FISH-CULTURE IN MICHIGAN. . 207 



mantled, but remains standing and is used for a storehouse and shop. It is capable 

 of being restored and put in use again on short notice and at small cost, if needed. 

 The capacity of the Detroit whitefish house was increased by the addition of the jars 

 removed from Fetoskey, so that it contained 525 jars, which would hatch 80,000,000 to 

 90,000,000 whitefish a year. 



In 1888 the commission had a car built for transporting fry and fish. It is over 55 

 feet long and substantially built, with passenger-coach trucks, air brakes, platforms, 

 coupler, and buffers, so that it can be easily hauled in any passenger train. It has an 

 office at one end and a kitchen at the other, and is fitted with five berths, enabling the 

 men to live and sleep on the car. Its capacity is 175 cans. It is named " Attikumaig," 

 the Chippewa name for whitefish, meaning literally the "deer of the water." This car 

 has proved a great convenience, and has been the means of cheapening the distribution 

 of fish and fry. It has been in continual use from February till the latter part of June 

 of every year since it was built. The plant of whitefish in 1887 was 72,984,000, and in 

 1888 about the same number. The brook-trout plant in 1887 reached 1,000,000, and in 

 1888 was over 1,500,000. The wall-eyed pike plant of 1887 was 3,280,000, and in 1888 

 it was 11,492,000. 



Mr. Bissell's term of office expired January 1, 1889, and Hoyt Post, of Detroit, 

 was appointed his successor. On March 20, 1888, Mr. Kellogg resigned as secretary, 

 and the present secretary, George D. Mussey, succeeded him. 



In 1888 and 1889 the secretary made trips of investigation of the fisheries and 

 filed written reports, which are printed in the biennial reports of the commissioners. 

 In January, 1890, Mr. S. O. Palmer continued this work on a more extended scale. 

 During the years 1891 and 1892 Mr. Charles H. Moore engaged in similar work for the 

 commission and obtained complete reports of every fishery in the State, his work 

 being as complete as could be made. Experiments were made in hatching sturgeon 

 eggs, and a few were successfully hatched. A successful hatch was also made of the 

 eggs of white bass. These eggs are very small and hatch in about 48 hours. Subse- 

 quently larger quantities were successfully hatched in the Chase jar. 



The commission has made several fish exhibits, embracing nearly all varieties of 

 native fish, at the State Fair and Detroit Exposition and elsewhere. These exhibits 

 were comparatively inexpensive and were very attractive and proved valuable aids in 

 disseminating knowledge of fish and fish-culture. The report of 1890 was the first 

 illustrated report issued. It contains cuts illustrating the hauling of the seine and 

 the stripping of fish, and interior and exterior views of the hatcheries, and of the ponds 

 and grounds at Paris, adding much to the attractiveness of the report. 



Some attention now began to be given to scientific work, and Prof. Jacob E. 

 Reighard, of the University of Michigan, began his investigation of the development 

 of the wall eyed pike. The motive that first led to this investigation was the discovery 

 of the cause of the large percentage of loss in hatching the eggs of this fish as com- 

 pared with those of the whitefish. He made extended microscopical examinations 

 and accompanied the men in the field and followed the eggs to the hatchery and 

 watched their development and hatching. He reduced his observations to writing, 

 furnishing an article of upward of 60 pages, with microscopical drawings, which was 

 published in the ninth report, with plates of the drawings. This article is regarded 

 as an exceedingly valuable contribution to the literature of fish-culture and has been 

 in great demand. Prof. Reighard also conducted like experiments with whitefish 



