March 31, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



278 



the bill (?), with this proviso: "If it can be passed without 

 injury to the wild trout," 



The second objection to the bill is that it is unfair to 

 other States in 1891 the Legislature of Massachusetts 

 passed a resolution in "relation to adoption of uniform 

 laws for protection of food fishes in the New England 

 States " 



It requested the Commissioners on Inland Fisheries and 

 Game to confer with the proper authorities of each of the 

 other New England States, with a view to securing the 

 adoption of "uniform laws" to protect the food fishes of 

 those States and report the result of the conference to the 

 next Legislature. (Acts and Resolves of Mass., 1891, 

 p. 1107.) 



The conference met in Boston, Nov. 16, 1S91, and Com- 

 missioners from all the States were present, with the ex- 

 ception of Vermont, 



Commissioner Brackett, in his report for 1892 (p. 34), 

 says: "A large majority of the Commissioners were 

 strongly opposed to the Gilbert bill. And all appeared to 

 agree in regard to liver-fed trout for food." 



Of all the New England States (five of which were 

 represented in the conference) Rhode Island alone allows 

 fishing- for trout earlier than April 1. Out of twenty-five 

 States having a close season, twenty do not allow trout 

 fishing earlier than April 1; six do not allow it till May 

 1, while several have the open season from April 15. 

 Some States have non-export laws, others limit the amount 

 to be taken, and some prohibit taking trout through the 

 ice. 



The third objection to the bill is that it is inconsistent 

 with the established policy of the Commonwealth. 



In the veto message of Governor Russell, submitted on 

 the return of the Gilbert bill to the House of Representa- 

 tives in 1892 (Acts and Resolves, p. 633) His Excellency 

 says: 



"The Commonwealth by many and careful regulations 

 and restrictions has vigorously undertaken the preserva- 

 vation of her useful fish. In furtherance of this well- 

 established and wise policy she has created important and 

 expensive offices, made large appropriations of money, 

 imposed restrictions and obligations upon private owner- 

 ship of land and water used or useful for fisheries, care- 

 fully limited the time, manner and place of fishing, and 

 as a regulation the most stringent and efficient, short of 

 entire prohibition, forbidden the purchase, sale or pos- 

 session of many fish out of the lawful season. All of this 

 State supervision and interference with personal liberty 

 and private property have been only upon the conceded fact 

 of the common interest of all the people in the preserva- 

 tion of useful fish in the Commonwealth, and the neces- 

 sity of united and so of State action to this end. 



"Such action, year by year increasing, has been with 

 the approval and upon demand of the people. 



' 'Among the first most needing such legal protection 

 have been the trout." 



The Governor further speaks of the "large expenditures 

 * for hatcheries, propagation and distribution," tells us that 

 unrestricted fishing would soon "exterminate the trout." 



"Such restrictions already established are difficult of 

 enforcement, and in my judgment would become impos- 

 sible of enforcement if it is made for one's pecuniary in- 

 terest to violate them by opening to him a valuable market 

 out of season." 



"The restrictions" intended to prevent the sale of other 

 trout can be easily evaded, and I believe will be practically 

 useles. 



"All trout may soon be made to meet the required con- 

 dition, or to escape detection if they do not." 



He declares that he cannot give his "approval to such 

 legislation or aid in" the establishing of an articial trout 

 industry by special favors from government to the injury 

 of the public. 



The Governor sums up his objections as follows: 



"First, because it permits an act which I believe will 

 remove the most efficient restraint upon the illegal catching 

 of trout, and will lead to their extermination. 



"Second, because it establishes a precedent which, if 

 followed, will go far to destroy the usefulness of the fish 

 and game laws of the Commonwealth. 



"Third, because in effect, if not in form, it is legislation 

 for a special interest against the public interest, and to 

 the public injury." 



George W. "Wiggin, President, 

 Henry H. Kimball, Secretary, 

 John Fottler. Jr., 

 Horace T. Rockwell, 

 Benjamin C. Clark, 

 Arthur W. Robinson, 

 Dr. Heber Bishop, 

 Dr. John T. Stetson, 

 John N. Roberts, 

 of the Board of Management of the Massachusetts Fish 

 and Game Protective Association. 



