(>04 
FOREST AND STREAM 
From the time consumed by the passage they estimated 
the distance at about four miles, but it may have 
been considerably lass, as they found it necessary to pro¬ 
ceed with great caution, the ‘river being low and the ob¬ 
structions quite numerous. Once they struck a Tock, and 
came -very near capsizing: but finally‘the journey was ac¬ 
complished, and the patient made comfortable at a farm¬ 
house near the river, from whence lie was removed to his 
own home over tbe Erie Railway the next evening. The 
second deer escaped to the river, but he had a brace and 
a half of grouse, and these afforded him a comfortable 
breakfast. 
That long and solemn paddle through the cool Novem¬ 
ber moonlight remains a vivid picture" in the memories of 
the Doctor and tbe Judge. Trie wounded sportsman re¬ 
covered, and entered the army near near the close of 1861, 
losing his life at the second battle of Bull Run. 
Ego. 
TROUT FISHIN G-THE FLY vs. WORMS. 
^ Judge Fitzhngh's favorite amusement was trout fishing. 
His nice appreciation of the piscatorial art gave him the 
name of ‘•The "Walton of Western New York." While 
fishing he always used the fly ; there are many who still 
remember bis sltiUful manner of throwing it. lie enter¬ 
tained the most sovereign contempt for any other mode 
of capturing trout — the aristocrat of the brook, as be 
termed that fish. One day when on a Ashing excursion 
he met, a fisherman whoso well-tilled basket, proved his 
success. 
“You have afinc basket of trout there," said the judge. 
“Yes, sir, but I should have caught more, only my bait 
g we out," said the man. 
"Bait! Bait! What, are you one of those fellows that 
kill a quart of angle-worms or a peck of grubs to catch 
one fish 7 One of those fellows who can't appreciate the 
nature of a trout any more than an ape can literature," 
said the Judge. 
••I mean to say that I caught these fish with angle¬ 
worms for my bait, and I'd like to know what that is to 
you?" said the man, 
" Don't you know that it is unmanly and vulgar to fish 
for trout in that way? I would as soon eat carrion as a 
trout caught with a hook baited with angle-worms," said 
Fitzhugh. 
“ Who the deuce are you tluit goes about telling folks 
what they must fish with? Maybe you haven't read tbe 
Declaration of Independence," said the fisherman. 
' ‘ I am a gentleman, sir, and you are not. A man 
can’t lie a gentleman that fishes for trout with angle- 
worms.' 
“Is it any of your business what a man fishes with? 
You talk as though you owned all the fish in tins coun¬ 
try. You don’t, though — I’ve a great mind to throw you 
into the creek ; but you are such an ugly-looking cuss 
you’d scare all the fish Out of it. I should like to thrash 
my cow-yard with you," said the man in a towering pas¬ 
sion. 
Attempt any violence upon me and I’ll make live bait 
of you in a minute. I tell you it is my business what a 
man fishes with. It is the business of all civilized and 
Christianized people. Fishing with angle-worms degen¬ 
erates trout to a common sucker—a crab — it baffles sci¬ 
ence —it teaches that splendid fish the habits of a com¬ 
mon bull-head, that any idiot can catch. Fishing with 
a fly is fair game between a man and a trout; it gives 
them both a chance to exercise their skill. 
“What odds does it make how you catch a trout if you 
only get him? I catch fish because 1 like to eat them." said 
the' man. 
“That's because you are nothing but a cannibal. Fish¬ 
ing with a fly is a fair game between the man and a 
trout: it gives them both a chance to exercise their s kill 
A trout darting for a fly reminds me of the swoop of an 
eagle: there is something daring and brilliant in bis 
movements ; he charges on his prey like a hero, and if 
caught he dies gallantly, not sucking a stinking ange- 
worm like a hungry lubber," said the Judge. 
• 1 See here, what’s your name ? By golly, you talk well. 
I’d like to hear that over again. Tell a felleryour name." 
‘ • My name is Fitzhugh—a name I have never disgraced, 
and never shall' until 1 am caught in the flunkey business 
of catching trout with angle-worms." 
“ Are you Judge Fitzhugh, the man that can catch 
trout with a buncomb fly on his book, where there ain't 
any, just as well as lie can where there’s plenty of 
them ?" 
"They call me Judge Fitzhugh." 
■* Well, I’d half a mind to thrash you just now, you 
was so confounded sassy. They say you are the sassiest 
man in the world, and I believe it. ' Those shaggy' eye¬ 
brows and those great black eyes, and that black "hair- 
well. I guess I don’t want to get hold of you, so let’s be 
friends. Judge, do you think I could learn to catch 
trout with any?” 
