is an unbroken gradation
in the variations from the least to the greatest—from the pecu-
liarities of the individual, through local varieties, geographical
sub-species, species, sub-genera, genera, families, super-families,
and so on, until all fish-like vertebrates are included in a single
bond of union.

It is, however, evident that not all American types of fishes
had their origin in America, or even first assumed in America

9

their present forms. Some of these are perhaps immigrants
from Northern Asia, where they still have their nearest rela-
tives. Still others are evidently modified importations from
the sea; and of these some are very recent immigrants, land-
locked species which have changed very little from the parent
stock.

We can say, in general, that in all waters not absolutely
uninhabitable there are fishes. The processes of natural selec-
tion have given to each kind of river or lake species of fishes
adapted to the conditions of life which obtain there. There is
no condition of water, of bottom, of depth, of speed of current,
but finds some species with characters adjusted to it. These
adjustments are, for the most part, of long standing ; and the
fauna of any single stream has, as a rule, been produced by
immigration from other regions or from other streams. Each
species has an ascertainable range of distribution, and within
this range we may be reasonably certain to find it in any suitable
waters.

But every species has beyond question some sort of limit to
its distribution, some sort of barrier which it has never passed
in all the years of its existence. That this is true becomes evi-
dent when we compare the fish-faunz of widely separated rivers.
Thus the Sacramento, Connecticut, Rio Grande and St. John’s
rivers have notasingle species in common; and with one or two
exceptions, not a species is common to any two of them. None
of these has any species peculiar to itself, and each shares a
large part of its fish-fauna with the water-basin next to it. It is
probably true that the faunz of no two distinct hydrographic
basins are wholly identical, while, on the other hand, there are
very few species confined to a single one. The supposed cases
of this character, some twenty in number, occur chiefly in the
streams of the South Atlantic States and of Arizona. All of
these need, however, the confirmation of further exploration.
It is certain that in no case has an entire river fauna originated
independently from the divergence into separate species of the
descendants of a single type.

The existence of boundaries to the range of species implies,
therefore, the existence of barriers to their diffusion. We may

IO

now consider these barriers, and, in the same connection, the
degree to which they may be overcome.

Least important of these are the barriers which may exist
within the limits of any single basin, and which tend to prevent
a free diffusion through its waters of species inhabiting any por-
tion of it. In streams flowing southward, or across different
parallels of latitude, the difference in climate becomes a matter
of importance. The distribution of species is governed very
largely by the temperature of the water. Each species has its
range in this respect—the free-swimming fishes, notably the
trout, being most affected by it; the mud-loving or bottom
fishes, like the catfishes, least. The latter can reach the cool
bottoms in hot weather, or the warm bottoms in cold weather,
thus keeping their own temperature more even than that of the
surface of the water. Although water communication is per-
fectly free for most of the length of the Mississippi, there is a
material difference between the faune of the stream in Minne-
sota and in Louisiana. This difference is caused chiefly by the
difference in temperature occupying the difference in latitude.
That a similar difference in longitude, with free water commu-
nication, has no appreciable importance, is shown by the almost
absolute identity of the fish-faune of Lake Winnebago and
Lake Champlain. While many large fishes range freely up and
down the Mississippi, a majority of the species do not do so,
and the fauna of the upper Mississippi has more in common
with that of the tributaries of Lake Michigan than it has with
that of the Red river or the Arkansas. The influence of
climate is again shown in the paucity of the fauna of the cold
waters of Lake Superior, as compared with that of Lake
Michigan. The majority of our species cannot endure the cold-
In general, therefore, cold or Northern waters contain fewer
species than Southern waters do, though the number of indi-
viduals of any one kind may be greater. This is shown in all
waters, fresh or salt. The fisheries of the Northern seas are
more extensive than those of the Tropics. There are more
fishes there, but they are far less varied in kind. The writer
once caught seventy-five species of fishes in a single haul of the
seine at Key West, while on Cape Cod he obtained with the

II

same net but forty-five species in the course of a week’s work.
Thus it comes that the angler, contented with many fishes of
few kinds, goes to Northern streams to fish, while the naturalist
goes to the South.

But in most streams the difference in latitude is insignifi-
cant, and the chief differences in temperature come from differ-
ences in elevation, or from the distance of the waters from the
colder source. Often the lowland waters are so different in
character ds to produce a marked change in the quality of their
fauna. These lowland waters may form a barrier to the free
movements of upland fishes; but that this barrier is not
impassable is shown by the identity of the fishes in the
streams (for example, Elk river, Duck river, etc.) of the
uplands of middle Tennessee with those of the Holston and
French Broad. Again, streams of the Ozark Mountains, sim-
ilar in character to the rivers of East Tennessee, have an essen-
tially similar fish-fauna, although between the Ozarks and the
Cumberland range lies an area of lowland bayous, into which
such fishes are never known to penetrate. We can, however,
imagine that these upland fishes may be sometimes swept
down from one side or the other into the Mississippi, from which
they might ascend on the other side. But such transfers cer-
tainly do not often happen. This is apparent from the factthat
the two faune* are not quite identical, and in some cases the
same species are represented by perceptibly different varieties
on one side and the other. The time of the commingling of
these faune is perhaps now past, and it may have occurred only
when the climate of the intervening regions was colder than at
present.

The effect of waterfalls and cascades as a barrier to the dif-
fusion of most species is self-evident; but the importance of
such obstacles is less, in the course of time, than might be
expected. In one way or another very many species have

* There are three species of darters (EHtheostoma copelandi Jordan; Etheostoma evides
Jordan and Copeland; Atheostoma scierum Swain) which are now known only from the Ozark
region or beyond and from the uplands of Indiana, not yet having been found at any point between
Indiana and Missouri. These constitute perhaps isolated colonies, now separated from the parent
stock in Arkansas by the prairie districts of Illinois, a region at present uninhabitable for the-e
fishes. But the non-occurrence of these species over the intervening areas needs confirmation, as
do most similar cases of anomalous distribution.

ii
passed these barriers. The falls of the Cumberland limit the
range of most of the larger fishes of the river, but the streams
above it have their quota of darters and minnows. It is evi-
dent that the past history of the stream must enter as a factor
into this discussion, but this past history it is not always possi-
ble to trace. Dams or artificial waterfalls now check the free
movement of many species, especially those of migratory habits ;
while, conversely, numerous other species have extended their
range through the agency of canals (thus, Dorosoma cepedianum
Le Sueur, and Clupea chrysochloris Rafinesque, have found
their way into Lake Michigan through canals).

Every year fishes are swept down the rivers by the winter’s
floods ; and in the spring, as the spawning season approaches,
almost every species is found working its way up the stream.
In some cases, notably the Quinnat salmon (Oncorhynchus
tschawytscha Walbaum) and the blueback salmon (Oncorhyn-
chus nerka Walbaum), the length of these migrations is
surprisingly great. To some species rapids and shallows have
proved a sufficient barrier, and other kinds have been kept back
by unfavorable conditions of various sorts. Streams whose
waters are always charged with silt or sediment, as the Missouri,
Arkansas, or Brazos, do not invite fishes; and even the occa-
sional floods of red mud such as disfigure otherwise clear
streams, like the Red river or the Colorado (of Texas), are
unfavorable. Extremely unfavorable also is the condition
which obtains in many rivers of the Southwest ; as for example,
the Red river, the Sabine, and the Trinity, which are full from
bank to bank in winter and spring, and which dwindle to mere
rivulets in the autumn droughts.

In general, those streams which have conditions most favor-
able to fish-life will be found to contain the greatest number of
species. Such streams invite immigration; and in them the
struggle for existence is individual against individual, species
against species, and not a mere struggle with hard conditions of
life. Some of the conditions most favorable to the existence in
any stream of a large number of species of fishes are the follow-
ing, the most important of which is the one mentioned first :
connection with a large hydrographic basin; a warm climate ;

13

clear water ; a moderate current ; a bottom of gravel (prefer-
ably covered by a growth of weeds) ; little fluctuation during
the year in the volume of the stream or in the character of the
water.

Limestone streams usually yield more species than streams
flowing over sandstone, and either more than the streams of
regions having metamorphic rocks. Sandy bottoms usually are
not favorable to fishes. In general, glacial drift makes a suita-
ble river bottom, but the higher temperature usual in regions
beyond the limits of the drift gives to certain Southern streams
conditions still more favorable. These conditions are all well
realized in the Washita river in Arkansas, and in various trib-
utaries of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio; and in these,
among American streams, the greatest number of species has
been recorded.

The isolation and the low temperature of the rivers of New
England have given to them a very scanty fish-fauna as com-
pared with the rivers of the South and West. This fact has
been noticed by Professor Agassiz, who has called New England
a ‘‘ zoological island.”’ *

In spite of the fact that barriers of every sort are sometimes
crossed by fresh-water fishes, we must still regard the matter of
freedom of water communication as the essential one in deter-
mining the range of most species. The larger the river basin,
the greater the variety of conditions likely to be offered in it,
and the greater the number of its species. In case of the
divergence of new forms by the processes called ‘‘ natural selec-
tion,” the greater the number of such forms which may have
spread through its waters ; the more extended any river basin,
the greater are the chances that any given species may some-
time find its way into it; hence the greater the number of
species that actually occur in it, and, freedom of movement
being assumed, the greater the number of species to be found
in any one of its affluents.

* “Tn this isolated region of North America, in this zodlogical island of New England, as we may
call it, we find neither Lep dosteus, nor Amia, nor Polyodon, nor Amblodon (Aflodinotus), nor
Grystes (Micropterus), nor Centrarchus, nor Pomoxis, nor Ambloplites, nor Calliurus (Chenobryt-
tus), nor Carpiodes, nor Hyodon, nor indeed any of the chara:teristic forms of North American
fishes so common eyerywhere else, with the exception of two Pomotis (Z7fav7s), one Boleosoma,
and a few Catostomus.”-——AGAssiz, Amer. Fourn. Sci. Arts, 1854.

14

Of the six hundred species of fishes found in the rivers of
the United States, about two hundred have been recorded from
the basin of the Mississippi. From fifty to one hundred of
these species can be found in any one of the tributary streams
of the size, say, of the Housatonic river or the Charles. In
the Connecticut river there are about eighteen species perma-
nently resident ; and the number found in the streams of Texas
is not much larger, the best-known of these, the Rio Colorado,
having yielded but twenty-four species.

The waters of the Great Basin have not yet been fully ex-
plored. The number of species now known from this region is
about seventy-five. This number includes the fauna of the
upper Rio Grande, the Snake river, and the Colorado, as well
as the fishes of the tributaries of the Great Salt Lake. This list
is composed almost entirely of a few genera of suckers (Catfos-
tomus, Pantosteus, Chasmistes), minnows (Sgualius, Gila, Pty-
chocheilus, etc.), and trout (Salmo mykiss and its varieties).
None of the catfishes, perch, darters, or sunfishes, moon-eyes,
killifishes, and none of the ordinary Eastern types of minnows
(genera Notropis, Chrosomus, etc.) have passed the barrier of
the Rocky Mountains.

West of the Sierra Nevada, the fauna is still more scanty, but
fifty species being enumerated. This fauna, except for certain
immigrants (as the fresh water surf-fish [ Hysterocarpus traskt]
and the species of salmon) from the sea, is of the same general
character as that of the Great Basin, though most of the species
are different. This latter fact would indicate a considerable
change, or “ evolution,” since the contents of the two faunz
were last mingled. There is a considerable difference between
the fauna of the Columbia and that of the Sacramento. The
species which these two basins have in commonare chiefly those
which at times pass out into the sea. The rivers of Alaska con-
tain but few species, barely a dozen in all, most of these being
found also in Siberia and Kamtschatka. In the scantiness of its
faunal list, the Yukon agrees with the Mackenzie river, and
with Arctic rivers generally.

There can be no doubt that the general tendency is for each
species to extend its range more and more widely until all local-

—

15

ities suitable for its growth are included. The various agencies
of dispersal which have existed in the past are still in operation.
There is apparently no limit to theiraction. It is probable that
new “colonies” of one species or another may be planted each
year in waters not heretofore inhabited by such species. But
such colonies become permanent only where the conditions are
so favorable that the species can hold its own in the struggle
for food and subsistence. That various modifications in the
habitat of certain species have been caused by human agencies
is of course too well known to need discussion here.

We may next consider the question of water-sheds, or bar-
riers which separate one river basin from another.

Of such barriers in the United States, the most important and
most effective is unquestionably that of the main chain of the
Rocky Mountains. This is due in part to its great height, still
more to its great breadth, and most of all, perhaps, to the fact
that it is nowhere broken by the passage of a river. But two
species—the red-throated, or Rocky Mountain trout (Sa/mo
mykiss Walbaum [=purpuratus Pallas],) and the Rocky Moun-
tain whitefish (Coregonus williamsoni Girard)—are found on
both sides of it, at least within the limits of the United States ;
while many genera, and even several families, find in it either
an eastern or a western limit to their range. In afew instances
representative species, probably modifications or separated
branches of the same stock, occur on opposite sides of the
range, but there are not many cases of correspondence even
thus close.

It is easy to account for the separation of the faunz; but
how shall we explain the almost universal diffusion of the
whitefish and the trout in suitable waters on both sides of the
dividing ridge ? We may notice that these two are the species
which ascend highest in the mountains, the whitefish inhabiting
the mountain pools and lakes, the trout ascending all brooks
and rapids in search of their fountain-heads. In many cases
the ultimate dividing ridge is not very broad, and we may
imagine that at some time spawn or even young fishes may
have been carried across by birds or other animals, or by man,
—or more likely by the dash of some summer whirlwind.

ree

16

Once carried across in favorable circumstances, the species
might survive and spread.

I have seen an example of how such transfer of species
may be accomplished, which shows that we need not be left
to draw on the imagination to invent possible means of transit,

There are few water-sheds in the world better defined than
the mountain range which forms the ‘‘ backbone”’ of Norway.
I lately climbed a peak in this range, the Suletind. From its
summit I could look down into the valleys of the Lira and the
Bagna, flowing in opposite directions to opposite sides of the
peninsula. To the north of the Suletind is a large double lake
called the Sletningenvand. The maps show this lake to be one
of the chief sources of the westward-flowing river Lira. This
lake is in August swollen by the melting of the snows, and at
the time of my visit it was visibly the source of both these
rivers. From its southeastern side flowed a large brook into
the valley of the Bagna, and from its southwestern corner,
equally distinctly, came the waters which fed the Lira. This
lake, like similar mountain ponds in all northern countries,
abounds in trout; and these trout certainly have for
part of the year an uninterrupted line of water com-
munication from the Sognefjord on the west of Norway
to the Christianiatjord on the southeast,—from the North
Sea to the Baltic. Part of the year the lake has probably
but a single outlet through the Lira. A higher temperature
would entirely cut off the flow into the Bigna, and a still
higher one might dry up the lake altogether. This Sletnin-
genvand,* with its two outlets on the summit of a sharp water-
shed, may serve to show us how other lakes, permanent or
temporary, may elsewhere have acted as agencies for the transfer

* Since the above was written I have been informed by Professor John M. Coulter, who was one
of the first explorers of the Yellowstone Park, that such a condition still exists on the Rocky Moun-
tain Divide. In the Yellowstone Park isa marshy tract, traversable by fishes in the rainy season,
and known as the ‘““Two-Ocean Water” In this tract rise tributaries both of the Snake river and
of the Yellowstone. Similar conditions apparently exist on other parts of the Divide, both in Mon-
tana and in Wyoming.

Professor John C. Branner calls my attention toa marshy upland which separates the valley of
the La Plata from that of the Amazon, and which permits the free movement of fishes from the
Paraguay river to the Tapajos. It is well known that through the Cassiquiare river the Rio Negro,
another branch of the Amazon, is joined to the Orinoco river. It is thus evident that almost all] the
waters of eastern South America form a single basin, so far as the fishes are concerned.

17

of fishes. We can also see how it might be that certain mountain
fishes should be so transferred while the fishes of the upland
waters may be left behind. In some such way as this we may
imagine the trout and the whitefish to have attained their pres-
ent wide range in the Rocky Mountain region; and in similar
manner perhaps the Eastern brook trout (Sa/velinus fontinalis
Mitchill) and some other mountain species (Votropis rubricroceus
Cope ; Rhinichthys atronasus Mitchill, etc.) may have been car-
ried across the Alleghanies.

The Sierra Nevada constitutes also a very important barrier
to the diffusion of species. This is, however, broken by the
passage of the Columbia river, and many species thus find their
way across it. That the waters to the west of it are not unfavor-
able for the growth of eastern fishes is shown by the fact of the
rapid spread of the common eastern catfish (Ameturus nebu-
Josus Le Sueur) or horned pout, when transported from the
Schuylkill to the Sacramento. This fish is now one of the im-
portant food-fishes of the San Francisco markets. It has become
in fact, an especial favorite with the Chinaman, —himself also an
immigrant, and presenting certain analogies with the fish in
question, as well in temperament as in habits.

The mountain mass of Mount Shasta is, as already stated, a
considerable barrier to the range of fishes, though a number of
species find their way around it through the sea. The lower
and irregular ridges of the Coast Range are of small importance
in this regard, as the streams of their east slope reach the sea on
the west through San Francisco Bay. Yet the San Joaquin
contains a few species, not yet recorded, from the smaller rivers
of southwestern California.

The main chain of the Alleghanies forms a barrier of im-
portance separating the rich fish-fauna of the Tennessee and
Ohio basins from the scantier faunz of the Atlantic streams.
Yet this barrier is crossed by many more species than is
the case with either the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra
Nevada. It is lower, narrower, and much more broken,
—as in New York, in Pennsylvania, and in Georgia there are
several streams which pass through it or around it. The
much greater age of the Alleghany chain, as compared with the

2

18

Rocky Mountains, seems not to be anelement of any importance
in this connection. Of the fish which cross this chain, the most
prominent is the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), which is
found in all suitable waters from Hudson’s Bay to the head of
the Chattahoochee. A few other species are locally found in
the headwaters of certain streams on opposite sides of the
range. An example of this is the little red “ fall-fish ” (Votrobis
rubricroceus Cope), found only in the mountain tributaries of the
Savannah and the Tennessee. We may suppose the same
agencies to have assisted these species that we have imagined
in the case of the Rocky Mountain trout, and such agencies
were doubtless more operative in the times immediately follow-
ing the glacial epoch than they are now.

The passage of species from stream to stream along the
Atlantic slope deserves a moment’s notice. It is, under present
conditions, impossible for any mountain or upland fish, as the
trout or the miller’s thumb (Cottus richardsont Agassiz), to cross
from the Potomac river to the James, or from the Neuse to the
Santee, by descending to the lower courses of the rivers, and
thence passing along either through the swamps or by way of
the sea. The lower courses of these streams, warm and muddy,
are uninhabitable by such fishes. Such transfers are, however,
possible farther north. From the rivers of Canada and from
many rivers of New England the trout does descend to the sea
and into the sea, and farther north the whitefish does this also.
Thus these fishes readily pass from one river basin to another.
As this is the case now everywhere in the North, it may have
been the case farther south in the time of the glacial cold. We
may, I think, imagine a condition of things in which the snow-
fields of the Alleghany chain might have played some part in
aiding the diffusion of cold-loving fishes. A permanent snow-
field on the Blue Ridgein western North Carolina might render
almost any stream in the Carolinas suitable for trout, from its
source to its mouth. An increased volume of colder water
might carry the trout of the head-streams of the Catawba and
the Savannah as far down as the sea. We can even imagine
that the trout reached these streams in the first place through
such agencies, though of this there is no positive evidence. For

204 oe ate? ee um ht a at ee ea ok

ee ee ee ee

ee a

a ere.”

Ig

the presence of trout in the upper Chattahoochee, we must
account in some other way.

It is noteworthy that the upland fishes are nearly the same
in all these streams, until we reach the southern limit of possible
glacial influence. South of western North Carolina, the faunze
of the different river basins appear to be more distinct from one
another. Certain ripple-loving types* are represented by
closely related but unquestionably different species in each
river basin, and it would appear that a thorough mingling of
the upland species in these rivers has never taken place.

With the lowland species of the Southern rivers it is differ-
ent. Few of these are confined within narrow limits. The
streams of the whole South Atlantic and Gulf Coast flow into
shallow bays, mostly bounded by sand-spits or sand-bars which
the rivers themselves have brought down. In these bays the
waters are often neither fresh nor salt; or rather, they are
alternately fresh and salt, the former condition being that of
the winter and spring. Many species descend into these bays,
thus finding every facility for transfer from river to river. There
is a continuous inland passage in fresh or brackish waters, tra-
versable by such fishes, from Chesapeake Bay nearly to Cape
Fear ; and similar conditions exist on the coasts of Louisiana,
Texas, and much of Florida. In Perdido Bay I have found
fresh-water minnows (WVotropis cercostigma ; Notropis xenoceph-
alus), and silversides (Labidesthes sicculus), \iving together
with marine gobies (Gobiosoma molestum) and salt-water eels
(Myrophis punctatus). Fresh-water alligator gars (Lepzsosteus
tristechus) and marine sharks compete for the garbage thrown
over from the Pensacola wharves. In Lake Pontchartrain the

* The best examples of this are the following : Inthe Santee basin are found Notropis pyrrhom-
elas, Notropis niveus, and Notropis chloristius ; in the Altamaha, Wotropis xenurus and Notropis
callisemus ; in the Chattahoochee, Notropis hypselopterus and Notropts eurystomus ; in the
Alabama, Notropis ceruleus, Notropis trichroistius, and Notropts callistius. In the Alabama,
Escambia, Pearl, and numerous other rivers, is found Wotvopis cercostigma. This species
descends to the sea in the cool streams of the pine-woods. Its range is wider than that of the others,
and in the rivers of Texas it reappears in the form of a scarcely distinct variety, Notropis venustus.
In the Tennessee and Cumberland, and in the rivers of the Ozark range, is Votropis galacturus,; and
in the upper Arkansas Notropis camurus—all distinct species of thesame general type. Northward,
in all the streams from the Potomac to the Oswego, and westward to the Des Moines and the
Arkansas occurs a single species of this type, Notropis whipfpler. But this species is not known
from any of the streams inhabited by any of the other species mentioned, although very likely it is
the parent stock of them all.

20

fauna is a remarkable mixture of fresh-water fishes from the
Mississippi and marine fishes from the Gulf. Channel-cats,
sharks, sea-crabs, sunfishes, and mullets can-all be found there
together. Itis therefore to be expected that the lowland fauna
of all the rivers of the Gulf States would closely resemble that
of the lower Mississippi ; and this, in fact, is the case.

The low and irregular water-shed which separates the tribu-
taries of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie from those of the Ohio
is of little importance in determining the range of species.
Many of the distinctively Northern fishes are found in the head-
waters of the Wabash and the Scioto. The considerable dif-
ference in the general fauna of the Ohio Valley as compared
with that of the streams of Michigan is due to the higher
temperature of the former region, rather than to any existing

barriers between the river and the Great Lakes. In northern

Indiana the water-shed is often swampy, and in many places
large ponds exist in the early spring.

At times of heavy rains many species will move through
considerable distances by means of temporary ponds and
brooks. Fishes that have thus emigrated often reach places
ordinarily inaccessible, and people finding them in such locali-
ties often imagine that they have “rained down.” Once, near
Indianapolis, after a heavy shower, I found in a furrow in a
corn-field a small pike (sox vermiculatus Le Sueur), some
half a mile from the creek in which he should belong. The fish
was swimming along in a temporary brook, apparently wholly
unconscious that he was not in his native stream. Migratory
fishes, which ascend small streams to spawn, are especially
likely to be transferred in this way. By some such means
any of the water-sheds in Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois may be
passed.

