426 Biology in America 



ment was induced to establish the U. S. Fish Commission 

 in 1871, under the leadership of the late Professor Baird, 

 whose name occupies so prominent a place among the makers 

 of American biology. In 1903 the Commission became the 

 Bureau of Fisheries in the newly organized Department of 

 Commerce and Labor. 



To describe in detail the work of the Bureau since its in- 

 ception would in itself require a small library. All that can 

 be done here is to touch briefly on a few of its activities il- 

 lustrating the achievements of biology in the conservation 

 and creation of wealth. Fish propagation was not one of 

 the functions included in the original program of the Com- 

 mission, but was undertaken by it shortly after its incep- 

 tion, and has since become its most important service. The 

 first fishes propagated were the shad, Atlantic salmon and 

 the whitefish of the Great Lakes. The success of these early 

 efforts has caused the extension of the practise to most of our 

 important food and game fishes. In 1921 the number of eggs, 

 young and adults of some fifty species of fish and the lob- 

 ster distributed by the Bureau totalled 4,962,489,405. At 

 least that is the figure given in its annual report. To at- 

 tempt to estimate to units so inconceivably large a number is 

 in the nature of the case an absurdity. Five billion in round 

 numbers would probably be as nearly accurate as the figure 

 given. We cannot here describe the various methods em- 

 ployed in propagating these many species. To illustrate the 

 methods of the Bureau however, we may describe its work 

 in the propagation of the Pacific salmon. 



There are five species of salmon found on our Pacific Coast, 

 which were described as early as 1768 by the naturalist-ex- 

 plorer Steller, and a Eussian investigator with the appalling 

 name of Krascheninikov. Since the life history of each 

 differs only in minor details, we may tell the story of all in 

 giving that of the principal one, which passes under several 

 aliases, namely, "king," "quinnat," "chinook," "spring," 

 "tyee," "Columbia River," "Sacramento," "tchaviche" and 

 last and worst of all Onchorhynchus tschawytscha. The 

 "king" salmon occurs on both coasts of the Pacific from 

 California and China north to Behring Straits. The aver- 

 age weight is twenty-two pounds, but one giant was taken 

 in Alaska in 1909 weighing 101 pounds minus the head. 

 During the winter the fish sojourn in the sea, but in early 

 spring they slowly gather in the rivers, especially the large 

 streams like the Sacramento, Columbia and Yukon, and begin 

 the long and arduous journey to their breeding grounds, 

 which in the Yukon may be over 2,000 miles from the sea. 

 In the ascent of the rivers they perform prodigious feats, 



