FOREST AND STREAM 
121 
Sec. 3. Section one of chapter two hundred and thirty-nine of the 
"public laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-four, is hereby amended by 
striking out ail of sold section after ihe words "Section one,” and in- 
sorting in the place thereof tho following words, via. :— 
No person shall kill or have in his possession, except alive, or expose 
for sale any wood-dnok, English snipe, or woodcock between the first 
day of December and the first day <>r September following; or kill any 
ruffed gronse. commonly called partridge, between the first day or De¬ 
cember and the first day of September following, or have the same in 
possession, except alive, or expose for sale between the fifth day or De¬ 
cember and tbe first day of September following; or kill, sell, or have in 
possession, except alive, any quail or pinnated grouse, commonly called 
prairie chicken, between the first day of January and the first day of 
September following, nndcr a penalty of not less than five nor more 
than ten dollars for each bird so killed, or had in possession, or exposed 
for sale. 
Sac. 4. Sections four and five of chapter two hundred and thirty- 
nine of tbe pnbiic laws of eighteen hundred and seventy four, are hereby 
made applicable to this act, the same as they would have been had tho 
preceding sections of i his act been incorporated in said act of eighteen 
hundred and seventy-fonr, between the sections therein numbered font 
and five. Approved February lgth, 1ST6. 
Ciiai\ 555—Sec. 3, No person shall at any time catch, take, kill, or 
fish for any land-locked salmon, trout, black bass, or Oswego base by 
means of uny grapnel, epear, trawl, weir, net, seine, trap, set line, cither 
through tbn ice or otherwise, or with any Uovice, or in any other way 
than by the ordinary way of hand fishing with a single baited hook and 
line, or with artificial flies, under a penalty of not leas Hum ten nor more 
thim thirty dollars for each offence, and a furilier lino of one dollar for 
each fish so caught, tuken, or killed. And all set lines, grapnels, spears, 
trawls, weirs, nets, seines, traps and devices other than fair angling as 
aforesaid are hereby prohibited on ihe fresh water lakes, ponds, and 
etrenms of this State; and when found in nse or operation on said lakes, 
ponds, or streams, they are hereby declared forfeit, aud contraband, and 
any person finding them in nee in said waters is hereby authorized to 
destroy ihe same. 
Sec. 3, No person shall catch, take, kill, expose for aale, or have In 
possession, except alive, any land-locked salmon hetween the fifteenth 
aay of September and tho first day of March following; or any trout 
between the first day of October and the first day of March following; 
or any black bass or Oswego bass between the first day of April and tho 
first day of June following, under a penalty of not less than ton dollars 
nor more than thirty dollars, and a farther fine of one dollar for each fish 
thus caught, taken, killed, exposed for sale, or in possession, except as 
aforesaid. 
Sec. S. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent any person 
or persons from lawfully catching fiah in waters owned by him or them 
for the purpose of Blocking other waters, or to prevent the Fish Com¬ 
missioners or their agents, duly authorized, from lawfully taking fish nt 
any timo or in any manner Tor the purposes of propagation, or for 
stocking other waters. 
Sec. 6. All acts or parts of acts conflicting with this act are hereby 
repealed. Approved February 23u, 1876. 
Smells in Massachusetts. 
Boston-, March 18th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In your Issue of February 10th, a correspondent signing himself "A. 
F. G.," after speaking of the immense nnmbcr of smelts taken legally 
With hook and line at Danvers, Mass., and of their large size, three 
weighing just'll pound, goes on to say, “One evening last spring, while 
passing a brook in this place, X saw full thirty men and hoys engaged in 
taking them with dip nets, which is contrary to the laws of this State. 
