202 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Q. Do cod migrate at all? Is this known for a certainty to be the case ?—A. It is 
not certain that they have such migrations as we ascribe to the bluefish and mack- 
erel; whether they traverse a mile of sea-bottom in search of food, or whether they go 
100 miles for it, under any circumstances, I cannot say. 
Q. I understood you to say yesterday that you could not trace their migrations at 
all?—A. No, I cannot. 
Q. And do you not pretend to say that they do migrate? Irather understood you to 
say also that mackerel do not migrate?—A. They migrate, but they do not sweep 
along the coast—at least I do not think they do so, as was formerly supposed, for 
very many miles; but rather come direct from their winter grounds inshore. 
Q. I understood you to say your theory at present was that there was a vast body 
of mackerel which, forming one wing of their army, passed along the American 
coast; and that another wing directed their course into the gulf?-—A. Yes. 
Q. Isee that in the answer of the United States, page 10, the following language 
is used: 
“The migration of mackerel in the spring begins on the Atlantic coast from a point 
as far south as Cape Hatteras. The first-comers reach Provincetown, Mass., about 
May 10. Here they begin to scatter, and they are found during the entire season along 
the New England coast. 
‘‘Whatever may be the theories of others on the subject,” says Professor Baird 
“the American mackerel-fisher knows perfectly well that in spring, about May, he 
will find the schools of mackerel off Cape Hatteras, and that he can follow them 
northward, day by day, as they move in countless myriads on to the coast of Maine, 
of Nova Scotia, and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They may be occasionally lost 
sight of by their sinking below the surface; but they are sure to present them- 
selves, shortly after, to those who Jook for them farther north and east.” 
Do you now adhere to that statement?—A. I think that was not the most philo- 
sophical expression on that subject. My views in regard to the proper theory con- 
cerning mackerel have been modified since then, to the extent I have alleged. 
Q. In fact, if I correctly understood you yesterday, you rather inclined to the theory 
which has been started here, that mackerel are not a migratory fish at all, but hiber- 
nate in the mud?—A. I cannot precisely say ; but the evidence is quite strong in favor 
of hibernation of some kind, though I do not consider the case proven in this respect; 
at the same time I do not consider it philosophical to refuse to countenance its possi- 
bility. 
Q. Will you tell me how, if possible, it could be otherwise, if it is true that the 
mackerel have, in the spring, scales over their eyes, as has been described by wit- 
nesses here, and, as I understand, you admit?—A. I cannot say that this is the case ; 
I have never seen it. 
Q. If these scales are on their eyes they could not possibly do otherwise than hiber- 
nate 7—A. I cannot say that; I am not a mackerel, and I could not tell what they do 
or what they do not do. 
Q. Is it certain that any fish, that you are aware of, hibernate in the mud ?—A. 
That is not certain, but it is believed to be the case. 
Q. Do you know of any fish which certainly does hibernate ?—A. The eel does. 
Q. Is its eyes protected against the mud by scales?—A. This is not the case so far 
asI know. It has not been noted or reported. 
Q. How has it become a theory if it has never been noted? Is it the want of ex- 
perience with reference to mackerel that you do not know whether scales are found 
over its eyes or not ?—A. I have never caught mackerel in the critical period of the 
year when they are said to have scales over their eyes; but a specimen which I have 
preserved in alcohol did have scales over its eyes, though the.action of the alcohol on 
the cornea of the eye always tends to make it opaque and destroys its transparency. 
Q. Is there any period of the year when mackerel must be prevented from seeing, 
as far as you can judge from the specimen which you possess ?—A. No; I cannot say 
that, 

