210 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 6, 1887. 



FOOD AND DIGESTION OF FISHES- 



THE following article, by Dr. P. Pancritius, is from the 

 Bulletin of the U. S, Pish Commission and originally 

 appeared in the report of the Fishery Association of the 

 Provinces of East and West Prussia, being translated for the 

 Bulletin from the German by Herman Jacobson: 



At the request of the Fishery Association of East and 

 West Prussia I commenced a series of anatomical and phys- 

 iological observations of the alimentary canal and the diges- 

 tion of our fish which will not be finished for some time, but 

 concerning which I am able to make a preliminary report. 

 Anv experiments in feeding made on the basis of my results 

 will of course have to be made only in suit ably arranged 

 ponds, as in the narrow tanks at my disposal the fish live 

 under too unnatural conditions to draw definite conclusions 

 as to the influence of food and the increase of size and 

 weight. 



The alimentary canal of fish begins in the mouth, which 

 is more or less furnished with teeth, to which is joined a 

 wide throat with folds running lengthwise. The throat 

 leads into a cylindrical tube, sometimes straight and some- 

 times more or less twisted, which opens at the arms. In 

 the lampreys the entire alimentary canal is of an even cylin- 

 drical form and entirely straight; in some fish it is some- 

 what twisted, but no distinction can be recognized between 

 the stomach and the intestinal canal, while in other fish the 

 stomach may be easily recognized as bag-like, or at least as 

 a considerably widened portion of that canal. A microscopic 

 examination of the mucous membrane, which lines the 

 entire alimentary canal, shows that in a large group of fish, 

 to which among the rest the carp belong, the stomach is 

 wanting, so that the intestinal canal commences at the 

 throat. It is a characteristic feature of the stomach of fish as 

 well as of warm-blooded animals, that its mucous membrane 

 possesses pepsin glands. These glands secrete a ferment (pep- 

 sin), which, together with a free acid produced by the glands 

 of the mucous membrane, digests albuminous matter; that 

 is to say, dissolves it and makes it fit to be received in the 

 organism of fish. The pepsin of fish is distinguished from 

 that of the mammals by the. circumstance that, even at a 

 temperature far below 59deg. Fahr., it possesses an intensely 

 digestive power, which is considerably increased by raising 

 the temperature to 104deg. Fahr. , while it is entirely de- 

 stroyed if the temperature is lowered to 32deg. Fahr. In fish 

 which possess a stomach the mucous membrane of the entire 

 intestinal canal connected with it shows no digestive facul- 

 ties, but serves only to absorb the albuminous matter dis- 

 solved by the gastric juice. The gall secreted from the liver, 

 however, goes into the intestinal canal, as well as does a 

 juice secreted by the pancreas and the appendages of the 

 caecum. Both the pancreas and the appendages of the 

 cascum are wanting in many fish. The appendages referred 

 to, which in varying number are attached to the front part 

 of the intestinal canal (3 in the perch, 19 to 150in the salmon- 

 oids, and upward of 300 in the mackerel), are often con- 

 nected into a glandular mass by a loose tissue. 



The gall bladder does not digest albuminous matter, but 

 contains a so-called "diastatic" ferment which transforms 

 soaked starch to sugar, and thus renders it fit to be received 

 in the organism. The liquids secreted by the pancreas and 

 the appendages of the cascum react in a neutral or alkalic 

 manner, digest albumen, and to a limited extent possess the 

 faculty of transforming soaked starch to sugar. Like the 

 gall bladder, they also possess the faculty of changing fatty 

 substances to an emulsion, and thus preparing them for 

 absorption by the intestinal canal. 



Matters are very different in those fish which have no 

 stomach, for instance, in the carp and bleak. Here the 

 entire intestinal canal, from the throat to the anus (though 

 to a much greater extent in the front than in the back part) 

 secretes a liquid which in its effect resembles that secreted 

 by the pancreas, and which, therefore, digests both albumin- 

 ous matter and soaked starch, as well as fatty substances. 

 These fish have no appendages to the csacum, but the liver 

 pours a considerable quantity of gall into the intestinal 

 canal, immediately back of the throat. These fish, therefore, 

 are capable of digesting albuminous matter, carbohydrates 

 and fatty substances. 



