SiO 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(.Nov. 8, |888 



ice and sat down to wait for the steamer, which came 

 about 7 P- M. We were soon aboard, feeling thankful 

 that we had no more rides to take over corduroy roads. 

 We had a very pleasant trip down the St. Mary's 

 River. Arriving at St. Ignace we seemed passage on 

 the steamer Alpena for Detroit, where we arrived in 

 due time, and seven hours by rail from Detroit brought 

 us to Columbus, O. We had given trout to several on the 

 way home, the Captain of the Alpena got the large 

 one, and we brought about thirty home with us, which 

 were divided among our friends. Our trip had been a 

 glorious success, and if we live, and nothing happens to 

 prevent, nest June will find us on the banks of the Un- 

 known River. " Jack. 

 Columbus, O., Oct. 31. 



THE TOMAHAWK LAKES. 



WAUSAXJ, Wis., Oct. 8.— Editor Forest and Stream; 

 Some time in the spring I wrote you a letter re- 

 garding the illegal taking of fish in northern Wisconsin. 

 In this letter I referred to the firm of Mann Brothers, of 

 Minocquo, and condemned them for aiding in this ille- 

 gal fishing. 



I have since then come to the conclusion that I did 

 them some injustice, and I desire to set the matter right 

 so far as I can. I have met the gentlemen since I wrote 

 you, and they tell me that they have never taken any fish 

 illegally nor' hired others to do so, and that their sole 

 offense has been the purchasing of fish of the Indians, 

 who live in large numbers on a reservation near by. 

 They claim that these fish were caught by the Indians on 

 their reservation, and that during last winter the firm 

 dealt in these fish alone, and did not do any general buy- 

 ing of fish. 



I presume that the Indians have the right to take fish 

 on their reservation, and that Mann Brothers were doing 

 nothing illegal in buying and selling the fish so caught. 



I have further found that both members of the firm are 

 very cheerfully cooperating with our game wardens in 

 hunting up offenders against the game laws, and with 

 their aid we expect shortly to have a game warden ap- 

 pointed at Minocquo who will put a stop to the destruc- 

 tion of fish in the Tomahawk Lakes. I have found these 

 gentlemen as anxious as I am myself to preserve the 

 fish and game, and I cheerfully testify to their sincerity 

 in this regard, and I hope that their future efforts and 

 this letter will counteract any impression that may have 

 gone abroad to the effect that they were hostile to the 

 enforcement of the game laws. Neal Brown. 



THE ANGLING SEASON. 



THE season of 1888 is practically closed for the angler 

 north of Virginia. In that State the pike and bass 

 may be taken for some time yet, while the salt water 

 fishing is still good. Further south the fishing will be 

 found good up to January, while in Florida it can hardly 

 be said to clo3e at all, for with the exception of days of 

 rough water there is something to catch every day in the 

 year. The laws of New York permit black bass to be 

 taken all through December, but in most parts of the 

 State the bass go into deep water before Novemher and 

 decline to take food of any kind until the waters get 

 Avarm in the spring. The pike (Esox) will bite all winter, 

 and are taken through the ice at such times as it is not so 

 thick as to require too much labor to cut the holes, but 

 this sort of fishing is mainly done by those who are look- 

 ing for fish more than for sport, and does not attract the 

 class of anglers to whom we refer. 



About New York city there is still a possibility of striped 

 bass in the Kills, or at Hell Gate, but it is uncertain and 

 but few try it. The few country boarders still lingering 

 on Long Island are to be seen taking the little tomcods, 

 which ha ve now begun their winter run into the harbors, 

 and the boys are looking forward to the main run of this 

 small fish, which gives them a deal of fun. The bluefish 

 season is over, and has been quite good, and the same 

 may be said of the striped bass, good catches of which 

 have been made at the famous bass clubs which abound 

 in Martha's Vineyard. Weak fish and kingfish have been 

 fairly plentiful along the New York and New Jersey coasts. 



