30 



CARLISLE, wards. The fish being out of condition and being wounded would be predis- 

 posed to disease. 



The dam has been in existence for generations. The salmon must have 

 jumped at the dam before, but not to the same extent as now, as there has 

 been such a great increase in the number of fish. In 1878 there might be 

 1,000 fish attempting to jump and only 50 in previous years. The fish congre- 

 gated there must have generated disease. 



The specimens produced are a fair sample of diseased fish. 



The spot on the nose originally is very small. 



Fresh run fish might be affected. 



The Board allows the " scullies " to be killed. 



A prevalent feeling is that the kelts not being killed are a cause of the 

 disease. If kelts congregated together they might cause it. 



A number of men were employed in catching and burying fish. 



T. H. Hodgson, clerk of the peace, and clerk to the Board of Conservators, 

 Carlisle. — The Board has done all it could to cure the disease,^and has gone to 

 great expense. As a Board it has no theory to suggest. 



John Nicholson. — Has been inspector of the Eden Conservancy water- 

 bailiffs for eight years and seven months. There are ten water bailiffs. Watches 

 the river from Skimburness to Kirkby Stephen. 



First observed the disease in the beginning of March 1878, two miles above 

 Carlisle. The fish were clean fresh-run fish. They were darting from side to 

 side of the river. The river was very low. 



There were also many kelts between Armathwaite and Carlisle, both alive 

 and dead. The kelts were fungousy. Did not observe any fungus floating by 

 itself. 



The fish begin to run in September, directly the fishing is over, and go on 

 to January. Fishing begins 2nd February. 



Many of the fish get blocked at Armathwaite. They fight there in hundreds. 

 The fish knock themselves to" pieces. There were a great many at Christmas 

 1877- There were hundreds and thousands of them. Many get over the bay 

 in September. The water was low in November, and all the winter. The 

 first good flood was in April. The fish were in the pool all that time. There 

 was no water over the weir during the frost. 



The fish were three weeks in the pool near the station here. First noticed 

 spots on January 16th. They were there till 5th February. The fish were 

 small. There were six or twelve freshwater trout : they were not fungousy. 

 Many of them were a great deal worse than the specimens produced. First 

 noticed one fish affected with a small spot on his nose. The others caught it 

 from him. 



Could not say if the fresh-run fish seen with the spot on the nose were just 

 fresh run from the sea. 



There are not many villages above the city. The sewage goes in below the 

 Caldew. Has seen dead dogs and cats in the river. It is not unusual to see 

 20 or 30 dogs in the river, in January especially. The dogs have an awful 

 appearance. They would tend to pollute the river. 



Recommends that Conservancy Boards and Local Authorities should be 

 empowered to prevent dogs and cats, and putrid fish, which are thrown into 

 the river by fishmongers, being thrown into the river. 



The fresh-run fish coming up the river might get a touch of disease from the 

 sewage or from Armathwaite Bay. Saw a good many unspawned and spawned 

 female fish dead in February 1879. 



[Produces two specimens of sJcellies with fungus^] 



Their tails were nearly rotted. Since he added salt to the water they daily 

 recovered. Put in one quarter of an ounce salt to one quart of water. It tasted 

 the same as sea water. He gradually increased the salt, and they remained 

 there six years. 



The kelts here get" fungousy. Has seen them with fungus quite a different 

 colour. This is his experience every year. The present disease is a quite distinct 

 disease from the ordinary fungus on kelts. 



[Goldfish produced with fungus attached.~\ 



His opinion is that the fungus on this fish is the same as the salmon disease. 



