Some Observations on Ohio Fishes. 117 



This iact is recorded in the writings of such early explorers 

 as Father Marquette, Charlevoix and Sir John Richardson, who 

 subsisted on it for months at a time without losing a relish for it. 

 Richardson says : " It is a rich, fat fish, yet instead of producing 

 satiety, it becomes daily more agreeable to the palate ; and I know 

 from experience that, though deprived of bread and vegetables, 

 one may live wholly upon this fish for months, or even years, with- 

 out tiring." 



To a certain extent I can corroborate Richardson's statement, 

 for I have eaten broiled whitefish at the Old Mission House at 

 Mackinac for twenty-one meals a week, and, like Oliver Twist, 

 asked for " more." But to realize the delicious savor and flavor 

 of the whitefish it should be broiled when perfectly fresh, for if in 

 poor condition, or long out of the water, it loses entirely its char- 

 acteristic excellence. 



Perhaps the fine flavor of the whitefish depends upon its food, 

 which is now known to consist entirely of animalcules, or, to be 

 more explicit, of minute and microscopic mollusks and crustaceans, 

 the latter commonly known as water-fleas. The copepods of the 

 class of crustaceans known as Ento?nosiraca furnish the principal 

 amount of food for the whitefish, both in its young and adult states. 

 The whitefish is a toothless fish, but for a brief period, soon after it 

 is hatched, it is provided with several sharp, raptatorial teeth for 

 seizing the microscopic copepods. 



Entomostraca exist in myriads in all waters, both salt and fresh. 

 Some are so minute that several millions can be contained in a 

 single cubic inch of space. With every glassful of lake or river water 

 we drink, we may swallow hundreds of these animalcules, and they 

 are quite nourishing, so far as they go. The copepods are very 

 prolific. The progeny of a single female of one species has been 

 calculated to reach the enormous number of over four billions in a 

 single year ! 



As a commercial fish the whitefish likewise stands at the head of 

 its class among fresh water fishes. Millions of dollars are invested 

 in nets, boats, implements and appliances, and thousands of men 

 are employed in the fisheries of the Great Lakes, the whitefish 

 being the principal object of pursuit. The south shore of Lake 

 Erie fairly bristles with the stakes of the pound-nets engaged in its 

 capture. 



Owing to wasteful and improvident fishing, the catch of white- 



