July 15, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



471 



good fishing. Through the influence of a friend I was 

 induced to go to Clayton. N. Y., terminus of Utica and 

 Black River Railroad, last season, and, never having had 

 the pleasure of good fishing before, I was surprised when 

 my genial oarsman, Mr. " Sid " Griffin, informed me that 

 one person could take in from 100 to BOO pounds of black 

 bass in a day. from June 15th to Sept. 15th. I did not 

 arrive until still-fishing season was over, so I devoted my 

 time to trolling for pickerel, at which sport I passed many 

 pleasant days, always coming back to the Hubbard 

 House with a box full. 



There are 1,800 islands in all, extending a distance of 

 forty inilea. Home of these islands are very beautiful, 

 being nearly all wooded ; and several in the vicinity of 

 Clayton have an elevation of 200 feet to 800 feet above 

 water level. A great many islands are owned by East- 

 ern men of wealth, who have built elegant summer resi- 

 dences where they take their families the hot sultry 

 weather. There is one island winch can he bought for a 

 nominal sum, which contains the most natural fish pond 

 imaginable, and, with a trifling expense, it could be so 

 arranged that a portion of the St. Lawrence would flow 

 directly through the pond. It is large enough for 10,000 

 bass, and one could stand on the rocks extending into 

 the river and catch the fish and place them in the pond 

 without any difficulty. I will join a party of five or six 

 young gentlemen, who feel disposed, and purchase the 

 island and lit it up to suit our pleasure and convenience. 

 To prove more conclusively the sport one niay enjoy, I 

 give below a statement furnished me of fish caught by 

 Ex -Speaker T. G. Alvord of New York. 



From June 7th to Sept. 3d, 1S78, sixty days' fishing :— 



Black Bus -, . 8,169 | Hook Bass 908 



Pickerel 383 | Ells 13 



Perch, 4- 488 Pike 4 



I 1!U | Bull-Heads 5 



Total 4,108 



One turtle, speared, weighed 25 lbs. 



l'ear of 1879, T. Alvord mid family :— 



Black Bass 2,309 I Pickerel 373 



RnekBass 1,702 Chub .'.,., 179 



Perch 308 | All other kinds 35 



Total 5,024 



Greatest day, July 17th, 1*70. Fish with fly, 353. 



ZBFtttB. 

 ♦ 



Rochester, N\ Y., July Wi-— Black bass fishing at 

 Nine. Mile Point, in Lake Ontario, (a fourteen mile drive 

 from the city), is unsurpassed just now. Two gentlemen 

 were fly-fishing there a few days ago, and caught over a 

 hundred good fish. The fishing is good only -when the 

 wind is blowing toward shore. E. R. 



Black Bass. — Tent "Hancock" Banks of tlie Dela- 

 ware, River, July teh. — Will you confer a favor on the 

 disciples of " Ike Walton," and more particularly to the 

 lovers of black bass angling, and let them know that 

 there is such a place as Narrowsburg, on the Erie Rail- 

 road, about one hundred and twenty miles from New 

 York, on the Delaware River, where there is no' finer 

 fishing in the Northern States. Black bass are not only 

 in abundance, but are perfection, both in regard to 

 weight and flavor ; none of the soft flabby kind that are 

 in ponds. The river is only three hundred feet from the 

 depot, with grassy slopes on both sides shaded by some 

 of the most majestic sycamores in the country. Talk 

 about sport ! Just find'jovial John Ruff, and get him to 

 go with you for a day's fishing excursion, and I will guar- 

 antee that no more pleasant company, better fishing, nor 

 finer bass, can be found anywhere. The village is one of 

 the old fashioned kind. Pleasant and comfortable, with 

 just enough of modern improvements of the outside 

 world to leave one nothing to wish for but for it to con- 

 tinue. There is but one hostelrie of ye olden time, kept 

 by Murray Brothers, who I can promise will give all one 

 can desire, both of comfort and of sport. Take a day off 

 and go up there, and if you are not satisfied, send your 

 bill to me and I will settle. Willoughby. 



New Jersey— Riverside House, Forked River, July 

 g^, — We are now having fine weakfishing, and dur- 

 ing the past week quite a number of New York gen- 

 tlemen have been enjoying the sport at this popular 

 resort, among whom were Messrs. E. 0; Fox, Thos. H. 

 Spaulding, A. G. Walker, G-. Lewis Ring, F. W. Mead, S. 

 T. Kuapp, and a number of families. The average catch 

 per boat has been from 25 to 40 fish, weighing from \\ to 

 4 pounds each. The Riverside House being situated 

 directly on the water, and in the immediate vicinity of 

 the best fishing grounds of Barnegat Bay, off ors superior 

 inducements to families or gentlemen fond of the sports 

 to be found in our bays. House open all the year. 



