REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXXVII 



upon invertebrate and vegetable forms fill out the possible quota of the 

 waters with their own kind, while the carnivorous species require that 

 a large, generally the larger, proportion of the inferior species upon which 

 they feed inhabit the waters with them. An instance of the ability of 

 the carp to stock waters to their utmost occurred at Heidelberg, Ger- 

 many, where male pikes (Esox lucius L.) were introduced for the purpose 

 of reducing their numbers. 



9. — AQUARIUM CAR. 



During the winter of lS72-'73, Mr. Livingston Stone was employed 

 in an investigation of the fisheries of the Sacramento Eiver and some 

 of the inland lakes of California. In the spring of 1873, he came East 

 to prepare for a return to California with an aquarium-car loaded with 

 fishes for both the inland waters and sea-coast of California — an enter- 

 prise partly under the auspices of the State commissioners of California. 

 This car, originally built for the transportation of fruit, was furnished 

 by the Central Pacific .Railroad Company. It was fitted up with the 

 necessary tanks, ice-chests, and beds for attendants; the supply- reser- 

 voir was arranged so as to receive water from the spouts of the rail- 

 road tanks. 



The stock of fishes and invertebrates taken on board consisted of 

 60 black bass (Micropterus salmoides); 11 wall-eyed pike (Stizostedium 

 Americanus) ; 190 yellow perch (Perca fiavescens) ; 12 bullheads 

 {Amiurus catus) ; 110 cat-fish from Earitan Eiver, Amiurus albidus f) ; 

 20 tautogs {Tautoga Americana)) 41,500 eels (Anguilla bostoniensis) ; 

 1,000 trout (Salmo fontinalis) j 20,000 shad (Alosa sapidissima) ; 162 

 lobsters (Homarus vulgaris) ; and one barrel of oysters from Massachu- 

 setts Bay (Oslrea virginica.) The start was made from Charlestown, 

 N. H., June 3, and everything resulted favorably until the 8th of June, 

 when, by the giving way of the trestle-work of a bridge at the Elkhorn 

 Eiver, Nebr., the aquarium-car was precipitated into the river, the car 

 was partially up-ended, and the tanks thrown into confusion. As the 

 lids were floated off from the tanks, it is probable that most of the 

 fishes escaped into the river. Many of the species, however, were well 

 adapted to the waters of the river, but of course not the tautogs, lob- 

 sters, or oysters. 



In the year following, Mr. Stone left Charlestown, N. H., on June 4, 

 1874, under the auspices of the commissioner of fisheries of California. 

 He arrived at the Sacramento on the 12th of June, and at San Fran- 

 cisco the same day. A tabulated list of the results of this expedition 

 will be found in the appendix. 



