﻿THE 
  MUSSEL 
  RESOURCES 
  OF 
  THE 
  ILLINOIS 
  RIVER, 
  

  

  By 
  Ernest 
  Danglade, 
  

   Scientific 
  Assistant, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Fisheries. 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION. 
  

  

  The 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Fisheries 
  conducted 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  investigations 
  of 
  

   the 
  Illinois 
  River, 
  principally 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  months 
  of 
  the 
  

   period 
  extending 
  from 
  1907 
  to 
  1912. 
  The 
  work 
  was 
  earned 
  on 
  

   chiefly 
  with 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  mussel 
  fishery; 
  the 
  kinds, 
  the 
  quality 
  and 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  shells, 
  and 
  also 
  the 
  general 
  economic 
  conditions 
  of 
  the 
  

   river 
  were 
  the 
  important 
  points 
  under 
  consideration. 
  From 
  1907 
  

   to 
  1909 
  the 
  work 
  was 
  in 
  chaise 
  of 
  Harvey 
  L. 
  Freeland, 
  and 
  during 
  

   1912 
  the 
  mussel 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  entire 
  river 
  was 
  continued 
  by 
  

   the 
  author 
  and 
  Jolin 
  A. 
  Danglade. 
  For 
  several 
  years 
  the 
  Illinois 
  

   State 
  Laboratory 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  with 
  some 
  assistance 
  from 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Fisheries, 
  conducted 
  biological 
  and 
  

   physical 
  investigations 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  under 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  Prof. 
  

   S. 
  A. 
  Forbes. 
  

  

  The 
  principal 
  sheU-producing 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  are 
  the 
  

   Kankakee,'* 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  examined 
  and 
  reported 
  upon; 
  the 
  Fox 
  

   the 
  report 
  of 
  which 
  by 
  Jolin 
  A. 
  Eldridge 
  accompanies 
  this 
  paper; 
  

   the 
  Spoon 
  and 
  the 
  Sangamon, 
  brief 
  accounts 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  given 
  in 
  

   the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  report. 
  

  

  The 
  United 
  States 
  biological 
  station, 
  situated 
  at 
  Fan-port, 
  Iowa, 
  

   in 
  charge 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Robert 
  E. 
  Coker, 
  furnished 
  valuable 
  information 
  

   and 
  suggestions, 
  which 
  were 
  of 
  great 
  assistance 
  to 
  the 
  work. 
  The 
  

   table 
  of 
  the 
  commercial 
  appraisal 
  of 
  shells, 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  shell 
  expert, 
  

   given 
  on 
  page 
  11, 
  shows 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  shells 
  as 
  to 
  luster, 
  texture, 
  

   and 
  number 
  of 
  gross 
  of 
  blanks 
  per 
  ton, 
  from 
  various 
  representative 
  

   stations 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  map 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  and 
  Fox 
  Rivers, 
  at 
  

   the 
  end 
  of 
  this 
  paper, 
  gives 
  the 
  principal 
  tributaries, 
  towns, 
  and 
  

   cities 
  along 
  the 
  com-se, 
  and 
  shows 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  the 
  islands, 
  lakes, 
  

   sloughs, 
  bays, 
  etc. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  intended 
  principally 
  for 
  the 
  

   benefit 
  of 
  those 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  pearl-button 
  industry 
  either 
  as 
  manu- 
  

   facturers 
  or 
  mussel 
  fishermen, 
  and 
  for 
  others 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  de- 
  

   velopment 
  of 
  the 
  mussel 
  resources 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  a 
  Wilson, 
  Charles 
  B., 
  and 
  Clark, 
  H. 
  Walton: 
  The 
  mussel 
  fauna 
  of 
  the 
  Kankakee 
  Basin. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Bureau 
  

   of 
  Fisheries 
  Document 
  No. 
  758. 
  1912. 
  

  

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