310) 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
my honors the balance of .he .lay. The Act of these two pike wm the 
one alluded to above, welghluf fifty-""* ^As. But though I perched 
on’that pile several times afterward, like a hawk where he once caught a 
chicken I never had another shot from my eyrie. 
SUU bamngfor this dal. la not ns successful a. for the glass eyed pike 
and pickerel Only the smaller ones are generally caught thus, the larger 
requiring more action In the halt In order to challenge thoir speed and 
pneuaclty. and Induce them to bite. 
Fishing through the Ice Is an Interesting method of taking our game. 
But It is like pickerelics tlshlng, in which a hook hailed with a email 
minnow Is cast through a hole and the other end of the lino tied to a twig 
stuck In the snow. Such a mode would avail for mascalonge nbout as a 
mouse trap for a wolf. A hole two feet across Is cut through the lee, 
and above It Is erected a close teut or cabin to shut out the light. The 
fisherman seats himself so as to conveniently look and use the gall 
through the hole, mid find the water clear below while he is In the dark 
above. Both the gaff and a sliver decoy, attached to a wire three feet 
lor.g, ore lowered into the water. The former Is held motionless in the 
Tight hand, while with the other hand the decoy is moved around us If It 
were a real minnow. When the pike discovers the decoy, he slowly and 
threateningly glides forward to investigate. The fisherman will discover 
him when several feet distant, and here is where the excitement begins. 
He steals along like an Argns, now siraigbt on, now sidewise, stopping 
every few inches to take notea, rapacity and craftiness eviuced in his 
appearance as clearly as in any other member of the animal kingdom. 
At length he is within reach of the gaff, and the silent and excited man 
of the tent, with skill and muscle, snatches the fishy prowler from his 
native element. „ , ... .. , 
As a food fish there Is nothing superior to this. He rauks with the sal- 
mon and speckled trout, and surpasses I lie black and striped bass. The 
meat is almost as white as snow, fine grained, nicely laminated, and the 
flavor is perfect. The daintiest epicure is silent with satisfaction while 
testing the merits of the mascalonge. 
Irving L. Bbman. 
4£islt gultnre. 
HYBRIDIZATION OF FISH. 
T HE following paper, prepared by Dr. Garlick, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, was read at the recent National 
Sportsmen’s Convention ;t- 
}| R President and Members of tiie Association : 
I have been requested to read a paper on the subject of 
fish culture at this meeting. It is scarcely necessary for 
me to say that the subject has been written upon extensive- 
ly and is very well understood by a majority of the people 
throughout our country; therefore you will not expect any- 
thing new on this subject. 
In the year 1857 1 wrote and published a work on artifi- 
cial fish breeding, based mainly ou my own experiments. 
Being quite an enthusiast ou anything tlml strikes my 
fancy 1 expected to see in a very short time every man 
■who had a suitable place for such a purpose raising his own 
fish 1 need not tell you that I was very much disap- 
pointed for the subject lay “flat as a flounder” for many 
years. It is quite different now, for not only several 
States but the general Government, have taken hold of it 
extensively and made liberal appropriations of money to 
restock our impoverished streams and lakelets, establish 
jng breeding houses and other suitable improvements for 
facilitating the objects of the enterprise, and employing 
intelligent men— men of science and practical fish cultur- 
j sU _lo do this work. If you will read Prof. Baird’s re- 
ports, you will see that a vast amount of work has been 
done,’ and no doubt will be done, and a very few years 
•will prove the great importance of this brunch of human 
industry ; in fact it is already proven. 
I propose to offer for your consideration the hybridiza- 
tion of certain Kinds of fish, tmd although not entirely 
new, I am able to present some facts not generally known. 
They are contained in a paper that I read, or rather caused 
to be read, for I was sick at the lime, before the Kirllaud 
Academy of Natural Sciences at Cleveland, Feb. 2d, 1873, 
It will be seen that Ibis paper I offer for your consideration 
is over two years old and has been used; but the “autocrat 
of the breakfast table” remarked at bis fifth breakfast that 
“certain things are good for nothing until they are long 
kept and other things arc good for nothing until long kept 
and used; of the first is wine, and among the latter are 
poems, violins, and merschaum pipes.” As this paper has 
not been long kept, nor much used, it should not be ex- 
pected to have improved much by age or use. 
