OcTOBBB 7, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



187 



J, in of salmon, because the chaaces of escape. 



ilsi;. The salmon going up stream arc of 



I . ilic breeders, which remain until late in the 



J nil oeis are raised, mid return as kells. 3d, the 



which stay a short time and return to the sea dur- 



iison when netting is possiblo. Let us suppose that 



....liiber of grilse entering a river be 100, 19 per cent of 



liure breeders ; and of salmoJi, 100, fifty of wliieli are 

 ' va, and fifty migiTints. Ninety grUse a.nd fifty migrant 



1 have to run the gauntlet of the nets and of poachers 



—going up and coming down— for both giilse and sal- 

 Jare caught on the stream side, as well as' on the lee side, 



s in a river, but ouly on the Ice side iu tidal waters or 

 „ It the eun'ent. The fifty breedhip saliii'ni nnd the ten 

 e aj-e safe if they pass the' nets, for tbu\' relm-n to the sea 

 Jl the nets are taken up. Il follows, irom this assump- 

 ;, that the 100 grilse will diminish aioie rapi'-Uy tIjMn the 

 lalnion, liecimso the chances of escape arc UL'tiiusi, tlicDi. 

 S what does practice say? The following tabk; shows 

 iotcli of salmon ami grilse in the sea, at themovilh of (he 

 trDeein Scotland, for thirty-two years, viz., from 1838 

 359. The a\'CTage.s are for each group of seven years, 

 fe the exception of the first group : — 



Nu7nt)erof Nrutibe! m 



Salmon caiigui. Grtlse pmii'I i, 



1631 t4 years) s,TSO i:;,,;--. 



. .0 18.18 (7 years) 2,305 lo,--.. 



1 to is*5 (r, yenrs) .'i,4is lo,-i.j.: 



Pro 16.52 rr yeans) a,945 s.csb 



I W 1S59 (T yniUW) ,„,.,.-,. 4,855 7;a8-l 



JJie dttt.li lire frotn iVlec. Jopp's "Inquiry into the-catises 

 Bie decline iu the i)roduce of tte salmon fislierieB in the 

 >and the Don." Ue attributes the cause to the use of the 

 Ke net and bag nets oit the coast.) 



m the sen -the chances were the same for salmon ami 2:rilse, 

 fc the grilse ciiteh declined to one-half in tljirtv-iwo years! 

 B sail lifin catch increasing, Therefore it is in ihc viv'ci- we 

 tot look for the chief cause of the decline, where I he 

 feces against the grilse are greater than against the salmon. 

 Bte following table shows the proceeds of the river flshinas 

 ktoe inilo from the mouth of tlie Dee, after the fish have 

 fflped the sea-fiabings in t)ic estunry H,nd nl.-jng the shore :— 

 teal's. ' vjii^i;:;. Orllse. 



8 to I88J (4 yeats) :..,,. iii, osq 



Sto 1«*8 JTyoars) ;,/;.-; gnttfi 



» to liiis (T years)... j,-,i6!> s'm,! 



|to 1S54 (lyears) ,. sso 1677 



£jo 1SI59 (7years> i,i)iii :;.5a» 



JTUe grilse catch fell enormously short in the river, where 



rchiilires of escape were less than thnse of the sidnKni, 

 ^Bise the t^rraler nr.-iporiion returned, or endenvorert to re- 

 Bj, to llie se,\ hi.'fnre the nets wi-re rai.scd. ENperjeuce. no 

 Iftbt, had 30jiiel hing to do will) die le,,s take of sahiion, 

 Blch had learned to ware ilie hl'Is. 