The trouting was fair in Maine waters during the 

 early part of the season, but the abundance of rain and 

 the consequent rise of the streams and lakes in the fall 

 rendered the fishing poor in the latter part of the season, 

 a fact which promises well for next spring, for the fish 

 are there. In the Adirondacks the trouting has not 

 averaged as well as in former years and our informants 

 differ as to the cause, some attributing it to the killing of 

 so many small fish and others to various causes. From 

 what we learn it has been an off year for trout from 

 Massachusetts to Michigan. On the Pacific coast the 

 trout have been taken in good numbers in most of the 

 waters of Oregon and California, while trout fishing in 

 Virginia and West Virginia seems to have been better 

 this year than in any other parts of the country from 

 which we have heard. 



Now that the rods are laid away nothing remains for 

 the angler but to look over his tackle occasionally during 

 the winter, rejecting such parts of it as appear to be 

 worn or weak, look fondly at the torn fly and frayed gut 

 that played a part in landing the big fish of the season, 

 and relate just how it was landed, and then hang the fly 

 on the birch bark or shingle which displays the outline 

 of the fish, to show to anglers who may drop in to swap 

 fishing yarns and compare notes on the merits of tackle 

 and of waters. 



That Reported Bio Bass.— Belvidere, N. J., Oct. 32. 

 Editor Forest and Stream; Absence from home has pre- 

 vented my answering your note of Oct. 19 concerning a 

 large bass reported caught at PhiJlipsburg, near here. 

 An extraordinarily large bass was reported caught in the 

 turbine wheel running the factory of Marsh's mill at 

 Pillipsburg some time since, and the weight given as 

 91bs. The mill is fed from the Delaware River. I have 

 made inquiry and fail to receive definite information. A 

 number of persons claim to have seen the fish, and some 

 insist it was a bass while others say not; opinions vary 

 also as to the weight. I think the case is too indefinite to 

 put on record as a fact.— K. F. A. 



Keokuk, Iowa. March 12. 1883.— J. F. Breitcmtein.Esq., KeohvK, 

 la.: Dear Sir: The box of U. S. 0. Co. paper shells that I received 

 from you last fall I tried, and found them to be all that you 

 claimed, and better than any shell I ever used, not one of them 

 missing fire. Yours truly, (Signed) T. J. Lowbie.— Adv. 



SOME PECULIARITIES OF THE OVA OF FISHES. 



[From the Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, 

 July-October, 1888.] 



BY DR. .TAMES A. HENSHALL. 



FISHES constitute the oldest as well as the most numer- 

 ous forms of vertebrate life, which might naturally he, 

 inferred when we consider that nearly three-fourths of the 

 surface of the globe is covered with water, and that all" of 

 this "world of waters/' from the vast depths of the. bound- 

 less sea, to the tumbling rill of the mountainside, is teeming 

 with hsh life, from the huge vampire or devilfish, measur- 

 ing 30ft. across its wing-like pectorals, to the little naked, 

 nest-building sickle-back; or from the cruel, rapacious 

 scourge of the ocean, the man-eating shark, to the diminu- 

 tive, transparent darter of the spring brook, barely an inch 

 in length. 



We might also infer from this great difference in the size, 

 form and habits of fishes the tact that there is more diver- 

 sity in the eggs of fishes than in any of the oviparous 

 vertebrates. 



While most all of the sharks and rays are viviparous, all 

 of the true fishes, with a very few exceptions (which bring 

 forth their young alive), are oviparous; and it is my inten- 

 tion to merely allude to some of the peculiarities of the ova 

 of a few of the multitude of piscine species inhabiting the 

 waters of the earth. 



Among birds, from the ostrich of the old world to the 

 humming bird of the new, wo find a close similarity in the 

 form and construction of their eggs. Likewise, in regard 

 to the ova of reptiles, we observe the same general likeness 

 —those of the turtles all resemble each other, as do those of 

 batraohians approach more nearly those of fishes in appear- 

 ance, but they still preserve a general and characteristic 

 similarity. 



The ova of all of the true fishes are spherical in form, 

 though in some of the related or lower forms they are oval 

 or semi-elliptical. The ova of some species, as the salmon, 

 brook trout, shad, etc., are separate and apparently smooth 

 on the surface, like so many pellets of shot, while those of 

 other species are provided with minute threads or filaments, 

 by means of which they become attached to each other or to 

 foreign substances. Some adhere singly to weeds or other 

 objects, some float singly, some sink to'the bottom singly, 

 while others arc held together by strips and bands of masses 

 of adhesive or glutinous material, by which they become 

 attached to plants, sticks or pebbles, or float on or near the 

 surface, and still others are carried about by the male fish 

 in various places or receptacles of its body until they are 

 hatched. 



