BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 265 



Stream flow in and out at every tide, but it did not make any 

 change in the temperature of the water. If it had, the fish would have 

 escaped. 

 BiscAYNE Bay, Miami, Fla., November 3, 1883. 



I cannot imagine any conditions that would bring the cold water to 

 the surface. The Smithsonian Eeport (page 466) mentions the so-called 

 poisonous water as being discolored and running in long patches or 

 streaks. If the h\ i)othesis assumed there that the dirty water was due to 

 the overflow of the glades or swamps, and that this water had poisoned 

 the fish was true, there would not now be a live fish on this coast. From 

 last November (1882) to October 15, 1883, there had been no rainfall on this 

 coast; the everghides were particularly reeking swamps, basking under 

 the hot tropical sun for almost one year. The Indians who had come 

 out of them in the beginning of winter could not go back again. It is 

 but natural to sui)pose that under such conditions they would generate 

 a vast amount of poisonous water. The end came October 15, when it 

 began to rain ; it rained for eight days; the everglades got such a wash- 

 ing as perhaps they had never known before. As fir as the eye could see 

 from this station, north, east, and south, it was everglade water, which all 

 came from New River, 13 miles north of the station. There were no dead 

 fish to be found on either the east coast or the west coast. I noticed it 

 particularly, for if I had found dead fish, I should have to abandon my 

 theory of cold water. As it is, I hold to it more firmly than ever. 



In regard to the epidemic of 1880, it took place on the west coast of 

 Florida. The hurricane, which immediately preceded the epidemic, was 

 from the northeast, blowing directly off shore. It was i^robably blow- 

 ing at a rate of from 60 to 100 miles per hour, making an overtow that 

 would bring cold water from almost any dei)th, and of course it would 

 roil the water so that it would be streaked with various colors. They 

 would naturally infer that it was everglade water. The fish that live 

 in the glades do not suffer from the poisonous water, and I have never 

 seen a hole that was 5 feet across that did not teem with fish, turtles, 

 and alligators. I have been in this station one year, but have lived at 

 Lake North, Fla., 60 miles north, for the previous twelve years. 



I have stated that I knew of no condition which would bring cold 

 water to the surface, and then went on to make just such a condition, 

 but I think I can prove the latter assertion. AVhen we have hurricanes 

 here, on the east coast of Florida, if they come first from the northeast 

 and end at the southeast, they make a very heavy undertow by blowing 

 the surface water to the shores. At such times and under such condi- 

 tions we never find any dead fish or anything else of marine life on the 

 coast. But when our hurricane comes from the southeast, and, after 

 blowing eight or ten hours, suddenly becomes calm, while the stortt 

 center passes; or, when it suddenly comes in from the southwest or off 

 the land, blowing with a force that would put to ghaTie a Kansas cyclone, 