It is certain that the limits of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan
were once more extended than now. It is reasonably probable
that some of the territory now drained by the Wabash and the
Illinois was once covered by the waters of Lake Michigan.
The cisco (Coregonus artedt sisco Jordan), of Lake Tippecanoe,
Lake Geneva, and the lakes of the Oconomowoc chain, is evi-
dently a modified’ descendant of the so-called lake herring

21
(Coregonus artedi Le Sueur). Its origin most likely dates from
the time when these small deep lakes of Indiana and Wisconsin
were connected with Lake Michigan. The changes in habits
which the cisco has undergone are considerable. The changes
in external characters are but trifling. The presence of the cisco
in these lakes and its periodical disappearance—that is retreat
into deep water when not in the breeding season—has given rise
to much nonsensical discussion as to whether any or all of
these lakes are still joined to Lake Michigan by subterranean
channels. Several of the larger fishes, properly characteristic
of the Great Lake region (as, Lota lota maculosa, Percopsis
guttatus,; Esox masquinongy), are occasionally taken in the
Ohio river, where they are usually recognized as rare strag-
glers. The difference in physical conditions is probably the
sole cause of their scarcity in the Ohio basin.

The similarity of the fishes in the different streams and
lakes of the Great Basin is doubtless to be attributed to the
general mingling of their waters which took place during and
after the glacial epoch. Since that period the climate in that
region has grown hotter and drier, until the overflow of the
various lakes into the Columbia basin through the Snake
river has long since ceased. These lakes have become isolated
from each other, and many of them have become salt or alka-
line and therefore uninhabitable. In some of these lakes
certain species may now have become extinct which still remain
in others. In some cases, perhaps, the differences in surround-
ing may have caused divergence into distinct species of what
was once one parent stock. The suckers in Lake Tahoe
(Catostomus tahoensis, in Lake Tahoe; Catostomus macrochetlus
and discobolus, in the Columbia; Catostomus fecundus, Catos-
tomus ardens, Chasmistes liorus and Pantosteus generosus, in
Utah Lake) and those in Utah Lake are certainly now different
from each other and from those in the Columbia, The trout
(Salmo mykiss, et vars. henshawi and virginalis) in the same
waters can be regarded as more or less tangible varieties only,
while the whitefishes (Coregonus williamsont) show no differ-
ences at all. The differences in the present faune of Lake
Tahoe and Utah Lake must be chiefly due to influences which

22

have acted since the glacial epoch, when the whole Utah Basin
was part of the drainage of the Columbia.

To certain species of upland or mountain fishes, the
depression of the Mississippi basin itself forms a barrier which
cannot be passed. The black-spotted trout (Salmo fario L.,
in Europe; Salmo labrax Pallas, etc., in Asia; Sadmo gaird-
nert Richardson, in streams of the Pacific Coast. Salmo mykiss
Walbaum, in Kamtschatka, Alaska, and throughout the Rocky
Mountain range to the Mexican boundary, and the head-
waters of the Kansas, Platte, and Missouri), very closely re-
lated species of which abound in all waters of northern Asia,
Europe, and western North America, has nowhere crossed the
basin of the Mississippi, although one of its species finds no
difficulty in passing Behring Strait. The trout and whitefish of
the Rocky Mountain region are all species different from those
of the Great Lakes or the streams of the Alleghany system.
To the grayling, the trout, the whitefish, the pike, and to
arctic and sub-arctic species generally, Behring Strait has evi-
dently proved no serious obstacle to diffusion ; and it is not
unlikely that much of the close resemblance of the fresh-water
faune of northern Europe, Asia and North America is due to
this fact. To attempt to decide from which side the first
migration came in regard to each group of fishes might be
interesting ; but without a wider range of facts than is now in
our possession, such attempts would be mere guesswork and
without value. The interlocking of the fish-faune of Asia and
North America presents, however, a number of interesting
problems, for numerous migrations in both directions have
doubtless taken place.

I could go on indefinitely with the discussion of special
cases, each more or less interesting or suggestive in itself, but
the general conclusion is in all cases the same.

The present distribution of fishes is the result of long-con-
tinued action of forces still in operation. The species have
entered our waters in many invasions from the Old World, or
from the sea. Each species has been subjected to the various
influences implied in the term natural selection, and under
varying conditions, its representatives have undergone many
different modifications.

23

Each of the 600 species we now know is making every year
inroads on territory occupied by other species. If these colo-
nies are able to hold their own in the struggle for possession,
they will multiply in the new conditions and the range of the
species will become widened. If the surroundings are differ-
ent new species or varieties may be formed in time and these
new forms may again invade the territory of the parent species.
Again colony after colony of species after species may be
‘destroyed by other species or by uncongenial surroundings.

The ultimate result of centuries on centuries of the restless-
ness of individuals is seen in the facts of geographical distribu-
tion. Only in the most general way can the history of any
species be traced. Could we know it all, it would be as long
and eventful a story as the history of the colonization and set-
tlement of North America by immigrants from Europe.

By the fishes each river in America has been a hundred
times discovered ; its colonization a hundred times attempted.
In these efforts there is no co-operation. Every individual is
for himself, every struggle is a struggle of life and death. Each
fish is a cannibal, and to each species each member of every
other species is an alien and a savage. Now all this has a
practical side to it, although the practical side has been as yet
little developed.

A leading feature of the work of the Fish Commissions
must be to help the fishes over the barriers, to assist nature in
the direction of colonizing streams and lakes with fishes which
are good to eat, to the exclusion of the kinds of which man can
make no use.

This help may be given by the introduction of vigorous
kinds of fishes into waters into which they had been unable to
find an entrance before. The work judiciously done may be of
the greatest value to the people of our country. Numerous as
are the food fishes of the Mississippi valley, it must be confessed
that the rank of the great bulk of them is not high. Our rivers
ought to raise something better than suckers, paddle-fish, drum
and buffaloes. To bring in better fishes with success, it is nec-
essary for us to know something of the habits and necessities of
the species in question, and also something definite as to the

24

character of the waters which are to be stocked. It is of no use
to plant brook trout in a muddy bayou, or channel-cat in
mountain springs of ice-water, or codfish in Lake Michigan.

Most of our information in these respects is still very vague,
and most attempts at the introduction of species into new
waters are still of the most haphazard sort. The recent series
of examinations of the Michigan lakes, lately undertaken by the
Michigan State Fish Commission, ought to yield some results
in this connection, yet as the character of the waters of the
State is essentially uniform, what is true of one of the little
lakes in the way of supporting fish life, must be largely
true of all. For this reason, desirable as an extended explora-
tion is from an economic standpoint, it can be made more im-
portant to the science of ichthyology, than to the art of fish-
culture. To ichthyology, as has been said, a sculpin is as
valuable as a codfish, but fish-culture prefers the codfish.

The results of a careful survey would give us facts regarding
the distribution of minnows, darters and sunfish, facts of the
greatest interest and importance in science, but of no value to
fish-culture to which one minnow is as good as another and
both useful only as food for bass, still a thorough survey in the
hands of intelligent men, of the waters of any region cannot fail
to throw much light on the habits and needs of the various food
fishes, and we shall look with much interest for the final results
of the work in Michigan.

The other work of the Fish Commission is in the direction
of fish-hatching, the protection of the young of valuable kinds
until they are able to take care of themselves. The value of
this work is most great, now fortunately beyond question, and
its methods are reaching a high degree of perfection.

I need only say that my deepest interest in science lies in
the direction of the question of the distribution of organisms
and in their adaptation to their surroundings and I should be
glad if I were able to contribute even a little to making our
knowledge of this subject practicably available in the direc-
tion of causing two big fish to grow where one little one grew
before.

Indiana State University, Bloomington, Ind.

25

DR. SWEENY said that the “dogfish” referred to by Prof.
Jordan are considered a superior fish by the Hebrews of Min-
nesota, who call them “green bass.”’ They are also called
‘lawyers,’ because they clean up everything.

Dr. J. C. PARKER had noted what Prof. Jordan said about
the bullheads in East Coy creek. He had put his hands on
them. They were transported from Silver Lake and placed in a
horse trough at first and then escaped into the creek. There
were no bullheads there during his boyhood.

Mr. MATHER announced that he had received a private
letter from Mr. W. Oldham Chambers, Secretary of the National
Fish-culture Association of England, dated April 22, 1888,
which contained some matters of public interest, and he would
read such portions of it as related to the rearing of fishes. Mr.
Chambers says: ‘‘I am looking forward to a visit to America,
some time, for the express purpose of studying the vast
advances you are making in our glorious science. I can con-
ceive no greater treat than to exchange thoughts with my trans-
atlantic friends. I think there is this difference, if I am not
mistaken, in our methods; you devote all your energies to
hatch out the greatest quantity of fry and then turn them out in
the rivers and lakes, whereas we try to invent means of feeding
and rearing them after the sac is absorbed, and then turn them
out when they are capable of caring for themselves. I have
never met with anything that approaches my “thorough” sys-
tem of feeding. You can make a vase to bring up 100, or one
large enough for 100,000 with the same ease, and on the same
principle. The fish are bound to be on the move and are
equally bound to feed, because the food is always held in
suspension and has no chance to get to the bottom. I inclose
a sketch, to scale similar to one in my hatchery that now has
15,000 rainbow trout in it. Oblige me by making one, which
_you can do at a small cost, and give me an opinion of the
result. There is no patent on it, so do what you like with it.
Be careful to follow the lines laid down in the inclosed diagram,
especially in the case of the holes in the pipe which must be at
the proper angle, for there rests the secret.”’

26

MR. CHAMBERS’ “STHOROUGH”’ ‘VASE;

SCALE. I INCH LO) HE KOOn

(Cut loaned by Forest and Stream.)

A, Supply pipe.
8. Guard cylinder with perforated bottom.
C, Standing waste, ground into fixed waste.

27

SPECIFICATIONS OF ‘‘ THOROUGH” VASE.

‘‘ The outer casing can be an ordinary wooden tub, one three
feet in diameter will hold 10,000 fry. The supply pipe to be
one-half inch lead composition, to be fixed three-quarter inch
away from inside of tub. This pipe to be perforated about
every four inches with very fine holes, which must be at an
angle as shown; the water as it enters this tub is forced round
and round and the fish are in a small trout stream ; the food is
also kept in suspension by the circular motion.

‘« The guard cylinder is tacked to the bottom of the tub by a
small flange. This cylinder is made with zinc, but the bottom
four inches is perforated zinc, the waste water, dirt, etc., passes
through the perforations.

‘« The standing waste to be one and one-quarter inch lead
pipe, the top slightly bell-mouthed, the bottom soldered to a
brass piece with ground face, which fits into a brass fixture
standing up one inch from bottom of tub with corresponding
ground face.

“In washing out pull up the standing waste and with a
feather stir up the bottom of tub and away goes the sediment
down the waste. You seldom want to do this with care in feed-
ing, not to give too much at a time.

“Remember that the entire invention depends upon the
holes in circulating supply pipe being pierced at the proper
angle.”’

Mr. MATHER said that all his trout were distributed or put
out in the rearing ponds and he could not try this method the
present year, but it may be worth while for others to doit. In
1880, when on the staff of Prof. G. Brown Goode, in charge of
the American department at the fisheries exhibition in Berlin, a
gentleman from Baltimore, whose name he had momentarily
forgotten, sentsome glass models of the Bell and Mather shad
hatching cones which were designed to keep the food in sus-
pension, just as the shad eggs are, and some fry were fed in the
cones for a while, but not long enough to test the system of

28

keeping food in suspension, nor to develop any difficulty which
might arise from decaying food.

Reports of the Northern Fisheries Society of Japan were
shown, and a translation of the headings of the articles read, as
was also a letter from the president of that society, Mr. K. Ito,
who called attention to some translated extracts from Forest
and Stream, and to a portrait of Prof. G. Brown Goode, which
adorned one of the reports.

A letter from Mr. Seth Green was read but was carried off by
some of the reporters. He commended the work of the society
and congratulated the Michigan Commission in having an able
Superintendent in Mr. Walter D. Marks. He also announced
that Jonathan Mason had succeeded in hatching the mascalonge
at Chautauqua Lake, N. Y., the first of this species to be artifi-
cially hatched.

THE LATE PROPS SPENCE RU: BAR:

Dr. W. M. HUDSON moved that a committee be appointed
to draft a resolution of regret at the death of Prof. S. F. Baird,
and the president named Dr. Hudson, Dr. Sweeny and Mr. J.
H. Bissell as such committee. Later on they reported the fol-
lowing, which was accepted by the Society :

IN MEMORY OF SPENCER F. BAIRD.

. “Since the last meeting of this Society, our associate, Prof.
Spencer F. Baird, United States Commissioner, has been re-
moved from the scene of his labors by death. This Society
hereby puts on record its appreciation of the great efficiency
and admirable administrative qualifications by which he caused
the position of U. S. Commissioner to be regarded as the first
in the entire world, and mourns the loss of one who by his lov-
able qualities had endeared himself to all who came in contact
with him.”

Mr. WILLIAM ALDEN SMITH, fish and game warden for
the State of Michigan, spoke on the regulation of the fisheries,
outlining the work of his 180 deputies and himself in executing

» ieee

2 see

Po ae

29

the laws protecting fish and game. ‘‘ We have generally had
hearty and generous co-operation,’ he said. ‘In Eaton
County four prominent citizens were convicted of violating the
laws, despite the fact that the evidence was not conclusive, and
they were given the full penalty of the law. In the County of
Clare we were given the greatest opposition. A deputy came
upon a man spearing fish. The violator refused to submit to
arrest. The deputy lugged him off eight miles to a justice,
where he was speedily acquitted. The work of enforcing the
laws has been studiously carried on. The people demand their
execution and the results are gratifying to all.”’

THE .PROPAGATION -OF ,NATURAL FOOD) FOR
BISH, (WITH. SPECIAL ) RER ERENCE
LO WEISH-CULTURE:

BY M. E. O'BRIEN.

The subject “natural food of fish”’ is one that has received
but meagre attention from the older naturalists, and our
knowledge regarding this most important factor in fish-culture
is but in its infancy, merely a passing glance having been
bestowed on it by both naturalists and fish-culturists of the
present day. Undoubtedly much good work has been done
within the last five years towards investigating the food of the
various species of marine food-fish, the result of examinations
made on fish caught by steam trawlers and line boats; but in
reference to fresh-water species, migratory and non-migratory,
as far as. I am aware, little effort has, been. made in ‘this
direction.

The present system of aiding the growth and development
of fish by supplying them with various kinds of artificial foods,
such as liver, coagulated blood, vegetables, etc., may produce
results of a kind, but it is a system open to many objections.

First—It is unnatural.

Second—It has a tendency to render the water putrid, and
consequently injurious to fish.

Third—lIt favors the introduction of disease.

30

Fourth—And last but not least, it entails a great deal of
expense.

The results of such artificial feeding are found not to cor-
respond to its cost, and this fact deters many people from
engaging in the rearing of fish who would otherwise do so.
All the results of artificial feeding are based more or less'on
hypothesis, because in making experiments the natural food,
both animal and vegetable, has in most cases nowhere been
investigated or taken into account. Now, I am sure no one
will deny that it is better, if possible, to stick to the natural
food, and give the powerful productions of nature a chance of
exercising their beneficial influence. What I wish to bring
before your immediate notice is this: “‘That at a compara-
tively small cost, conditions closely approximating those of
nature can be established, under which conditions various forms
of natural fish food will live, thrive and multiply, so as to afford
a continual increasing supply of nutriment to the fish.”

For the past two years I have been making investigations
to find if possible some means by which fish, confined in small
ponds could be supplied with natural food. My first step was
to find out what the fish fed upon, and this led me to examine
the stomach contents of numerous fish during the different sea-
sons of the year. I confined my investigations to that most
interesting class—the salmonidz (Salmo fontinalis and Salmo
ivideus). What may be termed a post-mortem examination
was performed—slitting the fish along its ventral or belly
aspect, thus exposing the alimentary tract, I tied two ligatures,
one around the gullet, the other round the intestine near the
pyloric, or lesser end of the stomach. Removing the portion
between the two ligatures, I opened the stomach and extracted
the contents, placing them on a white plate. These I examined
both by aid of the naked eye and microscope, then deposited
them in a glass vial containing rectified spirits, and affixed a
seal and label indicating the kind of food and date of examina-
tion. Thus at the end of the season I had quite an array of
bottles containing different species of natural fish food.

The majority of the food belonged to the invertebrate type,
including various species of crustacea, insecta, worms, leeches,

31

and mollusca. Some of these the fish seemed to prefer at a
certain season of the year to the exclusion of the others; thus
I found the ordinary univalve shellfish (Lzszne@a stagnalis), a very
frequent customer during the summer months, a decided favor-
ite with both the Salmo fontinalis and Salmo irideus. This shell-
fish exists in enormous quantities in the lakes and quiet pools of
rivers, and is greedily devoured by the trout. They feed on
aquatic plants on whose stems they creep, and come occasion-
ally to the surface to respire. In their reproduction the same
limnea is capable of serving at the same time as a male for a
second, and as a female for a third, and by this connection of
one individual with two others a continuous chain of some length
is not unfrequently produced. The number of eggs is pro-
digious, and they are deposited on stones, stems of plants, etc.,
in elongated masses enveloped in a glary substance, very much
similar in appearance to that which surrounds the ova of the
frog. In their adult condition they love to crawl about on a
gravelly bottom. Other genera, such as planorbis, cytilus and
ancyllus, used to turn up on various occasions. These mol-
lusca are a valuable source of nutriment to fish, having a double
function, ‘being composed of two parts, viz. : the fleshy portion
or animal, which is a delicacy in itself, and its outer covering
or shell, which, from its containing a large proportion of
carbonate of lime, promotes the strength and growth of the
fish.

Of crustacea, the common fresh water sand-hopper (Gam-
marus pilex) was invariably to be found. It abounds in almost
all springs, ponds and rivulets, swimming near the bottom on
its side. It feeds principally on dead material, and, like the
limnza, reproduces itseif in enormous quantities. As a diet,
it seems to cause a deeper color inthe flesh of the fish. Most
of the larger trout like to feed on material more in proportion
to their size ; thus, in the summer months, the frog and tadpole
are particularly sought after as a bill of fare. Various species of
insecta both in their larval and adult conditions, worms anda
small brownish black leech, are also in my list of stomach
contents.

Now, as an adjunct to a fish pond, it seems to me that some

32

of the above types could be reared in such quantities as to form
a good and economical source of nutriment for fish. These
lower types undoubtedly require certain conditions for their
healthy existence, and what I propose is this: Trenches, or
basins, should be dug in close apposition with the ponds, and,
if necessary, communicating with them. These basins to be
supplied with spring water by means of a pipe connected with
the main spring. One should be devoted to Shell culture,
another to Insect culture, and a third to Crustacea, and so on.

These various foods could be transferred by means of a fine
net, or better still, by a running stream of water communicating
with the fish pond, ormeans could be established whereby these
forms could creep from the basin into the pond. By this method
the fish-culturist would know exactly how much food the fish
were getting, and he would also be able to arrive at some
estimation as to the comparative nutritiousness of the various
forms of natural food. Suitable conditions could be produced
’ whereby insects about to deposit their eggs might be attracted,
and soon the basins would swarm with larvae, which form an
excellent food, especially for young fish. As in human economy
the food of the child requires to be different from that of the
adult ; so in like manner does the food of the young fish require
to be different from that of the adult fish.

One word more, and that is regarding the frog. Should it
be admitted into the arena of fish-culture? Ithink so. The
damage it does to small fry can be kept within limits. A small
pond could be constructed with an arrangement to prevent its
escape, and in this pond the cultivation of the tadpole could be
prosecuted, and for a time an abundant supply of stronger food
would be afforded, for the large fish. Should the above experi-
ments be tried and meet with success, they will establish the
economic value of natural food as opposed to the artificial sys-
tem of feeding ; increase the number of fish culturists, and, in
addition, afford a means of studying the life history of these
lower forms, in connection with which are many points of great
scientific interest requiring elucidation.

South Bend, Nebraska.

33

Mr. MATHER remarked that he agreed with Mr. O’Brien
that natural food was the best ; but the trouble was to produce
it in quantity sufficient for the daily food of a hundred thousand
fry. He had a reservoir, about 300 by 30 feet, which supplied
the hatching, and here he usually planted about 6,000 trout-fry,
which found sufficient food during the summer, and outgrew
those which were fed on clams and mussels, which, by the way,
is the best food he ever used, and, in October, he drew this
reservoir down and took out from 1,500 to 2,000 fine young
trout ; but it was doubtful if the water would grow many more.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BLACK BASS.

lee (Ge Diy dO ESI

Having resided for the past thirty-five years on the bank of
the Thornapple river, a favorite resort for that king of Michigan
game fish, the small-mouthed black bass, I have had ample
opportunities of studying their habits, and for the past few
years have given the matter considerable attention.

They leave their winter quarters, usually under heaps of
drift-wood or in hollow sunken logs, about the middle of April,
and in a short time repair to their spawning grounds. I am
quite sure that they pass the winter in hollow, sunken logs
whenever they can, for, about the first of April, 1885, while
removing some drift-wood from the river, we took out one hol-
low log that contained eighteen small-mouth black bass, weigh-
ing from two to three pounds each; and again this year, at
about the same time, I found six more under the same condi-
tions. The spawning season here begins the last week in
April. The first bed seen in 1885 was on April 28; in 1886,
April 24 ; and in 1887 and 1888, April 26. The places selected
are in nearly still water, near the shore, and in water from one
to two feet in depth.

The beds are circular in form, from eighteen inches to three
feet in diameter, and are formed by cleaning from the bottom
all sediment, sand, etc., leaving a bed of clean pebbles. This is
the joint work of both maie and female fish. The bed having

3

34

been prepared, the female then moves slowly over it, depositing
her ova, and the male impregnates them as fast as laid. The
eggs, which are very small, are glued fast to the pebbles. The
impregnation is almost absolutely perfect. In the past three
years I have examined a large number of beds, by carefully
removing one or more of the pebbles covered with eggs, and
examining them with a microscope, and have never yet found
more than one per cent. of unimpregnated eggs.

After the eggs are impregnated the male leaves to the female
the whole care of the eggs and the young brood. She now passes
constantly backwards and forwards over the bed, the motion of
her fins and tail keeping the eggs clean, which the fact of
their being glued fast permits her to do without washing them
away. The following incident will illustrate the necessity for
this constant care and attention on the part of the female, as
well as point a moral, and furnish an illustration of how the
greatest possible increase of this fish may be brought about:
One evening in the spring of 1886 I noticed a “jack light”
coming down the river, and I felt certain that some of my pets
would have to suffer. I had endeavored to protect them as
much as possible by requesting such neighbors as I could reach
to respect my wishes, and to avoid the beds that I had under
observation. Nearly all were willing to do so, but this time
one of them made a mistake, as I expected they might, and
when I went out in the morning the mother fish was gone. I
thought I would secure the young fish (they were just hatched)
and take them to the house and ‘‘ bring them up by hand.”
So, putting on my wading boots, I walked out to the bed, and
there I found, not the young fry, but three or four crayfish
and some minnows, which had evidently devoured every fish on
the bed. At another time, under similar circumstances, except
that the eggs were not hatched, the crayfish had destroyed all
the eggs. I took up every pebble without finding a single
one.

The eggs are hatched in from five to ten days, according to
the temperature of the water. When first hatched, the young
fish are transparent, and so small as to be invisible to the naked
eye. They have a much larger umbilical sac than the young

35

brook trout, in proportion to the size of the body. At first
they are unable to swim, or even move themselves from the
bottom, but in from two to six weeks they begin to rise and
swim, although they are from one to two months old before the
sac wholly disappears and they become perfectly developed
fish.

After the fish are hatched the mother seldom passes over the
bed, as in their then helpless state the motion of her fins would
scatter them; but instead she now swims in circles around it driv-
ing away all intruders, such as minnows, crawfish, etc. After
the young begin to swim she enlarges the circle until it becomes
from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, she then gradually drives
them toward the shore into shallow water where she keeps
them inside of a half circle, the shore forming the other side.
From this half circle all of their natural enemies are carefully
excluded, and the fish are allowed to develop. After that is
done she scatters them along the shore among the weeds and
grass, where, if pursued, they can find hiding places. Then,
and only then, does she leave them to care for themselves.
They are now from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in
length, black in color and very lively, darting out of their hid-
ing places and seizing their prey as readily as the older fish, and
by the first of October following will be two inches in length.

