88 TWENT.Y-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING 



It was not until the snow water began flowing into the spring 

 and from thence into the troughs, that the fry began to huddle 

 under the inflowing water and exhibit every sign of not having 

 sufQcient oxygen, but while, as an experiment, additional oxy- 

 gen was supplied in some of the troughs by providing addi- 

 tional inflows and artificial aeration, the most that could be 

 done was to break the huddling into as many groups as there 

 were inflows. The artificial aeration seemed to have very little 

 effect. Confinement in well aerated water outside the house 

 was also tried without result. 



The mortality began on February 26, on which dav more 

 than 50,000 died. Before March 1 over 350,000 were dead. In 

 less than ten days thereafter there was not a single one of the 

 entire hatching of eggs from the cultivated trout alive. 



During the blizzard the wild trout fry showed evident signs 

 of distress, but at no time to the same extent as the fry of the 

 cultivated trout, namely, to huddle at one end of the trough. 

 When they began to die, as they did at about the time the mor- 

 tality of the others was past its height, it was with all the evi- 

 dence of some well-defined disease, which attacked the gills, 

 which disease I am inclined to believe was induced by the 

 water being tainted by the other dying fish. 



I am thoroughly satisfied that the original cause of the 

 trouble at the Allentown station was due to too long-con- 

 tinued inbreeding, that the catastrophe was hastened by 

 overcrowding the troughs and a sudden supply of unaerated 

 water. Many premonitory things occurred during several pre- 

 ceding winters, for which other causes were assigned, but 

 which afterward became cumulative evidence showing a steady 

 lowering of vitality. For instance, the trout sent out from that 

 station for five years back were abnormally small at the" age 

 of four months, very little larger, in fact, than the two months 

 old fish hatched at the Corry or Western station. Moreover, 

 there were more complaints during the previous three years of 

 the number of dead fish from applicants than there were over 

 the fish received from the Corry station. During the winter 

 of 1897-98, more than half a million fry died at Allentown sta- 

 tion. This mortality was ascribed at the time to the warm 

 weather w^hich caused the eggs to hatch in thirty days, produc- 

 ing weak fish, but which now we believe to have been but the 

 precursor of the disaster which followed a year later. 



The casualties at the Allentown station were so great and 

 the matter was one of such widespread importance to fish cul- 

 turists, that I felt that other judgment than mine should be 

 given and other investigations be made. I therefore laid the 

 matter before the United States Fish Commission when the 

 trouble first openly manifested itself, and Commissioner Bow- 