It is well-known that fish do not masticate their food, as 

 the teeth of predatory fish serve only to take hold of and to 

 retain food. Even in those fish which possess strong teeth, 

 worms and the larvae of insects are only squeezed somewhat. 

 Nor do fish envelop their food in saliva while in the mouth, 

 as is done by mammals, as fish have no salivary glands. 



Although' the food, therefore, reaches the alimentary 

 canal without any preparation favoring digestion, the ali- 

 mentary canal in the majority of our fish is comparatively 

 short. While in the cat, for instance, it is three times the 

 length of the body, in man six times, in the horse twelve 

 times, and in the goat even twenty-six times. We find that, 

 according to numerous measurements, the proportion of the 



length of the alimentary canal exceed that of the body to 

 any great extent. A notable example is the lumpfish 

 (Cyclopterus lumpus) of the Baltic, whose alimentary canal 

 is from six to ten times as long as the body. 



The rapidity of digestion depends very much on the quan- 

 tity of food taken at one time. Small quantities are of 

 course digested quicker than large ones. If a pike swallows 

 a fish half its own size, so that in the beginning the tail pro- 

 trudes from the mouth, the head is of course digested very 

 soon; but gradually there is some delay, as the digestive 

 liquids are only secreted in limited quantity, and the dis- 

 solved substances can be absorbed only gradually. Pike are 

 not suitable for making observations relative to the time oc- 

 cupied by digestion, as they are in the habit of throwing up 

 very soon some of the prey which they have swallowed; but 

 I have made experiments with perch and hake which were 

 fed on worms. 



A number of perch, measuring each about 6iu. in length, 

 which had been kept on very short rations for some time 

 previous, were fed on worms, which they swallowed so greed- 

 ily that their bag-like stomachs were filled to their utmost 

 capacity. In a perch killed two hours later the food was 

 found only in the stomach, the gastric juices reacting in a 

 strongly acid manner. After eight or ten hours a portion of 

 the worms had reached the front partof the intestinal canal; 

 but even after twenty-four hours the stomach was still very 

 full, while at the end of the intestinal canal balls of feces 

 were already forming; after sixty or seventy hours the 

 stomach was empty; and after one hundred and ten hours 

 the front and middle parts of the intestinal canal had like- 

 wise become empty, and only at the end of the canal were 

 there feces, and digestion might therefore be considered as 

 finished. 



In hake, which had been well fed with worms, they evenly 

 filled the intestinal canal from the throat to the anus after 

 twelve or fifteen hours, but owing to the stronger secretion 

 of gastric juice in the front part of the intestinal canal they 

 had better digested there than in the lower part, This ex- 

 plains the observation that half-digested particles of food 

 frequently protrude from the anus of fish, and from it the 

 conclusion may be drawn that if fish are to be fed with the 

 view to fatten them, it is better to give them moderate quan- 

 tities of food at frequent intervals, than to give them large 

 quantities at longer intervals. 



The carp-like fish are frequently termed herbivorous fish, 

 in contradistinction to predaceous fish. This term, as I have 

 been taught by numerous investigations, is entirely 

 erroneous. While young fish of all kinds examined by me 

 were found to have eaten small crustaceans and infusorians, 

 the intestinal canal of all fish of the carp kind measuring 

 more than a finger's length, always contained at all seasons 

 larvae of gnats, dragon-flies, day-fiies, beetles, etc. Large 

 quantities of plants (green alga;) I found regularly only in 

 the intestinal canal of ChondroNtoma nanus, but it remains 

 to be examined whether the alga? or the large quantities of 

 infusorians and other diminutive animals adhering to them, 

 form the principal food of this fish. 



Uncooked starch flour was not digested by any of the fish 

 which I examined. Even when, after being stirred with 

 water, it was injected iuto the. intestinal canal and remained 

 there for days, the extracts of the digestive liquids produced 

 in different ways did not in the slighest change it, but when 

 it was boiled of roasted it was easily changed to sugar, and 

 thus rendered soluble. It is therefore evident that of the 

 seeds of some grasses growing in the water, and the young 

 shoots of some aquatic plants which are occasionally found 

 in the intestinal canal of carp, and of the grains of wheat, 

 etc., which I discovered in some, and which Prof. Fric found 

 in largo quantities in the stomach of young salmon, it was 

 not the starch which was digested, but the small quantity 

 of albumen, fat and sugar contained in them. 