The hybridizing of both plants and auimals has been 
practiced by naturalists, and one ennneut statesman of our 
country suggested the idea of extinguishing an entire race 
of men iu our country by cross breeding, or, as lie termed 
it, “ibe bleaching process." In proof of bis sincerity it is 
said be practiced what be preached, I do not, however, 
propose to carry hybridizing to that extent, only applying 
the principle to fishes. In the pages referred to I have 
only mentioned the fishes of the salmon family for hybrid- 
izin'', and I have not » doubt but that this has been ac- 
complished in several species of the sulmou family, both 
by the aid and without the aid of man. That it has been 
achieved by the aid of man there can be no doubt what- 
ever, and 1 am equally certain that it has occurred sponta- 
neously, as detailed in the following paper. If it can be 
accomplished with different species of salmon, there can 
exist no reasonable doubt that it can be done with other 
families of tisbe-s of the same genus, such as perch, pike, 
bass, and other kinds of fish. 
It should not be expected that all attempts at hybridiza- 
tion should prove to he successful, nor that in every in- 
stance the hybrids would be an improvement in size or 
quality of the parent fishes, though iu Mr. Hanson’s hy- 
brids the quality was greatly improved; and so are the hy- 
brids of Lake Superior, as I can bear testimony, having 
eaten frequently of the hybrids and of the parent fishes. 
In case the parent fishes from which you wish to breed hy- 
brids do not spawn precisely at the same time, Mr. Huu- 
son's method may be adopted; but such persons as believe 
Dr. Bachman’s statements should try his methods cf 
“drying ibe eggs for leu days,” or even fora hundred 
days, for 1 apprehend that ten or a hundred days of drying 
them will make no difference in the result. I will only add 
a little scrap of histbry furnished me recently by Prof. J. 
P. Kirtland, which I think will interest all fish culturists. 
It U an extract from Peter Kalin's travels in North Amer- 
ica, Nov , 1748, vol. 1, p. 28U, London edition, Fleet street, 
1772. Translated by John Heiuholdt Forster. 
“Mr Franklin (Dr. B. Franklin) told me that in that 
part of New England where his lather lived, two 
r.vera fell into the sea, in one of which they caught great 
numbers of herrings, and in the other not one. Yet the 
places where these rivers discharged themselves into the 
isca were not far asunder. They had observed that when 
the herrings came in the Spring to deposit their spawn, 
thev always swam up the river where they used to catch 
them, hut never came into the other. This circumstance 
led Mr. Franklin’s father, who was settled between the two 
rivers to try whether it was not possible to make the her- 
ring likewise live iu the other river. For that purpose lie 
put out his nets as they were coming up for spawning, ana 
he caught some. He took the spawn out of them, and 
carefully carried it across the land into the other river. It 
was hatched, and the consequence was that every year af- 
terwards they caught more herring in that river; and this is 
still the case. This leads one to believe that the fish always 
like to spawn in the same place where they were hatched, 
anil from whence they first put out to the sea, being, as it 
were, accustomed to it.” . . ..... 
Very correct, Mr. Kalin. All observation since that time 
shows' that you were a close observer. Peter Kalin was a 
Swede, an eminent botanist, and the favorite student of 
Charles Linneaus, the great botanist. Our beautiful Kal- 
in ias (the Laurel) was named after Peter Kalm. 
It appears by this little hit of history that Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin’s father was the origiual artificial fish breeder in 
tliis country, and Dr. Bachman and myself must go down 
to the foot, lie was not only the first man that made llie 
attempt of artificial fecundation of the ova of fishes, hut 
the idea was original with him, and this more than a cen- 
tury and a quarter ago. I am glad to know that an Amer- 
ican citizen can claim this honor and be the father of our 
own Dr. Franklin.” 
— A “ Fish Bureau” has been started in Boston, the 
object of which, the papers say, is “ to create a fraternal 
feeling among dealers, and thus making Boston more de- 
cidedly the centre of the fish trade, which position it holds 
to-day.” The room is fitted up with a telegraph office, 
newspaper files, advertising boards, letter-boxes, and other 
conveniences, making it a useful apartment for business 
men. Books are to be kept, open at all times to subscri- 
bers, giving information of sales, arrivals, the catch at the 
various grounds, disasters, and all other matters of which 
intelligence can be received by telegraph or letter. 
—A shipment of shad for stocking the rivers of the State 
of Ohio has been made by the United States Fish Commis- 
sion. They will he placed in the rivers at Columbia, 
Dayton, and Defiance. 
nt it ml 'Qistorg. 
NOMENCLATURE. 
T HE following is an abstract of the report of Rev. A. 