I should estimate the average number of eggs in the beds at
4,000. Owing to the fact that some of the beds observed were
near the mouths of cold spring brooks, where the temperature
of the water in the river was much lower than where other beds
were located, will account in a great measure, in my opinion,
for the variation in the time taken for hatching the eggs and
the development of the young fish; as insome seasons, and in
some locations, I have found the young fish developed or weaned
in one month from the time that the ova were deposited, and
at other times two months were required for the same purpose.

I have been unable to procure both male and female fish at
the proper time to try artificial impregnation, but have
repeatedly taken part of the ova from the bed as soon as impreg-
nated, and hatched them in dishes, and have kept them there
until fully developed. I am of the opinion that very little can

36

be done in the way of artificial impregnation or hatching, as
nature has done for the black bass all that could be done.

All that the fish-culturist needs to do is to stock all suitable
waters with them, where they do not now exist, and then pro-
tect them during the spawning season.

Cascade, Mich.

Mr. FRED MATHER announced that the reports ‘of salmon
captures in the Hudson were increasing and that the river has
been proved to have all the conditions necessary for a good
salmon river, except fishways to enable the fish to surmount
the dams and natural obstacles between Troy and the spawning
srounds. In 1880 he had suggested to Prof. Baird that it was
possible that this river was not a salmon river because the
present fish had been debarred from the spawning grounds by
natural obstructions before the settlement of the country, and
that the trout streams near its source afford all the facilities for
rearing young salmon, and in 1882 Mr. Mather hatched and
planted 225,000 Penobscot salmon in Warren County. Every
year since that plantings of increased numbers have been made
from the Long Island hatchery under his supervision. This
spring 440,000 were planted in the tributaries of the Hudson,
in Warren County, and 20,000 on Long Island. In 1886 there
was recorded ten salmon from the Hudson; in 1887 the
number increased to between fifty and sixty, while this year
over two hundred have already been taken, ranging in weight
from six to twenty pounds. He had no doubt but the largest
number of salmon taken were not heard of, but ‘‘ North river
salmon’? was now a frequent sign in New York markets.
While it is unlawful to capture these fish in the Hudson by any
means excepting with hook and line, the fact that the gill-
netters who drift for shad take many which are drowned before
they reach them renders the law inoperative. Just before he
left New York, Mr. Blackford told him of a fisherman at
Yonkers who caught one but did not know what it was; he cut
it open and it ‘‘looked red and unwholesome,” and he threw it
away. Now the fisherman is daily reminded of his mistake by
his friends who ask if he has any red or diseased fish.

37

On motion, the meeting adjourned until the next day, and
the members inspected the whitefish hatchery of the Michigan
Fishery Commission, in the city, and although the whitefish
hatching was over for the season, found interest in the eggs of
wall-eyed pike and yellow perch, then in the hatching jars,
and in the trout and grayling in the aquaria.

SHOOND. DAY'S PROCHE DINGS:

The meeting was called to order at 10 A. M., and the follow-
ing was read :

NODES ON THE FOOD OF; THE.» RISHES (OR «EEE
MISSISSIPPR) VALLEY.

BY PROF. S. A. FORBES.

There is a kind ofinsect in the South, called the agricultural
ant, which is extremely fond of the seeds of certain grasses
growing there spontaneously among the many species which
make the prairie sod. Naturally, the agricultural methods of
this ant are of a very primitive sort, and even fall below those
of the native Indian. Besides collecting, wherever it can find
them, the fallen seeds of many grasses and other plants, and
storing these in its burrows, it also clears completely an area
from six to twelve feet wide around its nest, and here either
sows or permits to grow only one or two of the common grasses
of whose seeds it is especially fond, harvesting the product and
storing it for future use. It has not learned to cultivate the soil,
or to introduce exotic plants of larger yield and better quality
than those native to the sod, but it has advanced so far as to
destroy on a little tract the competitors of the plants which
bear its favorite food, and thus secures a larger and more con-
venient supply than would grow spontaneously. I mention
this little ant because its agriculture seems to me to illustrate
very well the aquaculture practiced by mankind at the present
time. As this little insect collects the seeds of weeds wherever

38

they happen to grow, so we fish the streams for whatever they
happen to contain; and as it clears its little farm around its
burrow, so we make our little fish ponds, seine out the worthless
and destructive fishes, the snakes, frogs, and turtles, and throw
the better species back to increase for our benefit. In two
things our aquaculture isin advance of the agriculture of the
ants,—we have successfully introduced two or three foreign
species, and we have learned to take measures to maintain the
fish supply wherever it has suffered from the effects of overpop-
ulation. The first of these measures the ants have not thought
of, and the second they probably do not need, because their
numbers do not overrun their food supply. I believe it will
pay us to inquire whether we can hope to get beyond this ant
stage of aquaculture, and whether we may not learn to do at
least as much to increase and improve the product of the waters
of the country as the wild Indian did to cultivate the soil.

At present, four things are done, in general: First, we
attempt to maintain or restore the relative numbers of our
valuable aquatic animals—fish especially—defending the popu-
lation of our waters against the evils growing out of civilized
settlement. This is like trying to restore the native growth of
trees and grasses to the surfaces deadened by travel and build-
ing, and by careless or unskillful usuage. Second, we try to
increase the relative numbers of the most valuable of our native
aquatic animals above the limit fixed originally by nature.
This is as if we should collect and plant the nuts and acorns in
the woods, and gather and sow abroad the seeds of the most
valuable native grasses, in the hope that this artificial aid might
enable our favorites to surpass their rivals. Third, we have
aimed to introduce foreign with our native species in our
natural waters. This is too much like sowing quantities of
apple seeds and wheat and corn broadcast in the woods and on
the prairies in the hope that if we use seed enough the plants
we seek to introduce will crowd out the native vegetation.
And, finally, we do, on a small scale, partly imitate actual agri-
culture by clearing or forming little patches of water here and
there, and planting in them an exotic fish, protecting it from
the competition of the native species. Here we approach the

Se eg ot ee

39

agricultural practice of the native Indian, who partly cleared
his little patches in the river bottoms and planted and harvested
the exotic corn and bean and pumpkin.

But it will not do to push this parallel too far. There are
some things possible in agriculture which the aquaculturist
cannot do. We cannot plow and till our lakes and rivers as the
farmer does the prairie sod, ruthlessly exterminating all the
native forms of life in order to substitute other sorts more
useful to him. And even where we clear a little lake or start a
pond, stocking it with carp or croppie, we cannot keep out the
frogs and bullheads by any artificial tillage, as the farmer can
the weeds. We are compelled, in other words, to work for
improvement in the midst of things as they are. Not being
able to destroy the native population of our waters, we have
to take it into account and then make our adjustments to it.
And right here, it has long seemed to me, is where the work ts
most needed. If we cannot get rid of the natural order, we
certainly need to understand it. If we cannot destroy the
native population, but must live and work with and through it,
we certainly ought to know what it is like and what we can do
with it; what we can do in spite of it, and what we cannot do
because of it. It is because I have worked out some parts of
an answer to these questions that I have ventured to appear here
to-day, in a society of fish-culturists. If fish-culture is merely
the culture of fishes, then I can have little or nothing to say,
because I never raised a fish in my life ; but if a scientific and
rational fish-culture must finally merge in the broader science
and art of aquaculture; if we must study to understand and
improve the system of aquatic life into the midst of which we
thrust our little fishes,—then I may perhaps claim some share
in your deliberations.

What I have to report to-day is chiefly an answer to the
question : What do our native fishes eat ? This is only a single
item of what we really need to know, and yet perhaps a larger
one than might at first be supposed. Although fishes are the
dominant class in every fairly permanent body of fresh water,
they have no great variety of interests or occupations; but
except for the relatively brief intervals devoted to their simple

40

office of reproduction, they do little but to search for food and
to eat, and avoid being eaten in turn; consequently, if we seek
to measure or estimate their function in the general system
of life in any region or locality, we are limited chiefly to their
food relations, immediate and remote.

Among the purely practical results to be anticipated from
such a study, are a more accurate knowledge of the conditions
favorable to the growth and multiplication of the more import-
ant species; the ability to judge intelligently of the fitness of
any body of water to sustain a greater number or a more
profitable assemblage of fishes than those occurring there
spontaneously ; guidance as to the new elements of food and
circumstance which it will be necessary to supply to imsure the
successful introduction into any lake or stream of a fish not
native there; and a clear recognition of the fact that intelligent
fish-culture must take into account the necessities of the species
whose increase is desired, through all ages and all stages of
their growth, at every season of the year, and under all varie-
ties of condition likely to arise.

We should derive, in short, from these and similar re-
searches, a body of full, precise, and significant knowledge to
take the place of the guess-work and empiricism upon which
we must otherwise depend as the basis of our efforts to main-
tain and increase the supply of food and the incitement to
healthful recreation afforded by the waters of the country.

As a contribution to the general subject, I present herewith
a summary account of the food of twelve hundred and fifteen
fishes, obtained from the waters of the State of Illinois at in-
tervals from 1876 to 1887, and in various months from April
to November. These fishes belonged to eighty-seven species
of sixty-three genera and twenty-five families. They were
taken from waters of every description, ranging from Lake
Michigan to weedy stagnant ponds and temporary pools, and
from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to the muddy prairie
creeks, and the rocky rivulets of the hilly portions of the State.
Nine hundred and fourteen of the examples studied were prac-
tically adult, so far as the purposes of this investigation are con-
cerned, the remaining three hundred and one being young, im

Pe od tional

41

the first stage of their food and feeding habits. More than
half these young belonged to a single species—the common
lake whitefish—but the remainder were well distributed.

I have arranged the matter under the following general
heads: (1) a general account of the food of the most impor-
tant species and families of our native adult fishes ; (2) a brief
account of the food of the young; and (3) a summary state-
ment of the food, so made as to exhibit (a) the kinds and rela-
tive importance of the principal competitions among fishes, and
(2) the relative value to the principal species of fishes of the
major elements of their food.

First, then, I will attempt to give you very briefly, and in
the most general way, the facts relating to the food of the most
important fishes, those which I think most likely to interest you
as fish-culturists, taking the species in their zodlogical order
rather than in the order of their economic importance.

HOOD? OF ADULZS:

The abundant white perch or sheepshead of the larger rivers
and lakes, now commonly marketed, I find feeding, when full
grown, almost exclusively upon the bivalve mollusks known in
the West as clams, whose heavy shells this fish is enabled to
crush and grind by aspecial apparatus in the throat. The shells
are swallowed with the bodies and pass, in part at least, through
the intestine. Half-grown specimens feed in much larger ratio
upon aquatic insects, especially the larvae of May flies, but
take likewise the smaller mollusks with spiral shells, commonly
known as water snails, the food in my examples being about
equally divided between these two elements. The youngest
specimens feed, like the young of fishes in general, upon the
smallest of the Crustacea.

The common perch or ‘‘ring perch,” excessively abundant
throughout the northern part of the country, varies in food
according to the waters it inhabits, those in the great lakes
feeding almost wholly upon small fishes (especially of the min-
now family), and upon crayfishes—five or six times as many of
the former as of the latter. River specimens, however, eat few
fishes, but find nearly half their food among the Crustacea,

42

partly crayfishes, but chiefly the smaller kinds, known to zodlo-
gists as amphipods and isopods, and in common speech as
water wood-lice and brook shrimps. Aquatic insect larvae,
especially those of day-flies, and small spiral-shelled mollusks
are eaten in about equal ratio.

The two prke-perch or “‘ wall-eyed pike,” are exclusively
piscivorous, if we may judge from twenty-six specimens whose
food I studied. More than a fourth of the fishes taken con-
sisted of the spiny-finned species, including eight per cent. of
catfishes, but nearly half were the common gizzard shad.

We shall find accumulating evidence that this shad, not used
with us for food, is, notwithstanding, one of the most valuable
fishes in our streams. Nevertheless, not the slightest attention
is paid to its preservation, much less to its encouragement.
The fishermen commonly regard these fishes as a mere nui-
sance, and leave them to die on the bank by hundreds, rather
than take the trouble to return them to the water. They area
very delicate species, and are easily killed by rough handling in
the seine, but the majority of those captured might be saved
with a little care.

Their abundance as compared with some other species in
our rivers might seem to indicate that they are common enough
as itis. Few realize, however, the number of fishes needed to
feed a pike-perch to maturity. Two or three items from my
notes will furnish the basis for an intelligent estimate.

From the stomach of a pike-perch caught in Peoria Lake,
October 27, 1878, I took ten well-preserved specimens of gizzard
shad, each from three to four inches long; and from another I
took seven of the same species, none under four inches in length.
As the gizzard shad is a very thin, high fish, with a serrate
belly, these were as large as a pike-perch can well swallow;
and we may safely suppose that not less than five of this shad
would make a full meal for that fish. The pike-perch is a very
active hunter, and it is not at all probable that one can live and
thrive on less than three such meals a week. The specimens
above mentioned were taken in cold autumn weather, when
most other fishes were eating but little; but since fishes gen-
erally take relatively little food in winter, we will suppose that

ry
«

SSS

43

the pike-perch eats, during the year, on an average, at this rate
per week for forty weeks, giving us a total per annum of six
hundred gizzard shad destroyed by one pike-perch. We cannot
reckon the average life of a pike-perch at less than three years,
and it is probably nearer five. The smallest estimate we can
reasonably make of the food of each pike-perch would therefore
be somewhere between eighteen hundred and three thousand
fishes like the gizzard shad. A hundred pike-perch, such as
should be taken each year along a few miles of a river like the
Illinois, would therefore require from one hundred and eighty
thousand to three hundred thousand fishes for their food:
Finally, when we take into account the fact that a number of
other species also prey upon the gizzard shad, and that the
whole number destroyed in all ways must not exceed the mere
surplus reproduced—otherwise the species would soon be extin-
gsuished—we can form an approximate idea of the multitudes
in which the food species must abound if we would support
any great number of predaceous fishes. The gizzard shad,
being a mud-eater and a vegetarian, taking little animal food
except when very young, can probably be more readily
maintained in large numbers in our muddy streams than any
other fish.

The two species of b/ack bass differ, according to my obser-
vations, in the character of their food, the large-mouthed
species eating more fishes, and the small-mouthed more cray-
fishes. Here, also, the gizzard shad made more than half the
food.

The common sunfishes are readily divisible into four groups,
based on their feeding structures and their food ; one charac-
terized especially by the wide mouth, including the black
warrior and the blue-cheeked sunfish, took a noticeable amount
of fishes, the ratio varying from a third to a half, the remainder
of the food being chiefly insects, crayfishes, and smaller crus-
taceans. Those with small mouths, pointed teeth in the
throat, and short gill-rakers, like the most abundant of the
river species, took scarcely any fishes, but fed chiefly on
insects and crustaceans, the latter principally the forms of
medium size (amphipods and isopods). Some of this group

44

likewise took a large amount of vegetation, amounting to a
third or fourth of the whole.

A group with small mouths, and blunt conical teeth in the
throat, illustrated by the common bream or pumpkin seed, was
distinguished especially by the number of small snail-like mol-
lusks eaten, these making, in my specimens, more than a third
of the food. The remainder was chiefly aquatic insect larve,
the medium-sized Crustacea, and water plants.

The fourth group, illustrated by the croppies, have the
mouth long but narrow, and the gill-rakers numerous and long.
By these a few fishes are taken, but the food is chiefly insects
and the smallest crustaceans—those commonly referred to as
Entomostraca, a food resource which they are enabled to draw
upon by the straining apparatus in the gills.

Passing to the pike or pickerel of our western rivers, I find
that the common large rzver pike, Esox luctus, is almost wholly
piscivorous, a single specimen only out of the thirty-seven ex-
amined, having taken a number of dragon flies. About a fifth
of the fishes were sunfishes (half of them croppies) and black
bass. Twenty of these thirty-seven pike had taken gizzard
shad, which made, in fact, nearly half of the food of the entire
group. Minnows were found in only two, and three had eaten
buffalo fish.

The striking features of this record are the importance of
the gizzard shad, the abundance of the spiny-finned fishes, in-
cluding some of the most valuable kinds, and the insignificant
number of minnows and suckers taken.

The ‘‘ grass pickerel,’ a species which rarely reaches a foot
in length, had eaten tadpoles of frogs, and fishes, and insects,
the latter making more than a third of the food, and consisting
chiefly of larve of dragon flies.

The gizzard shad, mentioned above as an especially valu-
able element of the food of the higher fishes, feeds itself almost
wholly upon mud, with which the long and coiled intestine of
every specimen was filled from end to end. This mud con-
tained, on an average, about twenty per cent. of minute vege-
table débris, with occasionally a little animal matter.

The great mznnow family I can scarcely pass by, since it

i
i
a
i:
"

45

contributes so largely to the food of other fishes, although it-
self of little or no direct advantage to mankind. I found this
family dividing into several groups based upon the length of
the intestine and the form of the pharyngeal teeth. In the first
of these groups, containing several of the more abundant sorts,
about three fourths of the food consisted of soft black mud, the
remainder being both animal and vegetable matter, chiefly the
latter. These fishes all had very long intestines and smooth
grinding teeth in the throat. In another group quantities of
mud are also taken, but with it many Entomostraca; while in
groups three and four, containing by far the greater portion of
the family, the food is essentially different, about three fourths
of it being insects and small crustaceans, and the remainder
vegetation. I note especially here the value of the mud-eating
minnows as food for larger fishes, since while abundant and
easily maintained, they do not compete with the young of the
larger fishes to whose sustenance they may be applied.

One of the most striking characteristics of the fish-fauna of
the Mississippi Valley is the prominence of the sucker family,
several of which are among the most abundant of our larger
fishes. About one tenth the food of this family taken as a
whole consisted of vegetation, eaten chiefly by the buffalo fishes,
and in them composed largely of distillery slops. The family
is, however, essentially carnivorous, mollusks and insects
appearing in nearly equal ratio in the food. The former are
taken much the more generally by the cylindrical suckers,
and the latter about equally by all except the stone roller, which
collects great quantities of insect food by pushing about the
stones in running water. A large proportion of the insects
eaten are small larve of gnats (Chironomus). Some of the
deeper-bodied species with long gill-rakers, especially the river
carp, feed largely on Entomostraca, this latter species swallow-
ing also considerable quantities of mud.

The catfishes, taken together, are nearly omnivorous in habit,
and their feeding structures have a correspondingly general
character. The capacious mouth, wide gullet, and short, broad
stomach admit objects of large size and nearly every shape.
The jaws, each armed with a broad pad of fine, sharp teeth, are

46

well calculated to grasp and hold soft bodies as well as hard.
The gill-rakers are of average number and development, and
crushing jaws in the throat, broad, stout arches below, and oval
pads above, covered with minute pointed teeth, serve fairly well
to break the crusts of insects and the shells of the smaller
mollusks, and to squeeze and grind the vegetable objects which
occur in the food. The most peculiar feeding habit relates to
the larger bivalve mollusks, the bodies of which are frequently
found almost entire in the stomachs of these fishes and always
without a fragment of a shell. I have been repeatedly assured
by fishermen that the catfish seizes the foot of the mollusk
while the latter is extended from the shell, and tears the animal
loose by vigorously jerking and rubbing it about. One intelli-
gent fisherman informed me that he was often first notified of
the presence of catfishes in his seine, in making a haul, by
seeing the fragments of clams floating on the surface, disgorged
by the struggling captives. Finally, these are the only habitual
scavengers among our common fishes. The larger deep-water
species from the great rivers are strictly piscivorous, so far as
known. Very small stone-cats feed on the smaller insect larve
and the medium-sized crustacea. The spotted cat, blue Fulton,
or fiddler, feeds largely on mollusks, but is, nevertheless, chiefly
insectivorous. It differs from most of the river catfishes by
eating water-plants to a considerable extent. The common
bullhead is more strictly omnivorous than any other kind, its
food being composed about equally of fishes, mollusks, aquatic
insects, and vegetable structures, with a very considerable ratio
of crustaceans added. The great mud-cat or Morgan cat,
reaching a weight of over one hundred pounds, seems to feed
entirely upon fishes.

The abundant and peculiar dogfish, or ‘‘ grindle,” is strictly
carnivorous, about one third of the food being fishes, a fourth
of it small mollusks, and nearly half crustaceans, chiefly cray-
fish.

The gars are all strictly piscivorous, feeding especially upon
the gizzard shad.

The most remarkable of our fishes, in structure and feeding
habit, is the shovel-fish, or ‘‘ spoondill,” of the Mississippi and

,

a ae

47

its larger tributaries. It is a large species, reaching a weight of
thirty pounds and upwards and a length of six feet or more,
including the paddle-like snout. Although so large, the greater
part of its food consists of the smallest aquatic Crustacea and
insect larvz, strained from the water by means of an extraordi-
nary apparatus in the gills, composed of long and slender gill-
rakers, a double series on each arch, and over five hundred in a
series. Interlocking as these do when the gill apparatus
is extended, they form a strainer sufficient to arrest the smallest
living forms above the Protozoa, and with the immense opening
of the mouth and equally free provision for the exit of water
from the gill chamber, enable this fish to strain out enormous
quantities of these minute animal forms, especially those most
commonly reserved for young fishes. It takes also, in mid-
summer, insect larvae of medium size, but evidently avoids
vegetation, and never swallows mud.

FOOD OF THE YOUNG.

By an examination of three hundred and one specimens,
representing twenty-seven species, twenty-six genera, and twelve
families of Illinois fishes, I learn that the food of many species
of fishes differs greatly according to age; and that, in fact, the life
of most of our fishes divides into at least two periods, and that
of many into three, with respect to the kinds of food chiefly
taken. Further, in the first of these periods a remarkable simi-
larity of food was noticed among species whose later feeding
habits are widely different. The full-grown black bass, for ex-
ample, feeds principally on fishes and crayfishes, the sheeps-
head on mollusks, and the gizzard shad on mud and Alge, while
the catfishes are nearly omnivorous; yet all these agree so
closely in food when very small, that one could not possibly
tell from the contents of the stomachs which group he was
dealing with.

In the earliest stage, all the fishes studied, except suckers
and minnows, depend for food on the smallest crustaceans,
commonly called Entomostraca, and on certain small worm-
like larve of gnats or gnat-like flies scarcely larger than these
crustaceans, and usually occurring with them. By far the most

48

abundant of these insect larvae was that known as Chironomus.
The suckers and minnows differ from our other fishes by being
toothless while very young, as well as when adult, while our
other toothless fishes, gizzard shad, whitefish, etc., have in
youth a set of evanescent teeth. These toothless young I
found feeding in part on still smaller prey than the others,
taking the smallest animal forms (wheel animalcules), various
Protozoa, and Alge so minute that the whole plant consists of
a single vegetable cell. The food of the whitefish fry was
determined by keeping several hundred of them in a large
aquarium kept constantly supplied with all the living objects
which a fine gauze net would separate from the waters of Lake
Michigan.*

While small fishes of all sorts are evidently competitors
for food, this competition is relieved to some extent by differ-
ences of breeding season, the species dropping in successively
to the banquet, some commencing in very early spring, or even,
like the whitefish, depositing their eggs in fall, that their young
may be the first at the board, while others delay until June or
July. The most active breeding period coincides, however,
‘with that of the greatest evolution of Entomostraca in the back-
waters of our streams; that is, the early spring. That large
adult fishes with fine and numerous rakers on the gills—like
the shovel fish and the river carp—may compete directly with
the young of all other species, and tend to keep their numbers
down by diminishing their food supply—especially in times of
scarcity—is very probable, but is not certainly true as a general
thing ; for these larger fishes have other food resources, also,
and may resort to Entomostraca only when these are super-
abundant, thus appropriating the mere excess above what are
required for the young of other groups. Of the fishes which
emerge from this earliest stage through increase in size with
failure to develop alimentary structures especially fitted to the
appropriation of minute animal forms, some become mud-eaters,
like the Campostoma and the gizzard shad; a few apparently
become vegetarians at once; but most pass into or through an
insectivorous stage. After this a few become nearly omnivorous,

* See note following this paper.

c

49

like the bullheads ; others learn to depend chiefly on molluscan
food—the sheepshead and the red horse species; but many
become essentially carnivorous. In fact, unless the gars are an
exception, as they now seem to be (attacking young fishes
almost as soon as they can swallow), all our specially car-
nivorous fishes make a progress of three steps, marked, respect-
ively, by the predominance of Entomostraca, insects, and fishes
in their food; and the same is true of those strictly fitted for
a molluscan diet.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS OF THE FOOD.