p'oRE.iT A.ND Stream of Get. 21, 187&, contains a notice 

 ^n \heJ*'idd of the wretched .=:ali!ion fishing in the Tay. If 

 e divide the yeai-s mentioned into groups of five, so as to 

 (I an ayei-age, the conclusion we arrive at is that' decline is 

 Uinn' in, because the grilse are diminishing in a greater ratio 

 H tlie salmon. The "fic'ures ,ire as fo.'iow s - 

 ",'om 1837 to 1841, 10(;,,-!(;s .^Aalmon, ls;).4Hy sriisc— sahnon 



lUto giilsc catch as 1 is i.o i,7,s. Froi,, 1843 to 1846, 



■"D salmon, 339.699 grilse —salmon catch to grilse catch 

 to 1.54. * 



SYhere appears from these tables that the ratio of grilse to 

 '•■"1 was diminishing in the Tay,'aud unless protective 

 realiad lieen iiiroduced, the decliue would have been 



Briipiil, and ihis ivsultedlrom ahabit of the fishatdil- 



Snt slii.i;es of ill- 11. c. 



athe river Don, m Bcotlaud, the Sfime residrs fnhuwed in 

 B Criuve flsiiiugs, as may he seen from the loilowinij; t;d>le, 

 wich extends from 1783 to 1852, a jHTiod oi ae\eiit\-<ine 

 " a (A. Jopp's tallies;. 



a, trout are added to the grilse c.iteli, but they only serve 

 ._aslc the more rapid decliue ol tde 51 ii'-p , iLi y do "not af- 

 t the general conclusions. The periods arc aepleunial : 

 . Welpurof Welftt ot Grilse 



11 PeunOs, and Trout in Pounrls. 



4,(im 



20139 

 B,l,l«1 



•J7,hsa 



20,.W1 

 15,864 



termed the micropyle. The milt of the male contaiiifl a vast 

 assemblage of exceedingly minute organisms, styled sperma- 

 tozooids. Perhap.s a hundred thousand nf these sperniatozo- 

 otdsniay be equal in bidk to one ms. Takin:; n minute 

 quantity of milt on tJie point of a tiiie7ieedl.', ana putting it 

 into a drop of water in eontaet with an t-j'^i-, tli.- eandiil ob- 

 server may witness (he followir" ...ni .-- :,^ willi a good 



niiero.scopt : The iiumher '. ,ds wandering 



viyoroasly round the passive ■ , er its surface 



\\ith rousiderable activity. Sir -lies the minute 



funnel-shaped micropyle ; it eni.i: 1 : he mouUi of the 



micropyle contracts. Suddeul.v. piilsaiion Ijcgins in the et^g, 

 anewlifeha,s dawned and tiie lui' a-. ,-,,v]c spcedilv cIo.saS. 

 Other spermatozooids continue wandenrn^' uvcr its" surface, 

 but in fifteen or twenty miuule.s trrow weiu-v, languish, drop 

 off and die. But vivid prdsatfonis continue" in tlie il';l':, and 

 the new creature is forndnir. f^et iis ."irr-,- 'Ui- liiMuiihts 

 wbicli may crowd upon us to a further :, I'l '', • imvehad 

 LiDder view twaj imperfect 1' 



sper- 



d .and that of the passive ecrg. lie 

 matozooid enters the liiieropy^/a new iiml a perir,;i ph 

 life begins, which, as we shall presently srr. already possesses 

 absolute knowledge of a speciid kind, "reiiniriuir only a short 

 tirnr- foriisnianife.suitioii. 



Tvi. nf iiii'se egtrs thus •' feniliz.od" are conveyed far 

 ;;",;, 1 .-av tij Ausirulia,. and these jjlaccd in a river in which 

 saliij.inliad never l)een. The e-r-s are hatr-herl tl,e v,„,nr 

 fish in due time migrate to a -1 i : ' ii 1, ■ , 

 had no experience, and leuun i, i , : , 

 nothing, and where there are 111. . r 1,11:1- ii, 

 the experience of others of tlieii- kind, 1 lo',v diil tlav I'litiiiii 

 this absolute knowdedpe of an unknown sea':' rmd "wlieuce 

 did they gather the instinct that it svas essential thev should 

 relm-n to the river in which ihey m-rc !ie.|-n, at statcd'jieriods? 

 Ages of espericeca in oH.er^ ,,t rheir ki;id were not there to 

 aid iheui, and ijii._rra(i,a! is said to i,..' lie' 1 -suit of experience. 