B. Lamherton, chairman of the Committee on No- 
menclature, made to the National Sportsmen’s Convention 
at Cleveland:— 
“Sportsmen naturalists have long felt the need of a cor- 
rect systematic classification of the names of our game, 
but it was not until the formation of the National Sports- 
men’s Association that any action was taken to organize a 
system of nomenclature. The National Convention ap- 
pointed a committee for this work. The chairman under- 
took to give the scientific names of all game indigenous to 
America, together with the vernacular names and the clas- 
sification of all inlo orders, families, genera and species, 
with specific characteristics of each individual, so that 
sportsmen, by referring lo this synopsis of description, 
might he able to ascertain the proper Latin and English 
name of any game species found on our continent. 
That the convention may form some idea of the charac- 
ter of this work, since it will be impracticable to read it 
now on account of its length, consisting, as it does, of 
about three hundred pages, 1 have prepared a brief. 
Our game quadrupeds consist of three orders and one 
sub-order. The sub-order embraces four families. The 
first family includes the wild cats und lynxes; the second 
family covers the wolves and foxes; the third family, the 
marlins, weasels, otters, and badgers; the fourth family 
the raccoons and bears. 
Iu the second order is form hut one family, which con- 
tains one genus and two species — the opossums. The third 
order has three families. The first family contains the tree 
squirrels. Under one genus in this family are found the 
ten species of squirrels that may properly be called game. 
In the second sub-family of Ibis order is found the Ameri- 
can heaver. This order also embraces the luircs. There 
are two genera ami fourteen species of hares known to 
science iu North America. The fourth order contains two 
families. Iu the first are found the deer. These are divi- 
ded into three genera and nine species. The second family 
contains the antelopes, mountain goats, mountain sheep, 
and hisons, making five genera and four species. 
Our game birds are found in three orders and five sub- 
orders. In the sub-order, Columbia, under the fourth or- 
der of birds, is found the passenger or wild pigeon. The 
next sub order contains three families — the turkey, grouse 
and quail. There exists one genera and probably two spe- 
cies of turkeys. The grouse are divided into six genera 
and twelve specios, and the quail embraces live genera und 
seven species. In the first sub-order of the fifth order the 
cranes are found, consisting of one genus and three species. 
The second sub order contains several families and tribes, 
plovers, woodcock, sand pipers, curlews, and rails. There 
are three genera and seven species of plover; three genera 
and four species of woodcock. There is one genera and 
three species of curlews, and of rails two genera und five 
species. Iu the sub order of order 9ix are the three fami- 
lies, swans, geese and ducks. There is but one genus and 
two species of swans and three genera and nine species of 
geese. The ducks are divided into six sub-families; the 
first contains one genus and two species; the second con- 
tains eight genera and twelve species; the third eleven gen- 
era and twenty species; the fourth one genus and one spe- 
cie, and the sixth lias three genera and four species. 
The game fish of America are found in three orders, nu- 
merous families, genera und species. The first family, the 
perch, contains a greater number of game flsli than all the 
others combined. These fishes are highly prized as an arti- 
cle of food, and are remarkable for their beautiful forms. 
The second family, the scianoides, differ but little from the 
percoids. The second has but one genus and one species 
that appears to me to be worthy of the name of genus — the 
perch of Ohio. The third family, the catfish, embraces 
not a fow fishes which are esteemed by epicures, though 
not affording much sport to the devotee of the rod. Tiie 
fourth family, the carp, includes the luckere, the roach, 
and the famous sized species known as the buffalo fish. The 
fifth family, the pike, contains one of the most noted game 
fishes of America, the muscalonge. The sixth family, the 
salmoides, contains the leaping salmon, the most royal of 
came fishes, and speckled trout, that dart to the tempting 
fly, spinning the reel as if born lo the sport, and the gray- 
ling, the newly discovered game fish of our waters, be- 
sides others, less esteemed for their game qualities, but as 
highly prized for the table. The most famous fish in the 
seventh family, the herring, is the American shad, also the 
angler’s joy. The most noted of our salt water fishes are 
the mackerel, blueflsl), cod and herring. I will no longer 
detain you with the fishes. Those not named m this brief 
will he found in the committee’s report on Nomenclature, 
All embraced iu the above classification maybe properly, 
I think, regarded ns game, though the word game is pure- 
ly arbitrary, its scope and meaning depending upon' the 
nationality and object of the writer, rather than upon any 
accepted definition. In gastronomy, for instance, the word 
game covers all animals fit to be eaten which are found in 
a wild or natural slate. The term has undergone various 
changes in the course of its history. At first, under the 
denomination game came only those animals of fur and 
feather which certain breeds of dogs would naturally pur 
sue through native instincts or sense. Next, all animals 
pursued by men and dogs for sport. And this is not far 
from what we sportsmen would have the word signify 
now. In England and other countries, where auimals of 
the chase are legal property of the aristocracy, the term 
game is still restricted to its first and early sense. I need 
hardly tell any sportsman that we cannot enumerate under 
the term game all animals in this country belonging there, 
and limit its signification as to our brother sportsmen 
abroad, as this would exclude pigeons, squirrels, various 
water fowls, and fur auimals too numerous to mention. 
