S20 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 17, 1889. 



aue8 are f 1, which olso covers the membership fee. We of course 

 want help financially. If you can organize a club of numbers, 

 and semi amounts of subscriptions with names and address to 

 Mr. John Wilkinson, of Parkhnrst & Wilkinson, No. 150Kinzie 

 street, Chicago, the membershipticketswillbesentiosubsoribers. 

 Have receiver! material assistance in this way from E gin. 



Regarding the fishway in the dam belonging to the State at 

 Dayton; it was put in f i«is fall, and is claimed to be of such con- 

 struction as to permit free passage- Will, however, write to Col. 

 Bartlett for his report of it. and will write to you later, 



Will be pleased to hear further from you at any iiuic\ and will 

 take pleasure in reportiug to you the work accrnipltshed from 

 time to time. Yours very truly. C. F. Hills, 



President Fox River Fish and Game Association. 



It should be added tbat the remark in the Sandwich let- 

 ter in regard to the inactivity of our Fish Commissioner, 

 Mr. Bartlett, is innocently wrong. Mr. Bartlett has been 

 unable to act from want of funds. This the Association 

 have clearly recognized, as may be seen by references 

 above. 



The Daily News of this morning, under the heading of 

 ''Many New Laws Needed," has strong reference to the 

 need of new game laws. The article shows seven coun- 

 ties to be a unit on the matter agitated by the Fox River 

 Association The shooting and fishing clubs are falling 

 into line. Let the politicians take note, and also fall into 

 line. If they do not, they may see the day when they 

 will wish they had. 



Chicago. 111., Jan. 10.— Mi'. D. L. Barclay, president 

 of the WaUonian Club at Fox Lake, started yesterday 

 irom his home at Elgin, 111., for a trip to the Pacific 

 coast country. 



Fishing through the ice will soon begin on the inland 

 lakes now, and there will be slaughter unmeasured of 

 fi-di life till the ice breaks again. To-day cold weather 

 has struck this place for the first time this winter, 

 although it is not yet severe and may warm up again. 

 Yesterday there was a melting snow; two days before 

 that were rainy, and up to that time our weather here 

 had been like that of a pleasant fall. It is almost unpre- 

 cedented here. Should these fair days begin again the 

 season will be most favorable for our game and will 

 give the ice fishers at best only a limited chance for 

 their butchery. E. Hough. 



No. 175 Monroe Stbbki'. V/ 



LANDLOCKED AND ATLANTIC SALMON 



IN November last Commissioner E. M. Stilwell, of 

 Maine, requested Mr. Robert Edes to send to the 

 U. S. National Museum a pair of the large landlocked 

 salmon which were at that time spawning in Sebago 

 Lake, Maine, and he asked for information about the re- 

 lationship existing between the landlocked and marine 

 forms of the Salmo salar. This relationship has been 

 a fertile source of interest and inquiry among anglers and 

 fhhculturists, and the fine specimens sent from Maine 

 furnish an excellent opportunity to make a comparison 

 between fresh individuals of the two races. 



It may be as well to state by way of preface that 

 students of fishes are united in their belief in the specific 

 identity of the sea salmon and the landlocked salmon, or 

 winninish. The differences between the two are limited 

 to form and coloration, and in some waters, size of indi- 

 viduals. These are characters of little value, and may be 

 observed in other species of the salmon family, both in a 

 state of nature and under domestication. The land- 

 locked salmon is equally well known in Europe, and es- 

 pecially in lakes of Scandinavia. It must be remembered 

 that the colors have changed somewhat since the fish 

 came out of Sebago Lake. Mr. Edes says: "The natural 

 color of these fish when in good condition is about the 

 same as the Penobscot sea salmon; in fact, it would be 

 hard to distinguish one from the other bv their color 

 when taken in the months of Mav, June or July." 



