36 



the prices were too low. Now shad are scarce in our rivers, 

 but seem to be plenty in other waters. This is not merely 

 this year, but has been the case for several years past. 



Mr. Ford. — The catch of shad in the Delaware this year 

 has been one of the largest known. The fish have been 

 cheap, have wholesaled for $12 per hundred, and at times the 

 local market has been glutted. 



Mr. Mather. — This may be the question of temperature. 

 For some years the Connecticut streams may have been too 

 low for the spawning fish to enter and they may have gone 

 elsewhere. In a paper which I will read to-morrow I will 

 show that shad have strayed from California to Oregon, and 

 perhaps they were after the temperature that they required. 



Dr. Kingsbury. — The temperature of the water may have 

 more or less effect upon the migrations of fish, just how 

 much I am not prepared to say, but it is possible that there 

 are other conditions which also affect their movements, such 

 as food, turbid waters and floods. It is a difficult matter to 

 define the causes of the migrations of fishes because we can- 

 not follow them. 



The meeting then adjourned until 9 A. M. the next day. 