A. B. 



July 12i/j.— One of our yachts, the Mattie, with Mr, 

 and Mrs. E. C. Fox, Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Spaulding and 

 Mr. J. L. Kirk land, lias just come in with eighty-nine 

 fine weakflsh, the largest catch of the season so far. 

 They were caught in the bay near the Riverside House, 

 the ladies in the party catching nearly half of them. We 

 look for fine fishing from this time forward. A, B. 



Fly-Casting.— Canton, N. Y., July 5th.— Reading your 

 article on fly-casting in last week's Forest amd Stream 

 reminded rue of the interest taken in that part of the 

 State shoot at Rochester, last season. I offered a boat 

 and fixtures, valued at sixty dollars, as a prize for fly- 

 easting, open only to those who had never won a first 

 prize at any State contest. The prize committee wrote 

 me, requesting me to allow them to place it where they 

 Mwiag they had already secured prizes for fly- 

 casting. 1 consented, and the result was such that I do 

 not care ever to give away another, 



J. H, Rcshton. 



\ A Recovered Hook.— Clinton, Conn., July 5th — I 

 went out fishing June 3d, using worms for bait, two 

 hooks on a gut leader, hooks three feet apart. I was fish- 

 ing in a deep pool when I snagged my hook, evidently 

 catching on a submerged log. After trying to clear it, 

 I concluded to break it. I did so, breaking the leader 

 where the second hook was joined on, leaving both hooks. 

 Was out again the 22d, and happened at the same pool. 

 At the first cast I took a nice phimp trout, fully one 

 pound in weight. Imagine my surprise on unhooking 

 him to find a hook well down in his stomach and my three 

 feet of broken loader hanging from his mouth. When I 

 lost the hook it was a large stout wire, but when I took it 

 from the fisbi the wire was not larger than a small fly 



book, and would easily powder up between thumb and fin- 

 ger like black lead. I forgot to say that there was but one 

 hook on the recovered leader. The upper one is probably 

 sticking in the log. It was put on with a loop, and a pull 

 by the fish easily drew the leader through. The Msh was 

 plump ami gamy, and appeared to he none the worse for 

 having had a hook in Iris stomach nineteen days. From 

 its appearance the hook would have been entirely con- 

 sumed in ten more days. C. W. R, 



— Address a$ communications to "iorest and Stream 

 Publishing Company, New York." 



THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY EXHIBITION AT 

 BERLIN. 



NO. VIII.— THE SEX OF SEVERAL EELS. 



TO-DAY, June 13th, there was a. gathering of a few 

 men, who came to the President's room, by invi- 

 tation, to witness the dissection of several alleged male 

 eelB which had been on exhibition as such for some time, 

 and to determine the fact if it were possible to distin- 

 guish the sexes with certainty while the fish were still 

 alive and unopened, as asserted by Prof's. Jacoby and 

 Cattie. Dr. Hermes, Director of the Berlin Aquarium, 

 furnished the eels from the stock which has before been 

 alluded to in these columns, and which were sent 

 him, as male eels, from Trieste by Jacoby himself, 

 and the dissection was to be conducted by no less a per- 

 son than Dr, Virchow, the celebrated naturalist and one 

 of the first anatomists of the world. The spectators 

 were Herr von Behr, President Deutchen Fischere* 

 Verein ; Dr. Hermes ; Herr Haack, Director of the Im- 

 perial Fishcultural Establishment at Hueningen ; Mr. 

 Fred Mather, of the United States Fish Commission ; 

 Prof. Torgioni Tozzetti, of Italy ; Herr von dem Borne, 

 of Berneuchen, and one or two others, Prof. Goode being 

 absent in Dresden. 



Dr. Hermes stated that he had received the eels, male 

 and female, with full directions how to distinguish the 

 sexes, but that it was very difficult, and he would try to 

 select them to the best of his ability, and taking one 

 from the glass tank, he said i " Here is a mule." The eel 

 was thirty-eight and one-half centimeters long, and was 

 laid on its back, where it was held in position by an awl 

 through its jaws, while Dr. Virchow opened its abdomen 

 •with the Bcissors, and all watched the verdict which 

 proved that the diagnosis was correct, a verdict verified 

 by all present who were familiar with the subject. No. 

 2 was pronounced to be a female, but, on opening, there 

 was a doubt on account of the season and the sinallness 

 of the specimen, the eel spawning in the fall and winter 

 months, and therefore the eggs, if there were any, were 

 not well advanced by the middle of June, or, it might be 

 possible that if this was a female, the eggs would not be 

 ready to fill in a year or two ; anyhow it was evident that 

 whatever it might be it was not a male. No. 3 was also 

 called a female, and it proved to be one, while No. 4, and 

 last, was a male of 43 centimeters. 



