AnGTOT 18 , 1881. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



51 



THL SEVEN PONDS. 



I WAS considerably interested, ami like many more of 

 youjt readers, no doubt, slightly amused by reading 

 a short article entitled "Tim Pond and the Seven 

 Ponds," in your issue of Aug. 11, in which it was said that 

 the Seven Ponds were "stocked with trout which have en- 

 joyed their homes unmolested since the history of trout be- 

 gan, till now Kenuedy Smith has opened a backboard path- 

 : sportsmen to the waters where they dwell." 



It seems to rue, considering that some years have elapsed 

 since Messrs. Grant &, Richardson, of the Kenuebago Lake 

 House, have erected log camps and kept boats at the Seven 

 Ponds for the convenience of their guests who might wish to 

 go there, that the title of pioneer to that region can hardly 

 belong io Mr. Kennedy Smith. I should like hereto give 

 most unqualified praise to Messrs. Grant A Richardson" for 

 the uniform kindness and hospitality which their guests en- 

 joy at their camp. No better guides can lie found through 

 the whole lake region. Their table is unsurpassed at any 

 point, upou the lakes, aud I have never known a dissatisfied 

 guest. For parlies wishing to camp out they have erected 

 log cabins near the west eud of the lake, which are supplied 

 With stoves aud the necessary cooking utensils. While it is 

 undoubtedly true that the trout taken here average smaller in 

 Size than those of the lower lakes, it is also true that there is 

 no other lake of the Rangelcy chain where the fishing 

 iiomthe year is to be compared with that at Kennc- 

 bago. It is the only lake of the chain where trout will rise 

 freely to the fly during July. 



For beauty of scenery it has no equal, being entirely sur- 

 rounded by mouuiains, and I think nobody who wishes to 

 spend n few pleasant days' vacation in the woods can do bet- 

 ter than try the hospitality of the Kcnncbago Lake House, 

 and from there run up to Seven Ponds two or three days, 

 where trout of small to medium size are certainly more 

 abundant than elsewhere. B. 



LARGE BLACK BASS. 



Harwood, Rice Lake, Ont., Aug. 11. 



I SEND you to-day by express a small mouthed black bass 

 which weighed, when caught, six pounds; it shrunk 

 some in stuffing. On Thursday, the 4th of this month, Mr. 

 1). Murphy, a gentleman of Toronto, aud myself started out 

 for a tlsh at 5 o'clock i\ u. In two and a half hours we 

 twenty-five Finall mouthed black bass; eight of them 

 weighed forty-one and ft quarter pounds. The following is 

 the exact score: 



6 bass of 5 lbs. each 30 lbs. 



1 bass of 5i lbs 5i lbs. 



1 bass of Gjj lbs 5| lbs. 



Totaliorthe 8 (out of 85) 41± lbs. 



Rice Lake is now full of fish, both muskenonge and large 

 and small mouthed black bass. The large mouthed bass 

 is called " yellow," or " mud bass" here. 



Chas. Git.ohrist. 

 The bass came to hand nicely stuffed and mounted, and is 

 the small mouth species, and looks to have weighed six 

 pouuds. 



RHODE ISLAND HAS A LOBSTER LAW. 



Providbkok, Aug. 13. 



PLEASE put Rhode Island right on the lobster question. 

 We have a law, passed at the last session of our Legis- 

 lature (Jan. and Feb., 1881), limiting the catch to ten and 

 a half inches, which, in the wisdom of our law givers, was 

 enough to begin with. It is a good beginning, and we hope 

 to* raise it an inch soon. 



A lobster was taken about July 1st half way up the bay 

 (Narragansett) that weighed twelve aud a fonrlh pounds in a 

 Bweep sieue. We sent one to the Smithsonion that measured 

 one and a fourth inch, perfectly formed, caught off Narra- 

 -uum:M nier. Waal is not known abour. the growth of lob- 

 sters in their early stage of development would fill a volume. 

 Be sure the U. S. Commission will soon find it out. 

 Nkwton DbxTBB, 



Comvdmoner Inland Fisheries. 