An analysis of the facts made with reference to the kinds of
fishes eating each of the principal articles in the dietary of the
class, and showing the relative importance of these elements in
the food of the various species, will have its separate interest
for us, especially as it will exhibit the competitions of fishes for
food, and also the nature and the energy of the restraints

imposed by fishes on the multiplication of their principal food

species.

The principal fish-eaters among our fishes—those whose
average food in the adult stage consists of seventy-five per
cent., or more, of fishes—are the burbot, the pike-perch or
wall-eyed pike, the common pike or pickerel, the large-
mouthed black bass, the channel-cat, the mud-cat, and the
gars. Possibly, also, the golden shad will be found strictly
ichthyophagous, this being the case with the four specimens
which I studied. Those which take fishes in considerable but
moderate amount—the ratios ranging in my specimens from
twenty-five to sixty-five per cent.—are the war-mouth (Chano-
bryttus), the blue-cheeked sunfish, the grass pickerel, the dog-
fish, the spotted cat, and the small miller’s thumb. The white
and the striped bass, the common perch, the remaining sun-
fishes (those with smaller mouths), the rock bass, and the
croppie, take but few fishes, these making, according to my
observations, not less than five nor more than twenty-five per
cent. of their food. Those which never capture living fishes,
or, at most, to a merely trivial extent, are the white perch or
sheepshead, the gizzard shad, the suckers, and the shovel fish

4

50

among the larger species ; and the darters, the brook silversides,
the stickleback, the mud minnows, the top minnows, the stone-
cats, and the common minnows generally, among the smaller
kinds. Our eight specimens of the toothed herring had taken
no fishes whatever ; while our nineteen examples of the pirate
perch had eaten only two per cent.

Rough-scaled fishes with spiny fins were eaten by the
miller’s thumb, the common pike, the wall-eyed pike, the large-
mouthed black bass, the croppies, the dog-fish, the common
perch, the burbot, the bull-head, the common sunfish (Lepomts
pallidus), the small-mouthed black bass, the grass pickerel, the
gar, and the mud-cat (Leptops). Among these, the common
perch and the sunfishes were most frequently taken—doubtless
owing to their greater relative abundance—the perch occurring
in the food of the burbot, the large-mouthed black bass, and the
bullhead ; and the sunfishes in both species of wall-eyed pike,
the common pike, the gars, pickerel, bullheads, and mud-cat.
Black bass were taken from the common pike (Esox), the wall-
eyed pike (Stizostedion), and the gar. Croppie and rock bass
I recognized only in the pike. Even the catfishes with their
stout, sharp, and poisoned spines were more frequently eaten
than would have been expected—taken, according to my notes,
by the wall-eyed pike, both black bass, and a fellow species of
the family, the goujon or mud-cat.

The soft-finned fishes were not very much more abundant,
on the whole, in the stomachs of other species, than those with
ctenoid scales, spiny fins, and other defensive structures, an
unexpected circumstance which I cannot at present explain,
because I do not not know whether it expresses a normal and
fixed relation, or whether it may not be due to human inter-
ference.

Only the catfishes seem to have acquired defensive struc-
tures equal to their protection, the predatory apparatus of the
carnivorous fishes having otherwise outrun in development
the protective armor of the best-defended species.

Among the soft-finned species the most valuable as food for
other fishes is the gizzard shad, Dorosoma, this single fish being
about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken

* a) ae

ae ey

Po oye

—*

3
ie teed

51

together. It made forty per cent. of the food of the wall-eyed
pike ; a third that of the black bass; nearly half that of the com-
mon pike or ‘‘ pickerel”’ ; two thirds that of the four specimens
of golden shad examined ; and a third of the food of the gars.
The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized
were the yellow cat, /ctalurus natalis, and young white bass,
Roccus. It thus seems to be the especial food of the large
game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds.

The minnow family (Cyprinidz) are in our waters especially
appropriated to the support of the half-grown game fishes, and
the smaller carnivorous kinds. They were found in the wall-
eyed pike, the perch, the black bass, the blue-cheeked sunfish,
the croppie,the pirate perch, the pike, the little pickerel, the chub
minnow, the yellow cat, the mud-cat, the dog-fish, and the gar.

Suckers, Catostomatide, | determined only from the pike,
the sheepshead, the blue-cheeked sunfish (cyaze//us), the yellow
cat, and the dog-fish (Amza). Buffalo and carp occurred in the
pike, the dog-fish, and the above sunfish.

The ponds and muddy streams of the Mississippi Valley are
the native home of mollusks of remarkable variety and number,
and these form a feature of the fauna of the region not less
conspicuous and important than its leading groups of fishes,
We might, therefore, reasonably expect to find these dominant
groups connected by the food relation; and consistently with
this expectation, we observe that the sheepshead, the catfishes,
the suckers, and the dog-fish find an important part of their
food in the molluscan forms abundant in the waters which
they themselves most frequent. The class as a whole makes
about one fourth of the food of the dog-fish and the sheeps-
head—taking the latter as they come, half-grown and adults
together—about half that of the cylindrical suckers—rising to
sixty per cent. in the red horse—and a considerable ratio (four-
teen to sixteen per cent.) of the food of the perch, the common
catfishes (Amiurus and Ictalurus), the small-mouthed sunfishes,
the top minnows, and the shiner (Notemigonus). Notwithstand-
ing the abundance of the fresh-water clams or river mussels
(Unio and Anodonta), only a single river fish is especially
adapted to their destruction, viz. the white perch or sheeps-

52

head, and this species derives, on the whole, a larger part of its
food from univalve than from bivalve mollusks, the former eaten
especially by half-grown specimens, and the latter being the
chief dependence of the adults. The ability of the catfishes to
tear the less powerful clams from their shells has been already
mentioned. Large clams were eaten freely by the full-grown
sheepshead—whose enormous and powerful pharyngeal jaws
with their solid pavement teeth are especially adapted to crush-
ing the shells of mollusks—and by the bull-heads (Amiurus),
especially the marbled cat. The small and thin-shelled Spheri-
ums are much more frequent objects in the food of mollusk-
eating fishes than are the Unios. This genus alone made

twenty-nine per cent. of the food of our one hundred and seven.

specimens of the sucker family, and nineteen per cent. of that
of a dozen dog-fishes. Among the suckers it was eaten greedily
by both the cylindrical and the deep-bodied species, although
somewhat more freely by the former. Even the river carp, with
its weak pharyngeal jaws and delicate teeth, finds these sufficient
to crush the shells of Sphzrium, and our nineteen specimens
had obtained about one fourth of their food from this genus.
Besides the above families, smaller quantities of the bivalve
mollusks occurred in the food of one of the sunfishes (Lepomzes
pallidus), and—doubtless by accident only—in the gizzard
shad. The gasteropod mollusks (snails of various descriptions)
were more abundant than bivalve forms in the sheepshead, sun-
fish, and all the smaller fishes which feed upon Mollusca, but
less abundant in the suckers and the catfishes. In the sheeps-
head they made one fifth of the food of the twenty-five speci-
mens examined, but the greater part of these had not yet
passed the insectivorous stage, this being much longer continued
in the sheepshead than in many other fishes. A few of these
univalve Mollusca occurred in the food of the common perch
and in certain species of sunfishes—especially the superabundant
bream or pumpkin-seed. They made fifteen per cent. of the
food of the minute top minnows, and occurred in smaller quan-
tities among the darters, the little pickerel, the mud minnows
and the cyprinoids. The heavier river snails, Vivipara and
Melantho, were eaten especially by the cylindrical suckers and

ot y =
addin pete kee et

Rp ESE,

tt eee TEL =

2 te eA et

Ta ee ee

SE ae = ee a oe

53

the catfishes. The delicate pond snails (Succinea, Lemna, and
Physa) were taken chiefly by the smaller mollusk-eating fishes—
a few of them also by the catfishes and the suckers.

It is from the class of zwsects that adult fishes derive the most
important portion of their food; and, taken as a whole, this
class furnishes thirty-eight per cent. of the food of all which I
examined. The principal insectivorous fishes are the smaller
species, whose size and food structures, when adult, unfit them
for the capture of Entomostraca and yet do not bring them
within reach of fishes or Mollusca. Some of these fishes have
peculiar habits which render them especially dependent upon
insect life—the little minnow, Phenacobius, for example, which,
according to my studies, makes nearly all its food (ninety-eight
per cent.) from insects found under stones in running water.
Next are the pirate perch, Aphredoderus (ninety-one per
cent.), then the darters (eighty-seven per cent.), the croppies
(seventy-three per cent.), half-grown sheepshead (seventy-
one per cent.), the shovel fish (fifty-nine per cent.), the
chub minnow, Semotilus (fifty-six per cent.), the black war-
rior sunfish (Chznobryttus) and the brook silversides (each
fifty-four per cent.), and the rock bass and the cyprinoid genus
Notropis (each fifty-two per cent).

Those which take few insects or none are mostly the mud
feeders and the ichthyophagous species, Amia (the dog-fish)
being the only exception to this general statement. Thus we
find insects wholly or nearly absent from the adult dietary of
the burbot, the pike, the gar, the black bass, the wall-eyed
pike, and the great river catfish, and from that of the hickory
shad and the mud-eating minnows (the shiner, the fat-head,
etc.). It is to be remembered, however, that the larger fishes
all go through an insectivorous stage, whether their food when
adult be almost wholly other fishes, as with the gar and the
pike, or mollusks, as with the sheepshead. The mud-feeders,
however, seem not to pass through this stage, but to adopt
the limophagous habit as soon as they cease to depend upon
Entomostraca.

Terrestrial insects, dropping into the water accidentally or
swept in by rains, are evidently diligently sought and largely

54

depended upon by several species, such as the pirate perch,
the brook minnow, the top minnows or killifishes (Cyprino-
donticle), the toothed herring and several cyprinoids (Semo-
tilus, Pimephales, and Notropis).

Among aquatic insects, minute, slender dipterous larvae are
of remarkable importance, making, in fact, nearly one twelfth
of the food of all the fishes studied. They amounted to about
one third the food in fishes as large and important as the red
horse and the river carp, and made nearly one fourth that of
fifty-one buffalo fishes. They appear further in considerable
quantity in the food of anumber of the minnow family (Notropis,
Pimephales, etc.), which habitually frequent the swift water of
stony streams. Aquatic beetles and larvae, notwithstanding the
abundance of some of the forms, occurred in only insignificant
ratios, but were taken by fifty-six specimens. The adult sur-
face beetles, whose zig-zag darting swarms no one can have
failed to notice, were not once encountered in my studies.

The almost equally well-known slender water-skippers seem
also completely protected by their habits and activity from
capture by fishes, only one occurring in the food of all our
specimens.

It is from the order Neuroptera that fishes draw a larger part
of their food than from any other single insect group. In fact,
nearly one sixth of the entire amount of food consumed by all
the fishes examined by me consisted of aquatic larve of this
order, the greater part of them larve of day flies. These
Neuroptera larve were eaten especially by the miller’s thumbs,
the sheepshead, the white and striped bass, the common perch,
thirteen species of the darters, both the black bass, seven of
the sunfishes, the rock bass and the croppies, the pirate perch,
the brook silversides, the sticklebacks, the mud minnow, three
top minnows, the gizzard shad, the toothed herring, twelve
species each of the true minnow family and of the suckers and
buffalo, five catfishes, the dog-fish and the shovel-fish—seventy
species out of the eighty-seven which I studied.

Of the four principal classes of the food of fishes, viz., fishes,
mollusks, insects, and Crustacea, the latter stand third in impor-
tance according to my observations, mollusks alone being

ee

55

inferior to them. That insect larve should be more abundant
in the food of fresh-water fishes than are crustaceans, is a some-
what unexpected fact, but while the former make about twenty-
five per cent. of the food of our entire collection, the crustaceans
amount to only fourteen per cent. Crayfishes made about a
sixth of the food of the burbot, about a tenth that of the
common perch, a fourth that of half a dozen gars, and not far
from a third that of the black bass*, the dog-fish, and our four
rock bass. Young crayfishes appeared quite frequently in
some of the larger minnows (Semotilus and Hybopsis), and
also in catfishes, especially the pond and river bull-heads, aver-
aging nearly fifteen per cent. of the entire food of the two most
abundant species.

The minute crustaceans commonly grouped as Entomostraca
are a much more important element. Among full-grown fishes,
I find them especially important in the shovel-fish—where they
made two thirds of the food of the specimens studied—and in
the common lake herring. Among the sunfishes at large they
were present in only insignificant ratio; but the croppies, dis-
tinguished by long and numerous rakers on the anterior gill,
had derived about a tenth of their food from these minute
crustaceans. In the early spring, especially, when the back-
waters of the streams are filled with Entomostraca, the stomachs
of these fishes are often distended with the commonest forms.
Ten per cent. of the food of the sucker family consisted of them,
mostly taken by the deep-bodied species, in which they made
a fourth or a fifth of the entire food. This fact is explained, it
will be remembered, by the relatively long, slender, and numer-
ous gill-rakers of these fishes. Large river buffalo were
occasionally crammed with the smallest of these Entomostraca,
only a twenty-fifth of an inch in length.

I have several times remarked the peculiar importance of
Entomostraca to the shovel-fish—one of the largest of our fresh-
water animals—a fact accounted for by the remarkable branchial
strainer of this species, probably the most efficient apparatus of
its kind known to the ichthyologist. Here, again, the smallest
forms were the most abundant.

* Our specimens—especially of the smail-inouthed black bass—were too few in number to make
this average reliable.

56

Probably to those accustomed to the abundance of true
qvorms in marine situations, no feature of the poverty of fresh-
water life will be more striking than the small number of this
subkingdom occurring in the course of miscellaneous aquatic
collections in the interior. Similarly, we notice that in the food
of fishes the occurrence of Vermes is so rarely noticed that
they might be left out of account entirely without appreciably
affecting any of the important ratios. Catfishes alone seem
purposely to eat leeches, these occurring in nine specimens of
three different species of this family, and also in one common
sucker and in a single shovel-fish. One of the fresh-water
Sponges (Spongilla) had been eaten in considerable quantities
by two examples of the spotted cat taken in September, but
this element was not encountered elsewhere in my studies.

That the minutest and simplest of all the animal forms, far
too small for the eye of a fish to see without a microscope,
should have been recognized in the food of seventeen species of
fishes is, of course, to be explained only as an incident of the
feeding habit. It is possible, however, that these Protozoa,
where especially abundant, may be recognized in the mass by
the delicate sensory structures of the fish; and they seem in
most cases to have been taken with mud and slime, rich in
organic substances. As most of them are extremely perishable,
and can scarcely leave a trace a few seconds after immersion in
the gastric juices of the fish, it is probable that they contribute
much more generally than our observations indicate to the food
of some fishes, especially to those which feed upon the bottom.

Young suckers under six inches in length clearly take them
purposely, substituting them in great part for the Entomostraca
taken by other fishes of their size and age.

I detected Protozoa in the food of several genera of Cyprin-
ide, in the young of buffalo, the river carp, the chub sucker,
the red-horse, the stone roller, in the common sucker, in a sin-
gle gizzard shad, in a stone-cat, and in a top minnow.

The only scavenger fishes of our collection were three species
ofthe common catfishes ; the spotted cat, the yellow cat, and the
marbled cat—all of which had eaten dead animal matter, includ-
ing pieces of fish, ham, mice, kittens, and the like. A single

57

large-mouthed black bass had likewise eaten food of this
description.

Considering the wealth of vegetatzon accessible to aquatic
animals, and the fact that few other strictly aquatic kinds have
the vegetarian habit, it is indeed remarkable that fishes draw
from plants an unimportant part of their diet. Taking our nine
hundred specimens together, the vegetation eaten by them cer-
tainly would have amounted to less than ten per cent. of their
entire food, and excluding vegetable objects apparently taken
by chance, it probably would not reach five per cent.

The greatest vegetarians are among the minnow family.
Counting each genus as a unit, I find that the family as a whole
obtained from plants about twenty-three per cent. of its food.
The little Phenacobius, already reported as strictly insectivorous,
was the only one studied in which vegetation can scarcely be
said to occur.

Certain of the sunfishes evidently take plant food purposely
on occasion, this making, for example, nearly a tenth of the
food of forty-seven specimens of Lepomis. Among the larger
fishes, the principal vegetarians are the gizzard shad, in which
this element was reckoned at about a third, taken, however, not
separately, but with quantities of mud. A considerable part of
the vegetation here included, consisted of distillery slops obtained
near towns. The buffalo fishes are likewise largely vegetarians,
more than a fourth of their food coming from the vegetable
kingdom ; about a third of this in our specimens being refuse
from distilleries. Vegetation made a tenth of the food of the
larger genera of catfishes (Amiurus and Ictalurus)—some of it
distillery refuse—and nearly as large a ratio of the great Polyo-
don.

Not infrequently, terrestrial vegetable rubbish—seeds of
grasses, leaves of plants, and similar matter—was taken in quan-
tity to make it certain that its appropriation was not accidental.
The principal mud-eating fishes are the gizzard shad, the com-
mon shiner, and certain genera of minnows with elongate
intestines and cultrate pharyngeal teeth. Much mud was also
taken by the cylindrical members of the sucker family, but
apparently as an incident to their search for mollusks.

58

CONCLUSION.

I cannot. attempt to discuss the practical bearing of the
mass of data here presented, or of the much greater number
which I have withheld, partly because the time is lacking, and
partly because I know too little of practical fish-culture ; and I
will merely call attention to a few illustrative points which have
occurred to me in writing.

It would seem that the fact that all young fishes compete,
at first, for food must have important practical results tending
in various directions. It is probable that all fishes which are
not especially adapted to the food requirements of the more
valuable fishes are hurtful to them, because they limit the food
available for their young. It seems possible that even the food
species of the predaceous fishes may multiply to an extent
injurious to the latter, since both robber and prey compete
while young for the same elements of food. It would seem
entirely likely that large fishes, like the shovel-fish, which
destroy when adult immense quantities of the proper food of
the young, must be reckoned as injurious.

Again, it is evident that the fishes most desirable as food
for other kinds are those whose own food is not eaten by
valuable species, but exists in practically inexhaustible supplies.
The gizzard shad and the mud-feeding minnows are examples
of this sort; while the red-horse and other cylindrical suck-
ers answer the purpose almost equally well, since no valuable
fishes feed upon mollusks (especially preferred by the suckers),
and these are among the most abundant animals in our
western streams. The fact that they have likewise adapted
themselves to civilization, so far at least as to relish distillery
slops, is, perhaps, an additional recommendation from this
point of view.

The smaller catfishes, being practically omnivorous, are the
rivals of every other kind; and being almost perfectly pro-
tected from capture by their stout, sharp, poisoned spines, they
contribute little to the food supply of other fishes. The com-
mon sunfishes are almost equally worthless and injurious from
this point of view.

59

I need scarcely say that the fish-culturist should examine the
waters in which young fishes are planted, in order to determine
the amount of their appropriate food available. It is not im-
possible that myriads of whitefish have been set free to perish
by starvation before the feeble fry could disperse widely enough
to secure a single meal. Itseems to me also, that in every case
where it is proposed to introduce a new fish into waters already
populated, the first question to be asked should be, what fishes
do these waters already contain—and in what numbers—whose
food and whose relations to nature generally are substantially
the same as those it is intended to introduce ?

And, finally, I would call attention to the necessity of keep-
ing continuous watch of the balance and abundance of plant and
animal life in its various leading forms in any body of water in
which it is thought desirable to maintain especial kinds of
fishes in the greatest number possible. The owner of a fish
pond especially, who makes himself acquainted with the entire
collection of animals and plants which his pond contains, and
keeps the run of these in their variations of number and habit,
from season to season and from year to year, will not only get
some practical hints thereby, which will aid him in the multipli-
cation and preservation of his fish, but will derive no small
amount of pleasure from his observations, and from the reason-
ings and reflections to which they will give rise.

NOTE ON THE FIRST FOOD OF THE WHITEFISH.

An elaborate account of this research was published in 1883,
in the first volume of the Bulletin of the Illinois State Labo-
ratory of Natural History; but as this article was not widely
distributed among fish-culturists, the great practical importance
of the subject, will perhaps, justify the following extracts from
it: More light was thrown upon the earliest food habits of these
fishes by the discovery of raptatorial teeth upon the lower jaw,
than by the dissections of their alimentary canals. All the
families of fishes which I had previously studied whose young
were provided with teeth, were found strictly dependent at
first upon Entomostraca and the minuter insect larvae; while

60

only those whose young were toothless fed to any considerable
extent upon other forms. The discovery of teeth in the young
whitefish, therefore, placed this species definitely in the group
of those carnivorous when young. The fact that the adult was
itself toothless interfered in no way with this inference, because
other toothless fishes (Dorosoma) whose young were furnished
with teeth, had been found carnivorous at an early age.

The inconclusive character of the results thus far obtained,
made it necessary to attempt to imitate more closely the natural
conditions of the young when hatched in the lake. In Febru-
ary, 1881, I obtained, through the kindness of Mr. Ciarke,
twenty-five specimens of living young whitefish, saved from a
lot which he was planting in the waters of Lake Michigan, off
Racine, Wisconsin. I succeeded in conveying them to the labo-
ratory without loss, and there kept them for several days ina
glass aquarium and supplied them with an abundance of the
living objects to be obtained by drawing a fine muslin net
through the stagnant pools of the vicinity. These consisted of
many diatoms and filamentous fresh-water Alge, of two or
three species of Cyclops, of Canthocamptus tllinotsensis, and
Diaptomus sanguineus among the Copepoda, and of two rather
large Cladocera, Szmocephalus vetulus and S. americanus. These
little fishes were kept under careful observation for several days,
the water in the aquarium being frequently aGrated by pouring.
Many of them had, however, been injured by handling, and
eleven of the specimens died without taking food. It was soon
evident that the larger Entomostraca (the Szmocephalus, and
even the Diaptomus) were quite beyond the size and strength
of these little fishes, and that only the smaller Copepoda,
among the animals available, could afford them any food at
first. These they followed about from the beginning with
signs of peculiar interest, occasionally making irresolute at-
tempts to capture them. Two days after their arrival, one of
the young whitefish had evidently taken food, which proved,
on dissection, to be asmall Cyclops. During the next two days
nine others began to eat, dividing their attentions between the
Cyclops above mentioned and the Canthocamptus, and on the
22d two other took a Cyclops each and a third a Canthocamptus.

61

One of these fishes contained still a large remnant of the egg-sac,
showing that the propensity to capture prey must antedate the
sensation of hunger. On the 25th the fourteenth and last
remaining fish captured its Cyclops, and was itself sacrificed in
turn. Asan indication of the efficiency of the raptatorial teeth.
it may be worth while to note that I saw one of the smallest
fishes make a spring at a Cyclops, catch it, give three or four
violent wriggles, and drop it dead to the bottom of the tank.

As a general statement of the result of the observations
made on these fourteen fishes, we may say that eight of them
ate a single Cyclops each, that one took two, and another three
of the same, that one took a single Canthocamptus, that two
specimens captured two each of this genus, and that finally, a
single fish ate Cyclops and Canthocamptus both. The final
conclusion was a highly probable inference that the smallest
Entomostraca occurring in the lake would prove to be the
natural food of the species.