Dr. Hermes stated that the head of the male had a 

 greater vertical thickness, the eye was smaller and the 

 snout narrower, but that although he had been success- 

 ful in the four cases above cited he did not feel author- 

 ized in saying that the rule was infallible. The sperm cells 

 were then placed under the microscope and showed, with 

 a power of about 250, very like ordinary testicle when in 

 mass, but when spread out it was plain that the cells were 

 sperm cells, and not fatty ones, although no spermatoza 

 were visible. A portion of the tissue of the doubtful one, 

 No. 2, showed nothing but fat cells, the irregular group- 

 ing of their angular forms differing widely from the reg- 

 ular arrangement of the eggs wdiich were seen depend- 

 ing like long clusters from a central cord with an artery, 

 or rather a capillary, beside it, and|(thus ended the exam- 

 ination. Dr. Hermes, of course, was more confident 

 after his successes, while the skeptics intimated that to 

 make it certain that the sexes could be distinguished 

 without dissection would require 400 eels to be examined 

 instead of four. The American representative in reply- 

 ing to a question as to the possibility of thus determining 

 the sexeB, said : "It may be so, or it may not ; the alleged 

 differences in outward appearance are not strong enough 

 for me to separate them with any certainty, and it is 

 often hard to distinguish the sexes of brook trout in the 

 summer." Herr von Behr then asked Mr. Mather if he 

 would accept a few male eels for Professor Baird, and an 

 arrangement was made whereby some will be brought to 

 America when Professor Goode and staff return, 



In this connection the following translation from the 

 Zoologischer Anzeiger* of June 7th may prove interest- 

 ing :— 



THE GENITAL ORGANS OF THE MALE EEL AND SEXUAL 

 DISTINCTIONS. 



By S. Th. Cattie. Phil. Nat. Cand., Dooeut an dor Beallsohule 

 zu Arnheim, (Holland.) 



As is well known, Dar winl has confirmed the experience 

 of Ounther that female fishes are larger than males. 



Perhaps it may be that Syrski, in the year 1874,2 has 

 followed tins rule in Beeking the small eels in order to 

 find the males, at which time he had the good fortune to 

 find an organ which is now generally called the " Syrski 

 organ," or the male organ of generation. 3 Dareste after- 

 ward found this organ in a variety of eel known in 

 France as Angvilla fimpervcau, and Professor A. S. 

 Packard has seen the living spermatozoa in the male 

 Angvilla bostoniensis.i The male eel being only about 

 430 m. m. long (17 inches), we need not wonder that if, is 

 found so seldom, as the young eels go in the deep water 

 where the organs of reproduction are soon developed 

 (six to eight weeks), and then they are ready for the 

 spawning season, when the old eels, male and female, go 

 to the bottom. Failing then to find the. spermatozoa we 

 must rely upon the cells of the testicle and the general 

 histological structure of the Syrski organs to bring us the 

 evideuce of the sex. 



By an examination of small eels rt may be found that 

 some have a rather broad ribbon fastened 'by the edge by 

 a small fold of the skin to the swimming bladder, while 

 the other edge is free. This ribbon goes from the liver to 

 beyond the anal opening, and is covered with thousands 

 of fat cells. A lobe-shaped organ, which consists of fat 

 cells, covers the posterior portion of the intestinal canal 

 and the ovariums.B The eggs which 1 found in specimens 

 of twenty to fifty centimeters in length were of 0.75 mil- 

 limeters. Treated with vinegar and ammonialed car- 

 mine there was a grand nucleus and also a nucleolus to 

 be seen. 



In other specimens fat-lobes were found, but not the 

 broad ribbon ; but in the same situation are to be found 

 along the back part and also through folds of the inside 

 webs, and joined to the swimming bladder a very thin 

 transparent strip of the. liver which extends behind the 

 anal opening. This strip is furnished with bow-formed 

 appendages, or cuts, which are 0.75 m. m. in length and 

 0.05 m. m, in depth, with the convex portion hanging 

 downward into the abdominal cavity. By the side of 

 these Syrski's, or lobe-formed organs, a fine canal is 

 found, whose duty it is to pass the seed out (sperm duct), 

 and this shows well when injected with carmine. The 

 histological structure has been examined by Fiend, B who 

 found a network of inside webs (Balkon) similar to the 

 structure of the unripe testicles of fishes ; a similar view 

 may be observed in my own preparations in cases where 

 the smaller specimens have been examined. 



