516 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 17, 1890. 



Keeping Fish.— New York, July 14.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: Often, when having captured a large trout 

 in distant waters, have I longed for some means to pre- 

 serve my quarry and exhibit it to my friends and "the 

 old folks at home." It has been an easy task to bring 

 home an assorted array of touching finny legends— the 

 kind that go right to the heart, but never damage it m 

 the least. When a man tells a "corking" fish story, and 

 then and there deliberately produces the veritable fish 

 spoken of, his argument is, of course, incontrovertible. 

 This leads to the point. I have found something, after 

 a search of many years, that will really and honestly 

 preserve fish for a long time. By "a long time" I mean 

 that fish I sent home during the warm days of June last, 

 were six davs in transit, without ice, and reached New 

 York in perfect condition. Last year, all the fish I sent 

 over the same route, with plenty of ice, were spoiled. 

 Strange that an article of so much real merit, has never 

 been heard of among sportsmen, for it will preserve 

 game of all kinds in absolute perfection. When, in May, 

 I started for the camp of the Paradise Club in Quebec, I 

 took a 5lb. box of "Preservaline." Upon arriving there 

 I dissolved a pound of the white powder in two gallons 

 of water, and all I did afterward was to lay my cleaned 

 trout in the solution for two hours, then pack in moss — 

 wet or dry— and ship home. Ten boxes of splendid trout 

 were thus simply treated, and all reached New York as 

 perfect and bright as on the day they were landed. I 

 take great pleasure in recommending the article to sports- 

 men in the field or on the water, and I am surprised the 

 manufacturers, whoever they may be, do not advertise 

 it in Forest and Stream. It is too valuable an article 

 to be lost to view, and its great merit alone prompts me 

 to thus indorse it— Kit Clarke. 



Maine Bass, Perch and Trout.— Boston, Mass., July 

 1.— Many thus far this year have gone from this city to 

 Maine, as the New England angler's reserve for their 

 favorite sport. As a whole, so far as my knowledge goes, 

 those who went early in the season are more pleased with 

 results at Moosehead than at Rangeley. Among the 

 angling vacationists, at the present time, a very large 

 number are at Cobbassecontee and Long Pond for black 

 bass and white perch, and an occasional landlocked sal- 

 mon. This year I am informed the Commissioners of 

 P'ish and Game have had the ponds from Monmouth to 

 Belgrade well stocked with this game and toothsome fish. 

 A number of my friends from the large mercantile houses 

 of this city are now at Harmon's Grove, Cobbasse contee 

 Lake, taking from 3&lb. to 51b. black bass and smaller 

 white perch in out of the wet with great glee. At Chand- 

 ler's Mills, Belgrade, the enterprising landlord of the hotel 

 has launched a steamboat upon the waters of Long Pond, 

 whose patrons have great success. I fear this boat will 

 still be the cause of depleting the fighting black bass and 

 the very popular white perch. Some of the apostles of 

 rod and reel have just returned from the Dead Eiver 

 region. They are very enthusiastic and report wonder- 

 ful strings of beautiful trout.— J. W. T. 



Maine Waters. — Boston. July 14. — The trouting season 

 is about over, and yet nearly every passenger train out of 

 Boston is graced with a number of fishing rods. July 4 

 came on Friday, and many of the trades voted to close 

 over Saturday, while manufacturers, in many instances, 

 shut down their mills from Thursday night till Monday 

 morning. This gave a good chance to many a sportsman 

 to try the trout for a day or two, and it was surprising to 

 see the way the short holiday season was utilized. Trains 

 were crowded to overflowing on the Boston & Maine, 

 while the shorter lines in Maine were well patronized. 

 Still the record of trout caught is not a very heavy one, 

 though the general report is that the fishing was even 

 better than anticipated. That same week Prof. J. F. 

 Moody, of the Edward Little High School, at Auburn, 

 Me., with his little son Frank, fished the Russell Brook in 

 Sumner, with a record of 169 trout in one day, all of them 

 large enough to clear the law, and one weighing lib. and 

 13oz. Of the number little Frank, only 10yrs. old, caugkt 

 69. Some good records in the way of sea' trout are men- 

 tioned, taken by Boston merchants and business men 

 from streams on the Nova Scotia shore. — Special. 