More Rhyme than Reason. 



Providence, R. L — Several times I have seen in articles 

 reference as to the direction of the wind for fishing. Here 

 is a little verse which although known to some may be 

 new to others: 



"When the wind Is in the north. 



No good fisherman will go forth; 



When the wind is in the east, 



'Tis good for neither man nor beast: 



When the wind is in the west, 



Fishing is at its very best; 



When the wind is in the south, 



It blows the bait to the fish's mouth. 



H. T. M. 



Death of Col. R. M. Taliaferro. 



After a lingering illness Col. R. M. Taliaferro died at 

 his home near Rockville Centre, N. Y., aged 72. He was 

 born in Wythe county, Va., and was always a typical 

 Southern sportsman with the rod and gun, and during his 

 prime was one of America's experts at fly-casting. He 

 was the father of the wife of Mr. C. K. Farmer, of Indian- 

 apolis. 



Mr. Blackford's Trout Opening. 



Mr, Eugene G. Blackford, of Fulton Market, this 

 city, will make his usual display of trout on the opening 

 of the season, April 16. 



Natchaug Fishing Prizes for 1894. 



The Natchaug Silk Co. , whose big fish prize competi- 

 tion was so successful last year, announce a new list of 

 prizes for 1894, as follows, aggregating $225 in gold for 

 fish caught between April 1 and Nov. 1 : 



First prize, $25 for the heaviest muskallonge; second, 

 $25 for the heaviest small-mouthed bass; third. $25 for the 

 heaviest large-mouthed bass; fourth, $25 for the heaviest 

 lake trout; fifth, $25 for the heaviest brook trout caught 

 in other waters than the State of Maine; sixth, $25 for the 

 greatest variety and largest number of fresh-water fish 

 caught in one day by one person; seventh, $25 for the 

 greatest weight of any kind of fresh- water fish caught in 

 one day by one person; eighth, $25 for the heaviest fish of 

 any kind caught with the Natchaug silk line in fresh or 

 salt water; ninth, $25 for the heaviest brook trout caught 

 in the State of Maine. As the trout caught in the lakes 

 of Maine are acknowledged to be genuine brook trout, on 

 account of the size of these fish we bar them from our 

 fifth prize, and offer this as a special prize for these waters. 



Conditions. — All of these fish must be caught with the 

 Natchaug silk fishing line in fresh water (except prize 8) 

 and by fair angling. Competitors must forward to the 

 Natchaug Silk Co., Willimantic, Conn., or Chicago, 111., 

 their full name, post-office address, together with the 

 description and weight of fish caught, and name of dealer 

 from whom line was purchased, within seven days after 

 such catch is made, together with the name of one reput- 

 able witness affixed. On Nov. 7 the award will be made 

 and the list of successful competitors announced in the 

 Forest and Stream. All successful competitors before 

 receiving their prizes will be required to send an affidavit 

 as to their statement of fish caught. 



The winners last year were: First prize, John J. Hilde- 

 brandt, Logansport, Ind., caught Oct. af>, Kankakee 

 River, muskallonge weighing 26ilbs, Second, George J. 

 Bradbeer, Detroit, Mich., caught Sept. 30, St. Clair Flats, 

 small-mouthed black bass, weighing 71bs. 2oz. Third, 

 Paul Lang, Orford, N. H. caught May 14, Newfound 

 Lake, N. H., lake trout, weighing I4jlbs. Fourth, R. N. 

 Parish, Oakdale, Conn., caught Sept. 15, Rangeley Lake, 

 Me., brook trout, weighing Gibs. 9oz. Fifth, B. Waters, 

 Chicago, and Ben. Wolf, Ewart, Mich., each having 

 caught a large-mouthed bass, weighing Gibs. 2oz. Sixth, 

 Will. Cunningham, Attica, Ind., caught Sept. 22, Kanka- 

 kee River, 111,, 101 fish, including 11 varieties, the largest 

 weighing 12^-lbs. Seventh, J. B. Carlin, Ashland, Wis., 

 caught July 22, Pelican Lake, Wis., muskallonge weigh- 

 ing 261bs. Fish was not weighed until five days after 

 being caught. 



