FUNGUS DISEASE AFFECTING SALMON AND OTHER FISH. 636 



any part of its body, and there was only one raw sore. This sore waa 

 only five-eighths of an inch in length and three-eighths in breadth. It 

 had evidently been larger, and had a smooth healing border. All the 

 upper surface of the head and snout were covered with skin, but very 

 uneven over its whole surface, from depressions and projections which, 

 may have been caused by sores which have been healed over, and the 

 hinder part of the operculum had an irregular cicatrix of considerable 

 size upon it. The breast and belly, from the gill-covers to the vent, 

 were blood- streaked and spotted, and there were brownish marks upon 

 both its back and sides as if fungus had recently adhered to it. All the 

 fins were entire — not one ray was broken — and the fish as a whole looked 

 remarkably well for a kelt, and if it had been affected with fungus, which 

 I fully beheve, its recovery has been almost perfect. 



A salmon taken at some distance up the river, and which is affected 

 with fungus, has been taken down to Berwick, and placed in a box or 

 corve, and is now anchored in the river, in the tideway, where the water 

 is at all times less or more salt, and at intervals is towed out to sea, 

 where the fidl influence of the salt water acts upon it ; and when I last 

 heard of it considerable improvement had taken place. Mr. G. H. List 

 has paid particular attention to the protection of any fish being affected 

 with fungus disease in any of the coast fishing stations ; and, after the 

 most careful inquiry, no trace of any fish in the least degree diseased 

 at any of those stations could be got, nor, as far as any fishermen either 

 knew or heard of, was any salmon with fungus upon it ever seen in salt 

 water. 



I have tried to propagate this fungus upon dead flies, spiders, and 

 other small animals, following the directions of Pringsheim, " N. A. A. 

 L. C," 1851, p. 417,* who says : "All that is required to obtain a living 

 specimen of this singular i)lant is to allow the body of any small animal, 

 such as a fly or spider, to float for a few days in rain-water exposed to 

 the light. By this method a crop of Saprolcgnia may be obtained at 

 any season." In this way I got a fungus upon the flies and spiders 

 after an exposure of from 12 to 20 days, which, on examination, was 

 found to be a common mold, exactly similar to that produced upon a 

 solution of gum-arabic, gelatine, and meat infusions. I have tried to 

 propogate the Saprolegnia fungus upon minnows, but without success 

 hitherto, doubtless because the method adopted did not provide the 

 proper means, there being wanting the necessary stimulus which exists 

 in the river, or, what is more likely, the life of the fungus itself. The 

 minnows were placed in a large glass vessel filled with town water from 

 the tap. A piece of skin with this fungus adhering to it was taken 

 from a salmon smolt and placed in the water along with them. In three 

 days they had eaten up both skin and fungus, and remained unaffected. 

 Several large patches of this fungus were then taken from the skin of a 



* Cited by Dr. Burdon Sanderson in his paper on the " vegetable ovum," Cyclopse- 

 dia of Anatomy and Physiology, edited by Dr. Todd. 