In order to test this conclusion with precision, | arranged a
similar experiment on a larger scale, and under more natural
conditions. Through the generosity of the Exposition Com-
pany, of Chicago, I was allowed the use of one of the large
aquarium tanks in the Exposition building, on the lake shore,
and by the repeated kindness of Mr. Clarke, of Northville,
Michigan, I was furnished with a much larger number of living
whitefish. Five thousand fry were shipped to me in a can of
water, but through unfortunate delays in changing cars at inter-
mediate points, about two-thirds of these were dead when they
reached my hands. Those living were immediately transferred
to the tank, through which the water, taken from the city pipes,
had already been allowed to run for several hours. As this
water is derived from Lake Michigan at a distance of two miles
from the shore, and had at this time the exact temperature of
the open lake, the conditions for experiment were as favorable
as artificial arrangements could well be made.

Sending a man with a towing-net out upon the lake with a
boat, or upon the rernotest breakwaters, immense numbers of
all organic objects in the waters were easily obtained. After
enclosing the exit of the tank with a fine wire screen, to prevent

62

the escape of objects placed in it, we poured these collections
of all descriptions indiscriminately into the water from day to
day, thus keeping the fishes profusely supplied with all the
various kinds of food which could possibly be accessible to
them in their native haunts. From this tank one hundred
fishes were taken daily and placed in alcohol for dissection and
microscopic study, to determine precisely the objects preferred
by them for food. These were examined at a later date, and all
contents of the intestines were mounted entire as microscopic
slides, and permanently preserved. A careful study was, of
course, made of the organisms of the lake, as shown by the
product of the towing-net, and when the experiment was finally
ended, it was followed by an equally careful examination of the
living contents of the water of the tank at that time.

These fishes, like those previously described, had already
reached the age and condition at which it is customary to
“plant” them in the lake. The ventrals were still undeveloped,
the egg sac had nearly disappeared, the four mandibular teeth
were present, and the median fin extended from the tips of the
pectorals on the belly to a point opposite the middle of the
same fins on the back. In most the egg-sac did not protrude
externally, being reduced in some to a droplet of oil, but remain-
ing in a few of a size at least as great as that of the head. The
alimentary canal was, of course, a simple, straight tube, without
any distinction of stomach and intestines.

The sufferings of these fry in transit had doubtless weakened
the vitality of the survivors, and although every care was taken
to keep the water of the tank fresh and pure, about one-third of
those remaining died during the progress of the experiment.
The aquarium in which they were confined was built of glass,
and had a capacity of about one hundred cubic feet. The tem-
perature, tried repeatedly, stood at forty-two Fahrenheit. A
steady current of the water of the lake was maintained through
this tank, entering through a rose, from which it fell in a spray,
thus insuring perfect aération.

By far the greater part of the organic contents of the water
of the lake, as shown by the product of the towing-net, con-
sisted of diatoms in immense variety, which formed always a

ey eee iii eres ict tim pitas

63

greenish mucilaginous coating upon the interior of the muslin
net. In this were entangled a variety of rotifers, occasional
filamentous Algze, and many Entomostraca, the latter belong-
ing chiefly to the genera Cyclops, Diaptomus and Limnoca-
lanus among the Copepoda, and to Daphnia among the
Cladocera. |

As the Entomostraca proved to be far the most important
elements of this food supply, the particulars respecting them
may be properly more fully given. The smallest of all was a
Cyclops, then new, but since described by me under the name
of Cyclops thomast.* This little Entromostracan is only .o4
inch long by .o11 wide. The next in size, and by far the most
abundant member of this group, was a Diaptomus, likewise
new, described in the paper just cited, under the name of
Diaptomus stcilts. This appears in two forms, one, evidently
young, in the stage just preceding the adult. Full-grown.- indi-
viduals were .065 inch long by one-fourth that depth. The
Limnocalanus was a much larger form, evidently preying, to a
considerable extent, upon the two just mentioned. All the
Cladocera noticed were Daphnia hyalina, an elegant and
extremely transparent species, occurring likewise in the lakes of
Europe. A single insect larval form (Chironomus) should like-
wise be mentioned in this connection, since it had about the
same size and consistence of the Entomostraca, and was con-
sequently available for food. The specimens of each of the
above species from a certain quantity of these collections were
counted, in order to give a definite idea of their relative abund-
ance in the lake; the Diaptomus numbered 225, the Cyclops
75, Limnocalanus 7, Daphnia 3, and Chironomus larve 1. It
was a curious fact, however, that when the water was drawn off
at the end of the experiment, more than half the Entomostraca
were Limnocalanus; a fact partly to be explained by the pre-
daceous habit of the latter, and partly by the facts relating to
the food of the fishes themselves, which are presently to be
detailed. The fry were placed in the tank and supplied with
their first food on the evening of the 12th of March. On the

* “ On some Entromostraca of Lake Michigan and Adjacent Waters.” American Naturalist,
Vol. XVI., No. VIII. (August, 1882‘, pp. 640 and 649.

64

14th, one hundred specimens were removed, and twenty-seven
of these were dissected. ‘Twenty were empty, but the remain-
ing seven had already taken food, all Cyclops or Diaptomus.
Three had eaten Cyclops only, and six Diaptomus, while two
had eaten both. Fourteen of these Entomostraca, seven of
each genus, were taken by these seven fishes. From those
captured the next day, twenty-five specimens were examined,
of which nineteen were without food. Of the remaining six,
three had eaten Diaptomus and three Cyclops; five of the
former being taken in all, and ten of the latter. Three specimens
were next examined from those caught on the 19th of March,
two of which had devoured Diaptomus, and a third a single
Cyclops thomast and a shelled rotifer, Anurea striata. The
character of the food at these earliest stages was so well settled
by these observations that I deemed it unnecessary to examine
the subsequent lots in detail, but passed at once to the speci-
mens taken on the 23d. Twenty-six of these were examined,
and found to have eaten thirty-three individuals of Cyclops
thomasi, fourteen of Diaptomus sicilis, and fourteen of the
minute rotifer already mentioned (Azurea striata). Two had
taken a few diatoms (Bacillaria), and one had eaten a filament
of an Alga. Cyclops was found in sixteen of the specimens,
Diaptomus in nine, and Anurea in eight, only two of them
being empty. The amount of food now taken by individual
fishes was much greater than before, one specimen dissected
having eaten two Cyclops and six Diaptomus sicilis, male and
female. Another had taken five Cyclops, one Diaptomus, and
five examples of Anurea striata. Still another had eaten four
of the Cyclops, four Diaptomus, and one Anurea.

Twenty-five specimens were examined from those removed
on the 24th of the month, at which time the water of the tank
was drawn off and all the remaining fishes bottled. Four of
these had not eaten, but the twenty-one others had devoured
fifty specimens of Dzaptomus sicilis, forty-seven of Cyclops
thomasi, fourteen of Anurza striata, and a single Daphnia
hyalina, the latter being the largest object eaten by any of the
fishes. A few examples of their capacity may well be given.
The ninth example had eaten six Diaptomus, two Cyclops

65

thomasi, and one Anurza; the tenth had taken eight Diap-
tomus, two Cyclops, and an Anurea; and the twentieth, seven
Diaptomus and three Cyclops thomast. In two of these
examples were small clusters of orange globules, probably rep-
resenting unicellular Algz.

Summarizing these data briefly, we find that of the one hun-
dred and six specimens dissected, sixty-three had taken food,
and that the ratio of those which were eating increased rapidly,
the longer the fishes were kept in the aquarium. Only one-
fourth of those examined on the fourteenth of the month had
taken food, while more than five-sixths of those bottled ten days
later had already eaten. The entire number of objects appro-
priated by these sixty-three fishes was as follows: Cyclops tho-
mast, ninety-seven ; Vzaptomus sicilis, seventy-eight ; Anurea
striata, twenty-nine; Daphnia hyalina, one. Seven of the
fishes had eaten unicellular Alge, two had eaten diatoms, and
one, filamentous Alge.

From the above data we are compelled to conclude that the
earliest food of the white-fish consists almost wholly of the
smallest species of Entomostraca occurring in the lake, since the
other elements in their alimentary canals were evidently either
taken accidentally, or else appeared in such trivial quantity as
to contribute nothing of importance to their support. In fact,
two species of Copepoda, Cyclops thomast and Diaptomus sicilis,
are certainly very much more important to the maintenance of
the whitefish in this earliest stage of independent life than all
the other organisms in the lake combined. As the fishes increase
in size, vigor, and activity, they doubtless enlarge their regimen
by capturing larger species of Entomostraca, especially Daph-
nia and Limnocalanus.

A few words respecting the relative abundance of these
species at different seasons of the year and their distribution in
the lake will have some practical value. We may observe here
an excellent illustration of the remarkable uniformity of the life
of the lake as contrasted with that of smaller bodies of water.
While in ponds minute animal life is largely destroyed or
suspended during the winter, the opening spring being attended
by an enormous increase in numbers and rate of multiplication,

is

66

in Lake Michigan there is but little difference in the products of
the collecting apparatus at different seasons of the year.* There
is a slight increase in the number of individuals during spring
and early summer, but scarcely enough appreciably to affect
the food supply of fishes dependent upon them. They are not
by any means equally distributed, however, throughout the
lake, my own observations tending to show that there are
relatively very few of these minute crustaceans to be found at
a distance of a few miles from shore, and that, in fact, by far
the greater part of them usually occur within a distance of two
or three miles out. Indeed, the mouths of the rivers flowing
into the lake are ordinarily much more densely populated by
these animals than the lake itself, as has been particularly
evident at Racine and South Chicago. Neither are they
commonly equally distributed throughout the waters in which
they are most abundant, but like most other aquatic animals,
occur in shoals. In the deeper portions of the lake, many
species shift their level according to the time of day, coming
to the surface by night and sinking again when the sun is
bright.

These facts make it important to the fish-culturist that the
particular situation when it is proposed to plant the fry should
be searched at the time when these are to be liberated, to
determine whether they will find at once sufficient food for their
support. A little experience will easily enable one to estimate
the relative abundance of the Entomostraca at any given time
and place, and they require nothing for their capture more com-
plicated or difficult of management than a simple net of cheese-
cloth or similar material, towed behind a boat. This may be
weighted and sunk to any desired depth, so that the contents
of the water either at the surface or at the bottom, may be
ascertained by a few minutes’ rowing.

State Laboratory of Natural History, Champaign, Ill.

* For definite assurance of this fact I am indebted less to my own observations (which are,
however, consistent with it so far as they go), than to the statements of B. W. Thomas, Esq., of
Chicago, who, while making a specialty of the Diatomacez of the lake, has collected and studied
all its organic forms for several years, obtaining them from the city water by attaching a strainer toa
hydrant many times during every month throughout the year.

67

Dr. SWEENY had seen catfish jerk snails out of their shells
by getting hold of the animal and drawing it out bodily. He
had also noticed thousands of shells of the fresh-water mussel,
or Unio, popularly known as the “hydraulic clam,” with a hole
through on each side as large as a half-dollar, and the meat
gone. Doubtless this was the work of some of the fishes that
Prof. Forbes has examined.

Mr. MATHER had fed the salt-water mussel, J/y7z/zs, to the
marine sheepshead, Dzplodus or Archosargus, as the scientists
have it, while he was connected with the New York Aquarium,
and had observed that this fish used its sheep-like incisors to
nip off the byssus which held the mussel to its anchorage, and
then crushed it with its pavement of teeth back of the jaws.
After extracting the meat the shells were expelled from the
mouth, and he had never noticed fragments of shell in the
exuve. He had fed the fish hard clams also, but these required
cracking with a hammer, and the shells were ejected after the
meat was devoured as in the case of the mussels.

Dr. PARKER asked what the food of the lake whitefish
consists of.

PROF. FORBES answered that he had made no study of the
food of this fish, except in the fry, and he had fully reported on
their food. The United States Fish Commission has shown
that crustaceea form the principal diet of the adult fish.

Mr. CLARK had examined some of the whitefish taken
February, and found nothing but small crustaceans in their
stomachs.

SOMEVEXPERIMENTS (WITH tik FRY ‘OF
WHITEFISH.

BY DRs J. Co PARKER.

The question as to whether the young of the whitefish
would find food and live when planted out of season much
earlier than at the time at which they usually mature had been
one of much discussion amongst those interested in fish-culture

68

in Michigan, it being generally thought that while the lakes
were filled with ice that the temperature of the water would be
so low that there would be no organisms upon which the young
fish could feed, and, consequently, starvation would ensue.
- To test this question Superintendent Marks directed the over-
seer, Mr. A. W. Marks, of Petoskey Station, of the Michigan
Fish Commission, to institute certain experiments and to report
the same to the Board. ‘The report is as follows:

On March 1, 1887, a small screen or crate made of wood
and wire netting, three feet long and four and a half in diameter,
in the form of a cylinder, was placed through the ice in Little
Traverse Bay, in 100 feet of water, and 10,000 whitefish placed
in the crate and lowered to the bottom with a strong rope. On
March 5 the crate was raised and the young fry were nearly all
alive, only six dead ones found. On March 10 the crate was
raised again and twelve dead fish were found. The fry had
turned to a light brown, the yolk sac was nearly absorbed and
the fish seemed in good health. On March 12 the crate was
again raised and some of the fry taken out and brought home ;
also a jug of water from the bottom and another from the top
was taken. One drop of this was placed under a strong glass
and life could be seen very plentiful. The stomach of one of
the small fish and a drop of the water was placed under the
glass and it was found to be full of diatoms and vegetable
matter. The diatoms seemed to be working around the small
pieces of vegetable matter ; the sac of the fry had been absorbed
and they were feeding upon the vegetable matter and the ani-
malcule. On March 14 the crates were again lifted, and the fish
seemed to be doing well in about the same condition as on the
12th. About 100 dead fish were found on the 14th. The crate
was lifted on the 18th; no change could be seen. On the 24th
the crate was again lifted, and some of the young had turned
to alight green, the color of a herring a year old. On March
24 another crate was sunk, containing 5,000 fry. This was
lifted on the 28th, and two dead fish were found in the crate.
At this date the first crate sunk contained fish forty-five days
old that had been under the ice twenty-eight days. About the
last of March the ice moved out of the bay, thus preventing

69

any further systematic observations. Later on the submerged
crates were recovered, but the wire screens had become filled
with sediment, caused by the roiling of the water consequent
upon the breaking up of the ice, and no live fish were found in
them. This closed the experiments for that year, and circum-
stances prevented their continuance this spring.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

THE DIGS TIBLEITY. OF HIGH.

BY PROF. W. O. ATWATER.

In the course of an investigation upon the Chemistry and
Food-economy of Fish, which has been in progress for a num-
ber of years, under the auspices of the U. S. Fish Commission,
a study of the digestibility of fish has seemed desirable, and a
beginning has been made in the form of experiments upon the
comparative digestibility of the flesh of fish and lean meat.
The object of the present paper is to give a brief outline of the
main results. These confirmed by quantitative test the general
impression that in fish we have one of the most completely
digestible of food-materials.

THE DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD IN GENERAL.

The question of the digestibility of foods is very complex,
and it is noticeable that the men who know most about the
subject are generally the least ready to make definite and sweep-
ing statements concerning it. One of the most celebrated
physiologists of the time, an investigator who has, I suppose,
devoted as much experimental study to this particular subject
as any man now living, declares that aside from the chemistry
of the process and the quantities of nutrients that may be
digested from different foods, he is unable to affirm much of
anything about it. The contrast between this and the positive-
ness with which many people discourse about the digestibility
of this or that kind of food, is very marked and has its moral.

70

Our source of confusion is the fact that what people com-
monly call the digestibility of food includes several very different
things, some of which, as the ease with which a given food-
material is digested, the time required for the process, and
the effect of different substances and conditions upon digestion,
are so dependent upon individual peculiarities of different
people and so difficult of measurement as to make the laying
down of hard and fast rules impossible. Why it is, for instance,
that some are made seriously ill by so wholesome a material as
milk, and others find that certain kinds of meat or vegetables
or sweetmeats “do not agree with them,” neither chemist nor
physiologist can exactly tell.* Late investigations, however,
suggest the possibility that the ferments in the digestive canal
may cause particular compounds to be changed into injurious
forms, so that it may sometimes be literally true that ‘one
man’s meat is another man’s poison.’’ But digestion proper,
by which we understand the changes which the food undergoes
in the digestive canal in order to fit the digestible portion to be
taken into the blood and lymph and do its work as nutriment,
is essentially a chemical process. About this a great deal has
been learned within a comparatively few years, so that here we
have many important facts that have not yet got into current
literature.

The average man swallows, say six pounds of food and
drink, meat, fish, potatoes, bread, coffee, milk, water, and what
not, per day. Every twenty-four hours, then, all the solid sub-
stance, all the protein, fats, carbohydrates and mineral matter

* Things do not always or, indeed, often come to hand exactly when they fit best, but, oddly
enough, just as I am writing this the postman brings a letter from the Recording Secretary of the
American Fisheries Society with the following statement: ‘‘ By the way, I cannot digest oysters,
raw or cooked, but can eat clams (both Venus and Mya) and can go to bed on the outside of a
lobster mayonaise. Coffee ties a hard knot in the interior department, buckwheat cakes start my
‘vinegar factory’ to work on full time, beans cause the ‘gas works’ to be put in operation. This
merely proves the adage about ‘one man’s meat, etc.’”” The learned gentleman follows this by the
statement that he has already passed the age of forty, at which a man is said to become ‘‘either a
fool or a physician’; and gives a physiological explanation of his digestive temperament which he
attributes to dyspepsia ‘“‘aggravated by nine months’ diet on corn meal, ground cob and all, and
sorghum sytup, in Confederate prisons.” Of course it would be wrong to affirm that in this especial
case it is the microbe that causes the protein of the oysters to be changed into compounds which
make them disagree, or produces the disagreeable fermentations in the buckwheat cakes and beans,
but some how or other different food-materials do produce very disagreeable effects in the digestive
apparatus of different people, and the science of to-day explains this in part by the action of the
digestive ferments, among which microbes play an important role.

7a

of this quantity of food, except the small portion that passes
through the alimentary canal undigested, must be either dis-
solved or divided into such minute particles as to be able to get
through the microscopic passages that permeate the walls of
the canal and thus find their way to the blood. To judge
accurately of the nutritive value of our food, then, we must
know not simply how much of the different nutritive ingredients,
the protein and fats and carbohydrates, it contains, but how
much of each of these nutrients will be digested. This is a
matter that can be determined more or less accurately by ex-
periment. But a great deal of labor is needed to make the
experiments accurate, the line of research is new, the methods
are not yet perfectly matured, and the results thus far obtained,
though extremely interesting and valuable, are still far from
complete. The side questions, such as differences in the diges-
tive apparatus of different persons; the effects of exercise and
rest, or mode of preparation of the food, and of the flavoring
materials and beverages taken with it, tend to complicate the
problem of digestibility, yet even here experimental research
has something to tell us. In brief, we have to-day a tolerably
fair idea as to what proportions of the ingredients of a good
many of the more common kind of animal and vegetable food-
materials, meats, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, bread, potatoes,
are ordinarily digested by healthy people. But the list of
materials the digestibility of which has been accurately tested
is far from including all the more common kinds of food,
and more experiments are needed, even with the foods that
have been tested, to show the variations in digestibility by
different classes of people, and under different conditions. The
only direct experiments on the digestibility of fish by men or
other animals, so far as I know, are those described in this

paper.
THE CONSTITUENTS OF FOOD.

But before going farther I ought, perhaps, to say a few
words about the nutritive ingredients of fish and other food
materials and the technical terms which we are coming to apply
to them in the chemical laboratory. Fish, like meats and other

72

food, are made up of different constituents. These we may
classify as follows :

1. Edible substance, ¢..¢., the flesh of meats and fish, the
shell contents of oysters, wheat flour. 2. Refuse, ¢., bones
of meat and fish, the shells of oysters, bran of wheat.

The edible substance consists of: 1. Water. 2. Nutritive
substance or nutrients. Leaving out of account the refuse and
the water, we may consider simply the nutriments. Speaking
as chemists and physiologists, we may say that our food sup-
plies, besides mineral substances and water, three principal
classes of nutritive ingredients, viz.: Protein, carbohydrates,
and fats ; and that these are transformed into the tissues and
fluids of the body, muscleand fat, blood and bone, and are con-
sumed to produce heat and force.

The principal nutrient of fish is protein. In chemical com-
position the protein of fish is essentially the same as that which
makes up the bulk of the nutritive material of very lean meat.
In both lean meat and in fish it is called myosin. It is very
similar to the albumen (white) of egg, the casein (curd) of milk
and the gluten of wheat. The protein compounds are some-
times called ‘‘ flesh formers.’’ They are the most important of
the nutritive ingredients of food, because they are the only ones
that contain nitrogen and they alone make muscle, tendon and
other nitrogenous tissues of the body. Of the fats we have
familiar examples in the fat of meat and fish, lard, butter, olive
oil and other kinds of oil, including the oil of corn and wheat.
Some kinds of fish, as salmon, shad and mackerel contain con-
siderable fat, but the flesh of codfish, haddock, pike, perch, bass,
bluefish and the most of our common food fishes contain very
little fat, less, indeed, than is found in even the leanest meat.
Of the carbohydrates, sugar and starch are the most import-
ant. The carbohydrates make the chief nutritive material of
vegetable foods. Oysters and clams contain a certain amount
of carbohydrates, as does milk. These different substances in
food have different kinds of work to do in nourishing the body.
The protein compounds, which are the only ones that contain
nitrogen, make the muscle, tendon and other nitrogenous
tissues. This, the carbohydrates and fats, which contain no

73

nitrogen, cannot do. The carbohydrates and fats serve for
fuel, yielding heat to keep the body warm and muscular strength
for work. Protein compounds can also serve for fuel.

Since protein can do the work of the carbohydrates in
furnishing heat and muscular power, and has a work of its own
to do in building up the tissues of the body which the other
nutrients cannot perform, the protein compounds are the most
important of the food ingredients. And when we compare the
quantities of the different nutrients in food with the market
prices of foods, we find that protein is by far the most expen-
sive. It costs, pound for pound, several times as much as fats
and carbohydrates. The fats are more expensive than the
carbohydrates and have a higher fuel value. In short, fish
furnishes protein to form muscle and other nitrogenous parts
of the body. Some kinds of fish contain considerable fat also.
Since the protein is the most important and the most expen-
sive of the food ingredients and fat is more costly and valuable
than carbohydrates, it is evident that fish is an extremely
valuable article of food. Indeed the importance of fish in
domestic and in national economy has not yet come to be
justly appreciated.

Our national diet is one-sided ; we eat too much of the fats
and carbohydrates and relatively too little protein. This
comes from our enormous consumption of highly fattened
meats and of sweetmeats. As population becomes denser and
economy becomes more necessary we shall have to devote
relatively less of the productive power of our land to meat
production. If wecan replace part of the meat that we con-
sume by fish, it will be greatly to our advantage as regards
both health and purse. In the older and more densely popu-
lated countries of the world, as Europe and Asia, the food of
the people is mainly vegetable, and is relatively deficient in
protein. To produce meat to supply protein seems impossible.
It thus appears, that, the world over, by fish-culture, the rivers
and the sea are made to rightly supplement the land in the pro-
duction of food for man. I hope in another place to enlarge
upon these statements and to cite statistics to illustrate them,
but must now go back to my subject, the digestibility of fish.