Early in November, 1837, Mr. E. G. Blackford sent to 

 the National Museum a spent male salmon that was 

 caught in a net along with striped bass at Port Mon- 

 mouth, N. J. This was a remarkable fish, both on 

 account of its condition and the unusual place of its cap- 

 ture—no salmon having been taken there before. The 

 lower jaw had a slight cartilaginous tip, which could be 

 received into a half-round cavity in the snouc. The teeth 

 in the middle of the roof of the mouth, in a long double 

 series, were entirely imbedded in thickened skin. The 

 sides were marked with moderately numerous black spots 

 of irregular shape and with a laiger number of vermilion 

 spots. The bone covering the gills had two moderate 

 sized black blotches, nearly round, and encircled by a 

 narrow border of orange, besides two smaller spots simi- 

 larly surrounded, and many blotches of orange brown. 

 The cheeks had numerous spots of orange brown. The 

 tail fin with many vermilion spois and streaks. There 

 were several streaks of vermilion on the base of the 

 large back fin, and five black blotches, all encircled by a 

 narrow orange brown border. 



The landlocked salmon received from Mr. Edes were 

 taken in the height of the breeding season and were con- 

 sidered large fish in the museum, but Commissioner Stil- 

 well states that larger ones were not uncommon, some 

 even weighing 25 or SOlbs. The weight of the male was 

 lilbs., of the female 13. In the male the skin is every- 

 where thickened by an accumulation of adipose tissue; 

 the scales are scarcely perceptible on this account. The 

 fins are much swollen, particularly along their basal por- 

 tions. The connecting membranes between the rays are 

 so infiltrated with fatty tissue that it is almost impossible 

 to count the rays without aisspction. Tne tail when ex- 

 panded is nearly truncate. The last ray of the large back 

 tin is split into two parts, the posterior of which is a 

 thickened adipose strip, much slenderer at the point than 

 at the base Strong teeth ate present in the middle of 

 the root of the mouth in a single short series, but almost 

 entirely concealed in the thickened tissues. The teeth in 

 the iront part of the upper jaw are in a band Urn. long; 

 the first and third teeth of this band are enlarged and 

 canine-hke. Four teeth are on each side of the tongue. 

 Ihe teeth of the lower jaw are scarcely enlarged beyond 

 their normal size when not breeding. The sides of the 

 head bear many dark brown spots, which appear to have 

 been to some extent surrounded by pinkish in life. The 

 largest of these spots is nearly two thirds as long as the 

 eye. A tew ot the spots are nearly round, but mo,4 of 

 them are irregular in outline. The sides of ihe body con- 

 tain numerous brown spots, some of which have become 

 confluent; none of them are as long as the eye, and most 

 oL ? m ^ e J er ymuch smaller. These spots are most 

 tSd . m fr ° n £ ? f lai « e back a * d do «ot ex- 



itnit 1 ° r , beI ° w the middle Une of the body- The 



Jangth of this male was 32fin, ' 



The female was 30|in. She was full of ripe eggs, which 

 averaged about £in. in diameter. The weight of the ovaries 

 was olbs. 5oz. The left ovary was 15in., the right 12in. long. 

 The number of eggs by actual count is 9,642. As in tho 

 male, the skin has been rubbed off both jaws, leaving the 

 bone exposed. At the base of the breast fin there is a space 

 denuded of skin nearly as long but not so wide as the eye. 

 The upper edge of the pectoral is also bare. The ends of 

 the rays of the tail fin are much worn and the skin is 

 wanting. Small bare patches are present also at the f ron t 

 of the belly fin on each side. The jaws are not elongated 

 as in the male, nor are the teeth increased in size. The 

 teeth on the tongue are almost concealed in fatty tissue, 

 but the other teeth are less deeply imbedded than in the 

 male. Teeth in the middle of the roof of the mouth in an 

 irregular patch nearly liu. long, while the series at the 

 sides of the roof of the mouth are 1 Jin. long. The colors 

 are less brilliant than in the male. The bead contains 

 fewer spots and these are almost concealed in the general 

 dusky coloration. The body also is less profusely spot- 

 ted, and there is an entire absence of the pinkish tinge of 

 the male. The body spots, as a rule, have no intermix- 

 ture of large ones. There are a few veiy small dark spots 

 on the large back tin. 