Pike-perch in Lake George.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: In answers to correspondents, July 10, you state 

 that Lake George, N. Y., contains pickerel, which are 

 wall-eyed pike, Susquehanna salmon, etc. It is to be 

 hoped, and very possibly this is correct, for some years 

 ago Mr. Myron O. Brown, proprietor of the Sagamore 

 Hotel, purchased and brought from Lake Champlain over 

 100 spawning pike-perch and planted them in the waters 

 of Lake George, but from the day of planting to this not 

 a single pike-perch, so far as diligent inquiry can deter- 

 mine, has been taken from the lake. The pickerel of 

 Lake George are really pike, Esox lueius. Furthermore, 

 the lake trout had not become almost extinct in 1889. 

 The work of restocking the lake with lake trout was 

 begun in 1873, and almost each year planting of fry have 

 been made until the grand total amounts to over 4,500.000 

 lake trout that have been planted in Lake George, and 

 the fishing never was better than it is this year. — A. N. C. 



Maine Waters.— Wilson's Mills, Me., July 8.— Some 

 very handsome specimens of trout have been taken from 

 the waters of the upper Magalloway River, Maine, during 

 the past few weeks. Mr. Jas. G. Menzies, of New York 

 city, brought down a fine string numbering about 18 or 

 20, and weighing 1 to 21bs. each, besides quite a number 

 smaller ones. Mr. John P. True, of Boston, also took 

 some in weighing from i to lflbs. Several parties from 

 Berlin, Milan, and towns near by have taken good catches. 

 One trout weighing 7f lbs. was caught in the Diamond 

 River near its junction with the Magalloway a short time 

 ago.— Sewes. 



Albany, July 7. — The boys have returned from the 

 Rushmore Camp on Lake Champlain. Fishing was not 

 equal to last year, owing in part to the high water. They 

 report quite a number of black and wood ducks in the 

 marshes. I hope to help to thin them out in the fall. An 

 engineer on the Fitchburg road caught a 101b. salmon at 

 Mechanicville last week, he claims on the fly; there are 

 people who think it was jigged. It is a shame they don't 

 put a fishway in the dam, as there are plenty of salmon 

 seen trying to make their way up stream. — Dexter. 



Salmon at Bangor.— Bangor, Me., July 11.— The club 

 house is closed for the season. The season has not been 

 a brilliant one. The highest number caught on any one 

 day has been but seven. The river has been in a contin- 

 ued state of flood, from 6 to 8ft. running over the dam. 

 The whole number caught has been 85. The fish taken 

 were mainly of large size; the largest I am told 251bs. 

 The river is" still full of fish, but they no longer take the 

 fly. I have no doubt they might be taken readily with 

 the fly at Piscataquis Falls, which is the site of the new 

 pulp mill, known as Montagne, and where the usual pro- 

 crastinations and evasions of wealthy corporations have 

 still left legal promises of completed fishways unful- 

 filled. The fish are here left impounded in considerable 

 numbers. — Penobscot. 



Lake Champlain.— Albany, July 12.— I was at Bur- 

 lington. Vt., last week and tried the wall-eyed pike, but 

 it was the day after the tornado and the wind was still 

 blowing a gale, which made it impossible for an ordi- 

 nary boat to stay out on the reef. No one beside our- 

 selves tried it. We worked hard but only got nine good 

 ones. A few days previous they caught as high as 75 to 

 a boat down off the Queen City Park grounds. This hot 

 weather will send them in deeper water and that will 

 end the shore fishing. — Dexter. 



WATER LIFE. 



Occasional Observations on the Fishes in the Aqnaria of the U. S. 

 Fish Commission. 



A NUMBER of observations, extending over several 

 years, have convinced the writer that there are as great 

 possibilities in the modification or adaptation of the more 

 valuable species of fish as in those of an ornamental nature. 