The town of Denvers has Fish Oommlssiouers, bnt they seem to take 
no interest in stopping this wanton destruction.” Now, if the aforesaid 
"A, F. Cl.” has not the courage to complain or these violators of tho 
law let him send me word, or auy member of the Massachusetts Anglers’ 
Association, and we will agree to see that the law-breakers are properly 
dealt will, or let the gentleman keep in mind tho act passed by our 
.Legislature two years ago, which I send you for his information. 1 par- 
ticnlarly call his attention to Section 3, and advise him hereafter to 
make complaint to the officers of the town Instead of Bending the in¬ 
formation to distant New York. What our association wants is iniorma- 
tion, and we will take care of the conviction. The law as it stands 
leaves no discretion to the officers of any town or city, but says they tthall 
caose the provisions of the act to be enforced. The great trouble with 
most wonld-bc informers, bnt dare not, is, they have not the moral 
courage to inform only in a general way, and when questioned are dumb 
as to the parties who are violating the law. iBhouldlike to have "A. 
F. U." join our association if lie will send his proposal with his real 
name and help us to increase and protect this beautiful fish. If found 
worthy we should be pleased to admit him as a member. 
John P. Obdwav, M. D., 
President Massachusetts Anglers' Association. 
Copy of the act passed in 1874, and which is now in full force in our 
Stale:— 
Sect. 1. Whoever within this Commonwealth offers for sale or has 
in Ids possession any emelf or smelts between the fifteenth day of March 
and the first day of June in each year, shall forfeit for each and every 
smelt so sold, offered for sale, or had in his possession, the sum of one 
dollar. 
Sect. 2 . Whoever takes or catches any smelt or smelts with a net of 
any kind, or in any other maimer than by naturally or artificially baited 
hooks and hand lines, shall forfeit for each smelt so caught or taken 
the earn of one dollar. 
Sect. 3. The mayor or aldermen of any city, the selectmen of any 
town, and all police oflicers aud constables within tills Commonwealth, 
shall cause the provisions of this Act to be enforced within their re¬ 
spective cities and towus; and all forfeitures and penalties for violations 
of the provisious of this act sh .11 he paid, one-half to the person mak¬ 
ing tho complaint, and one-half to the city or town in which the offence 
is committed. 
Sect. !. All acts conflicting with thiB Act are hereby repealed. Ap¬ 
proved April 9th, 1874. 
A PRETTY PRESENT FOR THE CEN¬ 
TENNIAL. 
Galveston, Texas, Marclt lfltli, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Do you think Fred Mather would like an alligator ten 
feet long? I have a pet on a farm of mine, and the fel¬ 
low has grown so big that we are getting afraid of him. 
He came near catching a fine bull calf the other day, and 
has eaten up a half dozen pigs. Do you think by boxing 
him up with some straw he could stand the cold? They 
go for a long time without food. If Fred had a tank made 
for him with an old log iu it, the “gator” would be all 
light, and the whole Centennial might gaze on him; he 
would oniy wink his eye. Jos. Labadle. 
[Your favor has been forwarded to Mr. Mather. —Ed.] 
Seals in Staten Island Sound,—A rather remarkable 
fact iu the past winter has been the appearance of white 
and black seals in the Staten Island Sound, which have 
ventured up as far as Mariners’ Harbor Lighthouse, fifteen 
mileB from open water. A few yet remain in this locality, 
and are fed daily by the keeper of the lighthouse. They 
come to the surEace twice a day and creep up on a float, 
where they lie basking in the sun, and are so tame that a 
dog, owned by tbe keeper, jumps upon the float and licks 
them. 
Short Ioe Crop.— The ice harvest on the Hudson Biver 
is ended. The total amount of ice stored is 406,300 tons, 
and the total amount stacked is 39,800 tons. This is said 
to be 1,000,000 tons less than the average yied. The ice 
men in Maine have a good prospect for disposing of their 
crop this year, and they have lately been making extra 
exertions to store up a large stock. 
-■ »!» 
—Oyer 38,000 squirrel tails were received at the office of 
the County Clerk, of Lake Co,, Cal., in 1875, lo claim the 
bounty ottered for the extermination of the pests. —Petaluma 
Argus. 
METAPHYSICS OF FLY FISHING. 
