4^8 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
t.txTHB 19. 1897. 
Struck out in all direclions to get free, and with one tentacle 
on the gunwale of the boat, another on the net handle, and a 
third slapped on my hare left arm, it resisted capture. The 
drawing sensation of a dozen or more suckers made a tingling 
like so many cupping glasses, but a grip oh its neck with my 
right hand stopped the power of suction, and the tentacles 
were limp and helpless, and a live octopus was mine. 
The whole aifair after the rod was dropped, could not have 
ipccupied over lialf a minute, but it seemed long, and Joe saw 
jjart of the light from the other boat, but did not venture 
hear until the aniqia] was confined safely in a box and the 
hasp fastened. He then came alongside and recovered the 
rod, but had no desire to look into the box. Whether an oc- 
topus would or could use its parrot like beak in such a case 
i do not know. I had been told by Prof. Baird that they 
were harmless if choked, and faith in what he said enabled 
me to make this capture. Blood showed under the skin on 
the arm where the suckers had taken hold, and the native 
flsherihen came from the other side of the island to verify 
the story by seeing the octopus, and the marks on my arm. 
joe grinned when he reeeived the promised reward, and 
remarked: "A man that lives over on St. George's has got 
just the boat I want, an' $10 "11 buy it, an' he won't take 
any less, but if 1 buy the boat there's nothing left for the 
circus that's comiu' next week, an' I duano." 
"When I pay you for your regular work in two days from 
now, when the steamer leaves for New York, there'll be 
enough to go to a good manv circuses, didn't you count thai 
in?" 
"ISTo, sir, I gives all I earn to Mammy; an' I do want that 
lioat and to see the circus a couple of times." 
He got it, and when the handsome collection was landed 
in New York the octopus, which, by the way, could spread 
about 3ft , was the prize catch, and drew as much attention 
as all the angel fish and the other brilliant specimens 
together. The only loss on the trip was one barracouta and 
the Mangrove crabs, which live partly in the trees or on the 
rocks, and why they died is a mystery. 
Joe was a bright boy and a good boy, and if he is living 
now I hope he will learn that Dr. Bean is there now, and en- 
gage to serve him as he served me. The colored people of 
Bermuda are a fine lot of men. It is so long since they were 
slaves, and there ia little or no race prejudice in the islands 
that they have developed into a respectable and self-respect- 
ing class, especially the fishermen, who are more independent 
than many others. Joe wrote me that if I came to Bermuda 
again to remember him, and added: "I am not so afraid of 
the now. He may take charge of a stake and a boat 
when a man is afraid of him, but he didn't take charge of 
you. I can't forget that. Come here again and get some 
more. Joe." 
It would have been pleasant, but I never did. 
Fked Mathek. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Trout and Snow. 
Chicago, 111., June 11. — The season has continued until 
this week to be one ot exceedingly cold and unfavorable 
weather. So backward a spring has not been seen for tnany 
years, in the opinion of the resioents of Wisconsin and upper 
Michigan, where the anglers of this section most naturally 
turn for their trouting trips. One has been fairly in need of 
snowshoes on his trouting trips thus far, and more than 
one party has met sharp, freezing weather, and has quit 
and come home in disgust. It was possible to pack one's 
trout in snow, and one exuberant fisherman declares that his 
trout were so cold, that after frying them for two hours 
he was displeased to find lumps of ice in their anatomy. 
Mr. W. R Caldwell, of this city, was out for a week in 
the neighborhood of Fisher Lake, Pardee Lake, Spider Lake 
and other good muscallonge waters a week ago, but met the 
coldest weather he ever experienced in camp. The fishing 
was poor, and at night the camp was so cold that the whole 
party froze out and came back to Chicago, resolving lo try 
it later if it ever gets warm. 
A number of fishermen have been on the Praitie River, but 
last week it snowed there to a depth of several inches, and 
wading the stream was like a cold plunge bath. They had 
lather a dismal time of it. 
Where to Go Trout Fishing. 
At this season many inquiries come for good fishing waters 
for trout and bass. From what I have learned so far this 
season, I feel very safe in directing trout fishermen to the 
Prairie River, via Merrill and Dudley, Wis. This stream is 
now becoming well known, as any good trout stream is sure 
to be, but it otters attractions not possessed by any other trout 
stream in WitcoEsin that I can at this time recall. It is a 
stream broad and open enough to admit of fiy-casting, and 
one can really wade and take trout on the fly. Trout are 
reported to be very numerous in the Prairie River this season, 
though I do not hear of any very large ones being taken. 