PENNSYLVANIA FISHWAYS.-"Shad, rock bass, white 

 and yellow perch, salmon and eels at the lowest market rates. 

 Have a pound or two? Just caught off Market street!" 

 This may be the cry of fish venders a year or two from now. 

 About twelve months ago aprevious fish commission adopted 

 a fishway at the Columbia dam, the patent of Wm. N. 

 Rogers, inspector of fisheries for the Canadian government. 

 Satisfied with his invention, the result of thirty years' ex- 

 perience, he placed two of his simple, yet valuable contriv- 

 ances in place. Last spring at Newport, Perry county, fifty 

 miles above the dam shad were caught to a great extent. 

 To-day there are eight fishways, six new ones having been 

 constructed by the present active and progressive commis- 

 sion under the same patentee. Yesterday they were so far 

 completed as to be open for inspection and acceptance by the 

 commissioners. They proved satisfactory, and if the state- 

 ment made in reference to fish is not fulfilled, it will be due 

 to an ineffectual effort to curb the pirates below the dam. 

 Yesterday three Commissioners, W. L. Powell, of this city, 

 H. C. Demuth, of Lancaster, and H. C. Ford, of Philadel- 

 phia, accompanied by Eugene Snyder, Esq., of this city, and 

 a Call reporter, were taken to the new fishways. They are 

 located on the spot where the Worrall failures," in the same 

 line, were built a number of years ago, and were open to a 

 careful and minute inspection of not only the commissioners, 

 but critics on matters of fish and fishculture who had 

 gathered with the state representatives to fully investigate. 

 The fishway is entirely of solid timber, six feet wide and 80 

 feet in length with a fall of one foot to every fifteen. The 

 average grade of the fishway is one to every ten feet, but to 

 make these, an absolute test of their efficacy the present plan 

 was adopted. In depth they are from two feet at the head 

 to 6 feet at the mouth, which is on a level with low water 

 mark and at that stage in several of the fishways there is a 

 volume of water sufficient to allow the fish to pass up. The 

 arms extend to within 2 feet 9 inches of the side, and form 

 what is called a "bucket." To speak more plainly, it is a 

 pool of dead water to which there is no current. The schute 

 through which the fish pass is fifteen inches wide. The head 

 of the fishway, through which the fish make their egress to 

 the water above the dam, is fifteen inches wide and twenty 

 inches high. As the water comes in it strikes the "rest," 

 which forms a pool, and as it rounds the angle it has lost its 

 force to such an extent that the insignificant fish can pass 

 through. The pools or buckets from the point of the angle 

 are twelve feet six inches, showing at once the quantity of 

 fish that can rest in each on their way above the dam. The 

 partitions that form the buckets, made of two-inch timber, 

 are at an angle of thirty-seven degrees, and so check the force 

 of the water in its downward course that by the time it 

 reaches the last "bucket" it has but little power. Each fish- 

 way has eleven "buckets" at an average grade of little over 

 a foot to each. The fishways into which the water was turned 

 yesterday, are somewhat "of an improvement over the two 

 near the York county side of the river, because having added 

 to them a horizontafbreak-water eight inches in length, the 

 tendency of which is to reduce the swirl which would ne- 

 cessarily be occasioned if it were absent. The building of 

 the new way was under the engineering skill of J. B. Kinney, 

 who like Mr. Rogers, the patentee, is aresident of Yarmouth, 

 Nova Scotia, and reflects great credit on him. Mr. Rogers 

 was present yesterday. He has had thirty years experience 

 in the fishway business. The commissioners were highly 

 pleased with the fishways and they will be approved. They 

 cost $1,000 each. Every effort will be made to see that the 

 entrance is not obstructed, precaution having already been 

 taken. As to the merits of the fishways, statistics show an 

 increase of 50 per cent, in fish above dams where they have 

 been placed.— Harrisbura Morning Call, Sept. M. 



LOBSTERS FOR THE PACIFIC— Ottawa, Sept. 30.— The 

 Fisheries Department has about completed arraugments for 

 the transportation early in the month of November of a car- 

 load of live lobsters from the maritime Provinces to the 

 Pacific coast. The car will be especially fitted up for this 

 purpose. Experiments show that lobsters can be kept in a 

 healthy condition for a sufficient length of time to insure 

 their reaching Vancouver, barring accident, without losing 

 life. As an outcome of this the department anticipates a 

 successful propagation of the lobster in the Pacific waters, 

 where none are now known to exist. 



imwl 



F I XT U RES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Oct. 4 to 7.— Fifth Annual Dog Show of the Dan bury Agricultural 

 Society, Danbury, Conn. B. C. Lynes, Secretary. 