“Yes," said the Judge, amused at the man’s manner 
and words. “ Go with me and I will give you a lesson." 
They were soon by the side of one of those beautiful 
streams in Northern Steuben, that in those days swarmed 
with the finest trout. Boon Fitzhugli’s line went whiz¬ 
zing though the air, the swift-winged fly alighting on the 
water full thirty feet distant; the next moment a splen¬ 
did trout lay panting on the grass. The man watched 
the skillfully-thrown line with its darting insect, now a- 
iighting on the edge of a swift-whirling eddy, now skip¬ 
ping over bright ripples, now floating on the smooth cur¬ 
rent, then gyrating near a shelving rock like a ‘‘ strong 
B trimmer in his agony,” tomptingthe silly tenants of the 
brook to spring at "the glittering bait, to find himself 
caught full surely by the fatal snare. 
The man lingered [until Fitzhngh’s basket was nearly 
filled, then, with admiration glowing on his face, ex¬ 
claimed: “Judge, that’s a big game betwen you and 
those trout — a pretty one, too—there's science in it. 
Blame me if you don't get the best of it, though, every 
time. Malre they'll be too smart for me at that game ; 
but I’ve done with angle-worms hereafter. Angle-worms 
be-hanged, if I never catch another trout. Ill try my 
hand at the fly next time I fish. Good-by Judge,and 
the man’s form was soon lost in the deep forest. 
Some time during the ensuing winter Judge Fitzhugh 
received two splendid saddles of yension from some per- 
person unknown, neatly packed in a box. On removing 
the cover a paper was discovered, on which was written 
the following 
“Fromthe fellow that don't fish with angle-worms 
any more, but goes it strong on the fly. This meat is for 
your first lesson with that article.”-ri, B. Proctor, in 
Bench and Bar. 
gislf tilhir f 
THE McCLOUD RIVER HATCHERY. 
* % 
T ILE McCloud River, California, upon whiclian United 
States fish hatchery was established in 1873, is a 
swiftly running stream, nowhere more than 100 yards 
wide, shallow, pure and cold. It possesses all the requisites 
desirable for salmon breeding. The Goverment reserva¬ 
tion here embraces 280 acres of ground upon which are 
the residences of Commissioner Stone and Superintendent 
Myron Green, and the large hatching house. The force 
employed consists of twelve men, of whom six are Indians. 
From a letter in the Sacramento Weekly Appeal , 
written by a fishing tourist, we take the' subjoined 
description of the appurtenances and methods of work 
at this important station :— 
Nearthe residences, at a narrow passage of the river, four 
stone piers have been built in the stream. Across the 
river and connected from pier to pier, a fence made of 
willow poles and resembling a rack, has been sunk to the 
bottom with end of the poles rising several feet above the 
water and resting against heavy logs connecting the piers. 
The poles are so close together that the salmon are pre¬ 
vented from passing up the stream, and when the season 
for the catcli comes on and the fence is placed in position 
the fish gather below in thousands. 
The season for the catch commences about the middle 
of July and lasts until the close of September. Below the 
fish dam is a hit of sandy beach,’and here the Indians drag 
the seine ashore and hundreds of fish of all sizes, from the- 
coquettish trout to the heavy salmon leap frantically about 
in the shallow water ana upon the sands. 
The salmon with the graceful shaped jaws and broad 
bodies are the females, “ MahaUas," and are carried to and 
cast into a floating crib near by', The male or “ buck,” as 
the In dian s term him , has the crooked jaw with narrow 
and heavy body, and only one in five of those are selected 
for propagation. 
