238 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
The Poison Spring of Lake Stream. 
A valued correspondent, Mr. l\ H. Welch, of Fulton Brook, 
Queens County, writes me that at the head of the Lake Branch 
of Salmon River are two lakes (which, by the way, are not mark- 
ed on any existent map of the Province), at the head of the upper 
of which is a spring, “ the \vaters of which appear to be poisonous 
to fish. Perhaps a half ton or more will be found dead where 
they come from under the ice to drink the spring water. This 
occurs mostly in winter.” 
The publication of this note in the Daily Telegraph for Febru- 
ary 13, 1904, brought me a communication from Mr. I. T. 
Hetherington, of Johnston, Queens County, who says: “ The fact 
that thousands, in some seasons tons, of suckers, chubs, horned 
pouts and pickerel die annually in this lake, seems to be a fact 
patent to all lumbermen and hunters who frequent these lakes in 
the last part of February and March. The cause thereof has been 
much discussed by them. Some contend, as does Air. Welch, that 
the spring poisoned them. But I am informed by our most ex- 
perienced guides that the water in both summer and winter is a 
fine drinking water, cool in summer, and so warm in winter that 
it never freezes over. As the dead fish always are in greatest 
•quantities when the snow is heaviest, it seems to me not impro- 
bable that when it becomes darkest under the ice on account of 
heavy snowC the fish press to the light, and as the open space is 
then so small as not to allow room for movement to the great 
numbers that congregate there in such quantities, those coming 
in under the others naturally lift the top tier above water and 
they freeze. This is as Fish-warden Curry explained it to me, 
and in my opinion it is the correct view, h^or the lumbermen use 
the fish as food, and if they had been poisoned they would cer- 
tainly leave some bad effects on those who eat them.” Dr. 
Hetherington also adds : “ It is also said there are horned pout in 
those lakes weighing five to eight ])ounds, also a species of sucker 
or carp, also weighing seven to eight pounds.” 
I do not guarantee any of these statements, but I have no 
doubt they have a substantial basis in fact. Here is a grand 
opportunity for some of our young naturalists, who should survey 
those still unsurveyed lakes and their surroundings, investigate 