Not only do the ova of fishes differ very much in appear- 

 ance, but there exists a great diversity in their size, and 

 consequently in the number of eggs produced by the differ- 

 ent species— thus in a marine catlish the ova are as large as 

 robin eggs; in the salmon they are one-fourth of an inch, 

 and in "the brook trout three-sixteenths of an inch in dia- 

 meter; in one of the gars they are, with their envelope, a 

 fourth of an inch in diameter, while in the eel they are 

 almost microscopic. 



The number of eggs produced by a female fish varies ac 

 cording to its age and weight. In several species of familiar 

 fishes the number of their eggs have been ascertained by 

 careful and accurate calculations to be as follows: In the. 

 marine catfish ((?. fells), from 10 to 30 eggs; brook trout, 

 from 100 to 1,800; salmon, 5,000 to 15,000; black bass, 5,000 to 

 •30,000; lake trout, average, 15.000; sea herring, 10,000 to 30,- 

 000; shad, 25,000 to 100,000; whitefish, 20,000 to 70,000; pike, 

 average, 100,000; mackerel, 300,000 to 500,000; Spanish mack- 

 erel, 300.000 to 1,500,000; halibut, 2,000,000; striped bass, 2,000,- 

 000; carp, average, 500,000; sturgeon, as many as 7,000,000; 

 cod, 9,000,000, while in the eel there are also several millions. 



It has not been many years since all fishes were supposed 

 to deposit their spawn upon the shoals of the seashores or 

 upon the beds or shallow inland streams, where the ova 

 rested unt il hatched; but we now know that many marine 

 species deposit, their eggs at the surface of the ocean, where 

 they float until incubation is complete. 



In 1861-, Prof. G. O. Sars, of Norway, first discovered that 

 the eggs of the cod floated at the surface. Since then the 

 investigations of Prof, Alexander Agassiz and Mr. John A. 

 Ryder have added largely to our knowledge of floating eggs. 

 Mr. Ryder characterizes several types of buoyant ova: 1. 

 Those in which the specific gravity of the yolk is dimi dished , 

 as in the egg of the cod; 2. Those in . which large oil drops, 

 in an eccentric position , aid in causing the eggs to float; 3. 

 Those in which a very large oil drop causes the ovum to float 

 even in fresh water. The other conditions are: 1. That the 

 egg be free and not adhesive, with a thin membrane, and. 2. 

 That it be immersed in water having a greater density than 

 I. nil. 



Among the fishes which produce floating ova may be men- 

 tioned the cod, mackerel, Spanish mackerel, bonito, cusk, 

 haddock, many of the flounders, etc. A very curious and 

 interesting contrivance for causing ova to float on the sur- 

 face, which otherwise would sink to the bottom, is that 

 resorted to by the beautiful paradise fish of China. The 

 male fish constructs a floating raft by expelling from his 

 mouth bubbles of air coated with fatty secretion, which, 

 collecting on the surface, cling together, until a raft of viscid 

 scum, several inches in extent, is formed. After the eggs of 

 the female are deposited aud fertilized on the bottom, m the 

 usual manner, the male collects them in his mouth and 

 ejects them into this frothy receptacle, which he keeps in 

 constant repair, and preserves its buoyancy by additional 

 fatty bubbles, until the young fry are hatched out, which 

 occurs in about two days. Another method for floating the 

 ova is that of the Lopliim, or goosefish— the eggs, number- 

 ing about 50,000, are inclosed in a ribbon-shaped, gelatinous 

 mass about a foot wide and forty feet in length, which floats 

 near the surface. 



Among the fishes which produce adhesive eggs are the 

 little black-head minnow (P. dromelas) and the goldfish. 

 The male black-head deposits the fecundated eggs singly 

 upon the under side of leaves of water plants and watches 

 them unceasingly until hatched. The ova of the goldfish 

 are deposited singly upon the weeds and mosses in a similar 

 manner. 