The male salmon in the breeding season of course has 

 the jaws greatly prolonged, the upper jaw being nearly 

 twice as long as in a female of equal size; but at other 

 times the male is readily distinguished by the' greater 

 length of the upper jaw and of the breast fins, as well as 

 by the much shorter distance between the vent and the 

 tip of the extended belly fin; in the male above described 

 this distance is If in., in the female, notwithstanding its 

 smaller size, it is 2gin. 



We regret that the comparison here given is not complete, 

 but if some one who has the opportunity will put on 

 record similar data for the breeding sea salmon we shall 

 have means of distinguishing the two forms if this is 

 possible. 



RUBBISH IN THE THAMEs! 



IN his report to the Board of Trade, by Mr. C. E. Fryer, 

 Inspector of Fisheries, on the injury alleged to be 

 caused to the fisheries by the deposit of rubbish in the 

 estuary of the Thames, Mr. Fryer states that the house and 

 street refuse barged away from London and deposited in 

 the Thames, and especially the former, are causing great 

 complaints among the fishermen, whose business is 

 thereby affected. The fishermen hold that the fish are 

 driven away or killed and their food destroyed by the 

 rubbish; also that their nets are damaged by it. The 

 trawlers are the principal sufferers. "In some places 

 the accumulations are so solid that the nets get fast in 

 them. In other cases the mouth of the net is choked so 

 that the fish cannot enter, or it becomes so laden with 

 heavy jagged articles that it chafes and tears itself to 

 pieces along the bottom." Trawlsful of shrimp are often 

 smashed by contact with foreign bodies, and nets full of 

 fish are frequently rent and their contents lost. The 

 dredgermen on the oyster beds of Whitstable and vicinity 

 lose much time and labor by bringing up tin pots and 

 crockery with or instead of their oysters. A more 

 serious injury, however, is that threatened to the oyster 

 beds themselves by the deposit of sediment thereon. 

 The fisheries injuriously affected by this rubbish are 

 valued at $750,000 a year. 



Beoides the injury to the fisheries the sanitary author- 

 ities of Sheerness and vicinity complain of the nuisar ce 

 and possible danger to health, caused by the accumula- 

 tion of decaying animal and vegetable refuse dumped 

 from the barges. 



Mr. Fryer does not find adequate means of remedying 

 this evil by existing laws, but recommends certain legis 

 iation to promptly stop "a great and growing nuisance." 



belly fins, and a similar trace bounds the white of the fin 

 behind the vent. The ground cnlor of the sides ie green- 

 ish olive. The sides of the head have numerous spots of 

 lemon yellow, some of them larger than the largest of 

 those on the sides. The lips are yellowish flesh color. 

 The eye is golden with a dusky border. The top of the 

 head and back have some scattered vermiculations like 

 those of the brook trout, but much less developed and not 

 so plentiful. The tail tin and both fins of the back are 

 spotted with lemon yellow like the sides. 



The smaller of the two supposed males has the back 

 slightly elevated as in old male brook trout, but its tail 

 fin is forked and it has the large scales and peculiar colorr 

 ation of its brother hybrid. As long as these beautiful 

 fish live we cannot inquire very closely into their denti- 

 tion and visceral anatomy, but we may be sure that some- 

 thing of interest will be discovered therein when these 

 parts are available for study. 



LAKE AND BROOK TROUT HYBRID. 



SEVERAL hybrids between the lake trout and the 

 brook trout were received at the Central Station of 

 the TJ. S. Fish Commission in "Washington, Jan. 3, I8b9. 

 from the Pennsylvania State Hatchery at Corry. At the 

 same time and from the same source were obtained six 

 large lake trout, six rainbow trout and six brook trout. 