The gathering of the eggs comes first. The order is re¬ 
versed from that in animal life, and with the salmon the 
male matures first, which is at the age of two years, while 
the female never has spawn until the third year. The ex¬ 
pert selects the ripe fish at a glance. The female salm on is 
taken between the hands and gently', but firmly, her eggs 
are by pressure ejected, and fall into apan, round, yellow, 
translucent globules the size of a pea. Now the operator 
takes a. ripe ‘male salmon and by like process presses the 
milt, milky fluid, from him into the. pan with the eggs. The 
eggs are then stirred up in the milt and allowed to stand 
forty-five, minutes, during which time the milt has 
thoroughly impregnated the eggs. This is the most im¬ 
portant part of the process, for without the fecundating 
process of the milt the eggs would never develop. The 
eggs procured are in number about 500 to every pound 
weight of the yielding salmon. The eggs are now carried 
to the hatchinghou.se, carefully rinsed off with clear water 
and placed upon a tray. The size of this building is 30x80 
feet, and is open at both ends. Upon the bank of tire 
river, some fifty yards distant, is a large undershot wheel, 
whioh is slowly moved by the current, and by an arrange¬ 
ment of buckets, dumps 7,000 gallons of water per hour 
into a flume running to the hatching house. A large res¬ 
ervoir at one end of the building receives the water. Lead¬ 
ing from this tbe entire length of the building, with a 
gentle declination, are four rows .of troughs, just wide 
enough to admit the trays lengthways. Each trough is 
divided by partitions into" lengtte to ‘suit the tray's. In 
each compartment four trays will rest, one on top of the 
other. The trays are a light framework, one by two feet, 
and covered with a sheet of wire cloth. We notice the 
trays, troughs and reservoir are covered with inky black 
aspbaltum, which is to prevent any slime or fungus growth 
from gathering upon the wood, as this would result in the 
sure destruction of the eggs. Each of the trays will hold 
6.000 eggs, and the various troughs, when full, nearly 8 ,- 
000 , 000 . The water flowing into the reservoir passes out 
through various screens of flannel and netting to filter it 
of all sediment and vegetable matter, and enters the' dis¬ 
tributing trough in a very pure state, and thence into the 
hatching troughs. It enters each compartment under a 
cross partition and makes exit over the next partition. 
This insures circulation up through and down through the 
trays and over and about every part of the egg. In about 
two days after being deposited the centre of the egg be¬ 
comes opaque and a film extends over the yolk. The 
opaque Bpot is the germ or embryo sabnon. This is the 
critical period, Daily' and nightly' are the trays lifted out 
and carefully examined. Whenever an egg turns white 
it is dying or dead. If left in the tray it would throw out 
a vegetable growth of little arms, antmn.ee, and destroy 
every egg within reach, For fifteen days the eggs remain 
in the troughs, when two bright, black little spots make 
their appearance. These are the eyes of the infantile sal¬ 
mon. Now follows the packing. An almost interminal 
journey of thousands of miles to different States of the 
Union await the embryo, and it would almost seem infat¬ 
uation to anticipate their survival, but Mr. Stone has solved 
this question. The boxes in which they are packed are 
two feet square land a foot deep. The eggs are packed 
with first a layer of moss at the bottom of the box. and 
then a layer of eggs and then another layer of moss and 
so on to the top. Midway in the centre of each box is a 
tliin wooden partition to break the force of the weight of 
moss and eggs. About 75.000 are packed in a box and the 
cover ftimly secured with screws, this with another of the 
same size are placed in a crate several Indies larger than 
the combined bulk of the two, the intervening space being 
filled with hay to prevent sudden changes of temperature. 
Oil the top of the orate Is placed a rack of ice. The only' 
suitable moss for packing purposes is obtained seventy 
miles distant at the headwaters of the Sacramento. Con¬ 
siderable.difficulty was experienced in tbe preparation of 
large shipments, as the eggs must have all advanced to 
t he same stage of maturity' at the time of departure. This 
has been remedied by Mr, Stone in the following manner: 
In the large hatchery the temperature of the water is 55 
degrees and tbe time required to properly mature the eggs 
is about 18 days. Upon the side of the mountain'a smaller 
establishment has been arranged and is fed by a spring at 
the temperature of 60 degrees ; tlie result is that eggs will 
become prepared from seven to eight days sooner than by 
river water, and thus the difficulty is obviated. 
Trout in an Aquarium— Hartford, Conn,, Aug. 30 th. 
—Editor Forest and Stream .—I had for several 'years a 
large office aquarium supplied with running water and 
stocked with trout and other varieties of fish. The tank 
should be cleaned out occasionally, as you say, but a 
couple of gold fish make excellent 'scavengers, and they 
will make “cleaning out” lesB frequently necessary. 
Trout, when hungry, are not particularly fastidious, but 
they appear to waggle their tails as if to express a sort of 
inward joy when they are supplied with small bait fish in 
abundance; but they'thus get a notion of eating each 
other, or trying to, and hence it is not best for the har¬ 
mony of the establishment to thus gratify their appetites. 