Moreover the early sense of the word did not cover the 
use or value of the animal captured. If an animal but 
possessed the quality of affording sport to dog or man, 
though unfit for the table and of no profit, it was entitled 
to rank as game. I think the following definition will best 
harmonize with the use of the word, as employed by 
sportsmen of America: Game in its most liberal sense, 
includes all animals,' birds and fishes found in a wild or 
natural state, which are taken for food or profit, the pur- 
suit of which affords sport without regard lo the mode of 
capture, save that it be legitimate and sportsmanlike. 
Neither the trapper, fisherman nor hunter captures any an- 
imal of value that does not afford sport in the taking, no 
matter how rude and primitive their rules of sportsman- 
S ^Your committee has arranged and classified our game, as 
far as possible, iu accordance with the above definition. 
Game being an arbitrary term, including under certain 
contingencies and in certain countries various animals that 
could not, uuder other circumstances, ho so considered, it 
is therefore, not only proper, hut essential, that the sense 
of the word with us should accord with the genius of our 
woods, fields and waters, including therefrom all taken of 
value in sport. 
We cannot pursue field sports intelligently, nor enter 
into the discussion of subjects connected with the preser- 
vation and habils of our game, unless we possess an accu- 
rate nomenclature. The vernacular names now applied to 
animals of the chase must he dropped und their correct sci- 
entific or English name used. Sportsmen know how various 
are the names applied to the same animal in different sec- 
tions of our country. For instance, the ruffed grouse are 
known in the Middle States as partridges, and in the South- 
ern States as pheasants. In some Slates quails are called 
partridges. These examples arc sufficient to indicate the 
present condition of our 'sporting vocabulary. 
Although the arrangement cf the names of our games in 
accordance with the requirements of science will give to 
field sports— a most important branch of natural history— 
the character of a science, it is not expected that it will 
do away entirely with the use of local names, ignorantly 
used to designate certain species or varieties of game; nev- 
ertheless it will produce a marked change. 
A fruitful source of the wrong naming of our game was 
the applying of the cognomens of the animals of the old 
world lo the animals of the new. Our hares, for instance, 
since they bore a slight resemblance to the rabbits of Eu- 
rope, are called rabbits; our migratory thrush, a robin; our 
bison, a buffalo; and our wapiti deer an elk, and our elk a 
moose. After these names became fixed as a part of the 
history of our fauna, naturalists discovered that we had 
no rabbits, no buffaloes, no robins, no partridges, and no 
pheasants. 
English field writers declare that Americans are ignorant 
of natural history, and we must concede the truthfulness 
of the statement, though made in had taste. 
Our newspapers, for instance, are ever making public 
the discovery of some animal, bird, or insect new to sci- 
ence, which proves to ho among the most common und 
well known of the species. A short time since a journal 
of considerable repute described a bird that was found in 
the unfrequented parts of the State of New York, not men- 
tioned by any ornithologist, as larger Ilian a dove, short 
winged, head like a hen turkey, white bill, shaped like a 
crow, blunt and heavy, a red bunch on the top of the 
head at the joining of the feathers and the beak. This re- 
markable bird was none other than the common cool (Fu- 
lica Americana). The following incident related to me by 
a friend, illustrates the want of general information ou 
field sports in America: On one occasion 1 was accompa- 
nied lo the field by a sportsman friend; he was well 
equipped, good dog, gun, and costly game hag. He pro- 
fessed to he somewhat acquainted with game and a fair 
shot. The first woodcock shot I put into the hag of my 
companion. Not long after wo wore separated by a small 
‘cover.’ My friend’s dog flushed a woodcock. I was 
where I could oh erve the movements of the would-be 
sporlsmun, who drew forth the dead bird to 6ee if it and 
the flying one were alike. While it is not necessary for 
many gentlemen calling themselves sportsmen to carry 
samples of our game, as a means of recognizing the same 
in the field, yet now few the number who are familiar with 
the proper names of half our game. In this we differ 
from the sportsmen of other countries. We have. better 
wing shots, and know quite as much about the habits and 
ways of animals as do the sportsmen of any country, 
yet we arc far behind in all our acquaintance with the 
names given game by naturalists. No sportsman should 
call our grouse, partridge and pheasauts, and our quail, par* 
