3i6 Modern FishcuUure in Fresh and Salt Water. 



times and the fish then refuse all baits. I know noth- 

 ing of this. 



"Nostoc, or Nostochacex, as the quotation from the 

 Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission has it, is a low 

 form of vegetation which grows in fresh water and on 

 damp ground. It is jelly-like, and is composed of 

 threads which consist of globular cells, between a dozen 

 or more of which are larger cells, and these are thrown 

 off and float by thousands in the water. On land I 

 have seen masses of it in the swamps from 3 to 5 inches 

 in diameter, covered with jelly, and so like the egg- 

 masses of Amblystoma, or salamanders, which are often 

 improperly called 'lizards' — the true lizards have scales, 

 and do not live in water, but love the sun — that one 

 had to look twice to tell the difference. Nostoc is of a 

 bluish or greenish color, and the egg bunches referred 

 to are whitish, slightly opaque. There are many spe- 

 cies of Nostoc, but all have the characters given above. 



"The fresh-water sponges, as Mr. Van Cleef says, 

 throw off great quantities of spores and cloud the 

 water. These sponges also have many species, are 

 very tender and difficult to detach from wood or stone, 

 for preservation entire, because they are so tender. 

 Being animal, their decay often renders the water in 

 the reservoirs of cities very foul and 'fishy.' Then 

 people complain of the fish in the reservoirs, but live 

 fish do not pollute water." 



In Germany this condition of ponds is called ""was- 

 ser-bluthe" ; in France, "Fleurs d' Eau," and in Eng- 

 land "Blooming," or "Breaking," or "Cruddling." The 

 London Fishing Gazette. Mar. 11, 1899, in an article on 

 this is quoted : 



"At certain times in each year, generally in autumn, 

 th? Shropshire meres becom? turbid with these gre?tj 