 It is clear Ural ont of twa. iniperii-ct lir,'- a new life " possess- 

 hig absolute knowledge— knowledge not gained by experi- 

 ence or teaching — has iieen ijroduced. Is tiiis to be explained 

 by the formula of words that the rnstinet which iuipels the 

 resulting creatvn-e to migrate to 'a sea, and relmai to a river of 

 which its ancestors knew noihin;r is "an ittherited haljit?" 

 Or is not the grdf betwee;i the iinperfecl lives of the egg and 

 the spermatozooid on the one hand and the restiltiug perfect 

 life of the iminregnated egg on the other, with its'\bsolute 

 knowledge, infinite to us, passing tlie puwer of lauicuage to 

 describe, and, failing which, we apply to it a formula of 

 words ? 



It seems to me that the conception which is so often desig- 

 nated as an "inherited habit," is a manifestation of design, 

 infinite in its variety, endless in its fmirre attainments, aurl 

 crudely spoken of in the too often misleading languaire of 

 philosojihy by the liarreJi term "evolution," wdiich. proper!',- 

 used and interpreted, indicates only a nart of He-ieai. The 

 possession of absolute knowledge by ri" 1 - [-' salmon, 

 and all sindlar cases, is fatal to'the 'm.: _ ' v ,if evo- 



lution. How the ref^ilis r,f exi'ii ri.aiC" . ,..; ■ ;d from 



the parent to th' 

 rived from lii 

 never fully m; i 



yond the mere ■' t/-'U.,e_r Oi uj^Ucr >.e may Hdorm,i;iv be- 

 li<ive. Hejibt YouiiB itiiiii. 



Balmon In _ 



ItllTSS*..., sa.+ts 



to 179«»„,.,..._ : .is,ei7 



toisoa....; -j,i?i 



..tfllSlO . "J 



lllolt^ll. ;.i.+aa 



"101824 ln,WF. 



:S{^:;:':;:::;;;;;;::;^;iii v^ 



.tOl84o 6339 4'750 



■■W18BZ ....- 4,80.? lloii 



'e see from this table that in the period from 18.52 to 1838 



teaverage catch of grilse was equal to that of salmon- in 



Tirteen years it fell to one-fourth of it, and unless protective 



leasures had been adopted the salmon fisheries of the Don 



'ould have become iiisignifieaut. The interpretation I put 



upon these results, havin;i regard to the rliflerent habits of the 



fish at ddlerenl periods ot its lite, is this: It is in the river 



Id not m the tidal waters of the sea that oneleadinseau.se 



the ikehue must be searelied for, and it is pn.bahl.Mhat it 



ises from tiie bnhits of the ti.sli at certain pi.riods of it.^ life 



bidi gives llie grilse less chance for sm-vival than tJieVididt 



toon under existmg modes of captm-c. Hence it wouhi 



>pear that it we protect the grilse the Sfihnon will protect 



self. These conclusions eather force from the fact that the 



tilse are far more numenms thtm the salmon and yet diminish 



luch more rapidly. Give them 1 he same chance by eniar-in- 



mesli of the net so (hat they can freely paa.s, and tli'. 



ion fisheries wiU incrca.se. Ifnt. ii ;*< mm «h;■^„. -r'^ ..,.,i-„ , 



lluon fisheries wiU increase. But it is one thing 10 make a 

 ^ and another thing to iiiforce it. 



,The FfM notices the intensely cold winter of 1879 m Eng- 

 tid in connection -n-ith the very bad saltnon year. It is a 

 >mfort to know thai if we compare intensely cold winters in 



Inrope with the salmon catch three veaj-s later, we are forced 

 r the conclusion that intensely cold winters there are very 

 tvorable to salmon preservation ; and three years after a"n 



toemely cold winter one may expect Cother things being 



gtial; a very good salmon year. 



This is a curious and interesting subject of inquiry, and I 

 tall ask for space to advert to it in another communication 

 osmg the present one with eomc remarks on the egg of the 



ilmon. 