WORMS in Black Bass— Watsontown, Pa., Aug. 12.— 

 Can you enlighten moon the cause of the black bass being 

 literly alive wilh worms? It is not only one in a. number, 

 hut all that are taken from our beautiful river— the West 

 Branch of the Susquehanna — and I believe if the bass are 

 dissected it will be found that all arc so at this time of the 

 tbe year in all waters. The worms will be found in great 

 numbers along the back-bone ; remove the skin and the 

 worm will be easily Found, and in nearly all will be found 

 a small black egg. Can we hope for a disappearance of the 

 worm after August ? (.Ian you explain the cause ? If you 

 wish I Will scud you a bass to dissect. I have an idea that all 

 fish are more or less affected with this same worm at, this sea- 

 son of the year. This has put a damper to our dreams of 

 taking this grand game fish. — J. R. H. 



Tbe bass are often, if not always, wormy at this season. 

 Wc eat them and never look for worms. The worms and the 

 bass taste alike, the same as the worms in cherries or in 

 cheese taste like the the thing that contains them. See 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



How to Mask a Clam Baxs— Putnam, August 14 — First 



secure what claniB you may want, and a bushel or more of 

 new rockweed, or seaweed so-called. Select a flat rock, 

 then build theieon a fire, and also heat a half bushel or more 

 of clean stones of about three pounds weight each, also one 

 flat one as big as a hat. After the rock is sufficiently heated 

 then, having if possible with yon a pair of tongs, take off the 

 heated stones and sweep off flie ashes from the rock. Now 

 dash ou souic little water so the rock will not Bcorch the rock 

 weed and make the clams taste smoky. Then have a clean 

 barrel with both heads out. Set the barrel on the heated. 

 rock. Now put in six or eight inches of rockweed ; then say 

 half of your clams ; then more rockweed: then the hot. 

 stones ; then more rockweed -, then the rest of the clams ; 

 then mom rockweed. Now put the largest fiat hot stone on 

 top ; then put on the rockweed until the barrel is full ; then 

 cover up the barrel as tight as possible, so that no steam can 

 escape ; bank up a little round the bottom of the barrel. In 

 a half or three-quarters of an hour your clams are done. I 

 generally have a piece of old sail cloth to put over the top of 

 the barrel.— G. F. W. 



A Fly Casting Match in England.— Mr. R. F. Marston, 



editor of the Fishing Gazette, is about, to introduce this sport 

 inlo England. He offers prizes and asks dealers to add io 

 them. We will watch for its coming and hope that he may 

 meet with the success which he deserves. It is interesting 

 to note that his scale of 100 points differs slightly from ours. 

 It is : 



Aeross the wind 20 



With the wind 20 



Style of delivery of flies 30 



Accuracy ..... 30 



The contest is to be for single and double-handed fly- 

 casting ; longestcsst from the reel, "Nottingham style," and 

 for longest cast with line coiled at the feet, " Thames style." 



Vermont Bass Fishing.— Montreal, Can., August 9, '81.— 

 I have just, returned from a ten-davs' fishing tour at Bass 

 Lake, Franklin, Vt., and at Lake Champlain, near Missijs- 

 quoa Bay. Our catch was wholly black bass ; the largest 

 kicked at five pounds Bass fishing is Al there this season. 

 Friend Cascau, of Sheldon, Vt., has captured during the 

 past month some six-pound small-mouthed bass at Bass Lake, 

 and there are more left, even larger than those taken. These 

 fish, on a Grecnheart rod, give lively sport. 



The writer and a couple of friends dropped into the Otta- 

 wa Hotel here to-day for dinner, and the courteous manner 

 in which we were received by the manager, Mr. John War- 

 ner, who is a devoted disciple to the rod and gun, caused us 

 to feel that our lines had fallen in a pleasant spot, and that 

 the Ottawa is the hotel for sportsmen ;to patronize while in 

 this city. No puff about this, but solemn truth. — Stanstrad. 



Grrbnwood Lakb to bb Restocked.— At a recent club 

 meeting of tbe Greenwood Lake Association "Frank Forester 

 Club," it was resolved: That the Treasurer of this Association 

 be authorized to act as trustee for a fund of such voluntary 

 contributions as shall be made, to wit., for the purpose of 

 continually restocking Greenwood Lake and protecting tbe 

 same; and that Elias Vindle, Samuel Garrison and John 

 llazen be and are hereby appointed a committee with full and 

 discretionary power as to the use of this fund, and the Treas- 

 urer is instructed to pay the^same out on vouchers approved 

 by them. 