The stream has been abundantly stocked, and is holding its 
own well. At Dudley's place ther.e are good accommoda- 
tions. 
Among those on the Prairie River last week were Dick 
Merrill, of Milwaukee, and Messrs. Davidson, Strong, Puller 
and Dr. Shugart, of the Chicago Fly-Casting CJub. AH 
these were meeting fair success in spite of the cold weather. 
Mr. Merrill told me that his largest take was twenty-eight in 
one day. 
I hear that the trout fishing on the White River and 
Wauloma Cieek, near Princeton, Wisconsin, was good this 
week. The trout there are running larger than those taken 
on the Prairie River this spring. 
The Paint, the Pine and the Fence have all been spoken 
of by fishermen this spring, though I should censider it 
problematical whether they offered pleasant sport at fly-fish- 
ing now. 
Where to go Bass Fishing. 
There is reason to believe that bass will bite well the com- 
ing week in the lower Wisconsin lakes. Reports from 
Oconomowoc lakes state that the fishing is very good, and 1 
should think that all the Waukesha lakes would be sa/e to 
try, especially as we are promised milder weather now. T 
have already spoken of the heavy catches made in our old, 
tithed-out Cedar Lake in Indiana. 1 can recommend espe- 
cially for this week the Pox River at Algonquin and Cllnton- 
ville. There should be fair fly fishing for bass at those 
points now. J. M. Clark, of this city, in a recent boat trip 
from Camp Lake to Elgin, found a little fly-fishing on the 
river. The party took from twenty -five to thirty bass a day, 
mostly with bait. 
I have already spoken of the Thornapple River several 
times and should be glad to hear from parties who have 
tried this South Peninsula stream this summer. I can also 
safely recommend the Kalamazoo River for bass. Take 
Michigan Fruit Line boats from Chicago to Saugatuck and 
go up the river by boat. 
Bass fishermen should not overlook the Indiana waters 
mentioned last summer in Forest and Stream as lying 
near La Porte, Westville, Swift's Siding, etc , etc. The 
Kankakee River is offering unusually good fishing this year, 
Mk. J. Gr. Smith, of Algona, Iowa, writes me thus on fish 
and fish protection in bis vicinity: 
"The water has gone down in the Des Moines River, and 
we have had so little rain of late that it is quite clear. I was 
at the river this afternoon, and saw quite a good many 
suckers, some red-horse and pilse. There were thousands of 
small fish, all going up stream. 
"The fellows here have found out that it is expensive to 
spear fish. Ten were caught at it this spring. Eight of 
them were fined $31 each, and the other two .flS each. It 
was somewhat expensive, but I hope it will teach the boys a 
lesson that will be of some benefit to them." 
Desirable Flies. 
Anglers back from the Prairie River state that they have 
found the professor, coachman and grizzly king among the 
best flies used. The daik gnats, cow-dung, march-brown 
and qupen-of-the-waters are mentioned also as among the 
standard flies which do well in Wisconsin. The coachman 
was probably better last week than any other single fly. 
The Parmachene-belle, though thought to be a killing fly in 
some quarters, proved to be poor last week. 1 have never 
found this fly of much service in Wisconsin or upper Michi- 
gan. 
For fly fishing for bass there is a wide range of choice, as 
the bass is fully as capricious as the trout."^ Brighter flies 
serve here than in trout fishing. I have found the Seth 
Green, polka dot and jungle cock, good flies on the Kanka 
kee, as well as the Furguson and silver doctor. The bright 
fly known as the Johnson fancy I have found very useful for 
daytime fishing. For evening fishing, when the caddis fly 
is rising around the edges of the lakes, I have found nothing 
so good as the gray drake with upright wing and upturned 
cork body. E. Hough. 
1206 BoYCB Building, Chicaffo. 
COLOR VARIATIONS IN FISHES. 
Partly corroborating Mr. George W. Dearborn's obser- 
vations on this interesting subject, 1 cannot share his opinion 
of "tanning" as being the principal cause of the variation in 
the color of fishes. 
I wish to call his attention lo the fact that trout caught in 
a small stony brook are either fight colored or dark, often 
almost black, according to the different places, sunny or 
shady, where they had been taken. Many salt-water fishes, 
flounders and sea-bass, for instance, how a marked differ- 
ence if taken on feeding places of different character, often 
only a few rods distant from each oth*r. Everybody must 
also have noticed the quick change or fading of the color in 
dead or dying fishes. 
