STONE — OVERLAND TRIP WITH LIVING FISHES IN 1879. 641 



freezing mixture to maintain the reserve at as low a temperature as 

 possible. These weighed nearly 300 pounds apiece when full. We also 

 had two five-gallon stone jugs, containing the freezing mixture, and a 

 large supply of ice and salt, an assortment of dippers, hatchets, ther- 

 mometers, and other small articles indispensable to a journey of this 

 kind. 



The main points about the care of the fish were : (1) to keep the tem- 

 perature of the tanks just right all the time ; (2) to keep the water con- 

 stantly aerated ; (3) at every change of cars to make the transfer from 

 one train to another without injury to the fish and in season to take the 

 connecting train. 



We left Albany about midnight. The tanks having been put in place 

 for the run to Buffalo, the freezing mixture having been renewed, and 

 the temperature of each tank regulated, Mr. Mason and the writer, about 

 3 a. m., found a chance for some rest, while Mr. Finnigan took care of 

 the fish till morning. From that time till the end of the journey we ar- 

 ranged the different watches as well as we could to have the burden of 

 the work fall as evenly on all as possible. 



The next day we were all very diligently employed in taking care of 

 the fish. Indeed the work of an expedition of this sort is unremitting. 

 It took the whole waking time of all of us to keep the water aerated, the 

 freezing mixture renewed, and the temperature of the various tanks at 

 the proper point. When night came we were all in arrears in the mat- 

 ter of sleep, and I accordingly hired a passenger for $10 to help us 

 through the night, one of our party remaining with him while the other 

 two took some sleep. 



I aimed to keep the lobsters at a temperature of between 4G° and 55°, 

 the striped bass between 55° and 65°, the eels between 55° and G2°, and 

 the black bass between 40° and 50°. (See table of actual temperatures 

 at close of report.) 



It was easy enough to manage the temperatures of all the tanks ex- 

 cept those containing the lobsters ; but these gave us a good deal of 

 trouble, because they could only be cooled by exchanging the water on 

 the lobsters with the water in the coolers, and by using the stone jugs 

 containing the freezing mixture. On very warm days it was extremely 

 difficult to reduce the temperature in the lobster tanks as fast as the 

 heat of the day raised it. With great pains, however, we succeeded in 

 preventing it from rising high enough to do any mischief. 



To keep the temperature of the black bass right it was only necessary 

 to introduce ice as fast as the water became too warm. The temperature 

 of the eel tanks required somewhat more attention, because they both 

 became too warm in warm days and too cold on cold nights. To keep 

 them right we had sometimes to introduce ice and sometimes warm wa- 

 ter, which we heated with alcohol lamps, or, when there was one on the 

 car, on the stove. The striped bass tanks were more like the eels in re- 

 S. Miss. 59 41 



