The chief characteristics of the North American fish fauna

SBn?T. 17, 1885.]

FOREST AND STREAM. 149

made

avery

bad

shot

with

the ladle,

and

instead of getting the flsh

had

throAvn oneof tlicilies intothe boat,-whoreit

stuckin

my

trousers. Nevertheless1gotthe

hook

out

and

savedthefishtoo. I'hts wa.s luck.

Then

Igotareally tine Hsli. over

two pounds

in -weight. All

had gone

^{well thus} fnr; thetlshhad behavedlikegentlemen, keeping out^{in the} clear-neater,

and making

a fairfight.

Such

an opening

was

suiely the promise of

good

luckfor the rest of tlieday, as,'alas!

how

little

we know

of

what

is before us, VVe certainly

had

gota trout for dinner,but

when

flshare rising well

who

cares to give

up

witha

whole day

before

him?

1feelthat I

have

digressed .shamefully, find thattlie big fishshould

have

been introduced long ago; but^thisiseven yetasore subject,

and

1suppose thatis

why

I find it

hard

to

come

to the point. I

had made

a cast diagonally

down

stream,

when

there

was

a

sudden

rush

and

splash that de- cidedly

woke me

up. I

have

missedlotsofsmalltrout,but

one seldom

missesa

heavy

fish, Istruck instinctively

and

decidedly.

The

fish

seemed

to

become

at once convinced that I

was

acting .strictlyon scientific principles,and that he

had

toplay his bestcard immediatelyor lose thetiick,

He made

a deadly rush

toward

the lilypads,

and

the reel screamed. Ichecked

him and

got

back

a

few

feet before hisnext plunge

toward

thelilies,out of

which

Ikeptliim

by

freeappUcationof the butt, thelittle seven-ounce split

bamboo

doingits

work

handsomely.

The

chief

now

broke through thelilypads

and we were

in clear water, thefish goimr straight toward the lake,

some

thirtyor forty feet aheadof us.

A

little furtheron ^tl-iere

was

a st,akc to the right ofthechannel,

and

ourfish

went

for itasif lielived there

and

could not passwithout calling.

Much

stress of rod

and

tackle

was

necessarytoget liim

away from

it.

We

now

gotinto the lake,

and

I implored

my

^{red brother}to keep

me

in deep water

—

_"only

this

and

nothing more,"

Alas, alas! "White

man

is said, not without reason, to be "very unsartin." I include one

"Injun"

in the

same

category.

The camp now came

in sight,

with

tlie stout party stUl sittingin the

doorway

dozing over his pipe.

As WG came

within his range of sight, slowly drifting

down

before the wind,

my

rod bent^nearly double

with

something throbbingatthe

end

of theline,

and

occasionally going slowly

around

the boat;he sprang

up

into

sudden

excitement

and

activity, dived into tiie house,

whence he emerged

immediately,sat

down

again

and

leveledalarge operaglass atus.

Oh!

but I

was

proud.

The

eyes of

my

countrymen were upon

me.

That

fishshould besent

down

to

Kineo

witlithefly

and

the leader thattookhim. Ishould

have

one of the biggest flsh storiesto tell.

Woe

^isme, pridegoeth beforea"fall.

Our

stoutfriendgazedatusthroughhisbinocularsaslong as

we were

in sight, but a point soon hid us

from

his view.

B.y thistime the fish

had

given

up any

attemptat

running

off the line,or

even

cii'cling

round

the canoe,but held

on

likea bulldog.

The

knot fastening the leader totheline

was

visible atthe sui'face; but not another inch couldI get

him

up,

and

thewater

was

so

broken up

into ripples

by

tlie breeze thatI could get

no

sight of him.

Another

point

loomed up and was

passed. Ikept urgingthe chief tokeep indeep water; but the traditionsof his tribe

and

his

own

great experience,

no doubt made him

deafto

my

request.

He

craftily

approached

the shore,

moved,

as hesaid after- ward, by

some wretched

notionabouta

sandy

beach being a

good

place to killa flsh.

Suddenly my

eye caught a

clump

of lilypads,

and

looking

up

I

saw

that

we were

con- siderably inside thelastpoint passed.

A moment

afterward the nature of the strainchanged,

There was

life in it

no

longer. I reeled

up

slowly

and

brought

up

alotofbrush.

The

upperflywithwhateverit

had heldVas

gone! Ididn't faint,neithe/ didIbreak forth in

wrath and

use objectionable language.

Not

a reproach did IaddresstotheIndian,

whose

.stoicism

was

hai'dtocontem- plate

under

the circumstances.

Weardy

I tookoff

my

hat

and wiped my

^forehead,feeling asiflife

was

scarcely

worth

considerationforthetimebeing.

