CXVI REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



December, 1891, by Prof. B. W. Evermann, assisted by Dr. H. R. Gurley, 

 of the Fish Commission ; Dr. J. T. Scovell, of Terre Haute, Ind., and Mr. 

 J. A. Single.y, of the Texas State Geological Survey. The report of the 

 investigation was transmitted to Congress with that bearing upon the 

 Rocky Mountain region, and the two have been published conjointly.* 



While it was of primary importance that the work of propagation in 

 the Gulf region should relate to fresh- water fishes and to i)ond culture 

 especially, it was considered desirable that provision should also be 

 made for the hatching of marine forms and for experimental studies 

 regarding oyster-culture, providing a suitable location on the seacoast 

 could be found for the building of a composite station. Failing in this, 

 attention was to be turned to the interior of the State, where good 

 facilities for the ftrst-mentioned purpose were known to exist, and the 

 natural history of the different streams was also to be studied, so far 

 as the time would permit. 



Examinations were first made in the neighborhood of Galveston and 

 about the bay of the same name, where some time was spent tn ascer- 

 taining the relations between the salt and fresh waters, and in inspect- 

 ing all localities which might present any advantages for the combined 

 work. The results, however, were unsatisfactory, as nowhere could a 

 reliable supply of fresh water be obtained without the construction of 

 several artesian wells, and in close proximity to any suitable tract of 

 land the salt water was of too low and variable a density to serve the 

 purposes for which it was desired. A visit made subsequently to 

 Corpus Christi Bay also failed to disclose the required conditions with 

 regard to the fresh-water supply, and as no other places along the coast 

 promised more favorable facilities, it was deemed advisable to abandon 

 the scheme of uniting both stations in one locality. 



The cretaceous limestone belt running through the State, near San 

 Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos, and Austin, affords numerous 

 very large springs, of which one or more are situated in the immediate 

 vicinity of each of the places mentioned. All of these localities were 

 visited and the conditions at each were found to be so satisfactory 

 that further inquiries were considered unnecessary. Tha temperature 

 of the water issuing from these several springs seems to be about the 

 same, and does not vary much from 75'^ F. throughout the j^^^r. One 

 group located just outside of the city of San Antonio, and called the 

 San Antonio Springs, gives origin to the river of the same name; it is 

 estimated to have an average flow of not less than 90,000 gallons per 

 minute. Another group, the San Pedro Springs, is within the city 

 limits, and has about half the capacity of the former. Comal Springs, 

 the largest of which is said to supply as much as 50,000 gallons of water 

 a minute, constitute the principal group near New Braunfels. 



* A report upon investigations made in Texas in 1891. By Barton W. Evermann, 

 PH. D. Published in conjunction with the report on western Montana and north- 

 western Wyoming, as cited on p. cxi. Pp. 59-88, Pis. xxviii-xxxvi. Contains also 

 a supplementary paper, entitled "List of Crustacea collected," by Mary J. Rathbun. 