Big Catoh.— Mr. George Le Bar, of Bushkill, Pa., took 

 out a fishing party on Saturday, July 34, from the Buena 

 Vista House, consisting of Mr. Samuel Kay and D. W. Rob- 

 iusou, of New York, who succeeded in landing 31 black 

 bass, one of which weighed five and one-quarter pouuds and 

 another four pounds. This is considered remarkable for this 

 season of the year.— J. O..R. 



Delaware River Notes— Philadelphia, Aug. 11,— The 

 season during which fishing ou the Delaware River with nets 

 le s 1 ban two inch meshes is prohibited expired yesterday, 

 but the fisn wardens will still continue to enforce the law 

 against fishing on Sunday. — Homo. 



Trout in North Carolina— Mt. Antr, N. C. — Splendid 

 trout fishing about twenty miles from here, and superb 

 scenery. J. M. B. 



<tjjis1\cnltwe. 



STRUCTURE AND OVARIAN INCUBATION OF THE TOP- 

 MINNOW (Zygoiteotes.) 



By John A. Rider. 



C1INCE we have taken up our temporary residence at Cherrystone 

 '-' we have tumid this interesting gonus 01' cyprinodonta in great 

 abundance in fresh and brackish water slroanas, also in a fresh 

 water pond in the vicinity, a few miles south of where our station 

 is located. In the latter situation three forms have been collected, 

 all of which are in breeding condition — we will not say spawning 

 condition, as they do not, as do most most other fishes, commit 

 their ova to the care of the' element in which they live, but carry 

 them about in the ovary, where they are impregnated and where 

 they develop in a very remarkable manner. 



Of the manner of impregnation we know little or nothing, ex- 

 cept the evidence furnished by the conformation of the external 

 genitalia of the two sexes. In the adult male, which measirres 

 one and one-eighth of an inch in length, the anal fin is straugely 

 modified into an intromitteut organ for the conveyance of the 

 milt into the ovary of the female ; a tubular organ appears to bo 

 formed by the three foremost anal rays, but one which is greatly 

 prolonged and united by a membrane." At the apex these rays are 

 somewhat curved toward each other, and thus form a blunt point, 

 hut tho foremost one of the three rays is armed for its whole 

 length with ridges at its base and with sharp recurved hooks at its 

 tip, the other two at their tips similarly with hooks, and between 

 their tips are two small fenestra or openings which possibly corn- 

 uiunicato directly with the sperm duct from the testes. The basal 

 elements of the tin are aggregated into a cylindrical columnar 

 sd bony mass, which is prolonged upward into the cavity 

 of the air-bladder for the distance of nearly tho eighth of an inch; 

 from it a series of fibrous bands pa«a to the dorsal and posterior 

 wall of the air-bladder to be inserted in the median line. Whether 

 tbis bony column servoH to steady the flu in the act of copulation, 

 or whether it serves to give passage to the sperm duct, is an un- 

 settled question with the writer. The modified anal fin of the 

 male measures a third of an inch in length. Other peculiarities of 

 the male are noticeable— for instance, as the more abbreviated 

 air-bladder or space which also occupies a more oblique position 

 than in the female. The most remarkable difference presented by 

 the male as compared with the female, however, is his inconsid- 

 erable weight, which is only 160 mihigramos, while that of the 

 gravid female is 1,030 milligrames, or nearly Bix and one-half 

 times the weight of the male. 



