in Michigan, it being generally thought that while the lakes 

 were filled with ice that the temperature of the water would be 

 so low that there would be no organisms upon which the young 

 fish could feed, and, consequently, starvation would ensue. 

 To test this question Superintendent Marks directed the over- 

 seer, Mr. A. W. Marks, of Petoskey Station, of the Michigan 

 Fish Commission, to institute certain experiments and to report 

 the same to the Board. The report is as follows : 



On March i, 1887, a small screen or crate made of wood 

 and wire netting, three feet long and four and a half in diameter, 

 in the form of a cylinder, was placed through the ice in Little 

 Traverse Bay, in 100 feet of water, and 10,000 whitefish placed 

 in the crate and lowered to the bottom with a strong rope. On 

 March 5 the crate was raised and the young fry were nearly all 

 alive, only six dead ones found. On March 10 the crate was 

 raised again and twelve dead fish were found. The fry had 

 turned to a light brown, the yolk sac was nearly absorbed and 

 the fish seemed in good health. On March 12 the crate was 

 again raised and some of the fry taken out and brought home ; 

 also a jug of water from the bottom and another from the top 

 was taken. One drop of this was placed under a strong glass 

 and life could be seen very plentiful. The stomach of one of 

 the small fish and a drop of the water was placed under the 

 glass and it was found to be full of diatoms and vegetable 

 matter. The diatoms seemed to be working around the small 

 pieces of vegetable matter ; the sac of the fry had been absorbed 

 and they were feeding upon the vegetable matter and the ani- 

 malcule. On March 14 the crates were again lifted, and the fish 

 seemed to be doing well in about the same condition as on the 

 1 2th. About 100 dead fish were found on the 14th. The crate 

 was lifted on the i8th ; no change could be seen. On the 24th 

 the crate was again lifted, and some of the young had turned 

 to a light green, the color of a herring a year old. On March 

 24 another crate was sunk, containing 5,000 fry. This was 

 lifted on the 28th, and two dead fish were found in the crate. 

 At this date the first crate sunk contained fish forty-five days 

 old that had been under the ice twenty-eight days. About the 

 last of March the ice moved out of the bay, thus preventing 



