The horned dace (Notropis cornutus) of 

 the beautiful fin^ also, though very rare in 

 the canal, the dainty satin fin {N. analos- 

 tanus) and the little minnows N. bifrena- 

 tus and N. procne if these two be not one 

 and the same species. Here also occurs 

 the Oswego or large-mouth bass (Microp- 

 terus salmoides) in occasional isolation ; its 

 nearest cousin the small-mouth black bass 

 CM. dolomieu) is very scarce, even for 

 while a perch (Perca flavescens) is caught, 

 while the rock bass (Ambloplites rupcs- 

 tris) is almost as common as the ordinary 

 sunfish. Along the weedy edges is found 

 in plenty that little gem, the brown or 

 spotted fin sunfish {Enneacanthus glorio- 

 sus). Not so common is the tadpole, 

 stone cat or "mad tom" (Schilbeodes 

 f/i^rintis) and indeed very rare S. insignis. 

 The long-eared sunfish {Lepomis auritis), 

 fairly plentiful and one of our most beau- 

 tiful fishes, is always welcome and repays 

 its keeper by its robustness. 



The coppernose or blue gill sunfish (L. 

 palUdus) is found only as a rarity, and 

 while other fishes from the interior of the 

 State come down the canal, this fish, for 

 some reason, travels this way only excep- 

 tionally. The summit level of the canal 

 is Lake Hopatcong, 926 feet over tide, the 

 main feeder next to this comes from Green- 

 wood Lake, some twenty miles away. All 

 fishes therefor which occur in these two 

 lakes are likely to be found in the canal, 

 though some appear very rarely. Among 

 these are silver chub {Semotilus cor- 

 poralis) and the creek chub (S. atromacu- 

 latus). 



I'ar too common are the pickerel, the 

 bloodhounds of the rivers, Lucius relicula- 

 tus and L. americanus. The little tesselated 

 darter (Bolcosoma nigrum ohnstedi) flits 

 like a ghost over the sandy inclines, occa- 

 sionally associated with very young brook 

 suckers (Catostomus commcrsonii). Cal- 

 ico bass, blacknosed dace, mud minnows 

 and several other fish are iiardly ever 

 found in the canal though tliey occur in 



neighboring waters. Turning from the 

 fishes we find the frisky little newt, our 

 only truly aquatic salamander iDiemycty- 

 lus viridescens) , usually among the plants, 

 and what fine plumes of milfoil {Myrio- 

 plyllum spicaium and M. verticillatum 

 one may find in the spots which originally 

 were swampy places and now are pools, 

 often quite deep. 



Tlie pond weeds, especially the broad- 

 leaved {Polamogeton amplifolius^ , the 

 perfoliate (P. perfoliatus) and others soon 

 grow to dense thickets, also the Anachnris 

 and J'allisneria spiralis, affording shelter 

 and spawning fields for all sorts of ani- 

 mals. Besides the common floating and 

 climbing snails Physa, Lyinnaea, Planorbis 

 and others, are also found the burrowing 

 ground snails, of which Melantho decisa 

 and Goniobasis virginica are the most 

 usual. Mussels, too, are common in the 

 muddy bottom. After walking and fishing 

 along the canal for many an hour, the close 

 of day would find us often miles away 

 from railroad or trolley car, and steps had 

 to be retraced along the same path. For 

 ease of operations in fishing, the canal can- 

 not be excelled, so that ladies on occasion 

 were in the parties, enjoying the outing as 

 mucli as the men. On such trips, of course, 

 lunch is part of the outfit, and a plain 

 meal under such circumstances never lacks 

 flavor, and is eaten with such relish as 

 would make dyspeptics envious. But 

 then no true lover of nature has time ever 

 to become dyspeptic. 



The members of the New York and 

 Brooklyn societies would regretfully see 

 the old canal used for anything but a 

 waterway, and would use all their good en- 

 deavor to help along tl»e movement to 

 preserve it. Anyone wlio has seen the 

 fleets of the canoeists glide over the canal 

 on a bright Sunday morning, or who has 

 seen the lovers strolling on its banks, will 

 agree with the aquarists, that the old canal 

 sliould for all time become a j)ublic pleas- 

 ure ground. 



16 