PART second. 
I N’ an insect's life there arc the three familiar forms, 
larval, pupa, and imago. Larva: ate frequently need 
as bait, pushed squirming, wriggling, protesting on (lie hare 
hook. Of these so martyred, there are Phryganidce larvue 
barbarously drawn from their castles, known, as caddis 
bait to the destroyer, grubs, larval of beetles, maggots, 
or ginlles, larvte of tbe diptera, caterpillars, larvai of 
moths. The only pupa.so sacrificed belongs to the family 
of Lialis, known by the suggestive appellation of liollgrum- 
ile. Of the adult, insects or imagines, the Loewtarim, or 
grasshoppers, ai-e a common bail. The imitations used are 
of fodr forms. The fly proper, with clear, smooth body, 
feet, wings with or without caudal selie. Palmers, 
body covered with hairs bristling in all directions 
from one extremity to the other. The hackled fly, 
body like tbe palmer with wings, aud sometimes caudal 
seta*. The hackle, body smooth with hackle closely wound 
at tbe head, the upper part of the hackle representing the 
wings, the lower the feet. This is what the old authors 
call a “fly made buzz,” a fly with its wings in rapid mo¬ 
tion. It imitates some small flies with heavy drooping 
wings a3 they flutter over the surface of the water. One 
of the most difficult things in describing insects, is to find 
words to name their colors correctly. The analysis of the 
prism is at discount. In some there are a blending of 
primary, secondary and tertiary colors that would defy a 
sage to deflue. Fortunately for tlie fly-maker these colors 
are reproduced in the feathered race, or vice versa, if you 
please. Not that I think the coincidence was intended for 
the benefit of the fly-maker. In imitating insects the size of 
the fly must correspond with the size of the insect, that the 
fly, when made will be of the same size as the insect imi¬ 
tated. All nondesoript flies should be of the same size as 
the natural inhabitants of that particular stream they are 
thrown on. 
It is a straDge, but peculiar fact, in insect economy, that 
the small streams have a small sized insect fauna and the 
larger streams a correspondingly larger. They are not 
the same identical insects, but somelliimes closely allied 
species. I will here state for the benefit of the uninitiated 
iu bug lore, that iuseets when they have assumed the per¬ 
fect or winged form, no matter how long the term of life 
is afterward, never change, never grow. 
The waters of the United States and Canadas, homes of 
the Saltnonii.hr family may be classed in three or more 
general divisions, each with its own well defined insect fau¬ 
na. The first of these we will consider are Head Springs. 
In these the water is of a uniform temperature, Their 
eveu flow the least disturbed from ruins, snow water, and 
freshets. The birthplace of the trout, and the richest in 
insect life. The water is at all times swarming with aui- 
malcuhe. The wonderful reproduction of these diminu¬ 
tive orders supplying food for the larger, and they iu turn 
for the fish. Insects leave these waters about a month 
earlier than they do other streams. The first that pre¬ 
sent Ihemselve are of the family CMronomklce, belonging 
to the order Diptera. The chief distinguishing character¬ 
istic of this order is their having but two wings—ail other 
orders have four. The larv® are long, slim, worm-like, 
some a blood red color. They are aquatic, orrather they live 
in that soft mixture.of mud and water with its slimy growth 
of vegetation offering a treacherous foothold to the inves¬ 
tigator, where sinking lower and lower they feel as if they 
would soon be exploring that region no one wishes to know 
of. When ready lo change to pupal, they bury themselves 
deeper in the mud. The outer skin hardens, and to all ap¬ 
pearance, they are at rest, but really preparing for a most 
wonderful metamorphose. From its changes the body con¬ 
tracts in its case, leaving a sort of vacuum, so that when it 
finally wriggles itself out of the mud into the water it 
floaLs to the surface. The case slits open above tbe thorax 
and the fly comes out. Of these there arc five that appear 
in such quantities that they may be preeminently distin¬ 
guished as fish food. They are piscatorially named, black, 
dark claret, bright claret, gray, and olive gnats. These in¬ 
sects are double brooded, that is the cycle of their life is 
repeated twice every year. Their first exodus, if the 
weather is favorable, is from the last of March to the first 
of May. Their second, through August and September. 
