66 TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING 



science, practice comes before theorj', and this is usually true 

 of human affairs. In the lake fisheries, matters have taken 

 the same course, and, so far, without demonstrable success. 

 We must, it seems to me, seek the explanation for this lack of 

 success in two conditions. 



In the first place, the problem of the lakes is so vastly com- 

 plicated that it is difficult for the student or scientific man to 

 even s'ucss, in the present condition of knowledge, what should 

 be done toward the solution of any fisheries problem. In the 

 second place, it requires a great length of time and large sums 

 of money to learn by experience alone what is necessary. To 

 put the matter in another way, we have not the data at hand 

 from which to decide inductively what it is best to do in any 

 given problem of the lakes — while, on the other hand, we have 

 not, as yet, had either time or money to find out, as the physi- 

 cian usually does, by the cut and try process — that is, by simple 

 experience, what it is best to do. 



The question then seems to me to be, since the fisheries 

 problems of the lakes are unsettled, whether it is best to spend 

 money and time in trying to settle them by experience, ig- 

 noring other methods, or whether it is best first to determine 

 scientifically the factors entering into our problem. Person- 

 ally, I believe that in this matter progress by experience is, 

 to an unusual degree, a matter of chance, like hunting for 

 gold. It is costly, time-consuming and dangerous, and may 

 lead to nothing or worse. On the other hand, to investigate 

 the biology of the lakes is to make progress toward the solu- 

 tion of the problems of the fisheries. This progress may be 

 slow, but it is, in the very nature of things, certain. I believe 

 that such scientific investigation has become a necessity to 

 further progress. 



If this be granted, it will at once be asked by those whose 

 aims are practical, whether it is not enough to investigate 

 practical problems as they arise. It may be granted that the 

 failure of a certain fishery or the prevalence of disease among 

 certain fish is a matter demanding scientific investigation, and 

 yet it may be thought that any more extended investigation 

 is a matter that does not really concern the fisheries, and that 

 may, therefore, properly be left to the unaided efforts of men 

 of science. Those who hold this view^ should not forget that 

 the inhabitants of the lake are so intimately related to one 

 another and are so directly influenced by the physical condi- 

 tions of the lakes that a consideration of any one of these 

 things is not merelj' likely, but almost certain to involve the 

 others. An investigation into the causes of decrease in the 

 whitefish may involve a study of the chemistry and bacteri- 

 ology of the water or of the physical properties of the under- 