74

THE DIGESTIBIEIDY OF EISH:

There are two ways of studying experimentally the digesti-
bility of fish as of other foods. One is by experiments in
artificial digestion, in which the food material is exposed to the
action of the digestive juices in the laboratory, in apparatus
fitted for the purpose. The other is by direct experiments with
man or other animals. A series of experiments upon the arti-
ficial digestion of fish in gastric juice have been made by
Messrs. Chittenden and Cummins, and reported in Commis-
sioner’s Report of the Commission of Fish and Fisheries of the
United States for 1884, page 1109. In the introduction to the
account of their work these experimenters speak as follows :

‘ Few experiments appear to have been made on the digestibility of fish ;
this is the more strange when we consider what an important item of food fish
constitutes, particularly along our seaboard. * * * * As Voit remarks,
‘Nothing certain is known regarding the digestibility of different kinds of fish,
although much is said concerning it. Probably digestibility is in part depend-
ent upon the nature of the fat present and the manner of its distribution;
thus the presence of a difficultly fusible fat with considerable stearin would
tend to hinder digestibility (as in mutton); the same thing probably occurs
when the contents of the sarcolemma are permeated with much fat (as in the
lobster and eel).’ This statement at once suggests the probability of great
variation in the digestibility of the flesh of any one species, dependent on a
large number of conditions, which, in the case of fish particularly, are some-
what difficult of control; thus age, sex, food, period of spawning, length of
time they have been preserved, are a few of the many natural conditions
which would tend to modify the digestibility of the flesh and render generali-
zations from even a large number of results somewhat uncertain.”

The outcome of their work is expressed thus:

“The results of the analyses show plainly that the method adopted is as
good as could be expected, for it must be remembered that the two results
obtained from each sample of flesh are not merely from duplicated analyses,
but from duplicated digestions as well, and in these, extending as they do
over twenty-two hours, with slight variations in temperature and agitation,
small differences are to be expected. The very great divergence noticed, how-
ever, in the results obtained from different samples of the same species of
flesh show at once that there are other conditions, such as age, etc., which
affect the digestibility of the flesh more or less, so that, in order to obtain
results from which to draw strict generalizations, it would be necessary to
experiment with fish of different species, of like age, sex, and reared under
like conditions. As examples of this we have the very divergent results from

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he re ey a
Fo en a ee

eee ee

75

two samples of veal, and also of two bluefish (88.69 and 73.44). As direct
evidence that age, sex, etc., do exert a modifying influence on the digestibility
of flesh, we have three experiments on the flesh of the lobster; one with a
small young lobster, a second with a large female, and a third with a large
male of the same species. The duplicate digestions gave fairly concordant

_results; the average relative digestibility being for the young specimen 87.81,

for the large female 79.06, and for the male 69.13. This shows plainly some
modifying influence in the flesh itself. In composition, so far as the solid
matter is concerned, there was no appreciable difference in the three samples.
Bearing in mind, however, these possible variations, it is very evident from
our results that the average digestibility of fish-flesh is far below that of beef
similarly cooked. In but two instances, in the case of shad and whitefish,
does the digestibility of fish-flesh approach that of beef, although, from the
average of our experiments, several are as easily digestible as mutton, lamb,
and chicken.

‘* Pavy states that fish with white flesh, such as the whiting, etc., are less
stimulating and lighter to the stomach, or more easy of digestion, than fish
with more or less red flesh, as the salmon. Our experiments confirm this
statement so far as digestibility is concerned. Thus the average digestibility
of the salmon and trout is considerably below the average of the more digesti-
ble white fish. The difference between the digestibility of the light and the
dark meat of the same flesh is somewhat striking, as in the case of the shad,
where the digestibility of the former was found to be 97.25, as compared with
beef, while the dark flesh was 87.32. A similar difference, though very much
smaller, is to be noticed between the light and dark meat of the chicken.

“This difference in digestibility is in part due, without doubt, to the
amount of fat present, for, as Pavy states, in the flesh of white fish there is
but little fat, it being accumulated mainly in the liver of the animal, while in
red fish there is more or less fatty matter incorporated with the muscular
fibres. For a similar reason, eels, mackerel and herring are, according to
Pavy, less suited to a delicate stomach than some of the white fish, and our
experiments show that in digestibility two of them stand below the more diges-
tible white fish; mackerel, however, from our single experiment with the
white portion of the flesh, showed a comparatively high digestibility. In all of
our experiments, however, with white fish, we rejected the outer layer of dark
flesh, except in the case of the shad. The varying differences in digestibility
are not to be considered as due wholly to differences in the amount of fat in
the flesh; thus the flesh of fresh cod contains but little fat, and yet it is one
of the most indigestible of the white fish experimented with. This agrees with
Pavy’s experience ‘that it is a more trying article of food to the stomach than
is generally credited.’ Again Pavy makes the following statement, based on
his experience in fish dietetics ‘of all fish, the whiting may be regarded as the
most delicate, tender, and easy of digestion.’ ‘The haddock is somewhat
closely allied, but it is inferior in digestibility,’ while ‘the flounder is light and
easy of digestion, but insipid.’ With all these statements our results agree

76

perfectly, assuming the whitefish of our experiments to be analogous to the
English whiting.”

It thus appears that Messrs. Chittenden and Cummins found
considerable divergence in the digestibility of the flesh of fish
of different kinds. These they attribute in part to the varying
proportions of fat, the fatter fish being the less digestible, and
in part to other characteristics of the flesh. My own impression
is, that experiments on the actual digestion in the alimentary
canal, in which other juices as well as the gastric come in play
and other conditions are different, would show less difference in
the digestibility of fish of different sorts than these investi-
gators found in their experiments in artificial digestion with
gastric juice alone, and also that there would be less variation
in the actual quantities and nutritive material digested than the
statements made by the authors quoted by Messrs. Chitten-
den and Cummins would imply. For we must not forget
the distinction between the quantity digested and the ease of
digestion. But, of course, this is a matter to be determined by
actual experiment and observation.

The ways in which the experiments for testing the digesti-
bility of foods by men and animals are made, are very ingenious
and interesting. Physiologists use the salivary glands, or
stomach or intestine of a living animal, much as chemists do
their bottles and retorts and test-tubes. It is easy to get into
the way of regarding an animal as simply an organism manifest-
ing certain reactions under given conditions, and in not a few
European laboratories a janitor is readily induced by the price
of a few months’ supply of beer, or a student by his scientific
ardor to take this same altruistic view of his own physical
organism. In the German laboratories, particularly, one finds
not only the needed apparatus, but what is no less important,
trained assistants and servants, so that one is relieved of much
of the time-consuming and disagreeable detail of experimenting,
which is so much of an obstacle with us.

THE QUANTITIES OF DIGESTIBLE SUBSTANCES IN FOOD.

The first question we have now to ask may be put in this
way. What proportion of each of the nutrients in different

77

food-materials is actually digestible ? In a piece of meat, for
instance, what percentage of the total protein and fats will be
digested by a healthy person, and what proportion of each
will escape digestion? The proportions of food-constituents
digested by domestic animals has been a matter of active
investigation in the European agricultural experiment stations
during the past twenty years. Briefly expressed, the method
consists in weighing and analyzing both the food consumed and
the intestinal execretion, which latter represents the amount of
food undigested. The difference is taken as the amount
digested.

Such experiments upon human subjects, however, are ren-
dered much more difficult by the fact that in order that the
digestibility of each particular food-material may be determined
with certainty, we must avoid mixing it with other materials.
Hence the diet during the experiments must be so plain and
simple as to make it extremely unpalatable. An ox will live
contentedly on a diet of hay for an indefinite time, but for an
ordinary man to subsist a week on meat or fish or potatoes or
eggs is a very different matter. No matter how palatable such
a simple food may be at first to a man used to the ordinary
diet of a well-to-do community, it will almost certainly become
repugnant to him after a few days. In consequence, the diges-
tive functions are disturbed, and the accuracy of the trial is
impaired, a fact, by the way, which strikingly illustrates the
importance of varied diet in civilized life. For instance, in an
experiment conducted in the physiological laboratory at Munich,
by Dr. Rubner, the subject, a strong, healthy Bavarian laboring
man, lived for three days upon bread and water, a diet, the
monotony of which was much more endurable than one of meat
or fish or most any other single food-material would have been.
He was able to eat 1,185 grams (about 2 lbs. and 10 02z.) of bread
per day. This contained 670 grams of carbohydrates, mainly
starch, of which only about 51 grams, or a little less than one
per cent., escaped digestion. In this case, therefore, about 99
per cent. of the carbohydrates of the bread were digested. The
bread contained 13 grams of protein, of which 13 per cent. were
undigested, and 87 per cent., or seven-eighths of the whole

78

protein, digested. The quantity of fatty matters in the bread
was too small to permit an at all accurate test of their digesti-
bility. In another experiment the digestibility of meat, beef-
steak, was tested. The man consumed a little less than two
pounds per day, but though it was cooked with butter, pepper,
salt and onions so as to make it taste ‘‘ extraordinarily well fla-
vored,” it was very difficult to swallow it the second day, and
required great effort the third. The digestion, however, seemed
to be normal, and all but about one per cent. of the protein was
digested. Other trials with meat and with fish have brought
similar results, and it is reasonably safe to say that when a
healthy person with sound digestive organs eats ordinary meat
in proper quantities, all or nearly all of the protein is digested.
Some of the fats of meats, however, seem to fail of digestion.
The number of accurate experiments of this kind is still very
small. Some sixty or thereabouts have been reported. Nearly
all have been made within ten years past, and the majority in
one laboratory, that of the University of Munich. Most of the
subjects have been men with healthy digestive organs, two or
three laboratory servants, a soldier, several medical students
and a few others. Several have been made, however, with
children of a few families. All but a very small number con-
ducted in Germany.

Some time since it was my fortune to pass a number of
months in Munich, where, through the courtesy of Professor
Voit, Director of the Physiological Institute of the University,
I was enabled to make some experiments on the digestion of
meat and fish by a man and by a dog. Each lived for three
days upon haddock and then for three days upon lean meat,
beefsteak. The dog was used to such experiments and got on
very comfortably indeed. The meat and fish were each cooked
with a little lard. He did not take to the fish at first, but after
he got used to it seemed to like it. The first attempt with a
man was with the same healthy, rather stolid Bavarian laborer,
with whom Dr. Rubner’s experiments with meat and bread,
above referred to, were performed. He bore up very well
through the trials with both the fish and the meat, but the
assistant discovered at the end that he had surreptitiously eaten

ee

— =.

os

79

sourkrout, and the experiment was spoiled. Fortunately, a
medical student, then working in the laboratory, became inter-
ested in the subject, and offered himself as a martyr to the
cause. He had, for three days, flesh of haddock, fried with
butter, flavored with salt, pepper, mustard, and Worcestershire
sauce, and taken with beer and wine. Then came a period of
rest, that is to say ordinary diet, and then a similar trial with
beefsteak. I was with him at every meal and can bear warm
testimony to his fortitude and determination. The menu was
made as appetizing as possible under the circumstances. The
first day of each trial went pretty well, the second day it was
difficult, and the third day almost impossible to swallow
the whole. I used all sorts of devices to make it easier, espe-
cially by distracting his thoughts from the food ; told stories of
America, cracked jokes, made fun of him, at times almost
angered him. And it is safe to say that all the effort was
needed. As the result it appeared that he digested nearly the
whole of both the meat and the fish. The results of the
experiments are stated in tabular form herewith. The percent-
age of each ingredient, which escaped digestion, is given. In
some cases a correction, for certain errors of experiment which
need not be discussed here, is applied to the figures for amounts
“apparently undigested,’ to show those estimated to be
‘actually’ digested.

Summary of Results of Experiments on the Digestion of the
Constituents of Meat and Fish by a Dog and by a Man.
Percentages Undigested.

Doc. Man.

EXPERIMENTS WITH Foon. ;
Meat, Fish,

Butter, | Butter,
etc. etc.

Meat and! Fish and
Lard. Lard.

Per cent. | Per cent. ; Per cent. | Per ct.

Water-free substance, apparently undigested............ 304 3.2 4-3 4.9
TE Ii aa as capa NE 1.6 2.5 2.0
Nitrogen (protein), from meat or fish, actually undi-

Se ae SR ADS A A RE 0.3 0.0 0.7 0-5
Fat, mostly from lard or butter, apparently undigested... 2.8 3.0 5.2 9.0

Ash; apparently windigEsted()c/cc csj- jue cijemcs ceecns ae cciaie 14-3 14.1 21.5 22.5

80

According to these experiments, therefore, practically all
of the nitrogenous materials (protein) of both the fish (had-
dock) and the lean beef was digested by the dog, and all but
one-half or three-fourths of one per cent. by the man. While
more experiments are needed, the agreement of these results
with what would be expected from the nature of the nitrogen
compounds and what is known of the laws of digestion and
absorption, leaves little ground to doubt that very nearly all,
indeed we may say, practically all, of the protein of both
will be digested by a healthy organism under normal con-
ditions.

The conclusion that the flesh of the common kinds of fish
agrees very closely in digestibility with that of the common
kinds of meat, at least so far as the protein (the chief con-
stituent of the “lean” of meat and fish) is concerned, seems
equally well grounded. It would seem, however, from other
considerations and especially from actual experiments with
meats, in which the fat is imperfectly digested, that fish,
having generally less fat than meat, is, on the average, more
easily and completely digested. Perhaps it will be interesting
to note how different food materials compare in digestibility
as shown by experiments such as those just described.

Digestibility of Nutrients of Food-materials.

Or THE ToraL Amounts OF PROTEIN, FATS AND CARBOHYDRATES,
IN THE Foop THE FOLLOWING PERCENTAGES WERE DIGESTED :
MATERIALS BELOW.
Protein. Fats. Carbohydrates.
Meat and fish ....-.... Practically all. FO ILO O2 peniCent-waleceeeeeeee
Bogs. Ly. date seein es el SMM eG RURAL GE AS el
MOUs hols oo bculs ugaode 41 to 100 per cent. | 93 tog8 ‘** ?
] |
Wheat bread.......... SIO LOO) ? 99 per cent.
aden . “cc | P)
Corn (maize) Meal.... 89 | ? 97 “
5 2 ‘6 } ? “ec
RICE rede Letette lesekotonoxsis 84 | [ 99
IPBOE gongasoduooueds S6 Pais | ? 96>
{
IPotat@esi feos fe. acs sips 74 gs ? 92 a
Beets <u Ms iiss bites 72 ce ? 82 ‘s

pi aly OS oe

[a Se ae a ae ee

+5) sae be

ee eS

ee

SI

The amounts of fat in the vegetable foods are so small
that the experiments do not tell exactly what proportions are
digested. The meats and fish contain practically no carbo-
hydrates. The digestibility of the carbohydrates (sugar) of
milk was not determined, those of the vegetable foods except
the beets, were almost completely digested. That the protein
of cow’s milk should be so much less completely digested
than that of meal seems a little strange. Children have been
found to digest a little more than adults, though the difference
is not large. Thus Dr. Camerer, a German experimenter,
found his boys and girls of from two to twelve years of age to
digest from ninety-one to ninety-seven per cent. of the protein
of cow’s milk, while grown men in experiments by Dr. Rubner
digested from eighty-eight to ninety-four per cent. But in
experiments in which milk and cheese were eaten together by
a man, the laboratory servant of Dr. Rubner’s experiments,
all or nearly all of the protein of both was digested. The
percentages of fats of milk digested was practically the same
with adults as with children. It is worth noting in these
experiments, both children and adults digest only about half
of the mineral salts of the milk. Why so much of the fats of
the meat, from a twelfth to a fifth, should have failed to be
digested it is not easy to say. Some of the food materials, as
meat, bread and milk, have been tested each by several
experiments with more than one person. With others, as
eggs, corn meal, rice, pease and potatoes, only a single trial has
been made. Doubtless extended series of tests would give
averages differing more or less from these figures. Another
thing that makes the results a little uncertain, is that some of
the food materials may perhaps be more completely digested
when taken in small quantities with others in the ordinary
way than when so much of them is eaten and without any
other food. These and other sources of slight error make
more extended experiments very desirable. But enough has
been done to show pretty clearly that :

1. The protein of our ordinary meats and fish is very readily
and completely digestible.

2. The protein of vegetable foods is much less digestible
6

82

than that of animal foods. Of that of potatoes and beets, for
instance, a third or more may escape digestion, and thus be
useless for nourishment.

3. Much of the fat of animal food may at times fail of
digestion.

4. The carbohydrates, which make up the larger part of
vegetable foods, are very digestible.

5. The animal foods have, in general, the advantages of the
vegetable foods, that they contain more protein, and that their
protein is more digestible.

6. The comparative digestibility of fish and meats, and of
the different kinds of fish, is not well enough decided by experi-
ment to warrant as definite conclusions as are desirable. It seems
probable, however, that the leaner meats are rather more easily
digested than those which are more fat, and that, in like man-
ner, the leaner kinds of fish, such as cod, haddock, perch, pike,
bluefish, sole, flounder, etc., are more easily and completely
digested than the fatter kinds, as salmon, shad and fat mackerel,
and that for like reason fish, which is, in general, less fat than
meat is, on the average, more digestible.

7. People differ in respectto) the ‘action’ ‘of foods jamiitie
digestive apparatus, and fish, like other food materials, are
subject to these influences of personal peculiarity.

One point more is worthy of remark before closing. The
nutritive value of food is, of course, decided by other factors
as well as by the proportion of digestible ingredients. In one
respect fish is peculiarly adapted to the diet of that very large
class of people whose occupation involves but little muscular
exercise. As already explained, we consume excessive quan-
tities of fat. This comes with our habit of eating highly-fattened
meats, as well as butter and lard. Even when we attempt to
reject the fat of the meat which comes upon our tables and is
served on our plates, we consume a great deal of fat in the
visible and invisible particles diffused throughout the lean.
Statistics of dietaries in this country show the fat consumption
to be enormous. Fat serves as fuel, and is useful for those who
do hard muscular work, or are exposed to severe cold. For
others it is not needed, and excess is a burden imposed on the

83

system. The excessive eating of fat is contrary to good
economy, and hygienists assure us it is a very serious damage
to health.

Fish supplies the protein which meat furnishes, and which
is needed to build the tissues of the body, without the large
amounts of fat which are not needed by people of sedentary
habits. For brain-workers it seems to be on this account a very
useful food.

Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.

SOME (OBSERVATIONS (UPON GiHE |} GRAY 1: ENG:

BY J. C. PARKER, OF THE MICHIGAN FISH COMMISSION.

The question as to whether the grayling (Zhymallus tri-
color) could be successfully propagated artificially being prac-
tically undecided by this Commission, it was decided to
prepare waters as nearly in accordance with natural conditions
as possible and make as careful and systematic an attempt as
we could to solve it. Accordingly ponds were made on the
Buck Horn creek, of just sufficient depth to admit of screening
and through which the whole creek flowed, with the hope
that if placed here, they would in the spring—the spawning
season—give us an opportunity to observe and handle them,
under less difficult circumstances than in their native streams.
We hoped that as the Buck Horn had originally been a
good grayling stream, it would place at our disposal the
most advantageous conditions. The ponds being in readi-
ness, the several members of the Michigan Fish Commission
proceeded on the 20th of August to the west branch of the
Manistee, fifteen miles from the railroad station at Kalkaska,
with boats, cans and camp equipage, prepared to make a week
of it. The fish were to be captured with rod and line, it
having been demonstrated that this was more certain, and the
results more satisfactory, than any attempt to use nets of any
description. The result was that at the end of the week we
had caught and had in excellent condition about one hundred
fine specimens. From five to six of these were put into a can,

84

the temperature of the water—which was comparatively low—
kept down by the addition of ice, and nine of these cans
loaded into a lumber-wagon and the journey to the station over
a bouncing corduroy road commenced. Only one opportunity
to change the water ex route was afforded, but, notwithstand-
ing all this rough handling, they reached their destination
with only the loss of some four or five specimens.

During the winter they were watched and cared for, but
the loss was about twenty-five per cent. When the spawning
season arrived a close watch was kept to see when any signs
of spawn-laying should commence, but we watched in vain.
So far as could be ascertained there was nothing to indicate
that they had, would, or could, ever spawn, and to-day we are
no nearer a practical solution of the vexed question than when
we commenced. During this, and a subsequent visit to the
same locality, I was enabled to make some observations upon
their food and their habits in feeding, which may be of
interest. Near the camp was a pool in which two small fish
had their haunts, one about six inches in length, and the other
half the size. The larger one when at rest was on a bit of
clean sand in plain view; the other lay under some sunken
drift wood, dark in color, and under which he concealed him-
self, only the tip of his nose being visible, and the contrast in
color corresponded exactly with their resting places; the
larger one was so nearly the color of the sand on which he lay
as hardly to be distinguished from it ; only when in motion as
he arose to the surface for his food; the other was as dark as
the sticks under which he lay, showing that the question of
color is one of bottom locality and undoubtedly a circum-
stance of more or less light. I was somewhat surprised at the
tenacity with which they adhered to a locality when once
domiciled in it. Three or four times I drove them out of their
haunts ; one afternoon chasing the larger one several rods up
the stream only to find him in the same spot the next day,
and when I returned to the same locality, after an absence of
four weeks, I found the same fish apparently in the same
places. In rising for food I never saw either of them more
than a yard from their haunts, and only rarely but a few

pares ya ee eg

85

inches. They would detect their prey at a considerable dis-
- tance and slowly rise to meet it as it floated to them, and then
a sudden flash, and they were back to their respective resting
places. The deviation from the point where they lay was,
from side to side across the stream, hardly ever but a few
inches up or down. One day, when they were rising with
more than usual frequency, I carefully crept out on a pro-
jecting log until I was nearly over them, and could watch
their every movement, and, with watch in hand, counted the
“rises” of the larger one for fifteen minutes. In this time he
came to the surface and secured his prey fifty times. Some-
times he would rise nearly to the surface and then slowly
settle down again, but whenever he actually seized anything
he was back to his haunt again with a motion so quick the
eye could scarcely follow him. After considerable observation
I could detect the particular insect I was sure he would rise
for, sometimes before he would show any motion in that
direction. Watching his quick, unerring sight. and his ability
to detect what was food, and what was not, led me into some
generalizations on what their food really was, that were new
to me.

In eviscerating fish for any purpose, I have always been in
the habit of examining the contents of the stomach, and the
stomach of the grayling had always puzzled me by the quantity
of vegetable matter so often found in them; but the a priorz
conclusion was that he was necessarily a carnivorous, or insec-
tivorous fish; the thought that he was a vegetarian as well,
never occurred to me. I had observed that the fronds of the
white cedar—arbor vite—were quite usually among the con-
tents of the stomach, but I had always considered it as some-
thing adventitious, an accident, occurring in the procuring of
his food, and not deliberately taken. But a somewhat singular
circumstance that occurred upon this last expedition staggered
me somewhat. On the afternoon of the day of my arrival,
after the tent was pitched, and camp life organized, 1 proceeded
to a pool below a flooding dam near camp, thinking I could
secure enough grayling for the supper of myself and little
daughter, who accompanied me. I succeeded in securing two

86

nice ones, weighing probably about six or eight ounces each,
and upon dressing them and examining the stomachs as usual,
judge of my surprise upon finding one of them full of oats ;
there were eight kernels stored away in first-class style, and my
first question was, where in the name of the Prophet could they
have come from, for I knew that there wasn’t a spear of grain
growing within a dozen miles of this pool and the condition the
grain was in showed that they could have been in the stomach
but a short time. I finally solved the mystery by remembering
that the man who brought us out—we arrived about noon—fed
his horses some oats at a point just above the pool, and the
grain was either blown into the water or carelessly thrown in by
some one. I frequently found in their stomachs portions of
the leaves and seeds of the water plants growing in the streams.
Among the latter was in several instances a round seed about
as large as a No. 4 shot, which I at first thought wasa mollusk;
a species of spherium, but on examining it with a glass what
appeared to the naked eye to be the striations of the shell
proved to be the veination of the seed. It may be urged
against the vegetarian theory that many fish take that which in
no way resembles their ordinary food, as the artificial fly and the
different varieties of spoon and spinning baits, and that this
particular fish could in no way have had any previous knowledge
of oats as food, and consequently the taking of it must be in
the nature of a freak rather than a habit, but I do not remember
to have ever found in the stomachs of other fish any substance
other than their food but which could be accounted for as
accidental, while in the grayling the presence of vegetable
matter in some forms is of so frequent an occurrence as to
point strongly to the fact, that a part of their food at least is
vegetable.