The eggs of the yellow perch are held together in narrow 

 strips or ribbons of a glutinous character. Adhesive eggs 

 of other species, as the black bass, sunfishes, catfishes, etc., 

 are deposited in masses in shallow nests or depressions on 

 the bottom; and still others deposit their spawn in var- 

 iously-shaped adhesive masses upon algaj, roots and sub- 

 merged objects. 



The eggs of the myxine, or hag, are oval in shape, envel- 

 oped in horny case's and provided at each end with short 

 filaments terminating in triple hooks, by which they attach 

 themselves to each other and probably to foreign objects. 



Perhaps the most curious and bizarre of all fish ova are 

 those of the oviparous sharks and rays, which are quad- 

 rangular horny capsules or cases, 2 or 3in. in length, with 

 long filaments at the corners, which coil about seaweeds and 

 other objects. These horny cases, in the Port Jackson 

 sharks of the Pacific, are twisted into a spiral form. 



In some Qf the flying fishes the eggs are entirely covered 

 with delicate filaments which entwine with each other, and 

 they are thus held together in considerable masses; and in a 

 similar manner the eggs of the gudgeon {Menidia notata) 

 of the Chesapeake Bay, are held together, there being four 

 long and slender threads attached to one side of each egg. 



You are all familiar with the polygamous, four-spined 

 stickleback, the male of which species builds a cunning, 

 basket-like nest between the upright stems of water plants, 

 in which he induces his several wives to deposit their eggs, 

 and which he watches and cares for until hatched. Some of 

 the fishes of the Gulf Stream— notably the Antennarius— 

 build a kind of nest among the floating seaweed; also the 

 snakehead fish ( Ophiocephalus) of India, and a small catfish 

 {Gallichthys) of South America, construct nests of bits of 

 waterweeds, in which the ova is deposited and carefully 

 tended by the male. 



Among the fishes which carry the ova in various portions 

 of the body until hatched may be mentioned the marine cat- 

 fish (Qaleichttiys felts) of our Southern coasts. The female 

 deposits, in a slight depression in the sand, ten or twenty 

 yellowish- white eggs as large as Malaga grapes, which are 

 fecundated by the male and then taken into his mouth and 

 placed between the leaves of his gills, where he retains them 

 until the young are hatched and able to take care of them- 

 selves. At this time his pharynx is enormously distended 

 and presents a very curious and comical appearance. 



Agassiz, during his journey up the Amazon, discovered a 

 species that incubated its eggs in the mouth, and Dr. Lortet 

 gives some very interesting observations on the similar 

 propagation of a species (Tilnpia simonis) belonging to 

 Lake Tiberius, in Palestine. The female deposits about 

 two hundred eggs in a shallow excavation, which are 

 first fecundated by the male and then taken, one after an- 

 other, into his mouth, where they are retained in the buccal 

 cavity, distending the cheeks in an extraordinary manner. 

 The eggs hatch in several days, and the young fishes are 

 pressed one against the other like the grains of a ripe 

 pomegrantae. The mouth of the father becomes so distended 

 that his jaws cannot meet, and he presents a very strange 

 appearance. Some of the young continue to live and de- 

 velop among the folds of the gills; others have their heads 

 turned toward the mouth of the parent and do not quit the 

 sheltering cavity till they are about -fin. long. 



Prof. Jeffries Wynian, of Boston, describes a singular con- 

 trivance of a species of armored fish (Aspredo) of South 

 America. The male fish is provided, during the breeding 

 season, with a numerous series of little stalks on the under 

 surface of the abdomen, upon which the eggs are received 

 and carried until hatched. 



In the well-known Hippocampus, or sea-horse, a pouch is 

 developed in the male, under the tail, in which the ova are 

 placed and finally hatched, the young escaping through a 

 small opening in the anterior part of the pouch. In the 

 pipefish (Siphostoma) a similar pouch is developed in the 

 male for the same purpose, but is formed by a fold of skin 

 from each side of the trunk and tail, the free margins being 

 united in the median line. In another allied fish (Solenos* 

 tnma) the inner borders of the ventral fins unite with the 

 skin of the body and form a large pouch for the reception of 

 the eggs, where they are retained by numerous filaments ar- 

 ranged along the ventral rays. 



