Henshall. — Concerning the Protection of Fish 143 



but the coal dust is deposited on the spawning beds, and if breathed 

 in by the fish, old or young, clogs the gills, and, from the well- 

 known hardness of carbon, irritates and inflames them. 



The waste matter from oil refineries, paper mills, starch factories 

 and other industrial plants where poisonous and noxious chemicals 

 and substances are used, or occur as by-products, is very destruc- 

 tive to fish of all ages, and is a more potent factor in the destruction 

 of fish food than any agency mentioned. 



As a case in point I might mention that I was once making a 

 collection of Ohio fishes for the museum of the Cincinnati Society 

 of Natural History, and was seining a creek not far from the city. 

 There were two branches to the creek, one coming from the west 

 and running by a large starch factory, the other coming from the 

 east. The bottom of the west fork was covered for a mile, from 

 the factory to the main creek, with the offal from the factory, 

 and the water was more or less discolored. The water of the east 

 fork was perfectly clear, with a gravelly bottom, and contained 

 the usual variety of small fishes as sunfish, suckers, minnows and 

 darters; but no fish, large or small, was taken from the west fork, 

 nor was there any evidence of fish life, to say nothing of fish food, 

 nor could any survive in the polluted water. 



The argument is often advanced that the various industries 

 just alluded to must, as a matter of course, be tolerated and main- 

 tained, even at the cost of the loss of all fish life in inland waters. 

 But this is not necessarily the case. Their evil effects can be 

 prevented, in a great measure, by compelling such plants to run 

 the offal and waste water into settling ponds or septic tanks 

 before allowing it to flow into the stream, as is now being done in 

 some places. 



By the vigilance of fish wardens the minor evils of illegal fishing, 

 illegal sale of fish and dynamiting can be, to a great extent, pre- 

 vented, as punishment for these offences is provided for by 

 statutory enactment. 



All of you are doubtless more or less familiar with the loss 

 of fish life from the causes enumerated, but there is another agency 

 of fish destruction, not generally suspected, that is the cause of 

 untold havoc and slaughter, and is so appalling and widespread 

 in the western states, that in comparison with it all the other 

 factors mentioned sink into insignificance. It is the wholesale 