 These fish were secured through the request of Col. John 

 Gay, of the U. S. Fish Commission. They furnish a 

 beautiful illustration of the skill in rearing trout mani- 

 fested by the superintendent of the Corry Station, Mr. 

 William Buller. 



The brook trout are gorgeously arrayed in their nuptial 

 colors, and are as plump as good feeding and pure water 

 can make them. The milky white margins of the lower 

 fins are. well contrasted with narrow pencilings of black, 

 and the sides are aflame with warm vermilion. The 

 olive green of the back is closely vermiculated with 

 lighter markings, and the back fin is richly variegated 

 with olive green and velvety black. The vermilion spots 

 of the sides are absorbed in the general wealth of vivid 

 color. 



The rainbow trout are not yet at the summit of their 

 beauty, but the crimson bands along the sides and head 

 are beginning to give promise of brilliancy. 



The lake trout are big, handsome fishes, although 

 somewhat plain in their simple livery of gray and white. 



The hybrids, however, are more attractive than any 

 of the others, because- of their known ancestry and 

 their singular beauty. These trout are now five 

 years old. They are the result of fertilizing lake trout 

 eggs with the milt of the brook trout. The history of the 

 experiments in hybridization is to be found in the report 

 of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission for 1880. 



The larger of the two hybrids is about 20in. long. It 

 is apparently a male, as the lower jaw has an incipient 

 cartilaginous tip. The end of the upper jaw extends 

 behind the eye a distance nearly equal to the length of 

 the snout. The scales are larger than in the brook trout 

 and about as large as those of the lake trout. The tail 

 fin is forked about as deeply as that of the lake trout. In 

 shape the hybrid is similar to the lake trout, as also in 

 the general pattern of coloration; but the very numerous 

 spots on the sides are somewhat smaller, and'pale lemon 

 in color instead of whitish. The spots below the middle 

 line of the sides have a center of orange. The fins on the 

 breast, belly, behind the vent, and the lower lobe of the 

 tail fin, have a broad white edge. The fins on the belly 

 and behind the vent are pale vermilion orange. The 

 outer half of the upper surface of the breast fins is dusky. 

 There is ji narrow black line limiting the white of the 



EXPERIENCE WITH THE STEEL ROD. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Last season I tried a Horton steel rod and formed some 

 very decided opinions, pro and con, in regard to it, 

 which may be of interest not only to many of your 

 readers, but to the manufactures, who. I believe, invite 

 criticism with a view to eventually making the rod 

 perfect: a consummation to be earnestly hoped for, as 

 the advantages of a satisfactory rod made of some kind 

 of metal would far exceed those of one made of wood. 



The advantages of the Horton rod are its greater 

 strength and durability; its telescoping arrangement 

 which obviates the use of ferrules and makes the rod as 

 convenient to carry as if but one piece; the running of 

 the line through the interior, thereby dispensing with 

 the inconvenience of guides. 



The defects of the rod, as appeared to me, are, first, its 

 top-heaviness or want of proper balance; second, its 

 stiffness or lack of necessary pliancy; third the greater 

 friction of the line; fourth, rust; fifth, the inevitable 

 wearing off of the protective coating by the rubbing of 

 the surfaces in drawing the parts out into position for 

 use; sixth, too short a space between the reel and where 

 the line enters the rod, making it more difficult to draw 

 the line from the reel. 



As to the want of balance and flexibility, it may, no 

 doubt, be remedied by gradually reducing the thickness 

 of the metal from one end to the other of each piece. I 

 found by a test that the stiffness of the rod was about 

 twice that of a Henshall minnow rod, and for bait-fishing 

 that is an unpleasant difference, while for fly-fishing it 

 would not do at all. 



