148 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Haute, among whom may be mentioned .Mr. 1). C Jiid^ley, Mr. C. S. 

 Hoover, and Mr. 0. H. Copeland. A report upon these inquiries is now 

 iu course of preparation. 



OHIO. 



Dr. James A. Henshall, secretary of the Cincinnati Society of Natural 

 History, continued, during tlie summers of 1889 and 1800, liis researches 

 respecting' the fishes of Ohio, referred to in the last animal report A 

 complete account of these inquiries is deferred until further observa- 

 tions can be made, but the following brief notice of the work accom- 

 plished during the past two years has been furnished by Dr. Henshall: 



The watershed of the State of Ohio extends from Ashtabula County, 

 iu the northeast corner of the State, to Mercer County, on its west- 

 ern border. The streams north of this ridge ilow into Lake Erie, while 

 those south of it enq)ty into the Ohio Eiver. The waters exi)lored in 

 the latter basin Avere the Ohio, Muskingum, Scioto, and Little Miami 

 rivers and a number of smaller streams. Of the Great Lake Basin, the 

 Maumee and Sandusky rivers and Lake Erie in the A'icinity of Put-in 

 Bay were examined. From these various sources 130 species of lishes 

 were obtained out of about 150 kn<n\ii species supposed to inhabit 

 Ohio waters. The only previous efforts in this direction were made by 

 Eatines(iue in 1818 to 1820, and by Dr. J. P. Kirtland from 1830 to 

 1846. The former explored the Ohio Eiver and its tributaries from 

 Pittsburg to Louisville, and described 120 species, of whieh the exist- 

 ence of about 70 valid species have since been verified. Dr. Kirtland 

 described, from the waters of both basins, even a less number.^ 



The most imi)ortant food-fishes collected iu the Ohio and its tribu- 

 taries were the black bass, pike ])erch, suntish, crappie, Iresh-water 

 drum, and several species of suckers and cattish. Those from the Lake 

 Erie basin were the whitefish, lake herring, black bass, pike perch, 

 Sanger, and sturgeon, the lirst-named being the most im])ortaut commer- 

 cial food-fish of the State. From this it will be seen that Aver(5 the 

 fishes of Ohio afforded proper xnotection during their breeding season, 

 and the ])olhitiou of the streams by the refuse and offal of various mills 

 and factories prevented by wise and elficient legislation, a bountiful 

 supply of good food-fishes would be assured to the peoi)le of the State 

 that would go far toward sui)p]ying the demand for fish food. 



KENTUCKY. 



Durijig the autumn of 1889 and the spring of 1890, Prof. Philip H. 

 Kirsch, superintendent of i)ublic schools at Columbia City, Ind., made 

 an investigation of the streams of Clinton County, Ky., and obtained 

 a very complete collection of thvAr fishes. In his report upon the sub- 

 ject,* Prof. Kirsch explains that this is one of the smallest counties in 



*Notos on tho streams aiifl iishes of Clinton Conuty, Ky., Avitli a description of a 

 »ew darter. By Pliilii. H. Kirsch. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., x, 1890, pp. 289-292. 



