266 
to my numerous fellow-anglers of the old 
school that ‘‘me ’eart is young,” even if lhave 
not cut a figure of late with the rod and line. 
Hippocrates says, ‘‘ Life is short and the art 
long,” but if Hippo had lived in the present 
day, and had been acquainted with Brother 
Harris on lake and stream, he would have ac- 
knowledged, after following Bre’r H— about, 
that life and art are both long. Of course 
Hippo had reference to angling in speaking of 
‘the art,” for we know him to have been a 
physician of good standing, and therefore an 
enthusiastic and honest fisherman, of course. 
First I hear from ye editor in the West; 
again in Florida, then from the Ouinaniche 
country, then from various cities in various 
States, and now again from New York, where 
he has arrived with his artist from an outing 
west of the Mississippi, where he has again 
been up to his old tricks of catching fish and 
having his faithful follower portray the freshly- 
caught beauties upon canvas for the advance- 
ment of his incomparable work on game 
fishes. 
A relation of my outing for this season will 
not occupy much space, etc., so here goes: 
Gourd-neck Lake; went by carriage nine 
miles; two of us; basket of lunch, pail of min- 
nows. 
9 A. M.—Began fishing; 9:7.42, caught first 
fish, goggle-eye, length 8 13-16 inches, weight 
4 17-31 ounces; immediately celebrated event 
by applying to the lunch, after which we re- 
sumed fishing; 9:22.43, ketched ’n other. But 
why go on to tell how the reel whizzed, etc. 
Suffice it to say that we caught pan-fish with 
such regularity that the well-known remark of 
the Governor of North Carolina to his brother 
gov nor of the next State south, was not made, 
and yet we only hit the lunch when we ketched 
a fish. 
7 Pp. M.—Left for home with plenty of perch 
and goggles. 
And that's all there is to my outing this 
year, and you can understand why I do not 
send in any articles. ‘Old Fellow” must 
have more inspiration than can be gained from 
the lunch basket. M. G. 
PRES PRCT St STR 
The Death of John Mead, of South Bridgton, Me. 
The death of John Mead, which occurred on 
August 10, will recall to all of us the genial 
and instructive correspondent who, at one 
time, contributed so much of value to our col- 
The American Angler 
umns on the subjects of fish culture and an- 
gling. For years past physical afflictions pre- 
vented him from using the pen, and by slow 
and painful degrees he sunk under them. 
Mr. Mead was not only a fish student of un- 
usual ardor of research, but had the rare gift 
of an artist, and delighted in painting the 
game fishes of Maine, his native State. Many 
highly prized oils from his brush are owned 
by anglers in different sections of the country. 
He was esteemed by the people of the town in 
which he lived, and his death is a personal 
loss to those who knew the sincerity and un- 
swerving truthfulness of his character. 
Rapid Changes in Coloration of Fish. 
Will you kindly give me an explanation of 
the rapid changes in the colors of fishes, and 
why the fishes of the tropical seas are more 
brilliant in coloration than those of the north. 
New York City, Aug. 31. tals 15}, 10). 
Some years ago a similar query was sent us, 
and the reply we then made will, no doubt, an- 
swer the purposes of our correspondent, “ H. B. 
D.” We quote: 
The text of this query is not strictly accurate. 
Many tropical and sub-tropical fishes are not 
more brilliant in coloration than their northern 
congeners, notably the sheephead, weakfish, 
the rays and others. The intensity and _ bril- 
liancy of coloration in many tropical fishes is 
owing to the well-known scientific fact that 
their coloration is affected, sensibly and almost 
instantaneously, by the depth and condition of 
the water in which they chance to lie. In the 
tropical seas the rays of light, owing to the 
translucent clearness of the water, penetrate to 
a great depth. This alone would partially ac- 
count for the brilliancy in many fishes with a 
southern habitat. Again fish, as all old trout 
anglers know, assume an analogous color to 
their physical surroundings. Many, like the 
stone-roller, take upon them so closely the color 
of the bottom of streams, that they become al- 
most indistinguishable to the human eye. In 
tropical seas the effect of the beautifully 
brilliant coral and plant growths among which 
the fishes of those waters are reared and “have 
their being,” is to give them garbs in patterns 
of the most bizarre fashion—in color, black, 
blue, pink, red, yellow, etc., mingling in spots, 
lines and bands, diagonal, horizontal and 
oblique. On this subject that old navigator, 
Captain Cook, wrote, when discovering the 
coral reefs of Palmerston Island : 
“The colors of the different sorts of fishes 
were the most beautiful that can be imagined 
—the yellow, blue, red, black, etc., far exceed- 
ing anything that art can produce. These 
various forms, also, contributed to increase the 
richness of this sub-marine grotto, which could 
not be surveyed without a pleasing transport.” 