Sunday Fishing. 



Some years ago a number of gentlemen visited the 

 mountains of Colorado for the purpose of fishing. Among 

 the party was a bishop of an Eastern diocese of the Epis- 

 copal Church. Fishing was the sole occupation and 

 amusement of the visitors; so when Sunday came, as' 

 there was nothing else to do, the laymen of the pa,rty got 

 out their rods, preparatory to casting a line. But they 

 were in a quandary as to the bishop. They did not want 

 to hurt his feelings by leaving him behind, nor did they 

 want to offend his religious principles by inviting him to 

 go fishing on Sunday. Finally one of them plucked up 

 courage and told him of their dilemma, whereupon the 

 good man said that he would tell them of a happening in 

 his earlier life which he thought rather apropos. 



"Some years ago," he said, "when I had charge of the 

 affairs of a parish, I was awakened about 2 o'clock one 

 morning, and upon inquiring who was there, heard a 

 man's voice reply that he was there with Miss Blank, and 

 that they wanted to get married. I reasoned with him 

 about the untimely hour, but to no avail; he meant to get 

 married right then and there. So I put on my clothes and 

 gown, and went downstairs and began the marriage ser- 

 vice. Everything went along as dictated in the service 

 till I asked the man, 'Wilt tliou take this woman to be 

 thy wedded wife?' to which he replied, 'What 'm I here 

 fur?' " They waited for the bishop.— Harper's Magazine. 



PUBLISHER'S DEPARTMENT. 



A New Lyman Sight. 



Dr. William Lyman has devised a leaf sight, which is a combina- 

 tion of a bar with a triangular ivory center and a wide open V 

 crotch. "Mauy sportsmen who use my rear sights, 1 ' 

 jg*. says Dr. Lyman, "do so with the ordinary crotch 

 « 'J sight on the barrel. This is much in the way and 

 s // / f the shooting is done at a great disadvantage. My 

 leaf sight can be put in place of it. It folds down 

 W$ i close to the barrel, allowing the shooter to use the 

 combination sight in an unobstructed manner, and 

 (fflBSE§5^?7il the result is that- the shooting is twice as good as 

 jHHHgWkJ when the ordinary crotch sight is on the barrel. 

 ••^"^^ Although the shooter should in any case use my 

 tang sights for nearly all shooting, he has the 

 satisfaction of knowing that if he wishes to use this leaf sight that 

 it is the best form of crotch and bar sight in use. The bar leaf is 

 excellent as a twilight sight or when used at night with a jack." 



Wm. Mills & Son's Catalogue. 



The long-established and popular firm of Wm. Mills & Son, dealers 

 in fishing tackle, of this city, have issued an elaborate catalogue of 

 anglers' appliances; and they have shown a good deal of horse sense 

 by getting the document into shape at this time when the average 

 fishermun's fancy is lightly turning to thoughts of a spring outfit for 

 the waters. Everything that an angler in his right mind could want 

 as essential and some things that no one unless out of his right mind 

 would count as other than pure luxuries are here catalogued, named, 

 illustrated and price-listed. The Messrs Mills can supply everything 

 but the actual water, the fish in it, and the skill to take it out. 



Conroy's Catalogue. 



An interesting illustration in Mr. Thomas J. Conroy's catalogue of 

 angling goods, just issued from the Conroy establishment on the 

 block with Forest and Stream, is the very last one in the book. It is 

 a vignette printed from the original woodcut used by John Conroy in 

 1830. It is not quite up to the mark of modern wood engraving, but 

 Mr. Conroy ought to regard it with much complacency, for its 

 antequated air is suggestive of the long life of the Conroy fishing 

 tackle house. The catalogue illustrates lines, rods, hooks and all the 

 other articles that in 1894 go to make up a complete stock of anglers' 

 supplies. 