The female, as already stated, is larger than the male, and 

 measures one inch aud throe-fourths in length. The liver lies for 

 the most part on the left side. The intestine makes one turn upou 

 itself in the fore part of the body oavity and passes back along 

 the floor of the abdomen to the vent. The air-bladder occupies 

 two-fifths of the abdominal cavity, aud at its posterior end the 

 wolffian duct traverses it vertically^ to be enlarged near its outlet 

 into a fusiform urinary bladder of very much the same form as in 

 many embryo fishes, as demonstrated" by Professor Kupffer and 

 myself. The ovary is a simple, impaired organ which lies some- 

 what to the right aud extends from the anterior portion of tho 

 body cavity to its hinder end, and serves to fill up its lower moiety 

 when fidly developed. The ova, when full grown, are each envel- 

 oped in a sac or follicle supplied with blood from a median vas- 

 cular trunk which divides and subdivides as it traverses the ovary 

 lengthwise in a manner aimilar to that of the stem to which grapeB 

 in the bunch are attached. In this way it happenB that each egg 

 or ovum has its own independent supply of blood from the gen- 

 eral vascular system of the mother, from which the material for 

 the growth and maturation of the egg is derived, aud which af- 

 terward becomes specialized into a contrivance by whioh the life 

 of the developing embryo iB maintained while undergoing devel- 

 opment in their respective follicles in the ovary or egg-bug. The 



ova develop along the course of tho main vessel aud its branches, 

 ae may he learned upon examining a hardened specimen, where 

 the very immature ovarian eggs are seen to be involved in n 

 meahwork of connective fibrous tissue, which servea not only to 

 strengthen tho vessels but also afterward enters into the struc- 

 ture of the walls of the ovarian sacs or follicles externally. 



The very immature eggs moaauro from less than a hundredth 

 of an inch up to a fiftieth, and on up to a twelfth of an inch, 

 wheu they may be said to be niaturo. They develop along a nearly 

 median raehin or stalk which extend;: backward and slightly down- 

 ward and which gets its blood supply very far forward from the 

 dorsal aorta. The ova, after developing a little wav, are each in- 

 closed in a follicle, the Graafian follicle, ovisac, ovarian capsule,. 

 memkrana granulosa of VouBaer, or > . ■■ ■ ^ ■■ ■' ■• .' ■■ ■<■ < < - ■:.'«■■. ■-■■e ol' Coste. 

 As the egg 'fa matured there is a space developed about it which 

 is Baid to result from the breaking up of the granular layer of 

 cells covering it, This space infilled with fluid, and in this liquid, 

 which increases in quantity as development proceeds, the embryo 

 of Zygunedeg or top-minnow, is constantly bathed. There is no 



gg of this fish'of m. itulepenrteni egg 



«hli 



1 di- 



perforated by one or more mycropolar openings or pores for the 

 entrance of " the spermatozoon. This fact raises the 51 Estiorj 

 whether the egg membrane or z'ma radiala usually present in the 

 ova of water-spawning fishes is not entirely absent hi all the vi- 

 viparous species. Whether Rathko has recorded anything ou this 

 point hi his account of the development or '/farces, the viviparous, 

 bleuny, I am not able to Bay at present, as I do not have access to 

 to his memoir. Suffice it to say, however, that with very cautions 

 preparation, staining and dissection of tho follicles inclosing the 

 ova of Zygnnectes, I havo completely failed to discover what I 

 could regard aa an ogg membrane, although personally familiar 

 with the appearance of the coverings of the ova of more than 

 twenty species, embracing fifteen or more families. Tho zona 

 radicUa or covering of the egg in other bony fishes is Baid to be 

 secreted from the colls lining the follicles and is composed of a 

 gelatinoid substance, and it is often perforated all over by a vast 

 number of extremely fine tubules called pore canals by their dis- 

 coverer, Johannes Mueller, No such structure existing as a cover- 

 ing for the egg of Zygonectes, we are in a position to ask the ques- 

 tion why such a unique condition of affairs should exist in tbis 

 caseV The answer, it would appear to us, is not far to seek. In 

 the case of eggs whioh ordinarily hatch in water it is necessary 

 that they should be supplied with a covering more or leas firm and 

 capable of protecting the contained embryo, which in the ease of 

 the top-minnow is not needed, because the embroyo is developed 

 bo as to be quite competent to take care of itself as a vory well 

 organized little fish when it leaves the body of its parent. Nature 

 will not waste her powers in an effort to make useless clothes for 

 such of her children as do not need them ; on the contrary, she ia 

 constantly utilizing structures economically, and often so as to 

 eervo more than one purpose. This is the apparent answer to the 

 query with which we started. 



The follicles or sacs containing the ova are built up internally 

 of flat, polygonal cells of pavement epithelium, and externally of 

 a network of multipolar, fibrous, connective tissue cells and minute 

 capillary blood vessels, with cellular walls, which radiate in all di- 

 rections over the follicle from the point where the main arterial 

 vessel joins the follicle, and which, together with its accompany- 

 ing veins aud investment of fibrous tissue, constitutes the stalk by 

 which the follicle aud its contained naked ovum is suspended to 

 the main arterial trunk and vein. The capillary system ends in a 

 larger venous trunk, which also follows tbe course of the maiu 

 median arterial trunk back to the heart by way of the Cnvierian 

 ducts. The very intricate mesh-work of fine vessels which covers 

 the follicle supplies the developing fish with fresh oxygen, and 

 also serves to carry off the carbonic dioxide in much the same way 

 as the placenta or after-birth performs a similar duty for the 

 young mammal developing in the uterus of its parent. There is 

 this great difference, however, between tho fish and the mammal. 

