The Effects of a Drought 73 



stance, and a mud minnow had no food for 

 seven weeks, and had only lost two-fifths of 

 its weight when it died. As this is a period 

 longer than the duration of any drought on 

 record, when fish-sustaining streams were 

 aftually dry, it goes to show that this species 

 is better prepared than any other to accom- 

 modate itself to certain geological changes 

 when they come about. Curiously enough, 

 the mud minnow looks more like a fossil 

 than an ordinary brook minnow, is the sole 

 representative of its genus, and is the only 

 species of fresh-water fish found in both 

 Europe and America. 



While the drought destroyed much life, it 

 more largely deported it, and I have, in 

 many years of wandering about my home, 

 seen nothing more positively wonderful than 

 the promptness with which every nook and 

 corner was repopulated when the autumn 

 rains came. Vegetal as well as animal life 

 responded at once. The fish were promptly 

 in the brooks, the aquatic salamanders under 

 the flat stones, and the frogs in their places ; 

 and on many an afternoon of sunny October 

 days I heard their croaking, as if thankful 

 for the return of the old-time conditions. 