Mason's Chess Book. 



We have received from Horace Cox, London, a copy of "The Princi- 

 ples of Chess." The author is not Mr. Frank Mason, but the cele- 

 brated chess player James Mason. 



An Opinion from Lansing. 



Lansing, Mich., March 18. — I hand you $4 for a year's subscription to 

 Forest and Stream I have files for fifteen years. Have just been 

 reading ' Danvis Folks' " "Friends in Need." This alone is worth the 

 whole '-price of admission." I like your "plank;" it is a winner. In 

 fact, I can't just think of anything I don't like, unless it be that Bre'r 

 Hough's wind Cor ink) gives out too soon sometimes. If I ever get 

 time again will send some notes. Launt Thompson. 



^istyulhtre mid $bH §rotecfion. 



Causes of Malformation in Artificially Hatched Fish. 



SOME months ago I think I noticed an article or two on the 

 obscure character of the causes of deformity in young fish 

 artificially hatched, and I trust that my interest in the sub 

 ject may be my excuse for offering these notes from my per 

 sonal experience. Such instances as have come under my 

 observation have led me to think that deformities in fish em- 

 bryos belong to two distinct classes, viz,, one class com- 

 prising those that have two heads or two tails, or any por- 

 tion of the body duplicated, though otherwise perfect in 

 form, and a second class comprising those that are literally 

 malformations, i. e., badly formed fish having curved spines, 

 spiral-shaped bodies, crooked tails and the like. 



Though not an embryologist. I conjecture that the de- 

 formities of the first class have their origin away back in the 

 period when the germ of the egg is being formed in the 

 ovaries of the parent fish, for I cannot see how any duplicate 

 bodies or duplicate parts of bodies can be produced after the 

 framework, so to speak, of the egg has been completed within 

 the parent fish. The duplicate forms must of necessity 

 already exist potentially in the germ of the egg when it is 

 ripe for extrusion from the ovaries. No subsequent manipu- 

 lation, of course, can make a double embryo, if it does not so 

 exist in the egg germ when development is completed. If it 

 is a perfectly formed egg to begin with, nothing can make a 

 double-headed or double-tailed fish develop in it while hatch- 

 ing. Consequently no mismanagement or misfortune in the 

 hatching of the egg can cause this first class of malforma- 

 tions. They at present lie beyond the power of human 

 agency to cause or to prevent. These consequently belong to 

 a province with which the fishculturist has nothing to do, 

 and which consequently impose no responsibilities on him. . 



I think, however, that it is not so with the second class, 

 comprising the embryos with imperfect and misshapen bodies 

 —at least not always so. These certainly can be produced 

 and I think generally are produced by something that hap- 

 pens to the egg after it leaves the fish. By this I mean that 

 an egg which comes from the parent fish perfect may be so 

 treated that it will produce an embryo with a curved or 

 spiral spine, or with a crooked tail or anything else that has 

 been found to actually occur in the way of a literal mal- 

 formation. If my conclusions are correct, then the germ of 

 the duplicate forms already exists in the egg before it leaves 

 the fish, and the misshapen forms are produced by some 

 injury to the egg after it leaves the fish. This being true, 

 the subject becomes a matter of practical interest to the fish- 

 culturist and it comes within his pi-ovince to deal with it. 

 And now the question presents itself directly to us, how do 

 these injuries happen and how do they produce the malfor- 

 mations? That it is an easy thing to cause the injuries may 

 be inferred from the exceedingly delicate and sensitive nature 

 of the substance of which the foetus or embryo is composed, 

 at least before the appearance of the black choroid pigment 

 usually called by fishculturists the eye spot. 



