-DUMFRIES. If there were no fishing operations in an uninhabited country, the fish would 



- increase more rapidly, but there would not be any impurities. There are 



some impurities in the Nith. Has seen the Nith polluted below Dumfries. 

 The river is not polluted above Dumfries. Has seen 13 dead fish killed by 

 pollutions. 



It would not be a good plan to kill all the fish. 



Has seen fish which were eaten into the inside with the disease, and came 

 back clean from the sea. The disease can be cured by fish going to the sea. 

 Some one should be empowered to bury all the dead fish, and leave the living 



fish alone. 



There are pike, trout, and eels in the Nith. Many pike and eels. 1 hey are 

 all affected. Eels are not caught as an industry. Has seen roach affected. 



The disease kills the fish slowly. Does not think they die in eight and a 

 half days. It must take a long time to kill them. It acts like inflammation. 

 Has opened fish and traced the disease through the flesh by a black mark 

 The whole organs are interfered with. The flesh is red except where blackened 

 by disease. The disease is external, and interns! in the intestines. All the 

 fish coming from the sea have had inflammation. The blood is pure and 



healthy. . 



The disease is contracted in spawning. The fish are worried, and the stock 

 of fish in the river in a dry season is, in his opinion, a cause of the malady. 



Robert W. Millar, Tweed-warehouseman, Dumfries. — Has known the 

 Nith for 20 years. Observed the disease in the spawning season of 1877- 

 Has seen what he now thinks was disease before then, and has heard others say 

 so. Has noticed many fish with their tails above water. Examined a good 

 many in 18/7, but never opened any. They had spots, generally above the 

 dorsal fin, on the head, and near the side. The spots were as large as a half- 

 crown on the back of the head. The cancers were flabby and soft. The sores 

 were covered with fungus. 



Many years ago observed sores under the throat of salmon. Thinks now it 

 was the same disease. Saw the fish from Thornhill Bridge to the tidal water. 

 They were healing when in the tidal water, having come down from the river. 

 The affected spot was covered with a scab. 



The disease cannot be contracted in the sea. Has never seen the fish come 

 out of the sea affected. 



It is not easy to recommend any remedy. Pure water is a great thing. 

 Pollution must have something to do with it. The river is polluted much 

 more than formerly with artificial manure. Vitriol is thrown in below the 

 Cauld. There are some small pollutions above Thornhill. Sewage is thrown 

 into the river below the Cauld. The sewage of Maxwelltown comes in above 

 the Cauld, where the water is stagnant in the summer. 



Has seen all kinds offish diseased. Saw an eel with five spots. The fungus 

 seemed to get longer. The symptoms were the same as in the salmon. Saw 

 spots like blisters on a trout. 



Little attention is paid to the trout, and the disease may have appeared in 

 the trout first without being noticed. 



Sheep drains may have much to do with it in summer time. The water 

 rises very fast in floods, but falls equally rapidly. Formerly it would not fall 

 in a week. The river runs very low in the summer, when the fish are going 

 up. 



A disease has been observed for 10 years. Used to see fish marked under the 

 head in the spring. The recent disease has not been noticed before. The 

 disease may have been but in existence, and the pollution may have increased 

 it. It could not have existed without being noticed by tacksmen and others. 

 It has existed since the spawning season of 1877. In 1877-/8 there was the 

 greatest run of fish known for many years. The river was not overstocked 

 with salmon, but perhaps with other fish. More fish were taken out before 

 1877 than since. 



No grayling were formerly in the Nith. The grayling alluded to by 

 Mr. Marshall were taken by him. 



Agrees with Mr. Leny as to the white spots on the frontal bone. Has seen 

 fish lying in the river with white spots ; the fungus covers the spots. This 

 was before they reached the fish water at the head of the tideway. 



