﻿DISTEIBUTION 
  OF 
  FISHES 
  — 
  JOKDAN" 
  363 
  

  

  pout 
  are 
  home-loving 
  fishes 
  to 
  a 
  greater 
  extent 
  than 
  the 
  others 
  which 
  

   I 
  have 
  mentioned; 
  still, 
  where 
  no 
  obstacles 
  prevent, 
  they 
  are 
  sure 
  

   to 
  move 
  about. 
  There 
  must 
  be, 
  then, 
  in 
  the 
  Oatka 
  some 
  sort 
  of 
  

   barrier 
  or 
  strainer 
  which, 
  keeping 
  these 
  species 
  back, 
  permits 
  others 
  

   more 
  adventurous 
  to 
  pass; 
  and 
  a 
  wider 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  geography 
  

   of 
  the 
  region 
  showed 
  that 
  such 
  is 
  the 
  case. 
  Farther 
  down 
  in 
  its 
  

   course, 
  at 
  Rock 
  Glen, 
  the 
  Oatka 
  falls 
  over 
  a 
  ledge 
  of 
  rock, 
  forming 
  

   a 
  considerable 
  waterfall. 
  Still 
  lower 
  down 
  its 
  waters 
  disappear 
  in 
  

   the 
  ground, 
  sinking 
  into 
  some 
  limestone 
  cavern, 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  

   reappear, 
  after 
  about 
  G 
  miles, 
  in 
  the 
  large 
  springs 
  at 
  Caledonia. 
  

   Either 
  of 
  these 
  barriers 
  might 
  well 
  discourage 
  a 
  quiet-loving 
  fish; 
  

   while 
  the 
  trout 
  and 
  its 
  active 
  associates 
  have 
  sometimes 
  passed 
  them, 
  

   else 
  we 
  should 
  not 
  find 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  waters 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  

   alone 
  form 
  the 
  fish 
  fauna. 
  This 
  problem 
  is 
  a 
  simple 
  one; 
  a 
  boy 
  

   could 
  work 
  it 
  out, 
  and 
  the 
  obvious 
  solution 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  satisfactory. 
  

  

  Since 
  those 
  days 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  fisherman 
  in 
  many 
  waters, 
  not 
  an 
  

   angler 
  exactly, 
  but 
  one 
  who 
  fishes 
  for 
  fish, 
  and 
  to 
  whose 
  net 
  nothing 
  

   large 
  or 
  small 
  ever 
  comes 
  amiss 
  ; 
  and 
  wherever 
  I 
  go 
  I 
  find 
  cases 
  like 
  

   this. 
  

  

  We 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  all 
  the 
  fishes 
  of 
  America 
  yet, 
  nor 
  all 
  those 
  well 
  

   that 
  we 
  have 
  named 
  and 
  know 
  by 
  sight; 
  still 
  this 
  knowledge 
  will 
  

   come 
  with 
  time 
  and 
  patience, 
  and 
  to 
  procure 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  comparatively 
  

   easy 
  task. 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  easy 
  to 
  ascertain 
  the 
  more 
  common 
  inhabitants 
  

   of 
  any 
  given 
  stream. 
  It 
  is 
  difficult, 
  however, 
  to 
  obtain 
  negative 
  

   results 
  which 
  are 
  really 
  results. 
  You 
  can 
  not 
  often 
  say 
  that 
  a 
  species 
  

   does 
  not 
  live 
  in 
  a 
  certain 
  stream. 
  You 
  can 
  only 
  affirm 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  

   3'et 
  been 
  found 
  there, 
  and 
  you 
  can 
  rarely 
  fish 
  in 
  any 
  stream 
  so 
  long 
  

   that 
  you 
  can 
  find 
  nothing 
  that 
  you 
  have 
  not 
  taken 
  before. 
  Still 
  

   more 
  difficult 
  is 
  it 
  to 
  gather 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  scattered 
  observations 
  into 
  

   general 
  statements 
  regarding 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  fishes. 
  The 
  facts 
  

   may 
  be 
  so 
  few 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  misleading, 
  or 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  con- 
  

   fusing; 
  and 
  the 
  writers 
  who 
  have 
  taken 
  up 
  this 
  subject 
  in 
  detail 
  

   have 
  found 
  both 
  these 
  difficulties 
  to 
  be 
  serious. 
  Whatever 
  general 
  

   propositions 
  we 
  may 
  maintain 
  must 
  be 
  stated 
  with 
  the 
  modifying 
  

   clause 
  of 
  " 
  other 
  things 
  being 
  equal 
  " 
  ; 
  and 
  other 
  things 
  are 
  never 
  

   quite 
  equal. 
  Doctor 
  Wilder's 
  saying 
  that 
  " 
  Nature 
  abhors 
  a 
  gener- 
  

   alization 
  " 
  is 
  especially 
  applicable 
  to 
  all 
  discussions 
  of 
  the 
  relations 
  

   of 
  species 
  to 
  environment. 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  problems, 
  of 
  course, 
  come 
  up 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  conti- 
  

   nents 
  and 
  in 
  all 
  groups 
  of 
  animals 
  or 
  plants; 
  but 
  most 
  that 
  I 
  shall 
  

   say 
  now 
  will 
  be 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  dispersal 
  of 
  fishes 
  in 
  

   the 
  fresh 
  waters 
  of 
  North 
  America. 
  The 
  broader 
  questions 
  of 
  the 
  

   boundaries 
  of 
  fauna) 
  and 
  of 
  faunal 
  areas 
  I 
  shall 
  bring 
  up 
  only 
  

   incidentally. 
  

  

  