In another queer species called the lumpsucker {Cyclop- 

 tenis lumiius), the male digs a pit between the stones of the 

 bottom of shallow portions of the sea, in which the female 

 deposits several hundred thousands of eggs, which are ten- 

 derly watched over by the male until they'are hatched, when 

 the young attach themselves by their suckers to the body of 

 the male, who carries them about with him until they are 

 able to care for themselves. 



It is worthy of notice that, in every instance mentioned of 

 the ova being guarded and cared for, or transported in vari 

 ous receptacles on the body of the parent, it is the male fish 

 that performs these various duties. The part of the female 

 in the reproduction of its species seems to end with the de- 

 position of the ova. 



THE WORK IN MISSOURI. 



'"pHE superintendent of the hatching ponds of the Mis- 

 J_ souri State Fish Commission, Avbich are located in 

 Forest Park, this city, is now engaged in draining them for 

 the purpose of separating the various kinds of fish and plac- 

 ing them in store ponds, so as to be easy of access when 

 wanted by residents of this State for the stocking of streams 

 or lakes in this State. 



It is only a few years since the establishment of a fish com- 

 mission in this State, and to form an estimate of the good 

 done would be something very difficult to do. One thing is 

 certain, that according to the last report of the Commission, 

 everything looks favorable and promisi ug. Many thousands 

 of bass, croppie and German carp are sent annually to all 

 parts of the State, aud that it has been the means of not only 

 furnishing sport for the angler, but food for the people, 

 there's no doubt. 



The bass, during the past season, from some unexplain- 

 able reason, have not thrived as well as usual. The croppie 

 have increased in a wonderful ratio; also is this true of the 

 carp. 



At the exposition which closed last week the State Fish 

 Commission had a tank with a number of different varieties 

 of fish in it on exhibition, which proved quite attractive and 

 interesting to the many thousands of spectators who paid 

 the show a visit. 



Many were the questions asked by parties as they gazed 

 into the water of the tank in which the fish were, wanting 

 to know why the German carp was brought to this country, 

 and no doubt a great many readers of Forest and Stream 

 will be asking the same question when they read this. To 

 answer all questions pertaining to this excellent food fish the 

 following is from the remarks of a gentleman who has trav- 

 eled much in Europe and takes great interest in the propa- 

 gation of fish; "There is no doubt as to the great value of the 

 caip as a food fish. In Europe, especially in Germany, he is 

 ranked with the salmon family as a table fish. In 1880 and 

 1881, I spent one year in travel in Em-ope with my family, 

 making my headquarters in Paris; we made frequent visits 

 of a month each to the various countries of Europe. I 

 visited Germany twice, and remained some weeks at each 

 visit. Through the American Minister at Berlin I was 

 enabled to visit the principal carp ponds or farms, and had 

 every opportunity of learuiug the reputation as to food value 

 of the carp. I talked with persons of all classes on the sub- 

 ject, and heard no dissenting voice from the universal opinion, 

 that Jiarpfert, was a good, sound, reliable food fish. In the 

 lower and middle, classes people were enthusiastic in his 

 praise, each one giving his or her method of cooking a carp, 

 and declaring it the best of all fish. In fact, a carp, properly 

 cooked, seemed a necessity on all important occasions, as at 

 Christmas, New Year's, family dinings and reunions, etc. 

 If space permitted, I could give instances where 1 saw live 

 carp in tubs of water at fairs and festivals, ready to be 

 selected by the customer, cleaned and broiled in his presence 

 and served hot, from an extempore cooking apparatus under 

 a tent or in the open air. 



"My memory now recalls especially such a scene on the 

 Marschfeld, or drilling grounds, in the suburbs of Munich, 

 Bavaria, during the great autumn festival, called in Ger- 

 many the Volksfest. There is no place or occasion to better 

 study the habits of a people than at their fairs or festivals. 

 There you meet all classes commingling without restraint. 

 In strolling through the streets of tents and temporary 

 booths, lined with all manner of devices for amusement and 

 profit in catering to the wants and tastes of the promiscuous 

 throng of happy people, we found an extemporized restaurant 

 or places where carp could be selected alive from tubs, 

 cleaned and cooked to order. It was the first time I had 

 seen carp alive outside of the Forest Park ponds. While 

 looking into the tubs and admiring the fish, by some acci- 

 dent the temporary platform upon which the tubs were 



