40 jXkw York Stvtk 



the east side was badly contaminated by a waste ditch flow from the 

 sanitary canal ; * * * in the Cladophora of the west side were 

 many live minnows, sunfish, etc." It is worthy of note that I found 

 conditions in the upper Hudson at some places identical with this 

 in that near the discharge from a large mill aquatic life was entirely 

 lacking while on the other bank, where the water was as yet un- 

 mixed with the wastes, one could find both plant and animal 

 organisms of various types. 



To return to the record of fish in the Des Plaines river, just 

 before it joins the Kankakee to form the Illnoi.s "no fishes were 

 found either dead or alive " in summer or in fall collecting. At 

 Morris 9 miles below, "no fishes were seen or heard of in the 

 Illinois during July, although they were abundant in Mazon creek 

 and in the slough at its mouth which opens into the Illinois at 

 Morris. Carp were noticeably numerous in this slough and could 

 be seen any sunny morning lined up along the edge of the river 

 current, occasionally venturing into it a short distance, but quickly 

 returning. * * * By October fishes had begun to appear to some 

 extent in the river even along the northern or contaminated side, 

 where a few r young perch, shiners, straw colored minnows, and a 

 single top minnow were taken in places protected from the strong 

 current. * * * An examination of the stomach of these speci- 

 mens showed that none of them had recently taken food/' ** Feb- 

 ruary 28, a neighboring farmer found a 15 pound carp on the ice 

 near the north shore. The fish was probably sick or suffocated and 

 trying to get air." In 1912, " seven fish were taken at this point in 

 all — five of them black bullheads, * * * The river here was in 

 fact practically destitute of fishes and the few taken were in close 

 proximity to the Mazon slough. Moreover, some of the bullheads 

 were " fungused " or in otherwise unwholesome condition." 



" The yield of our fishing operations was somewhat more varied 

 at Marseilles than at Morris but only in the immediate neighborhood 

 of small creeks and springs where the water was locally or tempo- 

 rarily more tolerable than in the main stream. No trace of fishes 

 was found above the Marseilles dam during July or August, 191 1. 

 * * * In November and December many young perch, shiners, 

 a black bullhead and a young carp were captured. * * * In 

 August and September, 191 2, conditions were similar. * * * 

 Fishes were caught [only] within or near the mouth of a small creek 

 on the northern side. * * * On the night of August 19, a heavy 

 rain, which flooded the small creeks, washed fishes out into the river 



