1883.] TEOUT BREEDING. 143 



dollars in putting fish of various kinds into this pond, and in 

 protecting them. Our records show that the pickerel have 

 diminished in the lake, and diminished by the destruction of 

 the young fish by the black bass, which we can observe, and 

 througli the catching out of the old fish, not to be replaced by 

 the younger ones. I think, with that exception, the gentle- 

 man (Mr. Yeomans) will find that my experience is not con- 

 tradictory to that which he has stated himself. 



Mr. Wetherell. Do they breed in the pond ? 



Dr. Sturtevant. They do breed, and very largely, and 

 when the fish are first hatched out it is quite an interesting 

 operation to watch them. They come upon the surface in a 

 little cloud, and sail near the surface. It is a fiction among 

 writers on fish, that the black bass does not eat its own young. 

 The probability is that the bass do not see the young fish 

 when they are on the surface of the water. They stay in this 

 condition for a few days, and then they gradually separate, 

 and take to the shallow water close to the shore, where the 

 shallowness of the water protects them from the mother fish. 

 I have myself seen instances where the mother fish, which 

 was sailing round and round this black mass of young fish, 

 happened to see them and came up and took large gulps from 

 the mass. My obervation in that respect differs from the 

 experience of others. But they do breed and they breed 

 largely. 



Mr. Bill, of Lyme. I was about to come to the rescue, 

 and say a few words in favor of the black bass, but through 

 fear of standing alone, I kept my seat. But since my 

 friend Yeomans has spoken in favor of that fish, I certainly 

 shall do the same, for I have been instrumental, as a member 

 of the Fish Commission, that I have been on for the last 

 thirteen years, in stocking from fifty to seventy-five ponds 

 and lakes in the State of Connecticut. I have never heard a 

 word of objection raised coming from any portion of the State 

 except Litchfield County, where my friend Sedgwick resides. 

 I am confident that they have some other fish besides the 

 genuine black bass. I have seen many times large catches 