Oct. 12 and 13.— TKrd Annual Show of the Stafford Kennel Club, 

 Stafford Springs, Conn. R. S. Hicks, Secretary. . 



Feb. 21 to 24 — Twelfth Annual Show of the Westminster Ken- 

 nel Club, Madison Square Garden, New York. James Mortimer, 

 Superintendent. 



Oct. 17 to 22.— Second Annual Meeting of the American Coursing 

 Club, at Great Bend, Kan. G. I. Royce, Secretary, Topeka. Kan. 



Nov. 7.-^-Pirst Annual Field Trials of the Indiana Kennel Club 

 at Bicknel, Ind. Open to dogs owned in Indiana. P. T. Madison, 

 Secretary, Lock Box 4, Indianapolis, Ind. Entries close Oct. 25. 



Nov. 7.— Third Annual Field Trials of the Western Field Trial6 



^D^cen^^—F^rsV Annual Field Trials of the American Field 

 Trials Club, at Florenoe, Ala. C. W. Paris, Secretary, Cincinnati, 



° Jan. 10, 1888.— Seoond Annual Field Trials of the Texas Field 

 Trials Omb, at Marshall, Tex. W. L. Thomas, Secretary, Mar- 

 shall Tex. 



Jan. 16.— Fifth Annual Field Trials of the Pacific Coast Field 

 Trial Club, near Kingsburgh, Cal. N. P. Shelden, Secretary, 320 

 Sansome street, San Francisco, Cal. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 



HTHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials), ia 

 published every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should "be in 

 early. Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed 

 envelope. Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. 

 No entries inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription 

 $1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New 

 York. Number of entries already printed 5400. 



THE PATERSON DOG ORDINANCE. 



THE Paterson, N. J., Press gives the following in relation 

 to the movement against the dog ordinance referred to 

 in onr Inst number: "At a meeting of the Passaic County 

 Fish and Game Protective Association held last night a 

 resolution was introduced providing for the retaining of 

 counsel to certiorari to the Supreme Court the ordinance of 

 this city requiring every clog to be registered at the rate of 

 two dollars. The resolution provoked some discussion. It 

 was suggeeted by one member tha't dogs could hardly be 

 considered fish and game, for the protection of which the 

 association was organized and incorporated. On the other 

 hand it was argued that the dog ordinance was an imposi- 

 tion on nearly every member of the club and that the asso- 

 ciation could not be engaged in better work than looking 

 out for the interests of its members. When the association 

 started into existence the fish and game laws were openly 

 and persistently violated, and when the shooting season 

 opened there was little game left for sportsmen who were 

 anxious to live up to the law. In the first few months of its 

 existence the association instituted about thirty prosecu- 

 tions against offenders of the law. The result was that the 

 violators saw that there was some authority in this county 

 which enforced the law and further prosecutions were un- 

 necessary. That the game laws are still being violated there 

 is no doubt, but it is done in so quiet a way that the viola- 

 tors of the law escape; the wholesale violations of the law 

 have been stopped and there is now better shooting in this 

 county than there has been for years, and sportsmen who go 

 out on the first day of the open season know that they are 

 apt to find game. Occasionally it is necessary to prosecute 

 some offender, but there is no doubt that the fish and game 

 laws are better observed in Passaic county than any county 

 in this State. The resolution introduced at last night's 

 meeting of the association was finally passed without a dis- 

 senting voice. 