Another point in favor of this theory is the peculiar flavor
of the fish and that which has given it its specific name. It is
a well-known fact that the flesh of all animals is to a greater or
less degree flavored by its food. Now, if this fish fed upon
exactly the same materials as the brook trout, could there be a
reasonable doubt but what its flesh would taste like that of the
trout, while the fact is, that it is distinctly different.

——— a a

87

You are probably aware of the difference between a liver-
fed trout and one caught in its native wilds; a difference so
patent, that a person relying upon the taste alone would pro-
nounce them an entirely different fish. One thing is certain,
whatever its food is, it must have existed in unlimited quanti-
ties to have supported such a large multitude of this fish as
absolutely swarmed in the northern streams of this State at an
early day. D. A. Blodget, now living at Grand Rapids (and
one of the pioneers of the Muskegon at the Hersy-branch)
told me that when he first built a dam at the mouth of this
stream, that in the spring, during the spawning season, when
the grayling were trying to find their way to the spawning
grounds, that he has seen the inhabitants fill the box of a com-
mon lumber wagon fw// of this fish in a few hours and carry
them out into the country, not only one such load, but half a
dozen of each spring for several successive years, while as
many more must have been taken away in smaller quantities,
and he estimated the quantity taken by tons each year ; that
during the first winter he spent there, he supplied his table
with this fish by taking a common nail-rod and sharpening it
with his axe, and cutting a barb on it with the same tool, and
going to any of the bends in the stream, and cutting a hole in
the ice, he could in a little while get all he wanted by thrusting
this primitive spear at random into the waters beneath; and
as the number of fish that any stream can furnish is to a great
extent limited only by the food supply, it seems that so great
a number as was then found, not only in this particular stream,
but in most all the streams in which they were found, must
have had some food in much greater abundance than what is
usually found in our ordinary trout streams.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Mr. MARKS stated that there were many grayling in
Michigan yet, that the extermination had gone on in the Au
Sable, made famous by the writings of Norris, Milner, Hallock,
Mather and others who fished there in an early day, because of
the driving of logs in that river. These logs are driven in the
spring, when the fish are spawning, or after that event, and
they plow up the gravel beds and destroy millions of eggs

88

which are there developing. In his labors as Superintendent
of the Michigan Fish Commission he could bear witness that
while the grayling may be going from some streams on
account of the operations of man, it was not true that the fish
was in danger of immediate extinction, as has been the case
with the buffalo and some land animals, but the destruction
has been only on certain rivers, and has not been caused there
by fishing but by logging.

MR. DUNNING asked why not plant the eggs of fishes in
the waters instead of hatching them first ?

DR. SWEENY replied that Dr. Sterling had recommended
this plan, and that he had tried it and had produced better
results than when the fish were left to impregnate their eggs,
yet experience has taught that it is better to keep them until
the fry are hatched, because in the troughs or jars the eggs
and fry are not only placed under the very best conditions
for hatching, but are protected from their enemies as well.
A young fish that has been brought so far forward that it can
hide from its enemies, certainly has a great advantage over an
egg in the matter of self-protection, and to place the eggs
directly in the waters would be a step backward in fish-culture.

Dr. HUDSON said that the Connecticut Commission had
some experience in the destruction of eggs and fry. In the
early days of shad-hatching, before the invention of the
McDonald jar, they used the floating-boxes, and used to put
on rubber boots and wade out to examine them. Thousands of
little fishes followed and devoured every egg that was taken
out when the dead ones were removed. If we keep the fry and
only turn them out when the sac is absorbed we will avoid a
great destruction of both eggs and embryos.

Mk. MATHER corroborated this by saying that years ago,
when the floating-box was the best device known for hatching
shad, he had observed in his work on the rivers, from Con-
necticut to Virginia, that underneath the boxes lay a host of
small perch, sunfish and minnows, which were nibbling at the
tails of such little shad as protruded through the netting, and
the loss from this source was often considerable. By the use
of the jars this no longer occurred, and although a young fish

89

had to take its chances when turned out, it should be protected
until it needs food ; besides this, fungus will destroy many eggs,
as will also the sun and sediment.

Mr. CLARK related an experiment made by the late George
Clark, once one of the Board of Michigan Commissioners,
when his (the speaker’s) father was taking whitefish eggs at Mr.
George Clark’s fishery at Ecorse, on the Detroit river. The
latter gentleman wished to test the planting of eggs, and made
a box with screened sides and put gravel on the bottom, and
placed the eggs on the gravel and sunk the box where there
was a gentle flow of water. In February the box was taken
up and there were no good eggs to be found in it, those which
died first had developed fungus, and this had spread and killed
every egg. Fungus isa deadly thing which is not allowed to
appear in any hatchery which makes, pretension to be well
conducted.

DR. SWEENY explained that while the black bass and the
sunfishes guard their eggs and keep off all intruders the trout
and whitefish, in fact all members of the Salmonide, left them
to their fate, and here is where man steps in as a guardian and
prevents destruction at the most critical period.

CO-OPERATION IN: FISH-CULTURE,
BY JOHN H. BISSELL, OF THE MICHIGAN FISH COMMISSION.

Within the limits properly allowed for a paper in a meeting
like this, it is scarcely possible to do more than sketch or out-
line a subject such as I have chosen. Iam consoled, however,
with the reflection that the manner and style will be passed
with indulgence if only there be some merit in the subjects
presented for consideration, or at least good faith on the part
of the reader.

I think it is generally agreed, that fish-culture has passed
its purely experimental stage. It is in fact fast becoming
recognized as a practical art, and an established department of
civil government, its definitely ascertained results, which are
now unquestioned, fully warranting the recognition it has

90

received from the States and the United States. Having
so attained to the period when it is capable of being made
a useful factor in the economy of every civilized State, the
persons charged with the public duty of administering its
affairs and evoking useful results from its prosecution ought
ever to be looking for reasonable and practical ways to secure
it the highest degree of efficiency. The United States Com-
mission with a new and broader organic law recently adopted
and put in operation, with its departments of work newly
recast and systematized, and under most zealous and competent
guidance, is prepared now to apply in the solution of some eco-
nomic problems, the many lessons of experiment and scientific
observation, gathered and stored up in the past. The States
which have been dealing practically with the fishery question in
the last ten years have made good progress towards reliable and
permanent methods of fish-culture, and now at length are able
to bring forward some definite and tangible proof concerning
its results.

Fish-culture, when appreciated and invoked in both its
branches, artificial propagation and legal regulation, has demon-
strated its ability to restore exhausted fisheries. Of that there
is no need of citing evidence) toj\this, audience, The next
forward movement toward the realization of the great promises
of the practical Art of Fish-culture, in this country is, I believe,
to be the working out of a just and comprehensive system of
regulation of fishing as an industry, and as a recreation. A
notable feature of this movement will be the attainment of more
substantial co operation amongst the organized bodies existing
for its prosecution under the State and Federal Government.

I have in mind two principal topics: 1. Co-operation
between the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries
and the several State Fish Commissions ; and, 2. The limited
co-operation possible between the Commissions of neighboring
States, or between States having similar fishery interests. I am
not unaware of the fact that the United States Fish Commis-
sion has heretofore co-operated with the State Commissions.
But I wish to call attention to the fact that such co-operation
can be carried out on broader lines with advantage to all con-
cerned.

gl

You are all as familiar—perhaps many of you more so, than
I—-with the organizations employed in prosecuting fish-cul-
tural work in this country, so that no detailed account of them
is necessary. Here is the United States Fish Commission
with men, with means, with appliances and with scientific
knowledge, and while doing the same kinds of work that
various State Commissions are doing, yet doing much more
than any single State organization. Flere ace ‘the State
Commissions each prosecuting the particular kinds of work
required by local conditions under which in the different States
fish-culture is being carried on. At the points where these
different organizations have work common to each, why
may there not be cordial and effective co-operation? Not
merely the negative, of not interfering with each other, but
the positive working together to economize expenditures and
effort, and thus increase general and permanent results.

Bordering the Great Lakes are six States having a popu-
lation of about fourteen millions of people. The fisheries of
these Great Lakes, as their product enters into the general
commerce of the country, cannot be regarded as the concern
of the six States—they are of national importance If the
fish captured in these lakes were consumed along their shores
I grant that the States would have no special claim upon the
general Government for taking part in maintaining such fish-
eries, or helping in any way to their re-establishment. This
was the condition of affairs once; but with the modern facili-
ties of rapid communication and improved methods of trans-
portation, their product is marketed all over the country, and
for that reason the States bordering the Great Lakes have, in
my judgment, as good a right to assistance from the General
Government, in the directions I shall presently mention, as
the fisheries of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Our lake
fisheries are not to becompared in extent and value to those
of the seas, but it is a difference in degree not in kind. The
United States is doing a most necessary work in the investi-
gation and promotion of the Atlantic fisheries, is preparing
to investigate more thoroughly, and help develop the fisheries
of the Pacific; it has done the country an invaluable service

92

in examining and illustrating the seal and other fisheries in
connection with the last general census ; for all of which it
has earned the confidence and commendation of the country.
Why should not a similar service be performed by it in co-
operation with the States bordering the Great Lakes in
making an exhaustive survey and examination of the fisheries
from Duluth to the St. Lawrence river? ‘‘The reward of
having wrought well is to have more work todo.” If the
Commission has not the equipment in steamers, the work
already in hand probably requiring them all, why not borrow
one or more of the revenue cutters that are lounging up
and down the lakes? I may be doing that branch of the
service an injustice, but Inever have heard within ten years of
those vessels doing anything more useful than cruise on a sort
of dress-parade between Buffalo and Chicago.

Ifa revenue cutter could not be spared, then why not bor-
row from the Navy Department a despatch-boat, or some of
the many steamers not suitable for modern naval warfare, and
have her fitted out for this service. To do what? To be
manned with the necessary crew, under command of an officer
not above such service, placed under the direction of the
United States Fish Commission, supplied by him with one or
more naturalists, and one or more men competent to study
and report upon the conditions, capacities and needs of the
industrial fisheries, supplied with drags, sounding appliances,
proper thermometers, duplicate charts of the lakes, and com-
plete fishing apparatus. Upon the charts could be marked
spawning-beds, seining grounds, the lines of inshore and out-
side fishing, abandoned fishing grounds, the lines where certain
kinds of fish are most plentiful or scarce, the pound-net fishing
stations and the like. With such an equipment it would be
practicable to make a complete survey of the fishing, feeding
and spawning grounds of the great lakes ; exhaustive scientific
observations and collections of the fauna; a census of the fish-
ing industry, its methods, its product, its habits; in fact, a
history that would, by its manifold and exact observations of
the present condition and requirements of the industry and
its possibilities, lead conclusively to a knowledge of the causes

93

of its decadence, and what is necessary to be done for its
restoration and permanent maintenance. Is it worth the
expenditure? I think I can answer without hesitation for
Michigan waters. I had occasion in 1886 to examine the his-
tory of Michigan fisheries, and was led to the conclusion, after
careful examinations and comparisons of such statistics as are
obtainable, that if our waters had been as productive in 1885
as they were in 1859, with the effectiveness of apparatus and
extent of operations in the former year, the money value of
the products of Michigan waters in 1885 would have been not
less than fifteen millions of dollars, instead of about one and
one-half millions. In 1887 I compared the product of the
Michigan fisheries for the year 1885 with those of the Province
of Ontario, and found that the money value of the former, if
computed upon the same basis as that employed by the Cana-
dian Department of Marine and Fisheries, exceeded that of the
province by more than one hundred thousand dollars.

The States bordering the Great Lakes having an immediate
interest to be subserved by such an examination, as the work
is being prosecuted in their waters, should co-operate by fur-
nishing a crew of three or four men to assist in gathering
statistics and other information, which would be of great value
to the State Fish Commissions in illustrating to the Legisla-
tures the kinds of regulations required to restrain wasteful fish-
ing, which has gone so far towards depleting the waters, as
well as the kind and extent of operations to restore produc-
tiveness of the waters. They might also direct or assist in the
fishing operations of the expedition. Such an examination
would also demonstrate the exact extent to which artificial -
propagation of whitefish benefited the fisheries, and indicate
what points along the lakes required attention in order to the
more even distribution of future supplies. The information so
gathered would help, by furnishing the required data, towards
another and most important feature in the regulation of the
fisheries of the Great Lakes, namely, the licensing of fishing
as an industry. In alluding thus briefly to this subject there
is not time to more than call attention to the fact that a fair
system of licensing would in time defray all or the larger part

94

of the expenses of keeping up the supplies of fish when the
waters were once well stocked, as well as such part of the cost
of enforcing the laws as the State would be called on to pay.
There are several minor ways in which co-operation can be
advantageously adopted, but not of sufficient importance to
be enumerated here. They are being employed more or less,
and are familiar to you all.

For many years the U. S. Commission has thus co-operated
with two or three of the New England States in procuring
salmon and Schoodic salmon eggs, on terms, I believe,
equitable and satisfactory to all parties, and with most excel-
lent results.

Another direction in which co-operation can, I believe,
be advantageously employed is in a thorough examination
of interior lakes. By interior, or inland, lakes the dwellers
along the Great Lakes are wont to distinguish the smaller
bodies of water wholly within the boundaries of the several
States. In Michigan, the numbers, size, and natural conditions
of the inland lakes make them a considerable part of the waters
we are called uponto care for. Inthe earlier days of this work
these lakes were planted with various kinds of fishes, not with
any special reference to their adaptability to the fish planted,
but because the Commission had fish for that purpose, and
in a general way the people in the vicinity of the lakes wanted
fish. I do not say this with the design of casting any reflec-
tion upon the authorities of those days. The promiscuous
planting of fish was then perfectly natural; and our experi-
ence is based largely upon their mistakes as it is still more
largely upon the notable success of so many of their
experiments. As the years went by a very natural curiosity
arose amongst citizens and fishery authorities to know what
had been the result of those plants. Had all failed? Ifso,
why? Ifthe fish planted had not lived and prospered, would
no others live in those waters? And, finally, the question
formulated itself, are these waters suitable for any fish? If
so, what kinds? There was but one way to answer these
questions, and that was to go and find out. And so we went
(by proxy). In 1885 in a desultory kind of a way the work

95

of examining the lakes was begun. In 1886 a proper crew
was organized, consisting of three men, one being in charge.
They were provided with a gang of gill-nets having meshes
of four different sizes, thermometers, a small drag or trawl,
sounding lines, fishing tackle, blank reports with printed
instructions, and a complete camping outfit. And so with
fairly good and practical results the lakes of three counties on
the southern border of the State were examined and reported
on. For a short time towards the end of summer a second
crew was sent out to examine some places where there were
special reasons for knowing the contents and capabilities of
several lakes. In 1887 further improvements were made in
the outfit, and the crew increased to four. The addition of
one man secured more expeditious work. ‘The result of these
examinations give the Michigan Commission in permanent
and convenient form, not only the exact, but the essential,
facts about the lakes in eight counties of this State. The size,
depth, character of bottom, quality of water, temperature, inhab-
itants, kinds and quantities of food; ina word what fish are
there, and the knowledge what can and ought to be there in
order to obtain the greatest productiveness of the given waters.

One characteristic these examinations have lacked. They
afford an opportunity for scientific investigation, which would
add materially to their practical utility, and which would cer-
tainly make them more complete from all points of view. We
have not the means to supply that want. The United States
Fish Commission has the means and the men. We are dis-
cussing with the Commissioner, and the head of the Depart-
ment of Scientific Research of the United States Fish
Commission, a practical method of co-operation in carrying on
further examinations of Michigan lakes. Here is a field well
worth cultivating. If fish-culturists are todo anything for the
interior lakes they must know as well as possible the conditions
under which their efforts must be tried. There are six or seven
northern States besides Michigan, of which I have some
knowledge, where such efforts ought to be made.

And while the lakes are being examined, why not the
streams and rivers? Our experience has proved that there are

g6

hundreds of spring brooks in this State suitable for the growth
of speckled trout where that fish was not native. A systematic
examination of all streams would in this State within a few
years secure the planting of trout only in waters entirely
adapted in temperature and food supply to trout. It would in
my judgment also result in our being able to establish black
bass in miles of water suitable for this admirable game and food
fish where now they are unknown. Definite and comprehensive
knowledge of the rivers and streams of the State, put into the
same permanent and accessible form as the reports Michigan
is getting of the lakes, is of importance just as the work on the
lakes is.

Secondly, what co-operation can there be between State
Fish Commissions ? The most obvious points for co-opération
between States, are where they border the same waters, as on
the Great Lakes, or have acommon boundary ona river,—as the
Ohio, Mississippi, or Missouri. And here we must touch upon
the regulation of fisheries, a subject pregnant with difficulties.
For the States bordering the Great Lakes, a uniform system
for every mile of the great waters ought to be established. Not
necessarily identical enactments; for the waters of a single
State, like Michigan, require a diversity in regulations to make
complete for all its waters the operation of a general system.
The objects to be sought by each State are the same, the
means to reach these objects will necessarily be somewhat
modified by local conditions. From our own experience, I
assume that it is a difficult thing to secure the passage of suit-
able laws by the State Legislatures for the preservation of
industrial fisheries. We have no difficulty in obtaining fairly
good laws for the protection of game fish; but we have tried
in vain thus far to persuade the Legislature of this State to do
for the fisheries of the Great Lakes what must be apparent
to any man of common sense, who gives the subject any atten-
tion, is essential to preserve them.

I think the common judgment of men, who are entirely dis-
interested but careful observers of the past and present con-
dition of our fisheries, accords with that which is always
expressed by the most intelligent and candid of practical

97

fishermen and fish dealers, to the effect that our laws should
cover three vital points:

Ist. To regulate the size of the meshes of nets, the times
and places of fishing.

2d. The market size of the various valuable kinds of fish.

3d. The employment and authorization of competent State
officers to enforce the regulations and inspect the products
being marketed ; and there should be confided to the chief
officer discretionary power to suspend, within prescribed limits,
the regulation respecting the apparatus, when such suspension
will not result in the destruction of immature fish, and may be
an advantage to the fishermen.

Regulations should be as general, as exact and as simple
as is compatible with efficiency, in order that they may not be
oppressive or obscure. Of course, each State must enact its
own laws. Each State has exclusive jurisdiction of its waters
to its boundary line; this on the Great Lakes isa matter of
great importance. It has many times been suggested by per-
sons who had not examined thoroughly the question of juris-
diction, that Congress could better provide for the regulation
of the fisheries of the Great Lakes, because these waters
bordered so many different States. This question has been
settled once for all by the Supreme Court of the United States,
so that whatever of advantage Federal legislation on this sub-
ject may seem to offer, it is a legal and constitutional impos-
sibility, and must be dismissed. The States must do all there
is to be done, and do it in their own several ways. Thus far
it has been badly done,—or to speak more accurately, has not
been done at all. Can there be any co-operation between the
States to remedy this evil? There ought to be,is plain. And
the fact of its recognized necessity ought to bring about,
eventually, an affirmative answer. The force of a substantial
and efficient example isthe only constraint that can be brought
to bear. When any one of the States bordering the Great
Lakes will enact laws that are effective, its example will be
followed.

Full and candid discussion between the fishery officers of
the different States will be useful, and ought to be employed

ih

98

more frequently than in the past, for the purpose of harmo-
nizing the views of all. By fishery officers I do not mean
alone the Fish Commissioners, but include the wardens or
officers employed to enforce the laws, by whatever names
they may be known. And I believe that good results might
be obtained from conferences between the Fishery Committees
of the Legislatures of Michigan and Ohio, and Michigan and
Wisconsin, and Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. At least
this is worth consideration.

A step in the right direction was taken by Michigan, in
1887, in the passage of an act for the appointment of a Game
and Fish Warden. The act was not as broad nor the powers
as extensive as the Commissioners urged upon the Legislature;
but it was one point gained. The thorough, consistent and
intelligent course pursued by the gentleman selected by the
Governor as the State Warden will go far towards securing at
another session of our Legislature the required improvements
in the law, as it has already demonstrated the important
advantages of the proper enforcement of such laws as we have.
Wisconsin took the lead in this class of legislation, but from
all I have learned of its operation, I judge that the statute
needs amendments in some important points to make it
effective. Ohio, too, has started in the right direction. This
is all encouraging, because in each case it has been a move-
ment in the right direction.

The fisheries, in my judgment, have reached a point where
no half-measure will answer. What is needed is to look the
necessities of the case squarely in the face and provide whole-
some and sufficient remedies, that will put a stop to the
destruction and marketing of immature fish of all valuable
kinds; and while it gives nature a chance to help repair the
mischief already done, will likewise help to secure to the
States the benefits of the artificial propagation and planting.

A third suggestion in the line of codperation that I think
worthy of discussion is between the Fish Commissions and the
educational institutions of the State—as for instance, with
the instructors in Natural History in the State University, or
the Agricultural College. There are many ways in which the

99

two could aid each other. The University, or Agricultural
College, or both, might furnish the naturalist to accompany a
crew of Fish Commission men in examining interior lakes and
streams. They might do a notable service by furnishing a
naturalist, who is expert with the microscope, along with our
crews employed in gathering ova of different fishes; and by a
critical study of ova and milt during the spawning time,
instruct the men as to the appearance of perfectly matured
male and female properties, so as to bring such operations still
nearer to perfection. At the same time, facts so acquired
might be an actual and useful contribution to scientific knowl-
edge. The Michigan Superintendent last fall proposed a very
similar method for the purpose of improving the already good
results in artificial fertilization.
Detroit, May 16, 1888.

Dr. SWEENY was down on the programme for a paper on
‘Stocking Western Lakes and Streams,” but he claimed that
he was ignorant that such information had been required of
him and he was not prepared to present it in a formal manner.
He had no objection to talking on the subject, and said that
the work of the Minnesota Fish Commission, of which he
was a member, had been very successful, the failures, if there
had been any, were small and of no account, but the successes
were so much in excess of any failure that his memory refused
to get down to so small a matter. There had been great suc-
cess in the hatching and planting of brook trout, black bass,
and wall-eyed pike; the returns from the fisheries showed that
the continuous plantings had borne fruit and that these fishes
have increased through artificial propagation. In Lake Super-
ior the plantings of whitefish have borne fruit and the fishermen
who opposed the work at first were now strongly in favor of it.
The increased catches have convinced the fishermen that the
work of hatching whitefish should be continued. Dr. Sweeny
had a theory that it would be well to stock certain points
with whitefish and then have no fishing done there for five
years, next year take other points and stock them, and so on
in acircle. It seemed to him that this would be worth a trial.

100

Mr. CLARK asked how the fishermen could be managed.
Would they abstain from fishing at certain points at the re-
quest of the Commission, or would laws have to be passed to
regulate this? Again, would not the fishermen oppose such
legislation and render it difficult, if not impossible to procure
it? Take the pound-net men, for instance; at Bass Island
there are four or five pounds and the owners would probably
object to being deprived of their fishing grounds for a term of
years, and in practice it will be found difficult to control the
fishermen.

DR. SWEENY thought that now, since the fishermen are
convinced that fish-culture is of value to them, from a busi-
ness point, they might be further educated so as to be sen-
sible of their own interests.

MR. BISSELL inquired how large such reservations should
be.

DR. SWEENY suggested that reservations of three miles in
length by a mile in width would be about the proper size.

Mr. NEVIN called attention to the fact that whitefish do
not always feed where they spawn, and that a good place to
plant the young fish was not necessarily a good fishing place.

WORK OF THE WISCONSIN FISH COMMISSION.

BY JAS. NEVIN, SUPERINTENDENT.

The work of artificial propagation of fish in the State of
Wisconsin is no longer an experiment in the minds of the peo-
ple of our State. When the good work of restocking our
streams and lakes with their native fish was first attempted we
did not meet with much encouragement from many parts of the
State. But with perseverance and successful operations the
old feeling has vanished, and the cry from all over the State is
‘‘more fish,” until now we are unable to supply the demand,
even to that of German carp.

