AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST. 173 
to cultivation. As there are pools of water left in every com- 
munity, the animals are not entirely dispossessed of breeding 
places. On the whole, it does not seem probable that the am- 
phibians have greatly diminished in number as a result of the 
settling of the State. 
FISHES. 
Fishes, both large and small, were abundant in the waters 
of Indiana during the early days of settlement. The shovel- 
nosed sturgeon, paddle fish, buffalo, alligator-gar and many 
others grew to considerable size and contended for supremacy 
in the rivers and streams of the southern part of the State, 
while muskallunge, whitefish, lake sturgeon, cisco and others 
were abundant in the northern lakes. The pioneers speared, 
gigged, trapped and seined them without let or hind- 
rance. Naturally, the best time to capture many of 
them was while they were ascending the smaller streams 
to spawn. By the light of torches or blazing bon- 
fires along the bank many pounds of fish could be 
speared or gigged in a single night. But they were often 
taken before spawning and the next generation was lost. The 
only possible result was the diminution of many of the larger 
species. 
Large fish live for the most part upon the smaller ones. 
How have these fared? Have they been given added oppor- 
tunities as some of the smaller birds and mammals have? 
The problem is not by any means the same, for the fish 
fauna is closely dependent upon the character of the streams 
.as well as food and protection. In the northern part of the 
State there were many lakes, some of them quite deep, some 
mere marshes, but all with more or less of shallow, reedy 
margins. The outlets were generally sluggish and consequent- 
ly more or less choked by aquatic plants. The shallow parts 
of the lakes are easily drained and make exceedingly fertile 
land. In many places lake levels have been lowered several 
feet by cutting ditches and straightening the channels of the 
outlets. At other points, entire lakes or marshes have | 
drained in the same way; the most notable instances being 
Beaver Lake and English Lake. The water area in this re- 
gion has therefore been considerably lessened and drainage 
has often progressed rapidly enough to destroy large colonies 
of aquatic plants and animals, thereby lessening the food sup- 
ply for the fishes and occasionally killing fishes themselves. 
