292 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Surveij 



ingly healthy. And yet, on second thought, a region where the 

 various kinds of hfe are well suited to their environment and 

 properly balanced can be made fully as profitable a subject of 

 study as one filled with contamination and disease. 



A remedy or preventative is always of more value than the dis- 

 ease which it cures; indeed, the only true incentive for the study 

 of any disease is the hope of thereby finding an eff'ective cure or 

 preventative. Hence the careful investigation of such conditions 

 as prevail at Lake Maxinkuckee ought to reveal the proper balance 

 between parasite and host, and show how the former are prevented 

 from multiplying fast enough to become dangerous. With such 

 a purpose the following observations have been recorded, and it is 

 hoped they may also serve as a basis for future w^ork along the 

 same lines. 



The physical and general ecological conditions obtaining at 

 Lake Maxinkuckee are considered in detail in another portion of 

 this report. The conditions which make possible the abundant fish- 

 life of the lake are fully considered — the depth of the lake, the char- 

 acter of the water, the remarkable richness and profusion of plant 

 life, and the abundance and variety of many groups of aquatic 

 animals — and need not be repeated here. 



Of the 64 species of fishes known to inhabit Lake Maxinkuckee 

 and immediately connecting waters 27 species were studied by the 

 writer with relation to their food and parasites. Among these are 

 included practically all the food and game fishes of the lake (at 

 least 12 species) and also a considerable number of minnows and 

 darters, of which there are in the lake no fewer than 10 species. 



This wealth of small fishes bears a most important relation to 

 the general economy of the larger food and game fishes, as will 

 be seen in the following considerations. 



In the first place, they furnish food directly to the larger fishes, 

 the majority of which are carnivorous. Ten of the species cer- 

 tainly depend upon these small fish for a portion of their food. 

 And these ten include all the game fishes of the lake except the 

 crappie and the bluegill. For the difi'erent kinds of bass and 

 perch there is no bait that can compare with a lively minnow. And 

 the best of the artificial baits are made in imitation of the min- 

 now, either directly simulating its form (Hildebrandt), or indi- 

 rectly imitating the gleam of its body darting through the water 

 (the various trolling spoons) . Then, too, every fisherman knows 

 by repeated experience that it is not the food fish alone that are 

 partial to minnow bait. Many of the worthless fish are only too 