Among the larger eels which I have observed with the 

 lobe-organs (445 m. m.) I found tube-formed cords which 

 were filled with cells from their bases to the tops of the 

 bow-formed cuts, and, after treating with the many dif- 

 ferent reagents, I never succeeded in distinguishing with 

 perfect clearness the nucleus. My observations were 

 conducted with Obj. K. Imm. Zeiss, Oc. 2 and 3. 



After Jacoby.7 ;von Siebold has seen such cell forma- 

 tions (Zellenst range) in a specimen of an eel where the 

 lobes were strongly defined. These cells showed a de- 

 cided similarity to the sperm-cells in the testicle, and I 

 am of the opinion that mine are the same. In no speci- 

 mens which have come under my notice have there been 

 any spermatozoa. Before I began my examinations on 

 the histiology of the testicle lobes, I considered the ques- 

 tion whether beside the mentioned differences in the 

 size and length there might not also be other outside 

 signs whereby the sex might be distinguished. On this 

 point Jacoby says :— 



1. " One decisive point is the broader jaw of the fe- 

 males, in contradistinction to the narrow and tapering 

 one of the males, or ones with the ' lobe organs.' 



2. " The lighter color of the females, which is of a 

 greenish tint on the back, shading to a yellow on the 

 belly, while the others are of a dark green, often an in- 

 tense black, always with more of a metallic luster on the 

 sides, and which commonly show a white belly. 



3. "An important outside sign is the difference in the 

 height of the dorsal fin, the females having it decidedly 

 higher and broader than the fish with the lobe-organs. 



4. " A Bign not always certain is the larger eyes of the 

 males, while those with particularly small eves are most 

 generally females. Eels, with 'Syrski's organs,' have 

 very large eyes ; but aLso there are large-eyed females to 

 be found." 



Jacoby gives a few measurements as illustrations of 

 his statements, from the great number of eels Measured 

 by him, from which the correctness of his conclusions 

 can be seen; but, I am inclined to consider some of his 

 signs overestimated, while others, not less important, 

 have been overlooked by him. From a great number of 

 eels, measured by myself, I am enabled to give the fol- 

 lowing : — 





fi 



It 





If 





i 



Length of body. 



ill 

 pi 





3 



if 



a .£ •" 

 ||| 

 g-Sio 



A 



•s 



W 



MM. 



MM. 



MM. 



MM. 



MM. 



MM. 



Mil. 



, Jft.270 



— 4 



8 



8 



4 



83 







Ma. 305 



4.5 



8.5 



9 



3.5 



36 



— 7 



II. 





— 4 



8 



9 



4 5 



37 



7 



a. 324 



— 5 



9 



10 



5 



89 



8 



111.- 



ft. 327.5 



-4 



9 



9 



4 



40 



8.5 



rt. 327.5 



5 



10 



— 10 



5 



40 



7.5 



IV.- 



7J.345. 



— 4 



8 



10 



5 



41 



6 



a. 344 



4.5 



(1 



X10 



i 



43 



7 



v.- 



ft. 355 



4 



X 9 







5 



41 



— 7 



(1.352 



5 



10 



10 



IS 



42 



7.5 



VI. 



ft. 359 



- 4.5 



X9 



- 9.5 



5 



X41 



— 7 



a. 358 



5 



10 



10 



5 



'13 



X 8 



VII. 



ft. 378 



4.6 



05 



10 



5 



43 



7 



a.375 







11 



12 



5 



45 



18 



vin. 



ft.380 



4.5 



ft.fi 



10 



6 



44 





0.380 



X5.5 



10 



11.5 



4.5 



47.5 



18 



(The sign — meat 



s a little legs, ai 



id X a 1 



ttlo mo 



•e.) 





a, femule : ft, ma 



e. 











* The Zoologischer Anzeiger herausgegeben too Prof. J. Victor 

 Oarus, in Leipzig. 



1 Charles Darwin. Die Abstammung des Menscaen, ubersetzt 

 VOnOrus. II, Theil.,p.6u.ff. 



B. Abhandl. d. Kais. Akad. d. Wlssensch. Wien, April-Heft 



S.Compt. Hendus, 1875, T. lxxxi., p. 159. 

 4. Zool. Anz. II Jurg. No. IR, p. 15. 



5 For l'ear of mUconstruotlon tho original is here given ■ "Bin 

 lappenformiges Organ, eben so nur bob Fettzellen bestehend 

 nberlagert den hintern Tboil des IiarnicaiialR und dc-s Ovarimns " 



6 Sitzungsber, d kate. Akad. d. Wlssensch., Wien, 1677,— Marz- 

 heft. 



7 Dr. L. Jaooby. Der 1'techfang in der Lugune von Comniachio 



