880 FISHES. SALMONID^. 



out reference to the presence or absence of the females ; others stilt are of the opinion 

 that they precede only to wait for the females, and do not commence milting until 

 spawning begins. The latter opinion is nndonbtedly the trne one, for Mr. Milner has 

 established the fact that the act of spawning in the female and milting in the male is 

 carried on ac the same time, and with a slight though decided orgasm. The males hare 

 been accused of lingering for the purpose of feasting on the spawn, but this is contrary 

 to natore and uudoubtedly a slander. The most carefnl of observers assures me that the 

 males who linger oa the beds are employed in covering the spawn.'' 



" The White-fish has been known since the time of the earliest explorers as pre-emin- 

 ently a fine flavored fish. In fact, there are few table-fishes its equal. * * To be 

 appreciated in its falJest excellence, it should be taken fresh from the lake and broiled. 

 Father Marquette, Charlevoix, Sir John Richardson, explorers, who for months at a 

 time had to depend on the White-fish for their staple article of food, bore testimony in 

 their writings to the fact, that they never Inst their relish for it, and deemed it a 

 special excellence that the appetite never became cloyed with it." — Milner. 



Food — The food of the White-fish was for a long time an unsolved 

 problem, as nothing but slime is usually found in their stomachs. It is 

 now known that they feed mainly on small Crustacea and MoUusks in- 

 habiting deep waters, organisms which are digested in the stomachs of 

 those fishes taken in the pound nets, before the fishes are taken from the 

 water. 



Mr. Milner observes (Rept. Comm. Fish and Fisheries, 1872-73, p. 

 44): 



"To Dr. F. B Hoy, of Racine, we think, belongs the credit of first discovering the 

 character of their food. On opening the stomachs of numerous White-fish, he at first 

 failed to determine the character of the stomach-contents, nntil after washing the half- 

 digested mass in a basin of water, he found the sediment to be fall of small Crustacea, 

 whose existence iu the lake had never before been saspected . 



" My examination and preservation of the stomach contents from all quarters of the 

 lakes, confirmed Dr. Hoy's observations and discovered a few other small forms of life as 

 the food of the White fish. 



" The invertebrates found were, of Crustaceans, species of the families Gammaridce and 

 Mysidw ; of the MoUnsks, species of the genus Pitidiam; and certain insect-larvse." 



The White fish very rarely takes the hook, and is in no sense a game- 

 fish. It is taken in all the great Lakes in very great numbers, formerly 

 with seines, but now chiefly by means of gill- nets and pound- nets. Among 

 the fishes of Ohio, it is the most important both as to quantity taken and 

 quality as food. Attempts at artificial propogation have been very suc- 

 cessful. The fullest and best account of the habits of the White-fish is 

 to be found in the Report of the U. S. Comm.. of Fish and Fisheries, 

 1872 3, pp. 43-64, written by the late Prof. Jas. W. Milner. To this 

 report, the reader is referred for further details. 