"Ex-City Counsel Francis Scott was engaged this morning to 

 carry up the case on the part of the association . Mr. Scott was 

 City Counsel for a number of years, and it was thought best to 

 obtain the services of one who had helped make city ordinances 

 for the purpose of breaking them. Mr. Scott is thoroughly 

 familiar with municipal law and the charter of the city, and 

 he has no hesitation in saying that there is every probability 

 that the association will win the suit. The city has the right 

 to levy a tax on personal and real property for the purpose 

 of raising money, but nowhere is the authority given to the 

 city to levy a tax on dogs. The charter gives tke city a right 

 to regulate the running at large of dogs. Nevertheless the 

 city some years ago passed an ordinance putting a tax of 

 two dollars on every dog. The attention of the city was 

 called to the manifest unconstitutionality of the ordinance, 

 and so it was changed to read that the city required dogs to 

 be registered and that the fee for registration should be two 

 dollars. This was a mere subterfuge, and many lawyers 

 considered the ordinance at present enforced as no better than 

 the first one . How, it is asKed, does registering dogs regu- 

 late their running at large? Still, admitting the city's 

 right to require the registration of dogs, the city, it is 

 claimed, would have no right to charge so high a fee as $2 

 for registration. Twenty-five cents would cover the expenses 

 of registration, and §2 was rather in the shape of a tax. The 

 dog ordinance has created a great deal of bitter feeling, dog 

 owners consider it as an imposition on them; this was 

 especially the case with men who raised kennels of dogs. 

 Still nobody cared about fighting the case, as the money it 

 would cost would pay the registration fees for a large num- 

 ber of years. The case is different with the association; the 

 latter has a memberhip of seventy-five, and nearly all of 

 these own dogs. Many of those have paid their fees for the 

 present year, others have not. If the ordinance is set aside 

 it will save ever dog owner S3 per year in the future. There 

 are about 2,700 dogs in the city. 



"It was at first thought best to await action on the part of 

 tli e city. There is no doubt that in the course of events a 

 complaint will be made against some member of the associa- 

 tion, and it was thought that as soon as this was done the 

 association might undertake the defense. An examination 

 of the law showed that a certiorari might be taken even if 

 the city did not attempt to enforce the ordinance, and ad- 

 vantage will be taken of this fact and Judge Dixon will be 

 asked to grant a writ of certiorari on Tuesday of next week 

 or within a day or two thereafter. If an agreement can be 

 effected with the City Counsel the whole case can be argued 

 before Judge Dixon and disposed of, but should the City 

 Counsel prefer a different course the matter will come up for 

 argument at the next term of the Supreme Court. The only 

 difference will be that the latter course will result in more 

 delay. The writ of course will act as supersedeas and the 

 city cannot continue collecting the dog tax in the case ap- 

 pealed. 



"The registering of dogs in this city has not tended to 

 decrease the number of worthless curs, for the number of 

 dogs killed annually by the police is ridiculously small, very 

 few persons taking advantage of the ordinance in that re- 

 spect. All it did was to make owners of dogs pay S3 per 

 year. It in no way regulated the running of dogs at large. 

 As a method of preventing this the old proclamations issued 

 by the mayors were far more effective than the present ar- 

 rangemen t. ' ' 



ESSES COUNTY KENNEL CLUB.— Lynn, Mass., Oct. 

 3. — Editor Forest and Strea m: There was a meeting of the 

 Essex County Kennel Club, Sept. 27, at the Revere House, 

 Lynn, Mass. The resignation of Secretary Benjamin Phil- 

 lips was accepted and Mr. Geo. H. Holtham was elected to 

 fill that office. Twelve new members were elected. A com- 

 mittee of three was appointed to report at the next meeting 

 of the club, on a room for the purpose of holding meetings 

 and to be used as a club room for the members. The secre- 

 tary was authorized to apply to the American Kennel Club 

 for membership. A committee of three was appointed te 

 select a tract of land for the purpose of holding field trials. 

 The meeting then adjourned. The club was organized last 

 May but owing to absence on vacation of members this has 

 been our first meeting. The present officers are as follows: 

 President. Robert Leslie; vice-president, Dr. O. P. Macalas- 

 ter; secretary, Geo. H. Holtham; treasurer, E. L. Rogers. 

 The objects of this club are to encourage the breeding of set- 

 ters and pointers, to hold bench shows and competitive trials 

 wherein may be demonstrated the merits of individual dogs 

 of such breeds. Our club now is in excellent condition with 

 a list of twenty -five members, and we intend to protect the 

 game of this vicinity to the best of our ability. — GEO. H, 

 Holtham, Secretary, 



WM. TALLMAN has resigned his position with Spalding 

 Bros., and will devote his time to dogs and the selling of 

 kennel goods of all descriptions, making specialties of the 

 Blackstone dog food and a new crate invented by himself 

 for the transportation of dogs. His address is 1293 BBOady 

 way, New York. 