Then

"liope toldaflatter- ingtale, "

and

I said tomyself,ifnot to-day,

why

then to-

morrow,

butthat

to-morrow

has not

come

yet.

Eeturning

tothespot

where we had

decidedto

camp, we met

the stout

man coming

cautiouslyalongthelakeshoreto see thebig fish. Sorryto

have

disappointedhim, but

man

Eroposes

and

hisguidedisposes. Ithought bitterly of that idian until dinner time,

when

his

manner

of serving

up

trout, ])otatoes

and

tea,

made me

takea

more

cheerfulview of hisability.

We

^areallofus

good

atsomething. Cook- ing

was

his forte,but

what

he didn't

know

aboutfishing

might

fillabigbook. C.

H.

Yanking them Out. —

Crossing one of the

numerous

creeksthat

empty

intothe

Hudson

near

New ^York,

isarail- road bridge

which

isa favorite resort for fishermen.

One

of the

many

users of the pole

who make

thisbridgetheir sporting

ground

isaveryexcital:)lefellow

who,

attheslight- estindication ofabite,will

yank

hispole so as to invariably entanglehis linein the telegi-aph wires

which

are at this pointrather low.

No amount

ofchaff'oradvice

would

cure

him

ofthis, althoughoften toldthat he

would

pullthe

head

off a ^fish

some

time.

One day having

fastenedhisrodto thebridge

and

lefthis lineinthewater,he

had gone

oft"toa littledistance to get

more

bait. Sittingnear the rod

was

a great practical joker,

who no

sooner

saw

hischance than

he

quietly

drew

the lineoutofthewater

and hooked on

a large fish head.

Then

droppingitin

he

awaited developments.

The

nervous fisherman, seeing his fioat

drawn somewhat nnder

water,

grabbed

hisrod

and swung

itoverhis head, as usualcatchinghis line inthe wires.

When

he

saw

thefish's head, he

imagined

he

had

pulleditoff,

and

tried to get his line

down

before

any

one should see him.

But

the boys

were watching him and guyed him

unmercifully.

He

at last

had

tobreakhisline,lea-ving his trophy danglingin the air.

He was

so

mad

that he did not

come

tothebridge againfor

some

time,

and

even then

would

not go near the spot of his

unlucky

adventm-e.

— ^N.

Philadelphia,

Sept.10.

— ^Complaint

^has

^{been made}

^that

t;beuseof

dynamite

cartridges is beingresorted toforthe purposeofsecuringfl.shinthestreams about

and

above Jen- kintown, Pa. Thisisamatter

which

should be attendedto

by

the Eastern Penn.sylvania Anglers'Association, as the parties

who have

resorted to thisillegalmethod, Iunder- stand, can bereadily apprehended.

Your

correspondent Ukewise learned from'good' authoiit}^whileat

Mauch Chunk,

Pa,,lastweek,thatPine Creek andother troutstreamsnear there

have

been "fished"inthe

same

way. Itis

hoped

that actionwillbetakenagainst theselawbreakers. Fishing at

Barnegat and Tuckerton

bays has been betterduring the past

week

than the

week

previous.

Weakfish

are fairly plentiful,but notlarge.

—

Homo.

The Dead Elveb Reoion. —

Boston, Sept. 10.

—

I have beentothe

Maine

Inndof trout.

The

size

and numbers

of trout in

Tim Pond were

notexceededinliS78,tlie first year 1

was

there,

and when

thefirstboat

was

launched

upon

its waters.

The

taking of trout

by

visiting sportsuifu depletes the fish less than(5idthe

work

of the ^n;ifivestaking

them from

the

spawning

bedsbefore thelawof protection

was

in force.

And

so fortheremainderofourfishingdays

we

will visit the

Dead

River Region,wliere so

many

gentlemanly sportsmen

wend

their

way

^tUlthey

number

thousands. I didthinktosend

you

inaveryfew^"linesa recordof

my

late tramp,includingasbortaccountof thechainof

ponds.through Monmouth, Winthrop,

Readfield,Mt.

Vernon and

Belgrade,

which have become

a

grand

black bassresort,the verybest inMaine,if not the best inall

New

England. I

had

rare sport there forten days.

—

^J.

W.

T.

A Big Tkout.—

Sault Ste. Marie,

Aug. 80.—The

fishing hereisveryfair

and some

large trout

have

beentaken.

A

party of us

have

been in

camp

fora

few

days

on Sugar

Island,

and we

killedeleventrout that

weighed

over three

pounds

each,oneof

them acaUng

4J pounds.

