FISH BROUGHT TO HAWAIL 409 
raised. Mr. Alvin Seale, an assistant of the U. 8. Bureau of Fisheries, was 
chosen to do the work, and with an advance of $500 started in July, 1905, from 
Stanford University to the southern United States. He proceeded to Seabrook, 
near Galveston, Texas, where he found top minnows in large numbers. They 
were swarming in all the stagnant waters at sea level, as well as in various 
ditches, ponds, and standing pools. Mr. Seale found that mosquitoes were very 
plentiful about Seabrook, but after careful study he convinced himself that they 
did not breed at all extensively in the bodies of water containing the fish, but 
in temporary and artificial breeding-places such as isolated pools, tubs, and tin 
cans, not accessible to fish. Dr. Jordan had advised the collection of fish of the 
following genera: Mollinesia, Adinia, Gambusia, and Fundulus, all members 
of the family Pceciliide, the top minnows. Mr. Seale made careful examina- 
tions of the stomach contents of the minnows of the genera recommended by 
Dr. Jordan. These stomach contents were found to consist largely of larve of 
various insects including those of mosquitoes, of the egg masses of mosquitoes, 
of minute crustacea, and of some vegetation. The fish of the genus Gambusia 
were found to be the best insect feeders. Careful experiments were made, using 
10-gallon milk cans, in order to determine the conditions under which the fish 
could be successfully transported to Hawaii. These experiments included ob- 
servations on temperature of the water and on changing the water, and it 
was ascertained that the best results could be obtained by transporting them 
in water of the normal temperature. The three most abundant species, 
Gambusia affinis, Fundulus grandis and Mollinesia latipennis were then 
collected and about 75 were placed in each can, a 20-gallon tank full of 
water being taken along as a supply reservoir. Mr. Seale left Seabrook on 
September 4, 1905. On the journey the fish were fed sparingly every morning 
at 8 o’clock on prepared fish food, finely ground liver or hard-boiled eggs. At 
half-past nine half of the water in each can was drawn off from the bottom, thus 
cleaning the cans by removing uneaten food and excrement. An equal amount 
of fresh water was added. At noon the cans were aérated by means of a large 
bicycle pump, a sponge being tied over the end of the hose to separate the air 
into fine currents. At four in the afternoon, two gallons of water were drawn 
off from the bottom and two gallons of fresh water put in, and the aération was 
repeated just before bedtime. Careful tests of water at each place of changing 
were made by experimenting with two fish. At El Paso, Texas, there was so 
much alkali in the new water that the fish were killed; at Los Angeles and at 
San Francisco, the water was good. Twelve fish died between Galveston and 
San Francisco, and 15 between San Francisco and Honolulu. Honolulu was 
reached on September 15, 1905, with a loss of only 27 out of approximately 450 
fish. On arrival the fish were placed in the four breeding-ponds prepared for 
them at Moanalua near Honolulu. The fish thrived in all of the ponds almost 
equally well. They were protected by screens from predatory fish and from 
being carried out to sea by freshets. In an official bulletin, issued July 25, 190%, 
Mr. Van Dine reported that the fish had multiplied rapidly and that from the 
few hundred introduced several hundred thousand had been bred and dis- 