My experience is that certain fishes living in clear or shal- 
low water are generally light-colored, while others of the 
same species caught in deep cr dark water, or taken from 
shady hiding-places, are always very dark. 
There exists no doubt for me that certain fishes have the 
quality to assimilate their "complexion" to the coloration of 
their surroundings. 
The influence of light is certainly the principal cause in 
effecting these changes, for the production of all color is 
dependent on light; so the assumed dark color of a fish will 
certainly fade it it has been confined in prolonged and com 
plete darkness, hence the silvery hue of Mr. Dearborn's 
pickerel taken through five-months' old snow-covered ice. 
If smelt, whitefish and others will always appear white, the 
reason for it may be that they do not possess any coloring 
matter subject to variations. 
I think It probable that the cl^ange of color in fishes ia 
effected by the same means as in the chameleon, the tree- 
frog, the cuttlefish, and some other animals. Some seven 
years ago, while lying sick in a Syrian town, I had in my 
possession a number of chameleons, which, during three 
long and dreary months, were my only companions. During 
every hour ol the day I took delight in observing these 
curious reptiles and watching their queer ways. I became 
very much interested in the subject, and have since taken a 
number of notes from scientific observations on the matter 
of changes of color in animals. 
I refer those who seek information on the mechanism by 
which these changes are effected, to Milne Edwards' publi- 
cation about chameleons in the Annales des Scieuces Nai-urelles 
for January, 1834, and esptcially to Richard Owens' author- 
ity in his article on "Cephalopoda" (cuttlefishes), in the 
Cyclopedia of Anatomy ajul Physiology. Owen notices that 
the epidermis of some cuttlefish contains a colorific stratum 
which consists of a very fine vascular and nervous cellular 
tissue, containing an immense number of small, closed vesi- 
cles of various colors. "These vesicles," he remarks, "have 
no visible communication either with the vascular or the 
nervous systems, or with each other, yet they exhibit during 
the lifetime of the animal, and long after death, rapid alter- 
nating contractions and expansions." Those contractions 
and expansions are responsible for the observed variations of 
color, and the action of light proved to influence them, for 
"if a separated portion of integument be placed in the dark, 
and examined after a lapse of ten or fifteen minutes, all 
motion has ceased ; but the vesicles, when re-exposed to a 
moderately strong light, soon, in obedience to that stimulus, 
recommence their motions." 
Those researches have doubtlessly been continued, and I 
am anxious to know whether they have been extended to 
fishes. Some of Forest akd Stream's learned contributors 
are certainly in a position to inform us on this subject. 
The chameleon has for a long time been a puzzle to the 
scientific world, and strange and exaggerated accounts have 
been given about its power to assume all imaginable colors; 
theories upon theories have been brought forward lo account 
for the changes of color in these animals of a far away land; 
but our humble friend, the cheerful tree-frog, has beeii 
shamefully neglected. I am well acquainted only with the 
European variety, Hyla ariorea, whicn in regard to changes 
of color is quite as remarkable as the chameleon. His 
mourning coat, which he wears in too close, or dark, or 
damp confinement, is of a dark spotted gray; but when in 
more cheerful mood he will assume the exact shade of green 
of any leaf which he may choose for a hiding or resting 
place. 
These defenseless animals are thus admirably protected 
through adapting their color to that of their immediate sur- 
roundings, from which they are not easily distinguished. 
Fishes need the same "improved standard" of protection; 
for the water in which they live, and the rock or sand or 
plants of the many feeding places over which they have to 
travel are often of very different color, and are subject to 
frrq'ient changes of light and shade, and exposed to the 
varying effects of refraction of light upoa the water. A 
fish, whether swimming in a lake, " suspended in space," or 
moving over the sunny bottom of a shallow brook, would 
be a conspicuous object, too easily detected by enemy or 
prey, if nature had not provided him with the enviable 
ability of concealing his presence wherever he goes. 
6 voK Heyss. 
An accepted theory to account for the varying colors of a 
fish may be found in Poulton's work on the "Colors of Ani- 
mals." It is in brief this: 
1. The color is produced by the pigment cells or coloring 
matter in or beneath the skin. 
2 Varying shades of the color are produced by varying 
states of concentration of the pigments in the cells. 
3 These different states of concentration of the pigment 
cells are caused by the action of the exterior light which is 
reflected on the fish's eye, and acts through the optic nerve, 
the brain and the nerves, upon the pigment cells. 