For a trout, after having a “ fish” dinner, will get such an 
exaggerated idea of his own capacity' that the first time 
he gets hungry again he will resolutely try to swallow a 
fish twice as large as himself—provided the fish don’t ob¬ 
ject. But, being denied a fish diet, trout will soon forget 
tlieir natural propensities if the occupants of the aqua¬ 
rium are all about the same size, and if supplied with 
spring water they do not require feeding oftener than 
once a week. I used to sometimes let them go a month 
and even two months without other food than what the 
water supplied them. Of course they will grow faster to 
be fed more frequently. Angleworms make excellent 
food for trout and. a good deal of work for the digger of 
the worms, if he has many trout to feed. But I found, 
after trying various things, that raw beef-steak, cut up 
with scissors into small bits, makes excellent food for 
trout, and they like it very much after they once get 
used to it, and I have seen half a dozen of them jumping 
out of the water six or eight inches to get bites of the 
ibeef which was placed upon the inside of the glass sides 
of tiie aquarium. No more should be given them tlian 
they' will eat, as it fouls the aquarium very quickly. 
M. H. R. 
Maryland. — Fish Commissioner Hughlett has placed 
1,615,000 shad fry in the waters of the Eastern Shore this 
yeaT. 
nfnrnl gfistorri, 
SUSPENDED ^ANIMATION.. 
Editor Forest and Stream :— 
Some thirty odd years ago the late Col. S. M., of Rich¬ 
mond, Va., a devoted "Waltonian, was wont to keep min¬ 
nows in a tank in his bathing-room that be might be 
ready for the first warm days in February or March. On 
the occasion referred to the winter was unusually cold for 
this region, and the water in his tank, along with his 
minnows, became a solid mass of ice. After several 
weeks of intense cold, warm weather gradually returned, 
the ice thawed and along with it the minnows, who were 
alive and sprightly, as though they had enjoyed a long 
and refreshing sleep. 
Early in tte last month (June) I caught some thirty 
beautiful minnows (pond dace) and wished to keep them. 
My' box for minnows was just below a spring, and I knew 
that spring water at 52 degrees would be fatal to then), 
coming out of pond water at 70 degrees. I therefore 
sought to accustom them to the change by malting the 
bucket of pond water overflow several times with the 
spring water. I then put them into the box. But next 
morning I found them all dead or stiff frozen. Col. M.’s 
tank occurred to me and I thought they might be frozen 
instead of dead. I determined to test tbe fact. I took 
them to tbe pond, a few rods distant, and poured the 
pond water into the bucket of spring water to overflow, 
Of the tliirty only two revived. I am now satisfied that 
I was too hasty in my operations. If I had taken two 
hours instead of fifteen minutes in bringing them to the 
pond temperature the result might have been different. 
I am led to this conclusion by an interesting article in ll e 
London Nature by Dr. Richardson, recently' republished 
in LitteWs hiving Age (No. 1,830), and which I have just 
seen. 
Some weeks, or rather months, ago there appeared in 
the London Times an account of a “wonderful discovi 
ery ” in Australia, by which it was stated that bullocks 
could, in a state of suspended animation, be transported 
from Australia to London at ordinary charges of freight. 
The article provoked much comment in the English 
press, some of them denouncing it as absurd, repugnant 
to common sense and in contradiction of the laws of 
nature. Dr. Richardson, who says he has for the past 
twenty-five years been making experimental researches 
on this subject, states that, while knowing nothing of the 
truth or falsehood of the Australian statement, “some 
part of it might be true and is certainly within the range 
of possibility.” The Doctor proceeds to give the results 
of experiments thus far made and the agents by which 
they were wrought. I give extracts from his com¬ 
munication : 
“If an animal perfectly free from disease be subjected 
to the action of some chemical agents or physical 
agencies whioh have the property of reducing to the ex- 
tremost limit the motor forces of the body, the muscular 
irritability, and tbe nervous stimulus to muscular action ; 
and if the suspension of the muscular irritability, and of 
the nervous excitation be made at once, and equally, the 
body even of a warm-blooded animal may be brought 
down to a condition so closely resembling death that the 
most careful examination may fail to detect any' signs of 
life. I have shown in a Croonian lecture that there are 
three degrees of muscular irritability, to whioh I have 
given the names of efficient, papine efficient, and nega¬ 
tive. The first of these is represented in the ordinary 
living muscle, in which the heart is working at full ten¬ 
sion, and all parts of the body are thoroughly supplied 
with blood, with perfection of consciousness in waking 
hours, and, in a word, full life. The second of these 
states is represented in suspended animation, in which the 
heart is working regularly, but at low tension, supplying 
the muscles and other parts with sufficient blood to sus¬ 
tain molecular life, but no more. The third of these 
states is represented when there is no inotion whatever of 
