676 REPORT OP^ COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [18] 



as live ones. Mr. J. E. Brown handed me 7 or 8. which were from 1 inch to 3 inches in 

 length, and which had been thrown ont of the tanks as dead. These I at once pat 

 into an envelope, and carried home in my pocket. 



At least ati honr later I removed them from the envelope and put them in a wash- 

 bowl of water for cleansing them. I soon noticed that two of them were lloatiug on 

 their sides and occasionally gasping. A half hour after this, for the purpose; of dis- 

 covering how much vitality there might be in the two in which I had observed signs 

 of life. I placed in the mouth of each one a drop of brandy diluted with an equal 

 (juantity of water. These I returned to the bowl, and paid no further attention to 

 them until (> hours afterwards. I then noticed that the two which had received 

 the tonic showed a marked improvement, and were swimming on their sides nearly 

 at the top of the water. J then changed the water and a<lministered the same amount 

 of brandy as before. On the following morning, 13 hours after tht^ first administra- 

 tion of brandy and 7 hours after the second dose, the two fish in question were ap- 

 ])arent]y fully restored, and were swimming naturally and actively about the bowl. 

 The j'est(uation proved to be complete. 



79. StatemeMt of Chas. W. Smiley, Washington, D. C, April 30, 1884. 



Resuscitation or frozen carp — On the morning of January 4, 1884,U,100 German 

 carp were forwarded from Washington, by express, to Birmingham, Ala. Mr. F. L. 

 Donnelly, a messenger of the Commission, proceeded by the same train to watch them 

 on their jtassage and to take charge of them upon their arrival at Birmingham. The 

 fish had been jilaccd in the usual four-quart tin pails, and packed in crates of IG pails 

 each. Each pail contained 15 carp. 



Mr. Donnelly and the carp arrived at Birmingham at 1.30 a. m., January 6. The 

 packages were left in the office of the Southern Express Company through the re- 

 mainder of that night, but ])laced within 10 feet of the stove in order to prevent the 

 wat(!r freezing. The thermometer indicated +4*^ F. at the time of arrival. At8 o'clock 

 on the mcnniug of the ()th Mr. Donnelly examined the condition of the fish, and, in his 

 official report dated January 14, says: 



••I was greatly surprised to find every drop of water in the buckets frozen into 

 solid ice, and all the lish apparently dead; but upon close examination of their eyes, 

 1 thought perhaps a great many of them were still alive, though frozen solid in 

 the ice." 



Mr. Donnelly thereupon courageously undertook to see if any of the fish could be 

 saved. He procured the necessary laborers, 4 large tubs, and a supply of water. 

 He then broke the ice from the small i)ails, transferring such as contained carp to the 

 water. He states that " in this manner a great number of fish were soon freed from 

 their confinement, and by constant working with them during the entire day we 

 were able to save 1,300 fish." Although the thermometer continued to renuiin in the 

 vicinity of zero, by careful management he succeeded in ke(>))ing the 1,300 fish alive 

 until tile 8th and yth, when thev were distributed to the applicants throughout th<i 

 State. 



The saving of 1,300 carp out of a lot of 2,100, under such circumstances, may be 

 considered a very remarkable .achievement. 



Having ]ire])ared tin; foregoing statement from Mr. Doimelly's report, I sent a copy 

 of it to Mr. L. H. Black, route agent, Southern Express Company, Montgomery, Ala., 

 asking how far he knt^w the statements to be true. Under date of January 25, 1884, 

 he wrote me in reply as follows : "As route agent of the Southern Express Company, 

 my duties call me to Birmingham. I saw the carp first on the morning after their 

 .•irri\al at Birmingham, uikI fre(|uentlT during the day while Mr. Donnelly was at 

 work with them. My oi)inion is that this statement is correct m every particular. I 

 give it from what I saw myself, and from information Mr. Donnelly gave me during 

 the day while he avp.s working with the fish." 



Carp in Ogeechee River. — April 14, 1884, Mr. George A. Hudson, of Savannah, 

 Ga., sent to the Natioual Museum some small fish which had been caught in the fresh 

 water of the Ogeechec River in a trap set for herring, rockfish, &c. They were sent 

 for identification, and jiroved to be German carp. 



FLORIDA. 



80. Siatemeni of John A. Henderson, Tallahassee, Leon Co., Fla., Juhj 2o, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I rt^ceivcd about 40 carp in January, 1881. My 

 po'.d covers lOftcres ; is 10 feet deep and has a clayey bottom, The water is from 40'~' 

 to 90° temperature, according to the season. 



Plants. — It contains grasses and bonnets. 



JSnemies. — There jire none that I know of, 



