444 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



them alive, as it is well known that the gastric juice of birds is 

 not sufficiently strong to destroy the life of this serpent fish. 



I have known perch to die in iny pond from the bursting of 

 their sound or air bladders, caused by loitering in shallow water 

 for prey during an intensely hot day in August, and have, in some 

 instances, saved their lives, when the bladder protruded from 

 their mouths, by plunging them into cold water, the eflect of which 

 was a sudden condensation of the air. 



The Striped Bass^ {Peixa Labrax,) is a sea fish, chiefly found 

 near the mouths of rivers and arms of the sea, where they remain 

 more constantly than any other ocean fish. They are readily 

 known from the fact, that they have eight jiarallel lines on the 

 sides, like narrow tape; the scales are very large and lustrous, 

 resembling metal; the eyes are white, head long, and under jaw 

 projects beyond the upper; it is, without doubt, the most beautiful 

 of all our native fishes. I have been enabled, after many fruitless 

 attempts, to breed this magnificent fish in fresh water, where they 

 have now become abundant. He is a bold biting fish, except in 

 winter, when he becomes very abstemious, and will only bite in 

 the middle of the day, when Jhe weather is moderate, and con- 

 tinues to take tlie hook until the mulberry tree blossoms The 

 day before you intend to fish on bass, sink a glass bottle in the 

 vicinity of their haunts, with small fish in it, covered with a piece 

 of pierced parchment or linen cloth; this w^l attract them in 

 large numbers, and by dropping your line in its vicinity, baited 

 with similar small fish, you may take many of them. They spawn 

 throughout March; the female, followed by the male, opens a fur- 

 row in the gravel, and deposits her spawn; the male follows, 

 ejecting milt upon it, and at the same time covers the furrow with 

 his tail. This operation is performed with great rapidity, and in 

 the most scientific manner possible, so much so that no trace of 

 the fish is left behind to indicate that the gravel has been moved. 

 This may justly challenge the admiration of all beholders. 



The Shad ( Clupea alosa.) The most interesting of all fish to me is the 

 common Shad, which may be regarded as a source of commercial 

 wealth and national industry, and a miracle of nature, in its 

 multiplication and continuance. Notwithstanding thousands of 



