BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 279 



from this what an abundance of fish there was. Some months after- 

 wards, to my great surprise, the evil was repaired. The fish from be- 

 low, ascending the wat^ircourse, were sufiicient to restock it as before. 



"At this time all our natiu'al spawners are numerous and in good 

 condition, and we look for the best results. 



"One word with reference to the small number of salmon which we 

 find again in proportion to the young fry set at liberty. On the aver- 

 age each year I set free about eight thousand young trout from my pur- 

 chases, and about two thousand fry of different kinds of salmon which 

 are presented to me. We ought, then, to find them in the same propor- 

 tions; but we do not. They report to me each year about fifteen or 

 twenty of these specimens, which is a very slight proportion, as you 

 see, and yet for several years I have set free especially lake trout and 

 California salmon. Do they migrate also like the common salmon?" 

 [Bulletin, March, 1884, p. 300.] 



Bkook: teout. — Mr. Despres wrote from Nanteuil-en-Yallee : 



"Last year I received from the Acclimatization Society some eggs of 

 Salmofontinalis, the hatching of which was conducted under the best 

 conditions, and the loss was almost nothing. After the reabsorption of 

 the yelk-sac, which was also accomplished almost without loss, the fry 

 were let run in a basin of oblong shape with a little continuous current on 

 a bottom of sand and gravel with water-plants. I j udged that with larvae 

 and animalcules their food would be sufBcient without having recourse 

 to artificial nourishment. 



"At the end of eight months I collected about a third of the fry of a 

 size varying from 8 to 10 centimeters [nearly 4 inches in length |. I be- 

 lieve that their development would be greater if a suitable artificial 

 food should be added to that which the young fish naturally fiud in the 

 water. 



"This year I intend to try two methods with the eggs of the Salmo car- 

 ina, which have been sent me. I would be glad to try them also with 

 some eggs of the Sah7io fontinalis, if the Society can spare a few. 



"The best food, which causes no loss because of congestion of the gills, 

 would be the living prey ; but it is almost impossible to procure this 

 in sufficient quantities to supply laboratory basins. In default of this, 

 I have given them with moderate success raw meat, which was tender, 

 and reduced almost to a paste and then mixed with water; the ground 

 flesh of little fish gives the best result. 



"My Salmo fontinalis are still in my basins. I would like to know 

 whether they can live long in captivity, as the common salmon of France 

 cannot. I am inclined to believe that they can, because their skin and 

 shape show that they are of a variety of trout, either the common or 

 the salmou -trout." 



Mr. Eaveret Wattel remarked, on the occasion of this letter, that the 

 iSalmo fontinalis, which is more generally and properly described to-da^ 