On coming

in tothe

Chippewa House

onthe 37th,

we ^were

^{surprisedtosee}

amonster of 6^ pounds,

which was

killed

by Mr. H, M,

Garlick, of

Youngstown,

O. Itcreatedgreatexcitement,as itissaid tobe thenexttothelargesteverkilledhere.

There

is

no doubt

aboutits beinga genuine

brook

trout,for its

caudal fin

and

red spots

were

distinctive

marks

notto be mis taken^.

— PoKE-o'-MooNSiriNE

.

The Black Prince.—

Thisfly,about

which

so

much

has beensaid,seemsto be verykilling in the

Rocky Mountain

region.

Our

correspondent

"C3atonyx." who

fishes intliat country,sends usaspecimentosettle thequestionas to the fly

which

should bearthis

name. As he was

^thefirst to

mention

this fly in our

columns

asbeinghisfavorite

we may

saythat theflysent

was made

with black wings,

body and

hackle, the

body was wound

with silver twist

and

^the

tail

was

red. It

was made by James

F.Marsters,Brooklyn,

and was

identical

with

one beforedescribed.

Grog Island Pool. — ^Major Lawson

B. Bell, of

New York

city,has leased for a'

term

of five years

from

Mrs.

LouisaAylett, of the parish of Aahington,inthecountyof Restigouche, Provinceof

New Brunswick, what

is

known

as the

Grog

IslandPool,northern

bank

toshoreof theResti-

gouche

River, in the townshipofMetapedia,in the

county

ofBonaventure

and

ProvinceofQuebec.

Addressallcommunicationsto the Forest

and

StreamPublish- ingCo.

THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH AMERICAN FISH FAUNA.

[ReadiDeforetheAmericanFisheriesSociety.J

BY

PROF.

THEODORK

GILL.

IDG

^not

^thmk

^tlratIcan appropriatethetime

which

I

was

requestedtodevotetoa

communication

foryour Society

more

profitably

than by

in\dting

your

attention to

some

of thechai'acteristicfeatru-esoftlie

North American

iishfauna.

If

we

include the

marine

as well asthe fresh-waterfishesin our study

we would have

toconsiderthe con.stituents offour

primary

different geogi'apliical divisions or realms,

and we

are therefore compelled

by

thelimitsoftime to restrict om-selves to.the consideration ofthe fresh-water formsalone. America, northof Mexico, forms a

primary

terrestrio-aquatic

realm which

has

been

variously designated asthe

North American,

Nearctic

and

Anglogeean regionor reahn. It isoneof the veryrichest of

aU

intresh-watertypes,considerably oversix

hundred

species

hvmg

exclusively,ornearlyso, inthe rivers

and

lakes,

and

theserepresent nearly

one

hundi-ed

and

fifty genera

and about

tlurty-four families. Itisa largeexhibit

compared

with the faunaof

any

oftheotherrealms.

If

we

noticetheconstituents of this

North

Amei'ican fauna,

we

findthat

they may

be segregatedinto

two primary

cate- gories.

A

considerable

number

ofthefamihes are shared

with European and

Northern Asia,

and may

be designatedasthe Arctogean, while

an

exceptional

number

offamihesarepecu- liartoour continent. Those

pecuhar

are the Amiidse,

Hyo-

dontidse, Percopsida?, Amblyopsida?,,Aphredoderidee,Elasso- mides

and

Centi-archidas,

and

several well-marked sub-fami- liesarealso limited totheregions.

Such

are the

Camposto-

miuce, Exoglossina3, Plagopterinse,Etheostomtnas, Haplodlno- tinae

and

Hysterocarpiu£B. It is possible that even the Lepidosteidsij"are at present pecuhar, but Dr. Sleeker has

named

as such aspecies,based

upon

a Chinese

drawing

ofa fishsupposedto

have

been obtainedin China. Fifteen fami- liesreprcsented cUiefly

by

marine species,but with

members

also inthefreshwater, are the Petromyzontids,Silmids, Clu- peids, Dorosomids, Argentinids, Salmbnids, Cyprinodontids, AnguiUids, Gasterosteids, Atherinids, Labracids, Scitenids, Embiotocids,Cottids

and

Gadids,

and among

these

we

findthe famUies

which

arerepresented

by

the

same

generainboth the old

and new

woilds.