THE EGG OF THE 8Ai.M0JJ. 



.The fecundation of the egg is a wonderful phenomenoiL 

 BThe egg in relation to the nfilt presents one of the most as- 

 muishing speclacles. if lightly viewed, which microscopist 

 and " philosopher " can witness. To lunvc of your reader'^ 

 who have not given any attention (o this subioct it may be 

 thus briefly described. (For a full description vide Dr. W 

 H Kan son on the ovrun of wseous fishes; translation of the 

 Jtoval Society, London, IBGfi.) 



Tlie egg of the salmon of thiii size of a pea consists of a 



• I ansparent sphetical mass, whose touirh e.xternal cover- 



i enetrated by a very minute funnel-shaped opening 



K£L TR^VPS WHICH TAKE BASS-LEGAL DE- ' 

 CISION. 



^ ObWEOO, ISf. S., S , • l-.-n 



FOR years the sportsmen of this virinit) ! 1 , 



ffislation to aid them in proreeiing the"ii-ii 

 this portion of the State from improper and ,t 

 tion, and many good laws to-day exist upon m 

 as monuments o'l their earnest fabor. But oj 

 retiiains, and I desii !■ to rail the aitemiuu ij 1 . . 1 



h.ih IhronglKiUt (he .State to|h( piesent inellectii- la,\, e 'In 

 hope that aiemedy niav la lbu^bioiij;ht .|J„,ut Tjic'L". 1- 

 laiuia of 1S79-S0 passed reitam amendment-- to the !;ame law 

 as enacted in 1878-i). one being contamed in Chapter .531 of 

 the laws of 1880. A portion of Section 3 of this Act reads 

 as follows : 



" No person shall Irill or ctiteh, or attempt m kill or catch, 

 any fi,sh except minnows in the waters of Lake Ontario on 

 the American side iliereof, + * * or m OaoiulaLca, (Jneida, 

 Seneca or Cross lakes, or iu any of tiieir outlets or"triljut;iriesi 

 * * * in any way or manner, or by auy device whatever, 

 except with that of hook and line," etc. "This portion of the 

 section was especially prepared, and was supposed to be all 

 that wti.s neces.sai-y in order to render Illegal the eel weirs in 

 the Seneca, Oneida and Oswego rivers, by means of which it 

 hut thousands of black bass are 

 ■e <h" Leatherstocldug Club, of 



is claimed (liat not eels 

 yearly caught. With iln^ 

 Oswego County, direct - , 1 

 of the eel weirs in Osw . _ 

 demand the removal oi i 

 fi.shers refusing (o obev ih,: 

 waslmiught to ennipel tlit 

 in one form referred to tin 

 I. decision \ 



y to notify the owners 



i llie existing law, and to 



'! vldeJi he did. The eel 



i'l^triieiions of the t-lub, an action 



saine. ;md that action having been 



Hon. ^\'m. C. Ruger, of Syracu.se, 



liered therein by him, from which 1 quote 



below: \ 



■' SrrpEEME OouB-r— The Leatherstockine Club, of Oswego Coun- 

 ty, iigauist Lewie Fuller, Jr., and George Montague. 



"The above entitled case having been duly referred to me 

 to hear and determine, aufl I, having heard their proof and 

 allcgtitions, do respeetfidly report as follows: 



'•T find the following points: 



"The plaintiflis are a corporation under the laws of this 

 State, and do business at the City of Oswego, and are duly 

 anthotized to bring the above action. 



•■That during the months of May, .June and .July of the 

 present year the defendants were engaged in the business of 

 catching eels in tlie Oswego River by a device known as 

 eel weirs, and caught daily, by such device, from two to five 

 himdred eels. 



"That the method of constructing such weirs, and of tak- 

 ing said eels, does not involve the use of a hook and line in 

 catching said e«ls. 



"That the defendants had been in the exclusive possession 

 of said eel weirs and the nr-'-'i--: -- -'y--- ;.nch eels in the 

 manner and at Uie pis.-, ■! of thirty-five 



years at the time of la. ,, ir action. 