 In the former there is no uterus; the development takes place in 

 the follicle in which the eggs have grown and matured ; there is 

 no time placenta, but respiration is effected by a follicular mesh- 

 work of blood vessels, and the interchange of oxygen and carbonic 

 dioxide gases takes place through tho intermediation at first of 

 the fluid by which the embryo ia surrounded in its follicle, and 

 later when blood vessels and gills have developed in the embryo 

 they, too, become accessories to aid in the oxygenation of its 

 blood. In the mammal there is a uterus; the egg must leave its 

 ovarian follicle; be conveyed to the uterine cavity before a 

 perfectly normal development can begin; there is a fully de- 

 veloped richly vascular placenta joined to the fojtuB, tho villi or 

 vascular loops of which are insinuated between those developed 

 on the maternal surface of the uterine cavity. In both fish and 

 mammal, however, this general likeness remains; that there ia no 

 immediate vascular connection between mother and ombrvo. Iu 

 both tbe respiration of tho embryo is effected by tho transpi- 

 ration of gases through the intermediation of membranes and 

 fluids, oxygen being constantly supplied and carbonic dioxide ear- 

 ned off by means of a specialized portion of the blood system of 

 the maternal organism. 



There is still another difference which distinguishes the develop 

 ing fish from tho mammal whioh has not been noticed. The 

 body of, tho former is built up by a gradual transformation or con- 

 version of the substance of the yelk iuto the various structures 

 which make up its organization. In other words, the young fish 

 obtains no nutrition from its parent; there is merely a reorganiza- 

 tion of the stored protoplasm of the yelk sac. In the mammal, 

 on the other hand, the embryo receives nourishment through the 

 placental structures, though there is a yelk at an early stage ; the 

 largest proportion of the orubryo ia built up from tho protoplasm 

 supplied from the blood system of tho parent. Judging from tho 

 large size of the young of some viviparous fishes, such as in Km- 

 hinloca, it is possible that there may be some exceptions to the 

 rule indicated above. 



BesideB the very intricate network of papillary vessels which 

 covers the follicles of the ovary of Zygoneetes a large 

 opening of a circular or oval form makes its appear- 

 ance in the wall of each ouo at or near the 

 point of attachment of tho vascular stalk by which they arc 

 supported. This opening appears to increase in size as the young 

 fish develops; whether it is present during ths earliest stages of 

 tbe intratolhcular development of the embryo I do not know, as I 

 did not have an opportunity to see those phases. A branch from 

 the main nutritive vessel frequently lies near tho margin of tho 

 opening, curving around it. Whether this oponiug serves tho 

 same purpose as the micropyle of ova provided with a membrane 

 would appear very probable, as it is difficult to see in what other 

 manner the milt, which is probably introduced into tho ovarian cav- 

 ity by the male, could reach the ovum through tho wall of its fol- 

 licle." The opening into tho follicle may be named the /e ' 

 foramen Through it the cavity in which the embryo lioa is 

 brought into direct communication with the general ovarian 

 space, whioh, singularly enough, appears to be occluded from 

 without by a temporary closnre or plugging up of the oviduct or 

 canal from the posterior end of tho ovarian sac, a state ol affairs, 

 which, if it can bo confirmed, approximates, or to some extent re- 

 sembles, the condition found to obtain in a pregnant mammal, 

 whore the uterine os or mouth is temporarily occluded during ges- 

 tation. 



We found ourselves unable to determine the species of the form, 

 the Btrncturo of which is described above; none of those described 

 in Jordan's Manual appear to agree with our species. It may be, 

 as some of us have auruiiaed, that the isolation of tbe fond on the 

 eastern peninsula of Virginia for a great length of time may have 

 served to develop specific characters, and that it is undoscribed. 

 We leave the determination of the species to the systematic ichthy- 

 ologists. 



Th'.iB for our account has dealt only with the structure of the 

 adult* and the peculiar contrivances by means of which repro- 

 ductions ia effected -, we will now take up the discuBeioD of the egg 

 and embryo. 

 The globular vitellug measure* about a line in diameter inolud - 