They may be farther distinguished, as morning flies, as 
the majority leave the water during the hours of seven and 
eleven A. M. 
Another genus, immense in numbers, but small in size, 
that metamorphose at this season, belongs to the family 
Dp/iemm'cltv, order Newoptera. In this genus the second 
pair of wings are rudimentary. The pupa is active and 
closely resembles the larvte. They are briBk, rapid swim- 
ers, live an independent, unsocial life, keeping close to the 
bottom of the creek where their murky muddy color pro¬ 
tects them from the vigilant eyes of their pursuers. When 
disturbed they unhesitatingly risk an open flight, first up 
to the surface, skim along a little way and then down again. 
These are their tactics on the defensive. It will be almost 
needless to write that these are favorite game for trout, 
and where one is you may be sure to find the other. It is 
impossible to rear them in aquaria. If the water becomes 
a degree or two warmer than that in the bed of the creek, 
both larvae and pupte perish almost instantly. When ready 
to take wing they rise to the surface under some protecting 
shade, avoiding the uneven temperature of the banka, 
With a heaviDg motion of the body the thorax slits open, 
two upright wiugf flash out and are kohj aloof until the 
feet and selieare drawn out; for an instant it rests on its old 
coat, and then flies off a Bub-imago to await its last metamor¬ 
phose, which takes place in from ten to twenty-four hours 
after leaving tbe water, A delicate parchment-like coating 
is thrown off the entire body, head, feet, wings, and set®, 
leaving the insect with paler colors—transparent wings and 
translucent body. The familiar nomenclature for this 
family is dark fox, pooT man’s fly, red fox, and bright fox. 
Those begin lo make their appearance the middle of April. 
There are a succession of broods throughout the summer 
months. They leave the water iu the evenings, some very 
early in the mornings. 
The black hackled fly has no natural history, only a 
history of long experience, a captivating fly for all streams. 
Its most wonderful exploits as a lure were when the water 
was discolored with rain. The ibis is probably taken for a 
flower or animalcule. Many forest trees have at this sea¬ 
son a blossom whose petals are of this scarlet color. The 
palmers or caterpillars are to be used wherever fish are to 
be caught ad libitum. The professor, grizzly king and 
queen of the water, are general flies for all streams, and all 
seasons. Like the black hackled fly and ibis, these should 
be held in reserve for the days and hours where the six¬ 
footed race are lying in ambush. Sara J. McBride. 
POWDER CHARGES FOR RIFLES. 
Our readers will remember that some time since we pub¬ 
lished an abstract of the results of a series of exhaustive 
experiments made by General Slialer at Creedmoor, with a 
view to determine the charges of powder to be used most 
advantageously in long range shooting. The following 
letter on the subject, written by Mr. John Rigby, the well- 
known rifleman aud member of Ihe first Irish team, was 
recently roceived by us, and being referred to General 
Shaler he has kiudly furnished us with a reply, which will 
be found below. The subject is one of great importance 
to riflemen: — 
„ „ Dublin, February 14th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Under this head appeared in yours of 31th of January a very interest¬ 
ing and iostruclive acconnt of certain experiments carried out at Creed- 
mcor, for the purpose of determining (he best charge of powder for 
long ranges. Great credit is due to the patient experimentalist who 
underwent the drudgery of so prolonged a trial for the instruction of 
riflemen generally, and the thonks of ull will, I am sure, oe freely given 
to Forest and Stream for publishing it in extenso. To complete the 
obligation under which yon have placed scicnliflc riflemen by doing this 
it is only wanting that such further details be given as will enable those 
who desire to do so to repeat the experiment for themselves, and so br 
a true comparison ascertain tho relative values of their rifles and am- 
muniticn, and those nsed in the trials reported. For thtsporposea 
Toiler account of ihe meihod employed Is requisite, and I will note tbe 
principal points by questions to which f hope Gen. Slialer will be go-d 
euough to furnish answers. First. What was the exact method used 
in computing the moan deviation given? In replying to this it is neces¬ 
sary 10 state how many shots were measured iu each string us the mean, 
deviation of fifty shots, and of five strings of ten shots each are two very 
different things. Secondly. Was each string fired without moving the 
eight, or were corrections made during its progress! Thirdly. What 
was accounted the deviation or a miss? At the 1,000 yard range misses 
must have occurred, with a Creedmoor target, in some of the strings. 
