(]XXVin REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



SACRAMENTO BASIN. 

 In conj auction with special studies of the salmon in the Sacramento 

 Basin, elsewhere referred to, Mr. Eutter and Mr. Chamberlain made 

 extensive collections of the fishes and secured interesting new data 

 concerning the distribution, abundance, etc., of the fishes in the various 

 parts of the basin ; several undescribed species were obtained. About 

 25 days in August and September were mainly devoted to visiting the 

 streams tribntary to Pitt Kiver and the headwaters of Feather River 

 and Mill Creek. Collections were also made in Goose Lake, Clrasshop- 

 per Lake, Eagle Lake, and Susan River, on the road between the head- 

 waters of Pitt and Feather rivers. 



MUSSELS OP MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 

 The business of utilizing the shells of the native fresh-water mussels 

 (Naiades) in the manufacture of buttons has been established in the 

 United States within a comparatively few years, the headijuarters of 

 the industry being in Iowa and Illinois, in the basin of the Mississippi 

 River. Tlie rapid increase in the business has resulted in extraordi- 

 narily active fishing operations, and has led to the fear that the available 

 supply of shells might become exhausted. At the request of a number 

 of persons who were interested in the industry along a part of the 

 Mississippi River, the Commission undertook an investigation having 

 for its object the determination of the ])resent conditions and methods, 

 the mussels utilized, and the measures, if any, necessary to the mainte- 

 nance of the mussel su])ply. The writer was assigned to this inquiry, 

 and in July, 1898, visited the centers of the business. Special attention 

 was given to the species of mussels utilized in button making, their 

 peculiarities, abundance, distribution, destruction by natural agencies, 

 and the efi'ects of fishing on the supply. A report* which embodies the 

 results of this investigation is printed in the Bulletin of the Commission 

 for 1898. The same volume also contains another timely paper on this 

 subject, namely, "The pearly fresh-water mussels of the United States, 

 their habits, enemies, and diseases, with suggestions for their protec- 

 tion," by Mr. Charles T. Simpson, of the U. S. jS^ational Museum. 



Of the hundreds of species of mussels inhabiting the Mississippi 

 basin, comparatively few are adapted for buttons, and at the present 

 time only about a dozen species are used, but other valuable species 

 exist in various streams to which the button-makers may eventually 

 resort. The requirements of a shell, from the standpoint of the button- 

 manufacturer, are sufficient thickness, uniform color of the various 

 strata, and toughness. The following species fulfill these conditions 

 and are now utilized at the button factories on the Mississippi, the 

 common names being those employed by the fishermen and factory- men : 

 "Niggerhead" (Quadrula ebena), "bluejioint" [Quadrula undulata), 

 "yellow sandshell" or "yellow-back" {LampsiUs anodontoides), "slough 

 sandshell" (LampsiUs fallaciosus)^ "mucket" (LampsiUs Ugamentiniis), 



* The mussel fishery and pearl-buttou industiy of the Mississippi River. By Hugh 

 M. Smith. 