It is said that in Japan there are bred small gold fish, 

 perhaps three inches in length of head and body, with tails a 

 foot long and with other fins in proportion, and in view of 

 some of the wonderful developements of fins cropping out 

 among the progeny of more ordinary Japanese stock in this 

 country we have no occasion to doubt this statement, were 

 the authority doubtful. The two species of paradise fish 

 {Macropodus) known to this country and Europe, to which 

 they were introduced from China, are said to be wholly the 

 products of cultivation. The wonderful things that these 

 Asiatic people do in horticulture are well known. Dr, 

 Shufeldt stated to the writer that his father, the Admiral, 

 saw in Asia small chickens with tails sixteen to eighteen 

 feet long, the result of generations of patient cultivation. 



It is not such useless modification as this, however, to 

 which the writer has reference, but rather the gradual adap- 

 tation of certain valuable species to modified or restricted 

 conditions. It will be noticed on placing common brook fish 

 into a still-water aquarium that for a number of days there 

 will be very evident distress to the respiratory organs, the 

 respiration very rapid and the fish keeping constantly at the 

 surface sucking air. That this is not the result of fright is 

 evidenced by the fact that they may be picked up by the 

 hands, whereas, if not in physical distress, they would dart 

 away and hide. During such changes many fish will die, 

 but those which survive the change will thereafter live in 

 still water without regard to natural changes of tempera- 

 ture, unless the aquarium be overcrowded. 



The little black-nosed dace {BhinieMhys astronasiis), 

 which is an interesting aquarium fish, lives usually in very 

 much the same character of waters as are inhabited by the 

 trout, clear and rapid running brooks and streams, and al- 

 though difficult to introduce into the aquarium will, if it 

 survives the change, live in the ordinary aquarium as com- 

 fortably as the gold fish; and furthermore, although in 

 nature it probably lives wholly on living things, will at 

 once adapt itself 'to the artificial food of the gold fish. 

 The same may be said of all the Cyprinida:, although most 

 of them live in quiet and warm waters and endure the 

 change more readily. According to the writer's experience 

 and observation, the same capacity for adaptation to changed 

 conditions is inherent in all fishes in at least as great a de- 

 gree as in the black-nosed dace. 



At the Ohio Valley Exposition at Cincinnati, O., in 1888, 

 a number of trout of several species were ehanged within h 

 short time from a temperature of 45 deg. to 70 deg. and were 

 kept comfortably at the latter temperature until the close of 

 the exhibition. At least t wo cases have come to the writer's 

 notice where trout have been safely kept in ponds at 70 deg. 

 or thereabout. In the marine aquaria at Washington there 

 are now young shad, adult gizzard shad, striped bass, white 

 perch, flounders, sturgeon, tautog, etc., living in water 

 which has already at times reached a temperature of 80 deg. 

 Some young shad in a pool in the yard of Central Station 

 are now living and growing finely in a temperature which is 

 sometimes as high as 82 deg. to 85 deg. , the latter temperature 

 existing at the surface. It is quite probable that not one of 

 the species mentioned is ever subjected to such temperatures 

 in nature, as, when the surface water is heated, they can 

 descend to the cooler depths. 



Where such changes are too great or too sudden they will 

 generally be fatal. If more gradual some may survive, as 

 some individuals of a species will endure greater changes 

 than others. During the past winter, when the tempera- 

 ture approached the freezing point, some species of fish 

 brought from the Gulf, and which had lived well until that 

 time, quit feeding and soon succumbed. Likewise on the 

 approach of high temperature some species from the colder 

 waters of the New England coast succumbed also, but these 

 changes were very considerable. 



A number of yearling rainbow, or California trout, are 

 now living in an aquarium at Central Station in water the 

 temperature of which is now 76 deg. They are healthy and 

 lively, and feed with avidity. It is quite certain that they 

 will stand a temperature of 80 deg., and possibly even more. 

 It should be stated that a small stream of water (about 

 l-16in.) is driven into the aquarium with force, and imping- 

 ing on the surface of the water carries in with it a large 

 amount of air, which being dispersed throughout the whole 

 body of water in very minute bubbles is rapidly absorbed, 

 and it is thus demonstrated that a high temperature is fatal 

 to many fishes, under artificial conditions, because unless 

 the water is artificially charged with air it does not afford 

 them sufficient oxygen. 