First in rank comes the pride of all waters, brook trout,
and of these fish, most every county in the State has received
a portion of the 2,255,000 fry that have been distributed this

IOI

present season to 200 applicants, and the supply was insuffh-
cient to fill the demand, which at the first of the season was
4,720,000 fry, which were asked for by 286 applicants, and now
we have nearly 100 orders on file for next season’s distribution,
and I dare say this number will swell to 350 orders before the
shipping season begins next season.

Next comes California mountain, or rainbow, trout, which
have done remarkably well in some parts of the State, and are
prized even as high as its rival in beauty and delicacy, the
brook trout, while in other parts they rank inferior. These
rainbow trout seem to abandon the small streams and seek the
larger ones, and the rivers, where they appear to thrive wonder-
fully. A gentleman of good authority, from St. Croix County,
informed me that he caught a two-year-old that tipped the
scales at just 4 pounds, and I could relate several instances
where they have been taken at that age weighing from 1% to
3% pounds. We have just begun the distribution of these
fish, and out of the 183 orders now on file I hope to be able to
fill 150 of them with about 1,750,000 fry. All orders remaining
unfilled, will be filled first, the following season.

Owing to the extreme high water in the Fox river this
spring, where I collect my supply of wall-eyed pike eggs, I have
been unable to procure a full quota, but have now in the hatch-
ing jars at Milwaukee enough to bring forth about 8,000,000
fry, which will be eagerly captured by the 220 applicants
whose names are now on file. Since we have begun restocking
our numerous lakes we have met with success, and now reap
the harvest of our endeavors, by reading confirmed reports of
success from different parts of the State, and still continue to sow.

The present season I placed in several inland lakes 800,000
Mackinaw, or lake trout, the eggs of which were collected
in Lake Michigan, and were hatched at the Madison Hatch-
ery. I donot approve of this method of stocking lakes with
lake trout hatched in spring water, for I think it can be done
with less labor and expense by collecting large quantities of
eggs and carefully spreading them on the shoal reefs of the
lakes intended to stock, and let them hatch and take care of
themselves.

102

Our work on whitefish has not been as extensive the past
season as formerly, for we were unsuccessful in getting a full
amount of eggs, on account of the stormy weather on the
lakes last fall, and a few of what we did get were touched by
the frost, but have succeeded in hatching 16,000,000 fry, which
have been deposited in the waters of Lake Michigan and Green
Bay.

It is very gratifying to know that the Wisconsin Fish Com-
mission has at last got the good will of the fishermen around the
lakes, and that they are beginning to realize the benefit of the
work done by the Commission. There has been more whitefish
taken during the past winter and spring, than any season in the
last ten years. I heard a fisherman remark the other day that
fishing’for whitefish was beginning to look like olden times.
Ever since the pound net has been in existence, the fishermen
have taken out the small whitefish faster than the several
hatcheries could put them in. I have seen as high as 2,400
pounds of small fish taken out of one pot, and there were not
ten fish in the lot that would weigh a pound each. It is now
unlawful in Wisconsin for a man to have in his possession a
whitefish of less than one pound, dressed, or one and one-half,
undressed, and I am proud to say that the law has given entire
satisfaction. The fishermen have always said that whitefish
would not live after being caught in the meshes of a net, but
last fall, while collecting spawn, I saw thousands caught that
had the marks of the nets on them, where they had been pre-
viously caught, which proves that whitefish are not the delicate
little fellows they have been represented to be.

The value of the lake fishing industry, as reported by the
Fish Wardens to the President of the Board, for the year of
1887, are as follows:

Number of pounds;caught4..;,3ee en. -/s alleges 4,460,015
Valuesofifish:. 2st Sect Reamer. ee aaa $271,269 78
Numbesof mets 2), afyeh 4s.) Ahearn e 12,750
Maluesobinets: onan Bvt ces Reais. (6s) Glo $161,860 00
Personsiemployed? o2h acid Ue ee 1,300

Number,ofsboats:tidaclicmrc sce oi ae 700
Value of boats. a. 22y.es. SIRS os 3 a SEO RS aes

103

Which shows that the fishing interests of the State of
Wisconsin are worth protecting.

In conclusion, I will say a few words on carp and carp
ponds. Of all fish I ever tried to catch by seining carp are the
most difficult; for when they find themselves surrounded by
the net, if they can’t get under it they will leap over it. As
the temperature of the water at the hatchery was too low to
successfully raise carp, the Commission leased a breeding pond,
located about two miles from the hatchery, and covering
about two acres. In the spring of 1887, I placed in this pond
our large carp, and in May had a lot of willows cut and placed
in the pond for the fish to spawn on. One day I went to the
pond for some large fish for an aquarium, and as the pond
could not be drawn down, I thought I could soon catch them
by seining. But we seined two days and did not get a large
fish. Another day, later in the season, we went to the pond
for some fry to ship, and my two little boys, aged five and
eight years, went along to pass the time away playing around
the pond. Before beginning to fish, I had all the willows taken
from the water and placed upon the bank, and, to amuse
themselves, the boys rolled some of the willows back into the
water. After some time we came to where the brush was to
make a haul, and as we began removing it, were surprised
to see numerous small fish dart from under the branches.
Without taking out any more of the brush, we carefully sur-
rounded it with the net and were very much surprised when
we drew it in to take out of it 5,000 small, and fifty large carp.
After taking care of the fish, we soon replaced the brush at
about a dozen different places around the pond, and in this way
we could catch all the fish—either large or small, we wanted,
as they seemed to seek the brush for shelter and to hide.

I do not think there would be the large losses of carp in
winter, if in the fall people would place a lot of brush in the
centre, or deepest part, of their ponds, as the fish would
naturally seek the brush and not the shoal water, and thus
avoid being frozen in the mud. People who have carp ponds
that cannot be drawn down, will find this experiment beneficial

in catching their fish as well as serving as a protection.
Madison, Wis.

104

Mr. BARTLETT, of the Illinois Commission, was on the
programme for a paper on “Carp in Illinois.” He had not
prepared the paper, but in a few brief remarks said that the
carp had increased and multiplied in his State, and it had pro-
duced tons of food from waters which had produced nothing
of value heretofore, and the carp was a great boon to the peo-
ple of Illinois and other States which had no ocean on their
borders from which to draw food.

Mr. FRED MATHER, a Superintendent of the New York
Fish Commission, had been put down for a paper on ‘“‘ Work
at Cold Spring Harbor,” the station under his charge, but
pleaded, with Dr. Sweeny, that he had not been notified that
this was to be expected of him. He detailed the work with the
different fishes, and said that he had hatched the tomcods in
fresh water and had kept them there until the sac was absorbed,
and then planted them in brackish water. The experiments
with smelt had not brought out any new facts and the limited
allowance for his station had not permitted further experiments
with salt water fishes. The work of stocking the Hudson with
salmon had been continued by the U. S. Commission, of which
he was still one of the assistants, as well as one of the State
Superintendents, and that the results had been satisfactory.
He had built a new hatchery, which he would be pleased to
have any of the members visit.

The question of the time and place of the next annual
meeting then came up and after some discussion it was decided
to accept the motion of Mr. Henry C. Ford to meet in Phila-
delphia, where he promised that the Anglers’ Association of
Eastern Pennsylvania would see that the necessary arrange-
ments for entertaining the Society would be attended to. Mr.
Bissell moved that the next annual meeting of the Society be
held at Philadelphia on the third Wednesday and Thursday of
May, 1889, and it was carried.

The election of officers for the following year then came
up. Mr. Bissell moved that a nominating committee be ap-
pointed, as heretofore. Mr. Mather favored nominations in
open meetings, because the committee system had not always
worked well, as some of the older members knew. On a vote

105

it was decided to appoint a committee and Mr. Bissell moved
that Dr. Hudson, Mr. Butler, and Mr. Clark be that commit-
tee. President May accepted the committee, and they went
into private session. The committee recommended the fol-
lowing gentlemen and they were unanimously elected: Presi-
dent, John H. Bissell, Michigan. Vice-President, S. G. Worth,
North Carolina. Recording Secretary, Fred Mather, New
York. Corresponding Secretary, Henry C. Ford, Pennsyl-
vania. Treasurer, Eugene G. Blackford, New York. Exec-
utive Committee, Philo Dunning, Chairman, Wisconsin; S. P.
Bartlett, Illinois; Dr. R. O. Sweeny, Minnesota; Dr. W. M.
Hudson, Connecticut ; C. V. Osborn, Ohio; Col. M. McDonald,
Washington, D. C.; and James V. Long, Pennsylvania.

THANKS.

The Society then voted thanks as follows: To the Detroit
Lodge of Elks, No. 34, for the use of their room. To the
Michigan Fish Commission, for their efforts in making the
meeting a success. To Professors Jordan, Forbes, Atwater,
and others, not members of the Society, for valuable papers.

The meeting then adjourned until 2 P. M., on the boat which
was to take them to the St. Clair Fishing and Shooting Club,
by invitation through its President, Mr. W. A. Colburn, as
before recorded. A pleasant trip of some twenty-five miles, on
the steamer “ Milton D. Ward,” brought the party to the club
house, which is on made ground on the St. Clair Flats, and a
dinner which was noted for the excellence of its fish was in
readiness. The members of the club showed their guests over
the extensive house, and on the return trip it was voted that
the club be an honorary member of the American Fisheries
Society and receive its annual reports.

DPE ME EGING, ON THE BOAT,

On the return from St. Clair Flats a meeting was organized
to hear the report of the Treasurer, who, being unavoidably
absent, had mailed his report, which came to the Recording
Secretary before the boat left Detroit. This report, which
appears elsewhere, was read and accepted.

106

Dr. SWEENY moved that the Treasurer be authorized to
sell the reports, but it was argued that as this was all that
absent members got for their dues, such a course would tend
to decrease membership. The motion was lost.

Dr. HUDSON complained that the last report had been
delayed and had only appeared a month before this meeting.
Mr. Mather explained that everything was in the printer’s
hands last August, but that there had been no money in the
treasury to pay for it. In view of this fact he had asked Mr.
Blackford if it would not be well to increase the annual dues
from $3 to $5, but the Treasurer had said that the present sum
was ample, if the members would pay their dues promptly.

A long argument was held on the propriety of allowing
papers to be printed before they appear in the report, because
some editors who never sent a reporter to the meetings, even
when held in their own cities, had objected to their publication
in Forest and Stream. Finally, on motion of Mr. Bissell,
Messrs. Mather, Hudson and Ford were appointed a com-
mittee in custody of the papers, and to attend to the publica-
tion and to use their judgment about selecting a printer and
getting the report out at as early a day as possible. They
were also to allow such papers to be copied for simultaneous
publication in other journals, if it be requested, the expense
of copying to be borne by those wishing copies. This com-
mittee to meet at Mr. Blackford’s, in Fulton Market, on
Saturday, June 2, at 12 M.

It was also voted that the printing should be begun by
June 1, and that those which are not then on hand shall be
omitted, and the meeting adjourned until next year.

During the discussions and the after-dinner speeches on
the boat, it cropped out that Mr. Fitzhugh had been quietly
taking notes of the animated nature observable about the club
house, and he was called on to give the results of his observa-
tions. Dr. Hudson, who had been working in a similar line
on the St. Clair Flats, stated that the time for scientific obser-
vation at the Flats had been too short to make public the
hastily-gleaned facts of a naturalist, and to eliminate the
personal equation which is always consequent upon hastily

107

prepared papers, or remarks. Mr. Fitzhugh assented to this,
_and promised to give the Society the benefit of whatever he
may have learned, at some future time.

DHE PUBLICATION, COMMITTEE.

This Committee, consisting of Messrs. Mather, Ford and
Hudson, met at the office of Treasurer E. G. Blackford, on
Saturday, June 2, Mr. Blackford being present. A letter from
the Michigan Fish Commission, in which the Society was
asked to pay for the expense of procuring two papers, from
scientific men, was read, the amount being $52.70. It was
explained that the Michigan Commission had incurred this
expense, in order to contribute to the success of the meeting,
without the consent of the Executive Committee. Dr. Hud-
son moved that the Treasurer notify Mr. Bissell, President of
the Michigan Commission, that it was the opinion of the Com-
mittee that there was no more money in the Treasury than
would pay for the printing of the forthcoming report, and,
that if there was a surplus, this Committee had no power to
authorize the payment of this bill. Carried.

Dr. Hudson moved that as fast as the proof slips are
printed, copies be sent to Horest and Stream and the American
Field. Carried.

Dr. Hudson moved that the Recording Secretary prepare
the papers and submit them, with the entire report, to two or
more printers, for estimates of the cost of the work, which
shall conform in general style of printing, paper and type, to
the preceding reports, and that the report shall be ready for
mailing by the first of August, 1888. The estimates to be
made by the page. Carried, and the meeting adjourned.

The following letter was then sent to Mr. John M. Davis,
who has printed the report for several years, Mr. Charles E.
Schember, the printer of Forest and Stream, and Mr. Martin
B. Brown, the Public Printer of New York City:

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N. Y., June 16, 1888.

DEAR SIR—The American Fisheries Society has ordered
me to prepare the papers read at the last meeting and to sub-

108

mit them to two or more printers, for estimates of the cost of
publishing. The report to be ready for mailing by August 1, ,
1888, and to conform in size, paper and type, to preceding
reports, the estimates to be per page.

Four proof slips to be sent me, one of which will be
returned, after correction, by either the author, or myself.

If you care to give an estimate on this work, I will submit
the papers and a copy of the last report to you.

The new report will be larger than the last one, and only
300 copies will be printed.

Very truly yours,
FRED MATHER,
Recording Secretary.

Mr. Schember did not reply. Mr. Davis offered to do the
work for $1.50 per page, with extra charge for tables. Mr.
Brown agreed to do it for $1.45 per page, with no extra
charge, and the printing was awarded to him.

109

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MEMBERS

OF THE

AMERICAN: FISHERIES SGCii ia:

HONORARY MEMBERS,

Frederick III., Emperor of Germany.

Behr, E. von, Schmoldow, Germany; President of the Deutschen Fischerei
Verein, Berlin, Germany.

Borne, Max von dem, Berneuchen, Germany.

Huxley, Prof. Thomas H., London; President of the Royal Society.

Jones, John D., 51 Wall Street, New York.

St. Clair Flats Shooting and Fishing Club, Detroit, Mich.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Apostolides, Prof. Nicoly Chr., Athens, Greece.

Buch, Dr. S. A., Christiana, Norway ; Government Inspector of Fisheries.

Birkbeck, Edward, Esq., M. P., London, England.

Benecke, Prof. B., Konigsberg, Germany ; Commissioner of Fisheries.

Brady, Thomas F., Esq., Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland; Inspector of Fish-
eries for Ireland. i

Chambers, Oldham W., Esq., Secretary of the National Fish-Culture Asso-
ciation, South Kensington, London.

Day, Dr. Francis, F. L. S., Kenilworth House, Cheltenham, England ; late
Inspector-General of Fisheries for India.

Feddersen, Arthur, Viborg, Denmark.

Giglioli, Prof. H. H., Florence, Italy.

Hubrecht, Prof. A. A. W., Utrecht, Holland; Member of the Dutch Fisheries
Commission, and Director of the Netherlands Zoological Station.

K. Ito, Esq., Hokkaido, Cho., Sapporo, Japan; Member of the Fisheries
Department of Hokkaido, and President of the Fisheries Society of
Northern Japan.

WET

Juel, Capt. N.. R. N., Bergen, Norway; President of the Society for the
Development of Norwegian Fisheries.

Landmark, S., Bergen, Norway; Inspector of Norwegian Fresh-water
Fisheries

Lundberg, Dr. Rudolf, Stockholm, Sweden; Inspector of Fisheries.

Maitland, Sir J. Ramsay Gibson, Bart., Howietown, Stirling, Scotland.

Marston, R. B., Esq., London, England; Editor of the Fzshzng Gazette.

Macleay, William, Sydney, N.S. W.; President of the Fisheries Commission
of New South Wales.

Sars, Prof. G. O., Christiana, Norway; Government Inspector of Fisheries.

Solsky, Baron N. de, St. Petersburg, Russia; Director of the Imperial Agri-
cultural Museum.

Sola, Don Francisco, Garcia, Madrid, Spain; Secretary of the Spanish Fish-
eries Society.

Wattel, M. Raveret, Paris, France ; Secretary of the Société d’Acclimation.

Young, Archibald, Esq., Edinburgh, Scotland; H. M. Inspector of Salmon
Fisheries.

Walpole, Hon. Spencer, Governor of the Isle of Man.

DECEASED MEMBERS.

Baird, Hon. Spencer F. McGovern, H. D.
Carman, G. Parker, W. R.
Chappel, George. Redding, B. B.
Develin, John E. Redding, George H.
Garlick, Dr. Theodatus. Rice, Prof. H. J.
Lawrence, Alfred N. Smith, Greene.

Shultz, Theodore.

MEMBERS,
Persons elected at last meeting and who did not pay their dues do not appear in this list,

Adams, Dr. S. C., Peoria, III.

Agnew, John T., 284 Front Street, New York.
Anderson, A. A., Bloomsbury, N. J.

Annin, James, Jr., Caledonia, N. Y.

Atkins, Charles G., Bucksport, Me.

Atwater, Prof. W. O., Middletown, Conn.

Barrett, Charles, Grafton, Vt.

Bartlett, S. P., Quincy, IIl.

Bean, Dr. Tarleton H., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Belmont, Perry, 19 Nassau Street, New York.

Benjamin, Pulaski, Fulton Market, New York.

Benkard, James, Union Club, New York.

Bickmore, Prof. A. S., American Museum, New York.

PEZ

Bissell, J. H., Detroit, Mich.

Blackford, E. G., Fulton Market, New York.

Booth, A., Chicago, IIl.

Bottemane, C. J., Bergen-op-Zoom, Holland.
Brown, J. E., U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Brown, S. C., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Bryan, Edward H., Smithsonian Institution.

Bryson, Col. M. A., 903 Sixth Avenue, New York.
Butler, W. A., Jr., Detroit, Mich.

Butler, Frank A., 291 Broadway, New York.

Butler, W. H., 291 Broadway, New York.

Carey, Dr. H. H., Atlanta, Ga.

Cheney, A. Nelson, Glen Falls, N. Y.

Clapp, A. T., Sunbury, Pa.

Clark, Frank N., U. S. Fish Commission, Northville, Mich.
Clark, A. Howard, National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Comstock, Oscar, Fulton Market, New York.

Conklin, William A., Central Park, New York.

Cox, W. V., National Museum, Washington, D. C.

Crook, Abel, 99 Nassau Street, New York.

Crosby, Henry F., P. O. Box 3714, New York City.

Dewey, J. N., Toledo, O.

Dieckerman, George H., New Hampton, N. H.
Donaldson, Hon. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pa.
Dunning, Philo, Madison, Wis.

Earll, R. E., National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Ellis, J. F., U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C,
Endicott, Francis, Tompkinsville, N. Y.

Evarts, Charles B., Windsor, Vt.

Fairbank, N. K., Chicago, Il.
Ferguson, T. B., Washington, D. C
Fitzhugh, Daniel H., Bay City, Mich.
Foord, John, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Ford, Henry C., Philadelphia, Pa.
French, Asa B., South Baintree, Mass.

Garrett, W. E., P. O. Box 3006, New York.
Gilbert, W. L., Plymouth, Mass.
Goode, G. Brown, National Museum, Washington, D. C.

Habershaw, Frederick, 113 Maiden Lane, New York.
Haley, Albert, Fulton Market, New York.
Haley, Caleb, Fulton Market, New York.

113

Hall, G. W., Union Club, New York.

Harris, Gwynn, Washington, D. C.

Harris, W. C., 252 Broadway, New York.

Hayes, A. A., Washington, D. C.

Henshall, Dr. J. A., 362 Court Street, Cincinnati, O.
Hessel, Rudolf, U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Hicks, John D., Roslyn, Long Island, N. Y.

Hill, M. B., Clayton, N. Y.

Hinchman, C. C., Detroit, Mich.

Hofer, J. C., Bellaire, O.

Hudson, Dr. William M., Hartford, Conn.
Humphries, Dr. E. W., Salisbury, Md.

Hutchinson, E. S., Washington, D. C.

Isaacs, Montefiore, 42 Broad Street, New York.

Jessup, F. J., 88 Cortlandt Street, New York.
Johnston, S. M., Battery Wharf, Boston, Mass.

Kauffman, S. H., Evening Star Office, Washington, D. C.
Kelly, P., 346 Sixth Avenue, New York.

Kellogg, A. J., Detroit, Mich.

Kingsbury, Dr. C. A., 1119 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

Lawrence, G. N., 45 East 21st Street, New York.

Lawrence, F.C., Union Club, New York.

Lee, Thomas, U. S. Fish Commission.

Long, James Vernor, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Loring, John A., 3 Pemberton Square (Room 8), Boston, Mass.
Lowrey, J. A., Union Club, New York.

Lydecker, Major G. I., U. S. Engineers.

Mallory, Charles, foot Burling Slip, New York.

Mansfield, Lieut. H. B., U. S. Navy, Washington, D. C.

Mather, Fred, Cold Spring Harbor, Suffolk Co., N. Y.

Marks, Walter D., Paris, Mich.

May, W. L., Fremont, Neb.

McDonald, Col. M., Fish Commissioner of the United States, Washington,
Dac:

McGown, Hon. H. P., 76 Nassau Street, New York.

Middleton, W., Fulton Market, New York.

Milbank, S. W., Union Club, New York.

Miller, S. B., Fulton Market, New York.

Miller, Ernest, Fulton Market, New York.

Moore, George H. H., U. S. Fish Commission.

Nevin, James, Madison, Wis.
8

114

O’Brien, Martin E., South Bend, Neb.
O’Connor, J. J., U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Osborn, Hon. C. V., Dayton, O.

Page, George S., 49 Wall Street, New York.

Page, W. F., U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Parker, Dr. J. C., Grand Rapids, Mich.

Parker, Peter, Jr., U. S. Fish Commission.

Pease, Charles, East Rockport, Cuyahoga Co., O.

Pike, Hon. R. G., Middletown, Conn.

Post, W., Knickerbocker Club, New York.

Powell, W. L., Harrisburg, Pa.

Ray, Hon. Ossian, M. C., New Hampshire.
Redmond, R., 113 Franklin Street, New York.
Reinecke, Theodore, Box 1651, New York.
Reynal, J., 84 White Street, New York.
Reynolds, Charles B., 318 Broadway, New York.
Ricardo, George, Hackensack, N. J.

Robeson, Hon. Geo. M., Camden, N. J.

Ryer, F. R., Bellport, Now

Schaffer, George H., foot Perry Street, New York.
Schieffelin, W. H., 170 William Street, New York.
Schuyler, H. P., Troy, N. Y.

Sherman, Gen. R. U., New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y.
Simmons, Newton, U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.
Smiley, C. W., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Spensley, Calvert, Mineral Point, Wis.

Spofford, Henry W., Smithsonian Institution.

Steers, Henry, 10 East 38th Street, New York.

Stone, Livingston, Charlestown, N. H.

Stone, Summer R., 58 Pine Street, New York.

Swan, B. L., Jr., 5 West 20th Street, New York.

Sweeny, Dr. R. O., St. Paul, Minn.

Thompson, H. H., Bedford Bank, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Tomlin, David W., Duluth, Mich.

Ward, George E., 43 South Street, New York.
Weeks, Seth, Corry, Erie Co., Pa.

West, Benjamin, Fulton Street, New York.
Whitaker, Herschel, Detroit, Mich.

Whitney, Samuel, Katonah, N. Y.

Wilbur, E. R., 39-40 Park Row, New York.
Wilcox, Joseph, Media, Pa.

115

Wilcox, W. A., 176 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.

Willets, J. C., Skaneateles, N. Y., or 1 Grace Court, Brooklyn.
Williams, A. C., Chagrin Falls, O.

Wilmot, Samuel, Newcastle, Ontario.

Wilson, J. P., U. S. Fish Commission.

Wood, Benjamin, 25 Park Row, New York.

Woodruff, G. D., Sherman, Conn.

Woods, Israel, Fulton Market, New York.

Worth, S. G., U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C.

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