8 Report of the American 



N. "W. Park, Detroit ; Charles B. Evarts, Vermont ; C. H. Raymond, 

 President of the Morris County Sportsman's Ckib ; Prof. Henr}- Morton, 

 Stevens Institute, Hoboken ; Prof. Bickford, American Museum of 

 Natural History. 



The proceedings commenced with a recital hy Mr. Reeder of his experi- 

 ences with the two species of black bass known as salmoides and nigricans. 

 A distinction has been made, he said, with regard to the geographical 

 location of these fish ; the general impression being that tlie salmoides are 

 found in Southern waters, while the nigricans are confined to Northern 

 rivers. Careful examination has led him to the conclusion that this 

 geographical distinction was a mistake, although the difference between 

 the two kinds of bass was distinctly' marked. Alluding to the scarcity' of 

 this fish in the waters of Penns^'lvania, which had originally been stocked 

 from the Potomac, he remarked that he accounted for this circumstance 

 in this way : In the earl}^ part of Jul}', after the beds were prepared and 

 when the spawn was there, the}^ had severe storms, which flooded the 

 streams and carried down mud and various kinds of debris. Their theory 

 was that the sediment settled on the beds and killed the spawn. He 

 would like to hear any suggestion whicli might be offered as to the loss 

 of the young fish. 



Mr. Seth Green thought that what Mr. Reeder had stated would be 

 very likeh' to happen. That on the other hand, if the river had been 

 overstocked, it was possible that the natural supply of food being 

 exhausted the fish had eaten their j'oung. 



Mr. Reeder thought the explanation was hardly sufficient inasmuch as 

 there was a large quantity of minnows and other fish on which the bass 

 could feed. 



Prof. Baii'd made a brief statement as to the action of the United 

 States Commission. Their operations, he said, had bten principally 

 connected with shad and salmon. Shad were quite plenty both in the 

 Hudson and Connecticut rivers, and tliey have been able to transfer a 

 large number of fish to the West. The aggregate distribution was 

 between two and three millions, some of which were carried to Ohio, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Massachusetts. The German 

 Government had forwarded them 250, UOO eggs of the Rhine salmon, 

 through Mr. Hessel. but nearly' all of them died, and in the same way 

 their attempt to introduce American shad into German waters had also 

 failed. The eggs were forwarded in charge of Mr. Mather and Mr. 

 Anderson, but after eleven days they all died. The salmon stations in 

 California and in Maine had, Mr. Baird said, been considerably enlarged. 

 About 6,000,000 of eggs had been taken in the McCloud River, of Avhich 

 1,000,000 or thereabout had been turned into the Sacramento River. 