The point sought to be suggested here is that it is quite 

 possible, judging from the experiences herein related, that 

 the species of the salmon family as well as other fishes 

 might be so modified in character as to be readily adapted 

 to waters of warmer and more sluggish character than those 

 usually inhabited by them. 



Numbers of experiments have been made for the purpose 

 of determining what amount of heat fish will stand, but 

 many of them are of no practical value for the purpose 

 herein suggested, because made under conditions which do 

 not occur in nature. A paper on "The Effects of an Ele- 

 vated Temperature on Fishes," in the Bulletin of the XT, S. 

 F. C. for 1885, records a number of high temperatures to 

 which fish are known to be subjected in nature, and also a 

 number of experiments. One of the statements is that "a 

 young fish kept in water at 84 deg. was found to be dead, 



and to be sure that the result was not owing to a want of 

 air in the water the experiment was repeated in the same 

 water when cold, without injurious results." As air is re- 

 absorbed by water in cooling (just as it is expelled in heat- 

 ing, and in the same proportion though less rapidly) the 

 inference drawn is based on false premises. And likewise 

 all experiments of this nature which do not take into ac- 

 count the natural aerating agencies of nature, vegetable 

 life, evaporation, etc., are useless, except as establishing a 

 thermal death point under unnatural conditions. 



It is the opinion of the writer that great changes or modi- 

 fications have already taken place in the trout of various 

 species by means of domestication, for purposes of propaga- 

 tion, and that, in the course of time, they may be adapted 

 to the great rivers of the country, and the purpose of this 

 article is to suggest experiments by the trout culturists of 

 the country in the direction of the gradual adaptation of 

 SalmonidcB to warmer and more sluggish waters. It is a 

 matter worthy of discussion at all events. 



It is in trout culture that the greatest advances in meth- 

 ods of artificial propagation have been made, and it is still 

 throughout the world the great fishcultural school, and 

 therein possessing a high value were there no other benefits 

 derived from it; and there are, from recent observations, 

 yet unexplored fields for the trout culturist. Wm. P. Seal. 



F IXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Sept.. 3 to 4.— Dog Show of the Midland Central Fair Associa- 

 tion, at Kingston, Ont. C. H. Corbett, Secretary. 



Sept. 2 to 5".— Third Annual Dog Show of the Michigan Kennel 

 Club, at Detroit, Mich. M. V. B. Saunders, Secretary. 



Sept. 15 to 19— Second Annual International Dog Show of the 

 Industial Exhibition Association at Toronto, Canada. C. A. Stone, 

 Secretary. 



Sept. 23 to 26.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Central Canada 

 Exhibition Association, at Ottawa. Alfred Geddes, Chairman 

 Committee. 



Oct. 6 toll.— Ninth Annual Dog Show of the Danbury Agricul- 

 tural Society, at Danburv Conn. B. C. Lynes, Secretary. 



Dec. 30 to Jan. 3, 1891.— First Dog Show of the Bnckeve Poultry 

 and Pet Stock Association, at Canton, O. James Sterling. Sec'y, 

 39 North Market street. 



1891. 



Jan. 20 to 25.— First Annual Dog Show of the Louisiana Poultry 

 and Pet Sto^k Association, at New Orleans, La. A. E. Shaw, Sec- 

 retary, Box 1658. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Sept. 9.— Fiold Trials of the Manitoba Field Trials Club. Thos. 

 Johnson, Winnipeg. Secretary. 



November.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Brunswick Fur 

 Club, at Brunswick, Me. J. H. Baird, Secretary, Auburndale, 

 Mass. 



Nov. 3,— Fourth Annual Field Trials of the Indiana Kennel 

 Club, at Carlisle, Inch P. T. Madison, Indianapolis, Ind., Soo'y. 



Nov. 10— Second Annual Field Trials of the Canadian Keunel 

 Club, at C-hatham, Ont. C. A. Stone, Toronto, Ont., Secretary. 



