480 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



has been a subject of much speculation, and at- 

 tempts have been made to account for it in differ- 

 ent ways. 8ome have supposed that the nume- 

 rous bridges, mill dams, &.c. which have been 

 thrown across their head waters have prevented 

 their ascension in the season of spawning, and di- 

 verted them to other rivers where these obstruc- 

 tions do not exist. Others attribute it to the con- 

 tamination of the waters of their tributary streams, 

 in consequence of being the common sewers of 

 dye-houses, bleacheries, tanneries and work-shops 

 employed in the prosecution of manufactures and 

 the arts. Another class have supposed that the 

 disturbance of the water, by the revolution of 

 wheels used in propelling steamboats, has driven 

 them to seek quietude in waters undisturbed by 

 the commerce and enterprise of man. 



If the cause is to be found in either of the fore- 

 going suppositions it must be in the first, as i.s evi- 

 dent from the fact, that the effect was produced 

 before either of the others existed. Though not 

 absolutely certain, it is, however, more than pro- 

 bable that the artificial obstructions in these rivers 

 and the numerous rivulets by which they are fed, 

 have prevented the salmon from ascending them 

 to deposite their spawn, and consequently ren- 

 dered the race extinct. If this be true, it follows 

 as a matter of course that these, and all other ri- 

 vers, may be replenished with them, with great 

 ease, provided the obstructions are removed, and 

 a free passage given them. 



There is no doubt that the fowls of the air and 

 the fishes of the sea are subject to the restraining: 

 laws of nature, which keep within their own 

 limits the whole animal creation. The srreat con- 

 trolling law of nature — the unconquerable love of 

 home — extends to the brute creation, and exerts as 

 powerful an influence upon irrational as it does 

 upon rational beings : hence migratory, as well as 

 .stationary species of fish, never wander from 

 home voluntarily. This doctrine is supported by 

 too many fi;icts to be questioned. Take for in- 

 stance, the codfish which inhabit the banks lying 

 between the 41st and 4.5th parallels of latifad(^ 

 So different and uniform are the fish taken on the 

 different banks, that an individual conversant with 

 them, finds no more difficulty in distinfjuishing 

 between them, than a butcher docs in distmguislv 

 ing the flesh of a bullock from that of a s^vine. 

 The states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- 

 necticut, and New York, form a continuous line 

 on the coast, and their maratime cities are but a 

 short distance from each other; and yet their fish 

 markets are supplied with very different species of 

 fish. The same is true with resj>ect to the mid- 

 dle and southern states. This can be accounted ibr 

 on no other sujiposition than they are restrained 

 .fo their own waters and feeding ground, by some 

 law of nature to which they are subjected. 



It is also equally evident that migratory fish in- 

 variably return to the rivers in Vv'hich they were 

 spawned. Take for proof the fact that Ihe shad 

 caught in the Schuylkill are uniformly about one- 

 third larger and of much more delicious flavor 

 than those taken in the Delaware. The schulls 

 ascend the bay together, separating about Hvo 

 miles below the city of Philadelphia', each taking 

 its own river and in a few hours fidling into the 

 nets of the fishermen. The same is rrue in re- 

 spect to other contiguous rivers in New England. 

 But we are not without the light of^ experience on 



this subject. In the early settlement of the town 

 of Hingham, bordering on Massachusetts Bay, a 

 pond in the interior was plentifully stocked with 

 aiewives ; but subsequently deserted on account 

 of the artificial obstructions thrown across the ri- 

 ver running fi-om it into the bay. A knowledge 

 of this fhct, and a want of a supply of this kind 

 of fish, induced the inhabitants of the town about 

 a century since to make an attempt to replenish it. 

 This Avas accomplished by opening fish ways 

 through the mill dams, and conveymg alewives to 

 the pond in the season of spawning. The conse- 

 quence was, the fish continued annually to in- 

 crease rapidlj^, until it was found that the expense 

 incurred in deepening the river, and the damage 

 sustained by opening the mill dams more than 

 counterbalanced the advantages derived fi'om 

 the fish, and of course it was abandoned. But 

 the experiment was sufficiently tried to prove its 

 entire practicability — tor even to the present time, 

 some of the fish make their annual return to the 

 mouth of the river, and manifest a strong disposi- 

 tion to ascend. 



There is, therefore, but little doubt that all ri- 

 vers, having their sources in lakes, ponds or other 

 still waters, may be stocked or replenished with 

 salmon, and other species ot fish, at com|)arative- 

 ly trifling trouble and expense. The importance 

 of the subject ought to ensure it a thorough ex- 

 amination and faithful trial. 



SUGAR FROM INDIAN CORN. 



M. Pallas lately presented to the Academie des 

 Sciences of Pari;?, a sample of this substance, ex- 

 tracted from the stem of the plant, which his 

 been found to contain nearly six per cent, of syrup 

 boiled to forty degrees, a part of which will not 

 crystallize before fructification ; but it condenses 

 and acquires more consistency from that period to 

 the state of complete maturity. The most favor- 

 able time to obtain the greatest quantity of sugar 

 is immediately after the maturity and gathering of 

 the fruit. The litter left after the extraction of su- 

 gar is capital to fijcd cattle, or to make jiacking pa- 

 per. 



From ilic Aicaiia of Science. 

 GAS LIGHTING. 



On Feb. 28, at the Royal Institution, afier a 

 brief sketch of the origin and progress of gas-illu- 

 mination in London and its environs, ]\lr. Brande 

 proceeded (o details connected with the present 

 slate of the manuflicture, illustrating the various 

 sources of its extension and improvement. He 

 began by adverting to the curious and complicaletl 

 products resulting from the. destructive distillation 

 of pit-coal ; the principal elements of which he 

 stated to be carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitro- 

 gen, in conjunction with sulphur and iron derived 

 chielly from pyrites; these substances, by their 

 mutual action during the ajiplication of a heat 

 gradually raised to redness, yield olefiant gas, 

 carbnretted hydrogen, hydiocarbonous vapors, 

 naphtha, naphthalin, tar, carbonic acid and oxide, 

 cyanogen, hydrocyanic and sul|)hocyanic acids, 

 sulphuretted hydrogen, ammonia, and several of" 

 its salts, water, and certain other products, of 



