American Fisheries Society. 39 



remarkably interesting paper to us, that this matter was old. 

 The tides in such a lake as this would stir up all the deleterious 

 matter from the bottom of the lake and thus cause the death of 

 these fish. Whether 1 am right or not, I would not say, but the 

 thouga*- occurred to me at the time. 



Professor Jhrge: Lake Mendcta has no tide. There is no 

 question about that, and there is no stirring up of the lake. The 

 water below is as calm as water which is bottled up tight. I do 

 not want to be understood as offering anv general explanation 

 of fish epidemics. I refer to this as something, so far as I know, 

 that has never been referred to. Fish epidemics are one of the 

 most interesting and difficult problems that fish culturists have 

 to deal with, and while I have no doubt they are due to as many 

 different causes as human epidemics, I brought this forward, 

 not as a certain, but as a possible cause c^f the epidemic and 

 one worthy the attention of all of us when we have a chance 

 to study an epidemic of this sort. 



Chairman Whitaker: I am verv sure we are all nmch inter- 

 ested in this matter and in the remarks that have been made ex- 

 tempore by the professor. It is plainly evident tliat the pro- 

 fessor's apology, to start with, was unnecessary. He said his 

 paper was not written, and it seems to me very fortunate for the 

 society that it was not written, it was more entertaining- in the 

 form in which it was given. 



Wisconsin and Illinois are both working along fines which, it 

 seems to me, are bound to l)e a benefit to fish culture. We have 

 long witnessed these so-called epidemics of fish without any at- 

 tempt to solve the matter. It is just about as valuable when we 

 merely see auvl speculate about these things, as it is to look at an 

 aquarium without any information as to the life and habits of 

 fish — simply to satisfy an idle curiosity. We 'lave got to a point 

 where it seems to me essential that fi^-h culturists. who are at- 

 tempting to restock the waters, sliould be aided by scientific in- 

 vestigators, and that the two should work together; the scientific 

 men settling those questions that scientific men alone can settle. 

 by investigation. In that way we shall get at the cause of these 

 things, and there is nothing in fish cultural experience that can- 

 not be solved along the lines of inquiry that are being pursued 

 in those two states to-day. I am sorry to say that while Michi- 

 gan for two or three years had a good bureau of scientific in- 

 (juirv. in the hands of a1)le men, it was compelled to discontinue 

 that work because of lack of monev. It was a i^reat mistake, 