Nov. 17.— Twelfth Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field 

 Trials Club, at Otterburn Springs, Va. W. A. Coster, Saratogo 

 Springs, N. l r ., Secretary. 



Dec. L— Second Annual Field Trials of the Central Field Trials 

 Club, at Lexington, N. C. C. H. Odell, Mills Building, New York, 

 Secretary. 



1891. 



Jan. 19.— Eighth Annual Field Trials of thePacific Kennel Club, 

 at Bakersfield, Cai. H. H. Briggs, Secretary. 



Feb. 3.— Third Annual Field Trials of the Southern Field Trials 

 Club. T. M. Brunby, Secretary, Marietta, Ga. 



COURSING. 



Oct. 21 to 25.— Fifth Annual Meet of the American Coursing 

 Club, at Great Bend, Kan. 1. D. Brougher, Secretary. 



TICKETSl 



"VT EXT week we shall publish the dog fares charged by 

 Lt thirty Western railroads, and their rules governing 

 the transportation of hunting dogs. This data has been fur- 

 nished by the passenger agents for the benefit of Forest 

 A.xd Stream readers. 



AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB AFFAIRS. 



\T7E said last week that we expected to have for publica- 

 V> tion to-day the stenographer's report of the advisory 

 committee meeting held July 3 to consider the charges pre- 

 ferred by Secretary Vreden burgh against Mr. C. J. Peshall. 

 Mr. Vredenburgh has advised us, however, that it has been 

 decided to withhold that report, pending a reference of the 

 case to the American Kennel Club. 



Meanwhile we have endeavored to get further light on the 

 contract between Mr. Lewis and the stud book committee 

 for the publishing of Parts II., III. and IV. of Vol. V. of the 

 Stud Book, for it is on the alleged exhaustive character of 

 this contract that Mr. Peshall has finally rested his case. 

 The imperfect recollection of the several parties to this con- 

 tract forcibly illustrates the capacity of a verbal agreement 

 for subsequent dispute. Of the five persons who should 

 know definitely the terms of the Stud Book contract, only 

 t wo have been positive in their statements. Mr. Peshafl 

 has declared that the agreement was that Mr. Lewis should 

 take all the receipts, pay all the bills and retain all the sur- 

 plus or bear any loss, lie has declared that it was thus an 

 "exhaustive contract." 



Mr. Vredenburgh, on the other hand, has declared with 

 equal positiveness that Mr. Lewis took the book on the 

 same terms that he himself (Vredenburgh) had managed it, 

 namely on a fixed salary of S08.75 per month. 



With a view of determining the exact nature of the con- 

 tract which Mr. Lewis had with the stud book committee 

 for the publication of the Stud Book, we last week sent the 

 following inquiry to Messrs. Terry and Schellhass: 



"Will you kindly advise us whether the statement made 

 by Mr. C. J. Peshall, that for the publication of Parts 2, 3 

 and 4 of Vol. V. of the American Kennel Club Stud Book 

 Mr. A. D. Lewis had an exhaustive contract; that is to say 

 that the agreement was that he should take all the receipts 

 and pay all the expenses and retain the surplus as his re- 

 muneration? If there was such an agreement can you tell 

 us when it was changed?" 



The replies were as follows: 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have yours of the 11th, and in reply beg to say that I 

 have been a member of the Stud Book Committee of the 

 American Kennel Club since its inception, and with my 

 knowledge and consent no such contract has ever been 

 made. Thos. H. Terry. 



New York, July 12. 

 Editor Forest and Stream- 

 In reply to your note asking me on what terms Mr. A. D. 

 Lewis was to publish PartsS, 3 and 4 of Vol.V. of the A. K. 

 C. S. B., I would say that it was understood that, should 

 there be no profits from the said publication, Mr. Lewis was 

 not to hold the A. K. C. for any salary, and in any event his 

 salary was not to exceed auy profits that arose from the pub- 

 lication. Herman F. Schellhass. 



New York, July 14. 



In order to get more definite information of their under- 

 standing of what the contract actually was, we called upon 

 Messrs. Terry and Schellhass, and also met Mr. Lewis, 



