72 The Fungus of Salmon Disease. 



many diseased fish had been seen in the locality, and it was 

 quite impossible to take them by angling. When the fish were 

 landed it was found that only a small proportion of them were 

 actually diseased. Many of the fish were very fine ones, and 

 they were of all sorts — large salmon and grisle — some fresh from 

 the sea, others brown, thin, and generally attenuated, as such 

 fish become by a long sojourn in fresh water. Some of the best 

 and freshest run fish were the worst attacked, while several 

 long, brown fish were quite clean ; and yet these fish had probably 

 been all together for some days at least. After their violent 

 struggles in the net the salmon were all well cleaned of the 

 fungoid outergrowth, and a tremendous crop of spores must 

 have been sent down the river. I was allowed to take some 

 pieces of diseased skin with me for intended cultivation, but, 

 strange as it may appear, could obtain no fungoid development 

 from them— they had been so thoroughly cleaned by the fishes' 

 struggles ; and yet I heard of no trout becoming diseased, and 

 they were there in plenty, as, by kind permission, I myself 

 fished the river shortly afterwards, and had good sport with 

 fairly large fish. Mr. Murray, who conducted some very in- 

 teresting experiments for Professor Huxley, says that to ino- 

 culate healthy fish they must be stroked or rubbed on the 

 epidermis with the fungus, so that the spores will stick ; and I 

 myself have had fish living healthy in water to which the 

 spores of the disease were intentionally added. 



There is an interesting experiment contained in Mr. Sterling's 

 paper on Salmon Disease. Having obtained some live min- 

 nows, he added to the water in which they were living some 

 pieces of salmon skin with the fungoid growth in full develop- 

 ment upon them, and watched the result. The minnows, in- 

 stead of waiting for the fungus to attack them, actually started 

 to eat it, and nibbled away at it as long as they were allowed. 

 They seemed to enjoy it, and there were no disastrous after- 

 effects ; the fish continued healthy. If it be accepted that the 

 fungus can assimilate dead animal matter without of necessity 

 attacking live, healthy fish, some explanation of its periodic 



