• PROf^EEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. ,123 



Gulf from the effects of somethiug contained in the water — be that some- 

 thing- deleterious gases, mineral substances held in solution, or fungi. 



The hshiug interest of Key West is an important one, for it supplies 

 thousands with the means of subsistence, and if the fish mortality should 

 continue it will bring privation and suffering to many a famil}-. 



It api)ears to me that the existing mortalit}' among the fish is a mat- 

 ter of scientific importance, and should be thoroughly investigated. I 

 would suggest the advisability of the Revenue Department or the Smith- 

 sonian Institution sending a commissioner to inv'estigate the cause of 

 the mortality. The government has a dispatch boat at Key West which 

 could be spared for the purpose, and the expense would be trifling. As 

 a matter of scientific interest, independent of its commercial importance, 

 this subject demands investigation. 

 I remain yours, truly, 



C. J. KEN WORTHY. 



We warmlj^ second Dr. Kenworthy's suggestion, and hope the gov- 

 ernment will permit the use of facilities for investigation which it aj)- 

 pears to have in readiness at Key West. We have already hinted that 

 the use of tiuorescine in those waters of Florida which empty into the 

 Gulf might serve to indicate the origin of the boiling spring, whose dis- 

 covery somewhere off the Gulf coast was announced two months ago. 

 If such a volcanic spring exists, the poisoning of the water can easily be 

 accounted for; though theremedy to prevent continued mortality of the 

 fish is not so readily found. The locality of this boiling spring was 

 given by the Key W^est Key of the Gulf, of November 6, or thereabouts, 

 as "along our bay coast from two to ten fathoms out." This is not very 

 definite, but it is the most positive designation that we have seen. No 

 authentic information seems to have been derived from any other source. 

 The fishermen whose occupation has been cut short so suddenly should 

 devote their leisure time to efforts to determine the locality of the ob- 

 noxious cause, wherever or whatever it is, and report at once to the rev- 

 enue station at Key West, thereby seconding the efitbrts of the govern- 

 ment to remedy the evil. It will be a direct way of putting bread in 

 the months of their now starving families. The polluting substance, 

 whatever it may be, is evidently most subtle, for its influence is seen 

 for a distance of 200 miles, dead fish covering the surface of the ocean 

 wherever the eye rests. One proof of its volcanic origin is that the 

 water so i)olluted is of a " red brick color," at a distance of less than a 

 mile from the shore, while the intervalof water along the land is natural 

 in color and taste. Of its subaqueous origin there can be no doubt, but 

 whether it has connection with waters in the interior of Florida by sub- 

 terranean passages, or has a deeper and independent source and seat, is 

 what we Avish to know. The phenomenon in itself is not wonderful or 

 incomprehensible, being only a reproduction of boiling sjirings in all 

 parts of the globe, both in land and ocean. Off Matanzas there is an 

 immense spring, not hot, but of clear, cold, pure water. — Forest and 

 Stream, 