"And 1 do find on qi;--- 1 



"Ist. Thatitwaanoi the intention of the Legislattrre wholly 

 to prohibit the taking of eels by means of ccT weirs in all of 

 the fresh waters of the State, for the second paragraph of the 

 section of the statute under which tliis action is brought either 

 expressly or impliedly authorizes the taking of such fish by 

 such means in all of the fresh waters of''the State except 



those where such taking is expresslv prohibited in the first 

 paragraph of the section', so that it cannot he argued that the 

 prohibition claimed is ivithin the spirit of the eriactmenl, if it 

 be not found in this very lettei-. See Sec. 23 of Chap. 534 of 

 the Laws of 1879, as amended by Sec, 1 of Chap. 531 of Laws 

 of 1880. 



"If the prohibition claimed is found at all it must be em- 

 braced within the specified descriptions of places enumerated 

 in the first paragraph of such sectioti. 



" It is coiiced'ed that the /•'.■!« in i/i/o in not specifically de- 

 scrilied in .such first paragraph, and is not included tli"erein 

 uule.ss it is emliraeed )rv the ireneral term ' outlets,' as applied 

 to the .said Wilt. .r,.,. if the several lakes, 'Onoiidagti, OihRula, 

 Seneca, iii question to be determined is whether 



the S. J rivers are intended to be described 



iindei- m: , , ■ in or phrase, 



"The I ,eiji-, ,j .1 .i,.l .aswego livers are both large and import- 

 ant atreains of water flowing over a larp:e section of territory, 

 liavitig designated and specific names coeval with tin;, earliest 

 history of the country, mid repetitedl,v described in the legls- 

 lion of the State by such names. 



" 1 eunnot believe I hat it has intended to describe the waters 

 of such rivers by the use of the Vague and Uncertain phrase- 

 ology used in the Act in question. To hold otlierwise %vould 

 be to deprive the term outlet of all sja-cial meaning, and to 

 confer it upon all of the vaiious channels, both mediate and 

 immediate, tiy which the waters of a specified body pass in 

 their com-.se from their source to their final destina'tion, the 

 ocean. 



" The same laws which would make the Oswesro River the 

 untlet of Oneida Lake would make each <3f the following 

 rivers and lakes, viz.: the Oneida, Seneca, Oswego, Ontario 

 and St. Law rence waters included under the phi-ase, 'outlet 

 of Oneida Lake.' 



"I therefore hold that the acts of the defendants in taking 

 eels from the Oswego River in the manner described is not a 

 violation of the provisions of the statutes. 



"ad. The dcfcnfiants are entitled to a judgment, dismiss- 

 ing the plaintiflf's complaint witii crisis, aiai the same is here- 

 by ordered. Wm. C. Rugee. 



"Aug. 14, 1880." 



Fish T?ARxsiTEs.—Phi!adelphfa, Sept. 7, — ^A friend and 

 myself went out this a. m. with small dip-nets to catch some 

 minnow^s for my aquarium, and the first catch we made we 

 noticed that they were unusually large around the body, the 

 largest of them two inches long. We took one of rhes>e and 

 opened it, and fotind it to contain a worm about two inches 

 long of a reddish hue and pointed at both ends. It \va9 not 

 in the intestines of the fish, but between them and the body 

 of the fish. We opened another and it had two in it, Imt not 

 so long as the cithers. We made another catcli a.nd ojiened 

 more of them, and foimd they were all the same. When 

 taken out the worm is coiled uj) in a knot and looks just like 

 apiece of red .sewing-thread twdsted up wdth your' fingers. 

 The piace where we cauglit them is a creek which comes 

 from a woods idtout a mile from where w'e v,-ere and runs 

 into the Schuylkill river through a marsh and a distance of 

 about one hundred luid fifty y.irds from the river. Tlie tide 

 rises and. falls with the tide in tlie rivi'i-. Is there an_nhin2, 

 do you Bupiiose. to cause these As'orms in tlie lish in the creek, 

 as the minnows we caught on the other side of the river had 

 none in them? Are they not a parasite, and if iu larger fish 

 would it not be injurious to eat such fish? Please answer, and 



oblige TU0.M,\S J. CUADWIOK. 