The amount of line friction is, by a careful test which 

 I made, just double that of the Henshall rod. This may 

 not be objectionable in a fly-rod, but for bait-casting 

 from the reel and some other methods, it is out of the 

 question; and when the line becomes wet, as it must, the 

 friction is increased to such an extent that the line can 

 hardly be forced to render. 



It is needless to talk of coating the rod with anything 

 to prevent rust. Any coating— even nickle-plating — 

 would soon be worn off; especially on the inside by the 

 attrition of the line. The angler could be provided with 

 something to replace the coating on the outside, but the 

 inside would probably be beyond his reach. It is impos- 

 sible to prevent rust by keeping the interior of the rod 

 dry, because the line must make it wet. 



In regard to the shortness of space between the reel 

 and point at which the line enters the rod it may be 

 merely an individual opinion arising from the use of 

 other rods; but in any case it is an objection which is not 

 without remedy. 



My decided opinion is that for a bait-rod the telescop- 

 ing system will have to be abandoned and ferrules and 

 guides employed. Both ferrules and guides may be 

 soldered on, or the ferrules may be put on with cement 

 in the usual way and the guides may be ringed. Ringed 

 guides to slide on and off might be used with the tele- 

 scopic plans, but I do not think that it would be desira- 

 ble. Even for the fly- rod I am inclined to think that it 

 would be best to adopt the ferrule, notwithstanding the 

 convenience of the present method. If best to adhere to 

 the telescopic method, or indeed in any case, why would 

 it not be better to make the rod of brass? 



I present these views to the consideration of practical 

 anglers, hoping that they am sufficiently interested in 

 the success of a metallic rod to give their opinion of what 

 I have said and also any ideas of their own. 



Splasher. 



"THE COMPLEAT ANGLER." 



THE ONE HUNDREDTH EDITION OF WALTON AND COTTON. 



THE scholarly angler, as well as the scholar who is not 

 an angler, takes great delight in tine editions of 

 Izaak Walton and his younger companion, Charles Cot- 

 ton, who is sometimes called "the father of fly-fishing." 

 A modest angling book published in London in 1653, 

 which has bf en edited by many other anglers and been 

 republished in Edinburgh, Philadelphia, Manchester, 

 New York, Liverpool, Halifax, Hamburg and Boston, 

 until in the pa^t year it has reached its one hundredth 

 edition, may truly be called a classic. 



In the volumes now before us*, we have the most ele- 

 gant reproduction of this famous work, edited by one of 

 the most scholarly anglers of the day, in demi quarto on 

 large paper, which has yet been issued. The edition is 

 strictly limited to 500 copies, each of which bears the 

 autograph signature of Mr. R. B. Marston, the editor. 

 Tne volumes are in boards, with uncut edges, suitable for 

 rebinding in such style as the owner may prefer, and the 

 American copies are in the hands of Messrs. Dodd, Mead 

 & Company, New York. 



The plan of making the illustrations of scenes on the 

 rivers Lea and Dove, where Walton chiffly fished, has 

 been carried out, and they are gems, whether we con- 

 sider the full-page photogravures or the smaller wood 



*Tbe Lea and Dove edition, being the 100th edition of The Com- 

 pleat Angler or tbe Contemplative Man's Recreation, being a dis- 

 course of rivers, fish ponds, fish, and fishins written by Izaak 

 Walton, and instructions how to angle for a trout or grayling in 

 a clear stream, by Chas. Cotton— edited and arranged by R. B. 

 M&rsHin, editor of the Fishing Gazette, honorary treasurer of the 

 Ely- Fishers' Club etc., with fifty-tour photogravures and about 

 one hundred wood cuts-andeontaiuingareprintof The Chronicle 

 of the Compleat Angler, a Biographical Record of its various 

 editions and imitati ms, by T. Westwood and T Satchell. In two 

 volumes. London: Sampson Low, Marstoa, Se^rle and Rivtngtoo, 

 Limited. Bt. Dunetan's House, Fetter Lane, E, C, 1888, 



