56 



and cannot suggest a remedy. From the reports of 

 Mr. Gill and Mr. Mather, and from my recent experi- 

 ment, I am constrained to believe that the disease is 

 the direct result of poison, which may be in either the 

 food or the water, and once a fish is affected by it there 

 is no cure, the only remedy is to remove the cause. 



The first indication of the disease in a fish is a 

 white spot, usually on the side, of about an inch in 

 diameter ; within a short time a hole would appear in 

 this and shortly after the fish would die. Upon exami- 

 nation would be found that under the white spot was a 

 patch of dead and decomposed tissue, and on the 

 slightest pressure this would spurt out a dark fiuid. 

 This cancerous growth was more fully developed in 

 some fish than in others. In some of the fish that 

 died the only sign of a disease that I could discover 

 was small red pimples on the under side of the gill 

 cover. Fish that were attacked in this way would be 

 suddenly seized with a spasm or giddiness, and would 

 rush about the pond on the side for a few moments 

 and suddenly give up the ghost. Hereafter whenever 

 this disease appears among the fish we will be better 

 prepared to handle it because of our experience of this 

 season, and we need not fear any great loss from this 

 cause in the future. 



Yours respectfull)', 



M. E. O'Brien. 



DLSCUSSION ON THE EPIDEMIC AMONG 

 TROUT IN NEBRASKA. 



Mr. Mather : " Having had experience with some- 

 thing of this kind in 1890 and '91, accounts of which 

 will be found in the New York State Fish Commission 

 Reports for i89i-'92, I will say that such things occur 