We quote from the chapter on "Variable Protective Re- 
semblances": 
The power of color adjustment is very widely distributed 
among fish and amphibia Instances of the power of rapid 
adjustment are very commou, although most people are not 
aware of them. Nearly all fishermen know that the trout 
caught in a stream with a gravelly or sandy bottom are light 
colored, while those caught in a muddy stream' are dark, tt 
is also well known that the same fish will soon change in 
color when it passes from one kind of background to the 
other. The same facts are true of many other fresh water 
and , sea fishes. The interior of a minnow can is painted 
white in order that the bait may become light colored, and 
thus conspicuous in the dark water where the pike or perch 
is likely lo be found. The change of celor occupies an ap- 
preciable time, and the fisherman knows that he stands an 
extra chance of catcbing his fish while the bait remains un- 
adapted to its environment. This experience serves to prove 
in a practical way that the power of changing the color is 
essentially protective 
The physiological mechanism by means of which these 
rapid changes of color are effected has been investigated by 
Lister in England, b}^ Biiicke ia Germany, and by Pouchet 
m France. At first sight it, appears likely that the light may 
directly determine the distribution of coloring matter in the 
pigment cells in or immediately beneath the skin. Each of 
the various surroundings of an animal would, according to 
its color, reflect light of a certain constitution, and it might 
well be supposed that each kind of reflected light would 
produce a different effect upon the pigment cells. It is, 
however, now well known that the action is extremely in- 
direct; certain kinds of reflected light act as spec ific stimuli 
to the eye of the animal, and different neivous impulsts pass 
from this organ along the optic nerve to the brain, which, 
being thus indirectly stimulated in a peculiar manner by 
various kinds of reflected light, originates different impulses, 
which pass from it along the nerves, distributed to the skin, 
and cause varying states of concentration of the pigment in 
the cells. The highest powers of the micrrscope, assisted by 
all the varied methods of hi-tology, have failed to iletect the 
connection between the nerves and the pigment cells in the 
skin, and yet such connection appears to be rendered certain 
by the fact that light falling on the eye modifits the distribu- 
tiin of the pigment granules. The pigment cells in the skin 
are often of various colors, and are arranged in layers so that 
very different effects may be pfoduced by concentration in 
certain cells, leading to the appearance of those of another 
color, or to a combined effect due to the colors of two or 
more kinds of cells. 
It has been shown by experiment that blinded frogs had 
no power of altering their color so as to correspond with 
surrounding tints. The same facts also have been proved in 
a niost interesting manner by the observations of living ani- 
mals in their natural surroundings. Thus Pouchet noticed 
that one single plaice out of a large number upon a light 
sandy surface was dark-colored, and thus unlike its sur- 
roundings. Examination showed that this individual was 
blind, and' therefore unable to respond to the stimulus of re- 
flected light in addition to the light-colored trout usually 
seen in a chalk stream in Hampshire, England, very dark 
individuals are occasionally met with. 'These dark fish 
could never be induced to rise to the fly. On examination 
they were invariably found to be blind, the crystalline lens 
being opaque. Sometimes the fish were blind in one eye, 
but this did not affect their color. The dark shade appears 
to come on gradually with increasing blindness, for the 
depth of the tint varies in different individuals, and some- 
times only part of the body (e g., the tail is affected) The 
blindness probably comes on with age. for the dark fish are 
always large, generally between one and two pounds in 
weight. 
Cut-throat Trout. 
St. Pato, June 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: I notice 
in your issue of June 5, page 450, a reference to that variety 
of the Rocky Mountain black-spotted trout which has come 
to be generally designated as the "cut-throat trout." In my 
"Sportsman's Gazjtteer," published in 1877, he is called 
curinatus by Prof. Cope, although under a revised nomen- 
clature he lapsed into purpuratus Both Cope and Yarrow 
had already described four different varieties of black- 
spotted R jcky Mountain trout, in which the markings vary, 
for description of which please refer to Vol. V. "Zoology of 
Expeditions for Explorations West of the One Hundredth 
Meridian,^' p. 694, 1876. I first observed this fish in August, 
1881, at Rosebud Lake, at the head of Rosebud Creek, a 
tributary of the Stillwater, "which flows into tbe Yellowstone, 
and gave him the name of "cut-throat trout" in my official 
report, which was a chance thought suggested by the two 
crimson slashes as wide as your little finger on the lower 
edges of the gill covers, and which at first sight I took to be 
blood. These marks, however, 1 believe are not permanent, 
but occur only in the rutting season. I also gave the name 
of silver king to the tarpon the same year. 
The cut-throat is properly known as the Yellowstone 
trout. ChaS. HAIiLOGK. 
