THE FISHERY INTERESTS OF AUSTRIA. 605 



fishing, and taking into consideration the fact that the necessary 

 studies and observations may vary according to the location, circum- 

 stances, and personal views of the observer, expresses a desire that the 

 investigations which have beeu suggested be left to the private enter- 

 prise of the several practical scientific institutions ; that such researches 

 should be encouraged by these institutions, and by the several gov- 

 ernments by granting subsidies and by offering prizes; and that every 

 possible means should be employed to support and further them. 



Austria so far does not possess any means for making scientific 

 investigations in the interest of fish-culture. The central establishment 

 for pisciculture at Salzburg would be well qualified to prosecute such 

 inquiries. From inaccurate observations, which have not been made 

 in a truly reliable and scientific manner, incorrect information may be 

 spread even by the institutions themselves, such as the report of the fruit 

 fulness of a cross-breed between the Salmo salvelinus and the trout 

 which had been raised in the Salzburg establishment, a report which 

 after repeated and more careful experiments, has not been confirmed 



As late as 1871, the best modern works on lake-culture, fish-culture 

 and ichthyology could not be found in the library of this establishment 



It is an essential condition of the well-being of every economical in 

 stitution, by which it also serves the cause of science, to supply the 

 means of study to the officials employed. 



Recently, exhibitions have become a popular means of promoting fish- 

 culture and spreading a knowledge of ichthyology. Large exhibitions 

 of fishery-products, fishing-implements, &c, were held at Amsterdam 

 in 1SG1, at Bergen in 1865, at Havre in 1868. At the Paris exposition 

 of 1867, there was a special department for fisheries; at the Gottenburg 

 exposition of 1871, the fish-sections formed the chief attraction. Nearly 

 every one of our agricultural exhibitions also displays some fishery- 

 products, improved fishing implements, and especially improved appa- 

 ratus for piscicuture to show the progress which has been made, and 

 to awaken an interest in the matter. We may surely expect that 

 the Vienna world's fair of 1873 will prove of great benefit to the fisheries. 



C— THE IMPORTANT FRESH-WATER FISHES. 



According to Heckel's and Kner's accurate observations, the chief 

 mountain ranges exercise the greatest influence on the distribution of 

 the different species of fish, so that those rivers and streams whose 

 springs are on the same mountain slope have generally the same 

 species of fish, even if finally they empty into far distant seas. Since 

 all the great rivers of Central Europe, for longer or shorter distances, 

 flow through Austrian territory, and empty from the various slopes 

 into four different seas, we can easily explain Austria's wealth in fish 

 of all kinds, which from here spreads into all the neighboring countries. 



Nearly all species of Central Europeau fish are, therefore, represented 

 in the Austrian waters, but distributed among the several provinces in 