Every fishculturist knows that a short time before the eye 

 spot shows, and while the base of the skull is hardly out- 

 lined and the spinal column appears only as a fine dark, 

 thread in the middle of the embryo, the eggs are so ex- 

 tremely sensitive that they will hardly bear the touch of the 

 soft beard of a feather without being killed. If they are so 

 delicate as this, and they certaiuly are, it naturally follows 

 that a slight touch or a jar, though not sufficient to kill the 

 embryo, might nevertheless injure the internal structure of 

 the egg sufficiently to produce a malformation. Indeed, I 

 have often wondered, when I considered that the brain, 

 heart, gills (lungs), eyes and spine were all nothing but a 

 semi-fluid substance at this stage of development, that these 

 organs did not get all jumbled together sometimes in an 

 indistinguishable mass as the eggs were rattled about in the 

 trays. Considering the delicate material inside the egg, the 

 wonder to me is, not that there are so many malformations 

 at birth, but that there are so few. Think for instance how 

 easy it would be for some of the delicate cells of the dorsal 

 cord while they are forming to get displaced or possibly 

 ruptured by some slight blow or jar, but if it does happen, 

 the result must be a deformed spine. I am consequently 

 inclined to believe that malformations are usually caused in 

 this way, viz., by* injuries to the embryo, too slight to kill 

 the egg, but effective enough to disturb or displace the 

 delicate cells forming within, to the extent of producing im- 

 perfect and misshapen forms when hatched. 



Now, a fishculturist has only to look back over one season's 

 experience in hatching eggs to recall many ways in which 

 these not quite fatal, but nevertheless damaging injuries 

 may happen to the embryo. For instance, at the very outset, 

 when the eggs are first pressed from the fish, we know that 

 sometimes they strike the bottom of the pan very hard, with 

 apparent impunity; but though they are not visibly hurt, 

 who knows but what the germ right then and there receives 

 an irreparable injury, afterward to manifest itself in a mal- 

 formation. Then again, I have often seen egg pickers in the 

 hatching house, before the appearance of the eye spot has 

 indicated that the delicate stage is past, whirl the eggs about 

 with great force, and excuse themselves by saying, "that 

 does not hurt the eggs. You see it does not kill them," and 

 then give the eggs another whirl to emphasize their state- 

 ment. Now, it's true we do not see the eggs killed before our 

 eyes, but how do we know that such handling is not disturb- 

 ing the delicate structure within, and getting the sensitive 

 little embryos out of shape, to appear ultimately as deformed 

 fish? 



There are other ways in which careless management may 

 produce this. For example, if sediment is allowed to collect 

 on the eggs when hatching, although it may not so entirely 

 stop up the pores of the shell membranes as to kill the eggs, 

 it may nevertheless so interrupt the development of certain 

 parts of the embryo as to create a deformity. 



Sometimes, owing to the want of a proper water supply, 

 or to the eggs being left too long in the packing boxes dur- 

 ing transportation, the shell will shrink and appear to have 

 a dent on one side of it, although the egg survives apparently 

 uninjured. Whether this actually produces a malforma- 

 tion I cannot say, but at all events it usually develops an 

 embryo that never will be good for much. Sometimes again 

 little parasites^ will fasten themselves on the egg while 

 hatching, and if they are allowed to remain long enough 

 they will, I think, though not wholly destroying the life of 

 the egg, cause an imperfect development of the embryo, 

 resulting in a malformation at birth. And lastly, I must 

 mention that I have sometimes suspected that abrupt 

 changes of temperature in the hatching water might pro- 

 duce deformities. Of this I am not sure, however, so I will 

 only say that when the water supply changes several degrees 

 between night and da,y, and the development of the embryo 

 is rushed forward at a great rate of speed during the day by 

 the warm water, and retarded again at night by the cold 

 water and rushed again the next day, it certainly would not 

 be surprising if the various organs of the embryo within did 

 not get formed just right. This, however, is only a suspi- 

 cion of mine. 



Although I do not claim to have established the fact that 

 malformations are caused in the way above described, it 

 seems to me that there is a possibility that sometimes they 

 may be, and accordingly, if any novice in hatching fish eggs 

 is not unwilling to accept advice from a fishculturist who 

 perhaps may lay claim to the doubtful merit of having had 

 the longest experience of any in this country now living, I 

 would say, "Do not think you can be too careful in handling 

 the fish eggs in your care. If you do not know whether any 

 specified treatment will hurt the egg, give the delicate little 