A siniihu- parasite was shown at a meeting of the American 

 Fisheultm-al Association some two years ago by Mr. H. D. 

 McOovein, who claimed that it went through one of his trout 

 fitmi stdc In side, thereby killing it. 



\\"e do ni t think such a wonu wovild live through the cook- 

 ing whii h llah usually get ; or, if it did, it would live m the 

 -oimah of a warm blooded iuiimal. As you find theiu so 

 plemy, win nnt ^end ^ome of the fi.sh to the National Museum 

 It Wasluugom. and viu v\ill then learn all about them in the 

 conrneof a lew weeks or months, according as other work 

 may press. Then, when you find what they are, send ua the 

 account for the benefit of those who are mterested in such 

 matters. 



RanctElet Lakes.— Of these famous lakes of Maine, 

 where the brook trout gi-ow up to ten pounds or more, a cor- 

 respondent writes : "One of the most attractive points about 

 this region is the esceeilingly mridcrate sum of money %vhicli 

 one can dispose of during a vacation. It costs but i^ii'ia .'"iO to 

 get from Boston here and btiek, l^y way of the Eastern, M.-,f:'e 

 Central and Sandy River Railuays, and the journey is pli:^ 

 ant enough to am"ply repay nne for the outlay in "time and 

 money. A stage line or private cfinveyance brings passen- 



fers from the terminus of the railroad, at Phillips, Maine, to 

 Istey's, at tlie head of the ujiper, or Rangely Lake, over a 

 road twenty miles in length and peculiarly rich in scenery. 

 From Estey's a little steamer c-died the Molly-ohunk-amun!<, 

 built and rtm by C. W. II ■10. nils down to the outle., 

 where the .Momit:dn Vii in, . i.-lies all the pasisensrer.^-. 

 Board til thehdves ran-: ,. e,i,, .i.,--,!! to ,$3 a day in 3uno 

 and September, and from ?-l 1 a .s^S.aO in Jidy and August. 



whiaid he fishing is livelie.-at'. Bni ibis year tdie boiel> have, 

 been full all the lime. 



" The l.ia.sius of the Rangeley Lalces contain the drainage 

 of about nine hundred square ujiles of teiritory, and it is esti- 

 mated that tlieir waters measure twenty-four million cubic 

 feet. They blend with the ocean through the channel of the 

 Androscoggin River, and are utilized in various ways. At 

 Le-wiston, in this State, they furnish powei for manulactories, 

 aud in the npring of each year they float millions of loss from 

 off these rugged hills to an eager "market on the coast. The 

 seven lakes 'forming this chain are all naeiy-alile. r.nt tlicrr 

 names would denioraii.ie anv spelling inaO'' ■•- '.-'■!.. 

 They are as follows: "Orinoss, ,e,' ![. , 

 Cupsuptic, Kennebngo, ^(r.]e',:hiiiikaiuiiii - 



bacook and Umbagog. yoah \\', i,-rer w .:, . ... ... ,1 



one howl of despair and 3aei,ied up the ghosi bati he 

 ever been invited to tackle these fellows. And it is onlv 

 when I am tin p:u-ticnJarly roiiusi hc:altb that I dai-e to -write 

 them. The -svoods wdiich thickly fringe these hills and fill the 

 air with scent of spruce and eednr are popidated with deer, 

 moose, caribou, black bear and other gatne, which brines joi 

 to the shootists' hearts. Within three or four daj-s a caribou 

 has been Idlled within gimshot sound of this point, and it is 

 no unfrequent thing at any time of year to find venieon upon 

 the tables hereiiboufs tuidcr the vague title of " wild mutton." 

 Hani'. .anot find recreation amid such 



siirroii! be the heart of him to whom 



thebili - ampagne cocktails of the seashore 



