BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. "201 



fieient supply of food rich in ashes. From among the well-formed fish 

 we will therefore select those as breeders which develop quickest. The 

 experience of stock-raising teaches that thereby we obtain a race of 



quickly growing animals. This quality is inherited, and is nol easily 

 lost, even when the animal for a short period is kept under less favora- 

 ble conditions. An ample supply of proper food is therefore the first 

 condition for producing better and more flesh, and only by satisfying 



this condition can artificial fish-culture prove a success in every sense 

 of the word. 



It is to be hoped that soon some physiologist may be found who will 

 make earnest endeavors to fix the standard of food, which is still un- 

 known. Surely friends and well-wishers of the fisheries will be found 

 to furnish the necessary means for establishing an experimental sta- 

 tion. The German Fishery Association will surely take as much inter- 

 est in the rational raising of fish as in their numerical increase and in 

 the introduction of foreign fish. The experience of stock-raising shows 

 that it is not necessary to import animals from abroad as long as we 

 adopt the principles followed by foreign raisers. The same applies to 

 fish-culture. If our suggestions should lead to some action in this mat- 

 ter, we are certain that the numberless ponds in Germany which have 

 been drained will again be filled with water and be restored to their 

 original purpose, and that large quantities of fish-flesh will be brought 

 into the market, of a quality which at present is rarely seen on our 

 tables. 



87.-A MUD SIOI HI* ON THE CBA,\D BANKS. 



By Capt. GEORGE A. JOHNSON. 



[Communicated by the Hydro-graphic Office, U. S. Navy.] 



The opening is to the eastward and the trend of the slough is NW. 

 by N. (p. c). The lower point of the opening is in latitude 44° N., 

 longitude 49° 12' W. ; the upper point is 7 miles to the northward of 

 this position. At the lower point is a depth of 128 fathoms and at 

 the northern 45 fathoms. In the center of the slough no bottom was 

 obtained at 300 fathoms, and at one point along the northern edge bot- 

 tom was obtained at 150 fathoms. From a point about half way the 

 length of the slough, on its southern side, the vessel dragged iu a NE. 

 direction between 6 and 7 miles, with anchor down and 150 fathoms of 

 chain out, until it brought up at the point on the northern edge some- 

 what beyond the point referred to above as having a depth of 150 fath- 

 oms. Along the edge of the bank the current runs about SSW., while 

 in this slough the water is nearly dead, what little current there is be- 

 ing in some places just the opposite of what it is along the eastern edge 

 of the bank. 



