American Fisheries Society. 55 



found my way to Mackinac where 1 made examinations finding 

 only the same evidence of food in fish caught there. Later in the 

 stomach of a ten pound white fish caught on the south shore of 

 the peninsular, north of the Beaver Islands, I found some shells 

 of the genus Melania and Paludina, shells half an inch in length 

 and one-fourth inch in diameter, \n\i shallow water shells, the 

 hahitat of which is well known, hut I never was able to find the 

 smaller shells only in the stomachs of the whitefish. I am not 

 aware that they have ever been found in their native habitat, or 

 M'hat the vegetation is on which they feed. Of course it may be 

 begging the question to assume that they are vegetarians but the 

 natural sequence of life, so far as we can demonstrate it would 

 lead us to infer that such was the case and if it is, the fate of 

 this fish is to be determined by the growth and continuation of 

 this plant wherever and whatever it is. 



I think that man as a builder in organic life especially in 

 aquatic life will work along these lines. What is true of our 

 "unsalted seas" is true of the salt ones. And when in the future 

 the problem of life in the ocean shall be studied from this point 

 of view, some of the puzzling phenomena of ocean life may be 

 solved. The immense schools of migratory fish like the Macke- 

 rel, the shad and alewife. On what do they feed ? As they are 

 doubtlessly camivorovis and as we must "hark back" to the 

 vegetable world as the genesis from which all organic life pro- 

 ceeds. So in the future the province of man as a factor in 

 aquatic life may possibly be in sowing the fields of the ocean as 

 he today sows the fields of the land. 



DISCUSSION OF DR. PARKEIl's PAPER. 



Mr. Titcomb : I was very much interested in the doctor's re- 

 marks and I have often thought that it was unfortunate that we 

 could not show results and prove that they were the results of 

 artificial propagation. He has stated that it is possible with the 

 trout and has been demonstrated. The subject of the growth of 

 fishes under natural conditions is interesting. The fish culturist 

 is so frequently asked for information as to the growth of fishes 

 after being planted that I give the following statistics : 



In the spring of 1897 lake trout fry were planted in Big 

 Averill Pond in the town of Averill, Vermont. Each successive 



