66 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



this discovery will prove of the greatest utility and value in restoring 

 fish that would otherwise perish, and be the means of securing greater 

 longevity amongst them. 



" Experiments in relation to brandy as a means of restoring sus- 

 pended animation with quick-dying fish resulted equally as satisfactory. 

 It was highly interesting to see the plucky manner in which a trout (#. 

 ferox) battled with his fainting condition and came out the conqueror. 

 Strange to say, the salmon (8. salar) did not ouce attempt to rouse him- 

 self after being dosed, the consequences being fatal to him; this was 

 the only fish that succumbed under the treatment. The dace (Leuciscus 

 vulgaris) was out of water three times of five minutes each. He was 

 exceedingly faint and almost dead ; but immediately after the brandy 

 was given, he pulled himself together, and in the course of a few min- 

 utes not only recovered, but darted round the can with a rapidity posi- 

 tively amazing." 



It is suggested that a judicious administration of brandy to a dace 

 prior to being used for bait will not only restore an inanimate bait, but 

 also increase its strength and vigor, thus proving of much service to the 

 angling fraternity. 



Upon the publication of the above Mr. Henry Lee immediately pub- 

 lished in Land and Water (November 1, 1884, page 437) the history of 

 previous experiments in this direction, as follows : 



"It seems to have been assumed that the administration of brandy as 

 a restorative to a fish is a novelty. It was, however, practiced long ago 

 by the Dutch, and the recipe for this treatment was probably of ancient 

 origin. Mention of it may be found in the works of many authors, one of 

 the most generally accessible being the article on Ichthyology in the 

 seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which was written bj~ 

 James Wilson, F. E. S. E., in 1838. He says : ' Carp can be preserved 

 alive for a considerable time out of water, especially if care be taken to 

 moisten them occasionally when dry. Advantage is ofteu taken of this 

 circumstance to transport them alive by packing them among damp 

 herbage or wet liuen, and the operation is said to be unattended with 

 any risk to the animal, especially if the precaution be taken to put a 

 piece of bread steeped with brandy in its mouth. In a similar way the 

 Dutch preserve carp by suspending them from the roof of a damp apart- 

 ment in a bag-net filled with moss, which is continually kept moist, and 

 they are fed with vegetables and bread steeped in milk, a mode of treat 

 ment by which they are not only kept alive but actually thrive and 

 fatten.' 



" C. Millet, also, in his book La Culture des JEaux, writes that if carp 

 thus suspended in wet moss or grass be fed on bread steeped in wine 

 for some days before they are killed and cooked they acquire a superior 

 fiavor. I am inclined to believe, however, that the retention of life by 

 a carp after swallowing brandy is rather an additional demonstration of 