Fourthly. What were the elevations required for the different charges? 
This is a most important point, aud to answer it exactly the angle of 
elevation over the horizon ebon id bo given. If this were not taken at 
the time It. can easily be measured now, and the angle in degrees and 
minutes added to the table. Fifthly. What was tbo weight of the pro¬ 
jectile? Sixthly. What kind of riflo was nsed? If General Shaler or 
tbe experimentalist will take the trouble of answering these questions 
he will complete the good work he has already done, and I will under¬ 
take to send yon for purposes of comparison some results of experi¬ 
ments mude by me, and others in the country, from time to time. 
John Rioby. 
Office of i 
John Rioby, Esq., Dublin, Irdami: ’ 
Deab Sir—I have been handed your letter of February 14th, addressed 
to the Forest and Stream, with a request to answer your inquiries in 
reference to the experiments made at Creedmoor, last year, to deter¬ 
mine the powder charges for long rango shooting. It affords rao pleasure 
to do so, as follows. You Inquire:— 
First. "What was the exact method used in computing the mean de¬ 
viations given ? In replying to this It will be necessary to state how many 
shots were measured in each string, as the mean deviation of fifty shots 
aud of ten Bhots are two very different things." Ans. In all cases the 
correct elevation was obtained by two or more shots, then a string of five 
to twonty (generally ten) shots was flred. With the aid of a telescope 
Ull the shots in each string were accurately located, and marked on the 
score book diagram. The target and tho diagram each having three 
parallel Hues drawn across the face twelve inches apart to facilitate 
txeasnrements, the middle one in the centre of the target. At the end 
of the days’shooting the average deviation from the centre parallelline 
was obtained by dividing the total of the measurements by the number 
of shots in the string. Upon the completion of the flrty shots the total 
of the measurements was divided by fifty und the result recorded. 
Second. "Was each string fired without moving the sights, or were 
corrections made dnring its progress?" Ans. As a general thing tbe 
strings were flred without moving the sights, but corrections were made 
when necessary. 
Third, “What was accounted the deviation of a miss?” Ans. 
Misses were all counted as measuring Ihirty-cight inches. 
Fourth. "What were the elevations required for the different charges? 
This is a most important point, and to answer It exactly the angle of 
elevation over the horizon should be given." Ans. At 800yards the 
elevation varied according to conditions with 90 grains lubricated, from 
1° 58' to 2“ ff, Vernier scale. With 120 grains, on the same day and at 
the same hours, from 1° 54' to 1° 59'. At 1,000 yards, with 90 grains lu¬ 
bricated, from 3° 81' to 2° 47'. With 120 grains, from 3° 36' to 3° 87'. 
These were the oxlromee-of powder charges of distances, aud of eleva¬ 
tions, aud all tho variations on the same days were within the figures 
given. On other duye, and under favorable eircumstancea, the elevations 
run a littlo lower. Tbe elevations given express the angle over the 
horizon. 
Fifth. “What was the weight of the projectile?” Ans. 550grains. 
Sixth. "What kind of rifle was used?" Ans. Remington “Greed- 
moor," calibre .44. Alexander Shaler. 
[Wb omitted to mention .in our abstract of the original 
report that the Hazard FG powder was used in ihese ex,' 
perimonts,—E d.] 
