PROPAGATION OF FISH. 235 



birds, and the larvge of beetles and devil's darning nee- 

 dles, and other water flies before they have developed into 

 the perfect insects do their share of damage. A very 

 large percentage fail to become impregnated, the current 

 of water probably washing away the milt of the male be- 

 fore the Sperms could enter the eggs. Mr. Livingston 

 Stone says that in digging some spawn of the California 

 salmon, deposited by the parents in the natural manner, in 

 the McCloud River, he found only eight per cent, vital- 

 ized. 



For almost thirty days after birth the salmon or trout 

 eats nothing, but is sustained by the absorption of the 

 stomach or what is more accurately termed the umbilical 

 sac. All this while, as may be readily understood, he is 

 awkward and hampered in his movements, an easy prey 

 to any hungry enemy. Appreciating his position he 

 strives to hide himself during this period ; he crawls into 

 holes and under stones, and often hides so effectually that 

 when he has been artificially hatched his anxious foster 

 father, the breeder, never discovers what has become of 

 him, unless his breeding troughs are well made and free 

 from worm holes. But in this, his hour of weakness, his 

 enemies never desert him, they stand by him from first to 

 last. At that stage of his development every miserable 

 shiner, dace and minnow is his master, a very Giant Des- 

 pair by comparison with his feebleness. 



If he outlives all these perils and attains a marketable 

 size, man steps in. Man takes the best and so upsets the 

 equipoise of nature, which up to that time had by its 

 checks and balances kept all varieties of living creatures 

 at an established relative proportion. For every salmon 

 he eats there are ten thousand fewer eggs for the water 