The

fresh-waterspecies

and

even the generaof

most

ofthese families are, howevei', to a large extent,

pecuhar

totheinte- riorwaters;oftheothers, (1)

some

ai'e anadi-omous,

hke

cer- tain of theSalmonids, Clupeids

and

Labrocids; (2) othersin- habit fresh

and

^salt

water

almost indifferently, as the Dorosomids,

many

Cyprinodontids,

and most

Gasterosteids,

and

(3)one(theeel)perhaps should be considered as asalt- Avaterrather than a fresh-water species,

inasmuch

asitis

catadromous and

appears to breed only in the sea. Con- verselythosefishes

which

resorttofresh

water

to

spawn and

thereinspendtheirearlydays

may

be consideredtobefresh- water forms. If all species which,to

some

extent,

run up

into fresh -water

were

included,thelist

might

bevery greatly increased,

and

itis

by

this inclusion of these speciesrunning

up

into fresh

water

that thefaunasof othercoimtries

have been rmduly

enlianced.

If

now we

consider the

bearmgs

ofthe

known

facts,

we may deduce

the followingconclusions:

(1)

The number

offamily typespeculiar oralmost

pecuhar

to

North America and

theveiwlarge

number

ofgeneraalso confined to the temperate

and

cold regions ofthe continent indicatethat the region specifiedhas suchcharacteristicsas to entitleitto be considereda

pnmary

geographicaldivision of the globe

which

-willappropriately bear the

name

of the Anglogeean reahn,

inasmuch

asitshabitableportions areoccu- pied

by

thelargestportion ofthe

Anglo-Saxon

race.Severalof thefamilies peculiar to this

realm

arealmostcoincident in their range

with

itshmits,

and

suchcoincidenceisespecially

mani-

fested inthecase of thefamilyof Centrarchids.

(2) If

we compare

the constituencyofour ichthyie

faima

with thatofthe Eurasiatic

realm we

findseveralnotablecon- trasts.

The North American

isdistinguished

by

thegreatde-

velopment

ofAcanthopterygiantypes,while thereare

few

ia theEm'asiatic one.

North America

hasas

many

as 180 species, while nineteen are allthat

have been

creditedto Eurasia.

The

Centrarchids

and

certain little fishes related to the perches,

which have been

distingriishedas

Etheostommes,

are verycharacteristicforthe

American

fauna,

and

are

among

the

most prominent

features,while those types ai*eentirely

wanting

in

Emope. The

_catfishes, so

abundant

inAmerica,

and

of

which

thereare at least twenty-sixspecies,are repre- sented

by

only oneinEurope,

and

eventhatone isof

an

en- tirelydifferent type.

Another noteworthy

contrastisexhibited

by

the Cyprinids.

Ihe

species of

Europe and

Asiaarealmostalloflarge size

and

are the

most

conspicuous fresh-

water

fishesofthatregion,

whereas

the

American

species of the family are almost

aU

small

and

evenof

minute

size,

and

(if

we

except thePacific slope,

which

hasfeatures in

common

-withEurasia) there are not

more than

a coupleof

what

can be caUedlarge species of the familyin the entire region. It isindeed to arelated family,the suckersorCatastomids.(entirely

wanting

in

Europe

proper) that

we have

to look foranalogueofthe

European

Cyprinids.

Among them we have

forms equalingin size the

Em-opean

caip, barbel,

aud

others,

and some

quite similar in superficialappearance.

Summing up

allthespecies

we

find that

Europe

hasbeenaccredited

with mo

fresh-waterfishes, while theNort,h

American fauna

hasat least62,5.

The number

ofthegenera

common

to

North America and Europe

is indeed extremely few,

and

the ideasuggested

by some

recentauthors,thatthe

North American fauna

ismerely asubdivision ofa

common

Ai-ctogean, Triarctic orHolarctic realm,isenthely traversed

and

negatived

by

theflshfauna.

Itisalso especially

noteworthy

thata

number

of thetypes

pecuhar

to

America

are distinguished

by

thecare

which

the parents takeof their

young

^; whereas the

European forms

are generallyindifterent tothe'futurejirogeny,

and

after

spawn- mg,

leave the eggsto takecare of themselves. Inthiscon- nectionit

may

berecalled tothe

American

Fisheries Society, that thecare ofthe eggs

and young

is

accompanied by an

ap- parent diminutionof the

number

of eggs,

and we have

asort ofanalogyin thisrespecttotherelation

between

fishculture

and

natiu-e.

The

flshcidturists a.ssume the pai-t which, in natm'e,isexercised

by

theattentive parent,

and

^{the eggs}

and young

being provided for,stand alessdangerof destruction,

and

consequentlyinsuch,theratio

between

the eggslaid

and

fertilized

and

the

yoimg matured

is very

much

lessthan that

between

the

number

ofeggsoftheinditferent jiarents

and

that ofother

progeny

matm-ed.

BLACK BASS IN GERMANY.—

In

a

lettertothe super- intendentofthe hatcheryatCold Spring Harbor, N.Y.,

HeiT von dem Bome,

the

well-kuown German

flshcidturist,writes:

'*Perhaps

you remember

that

you recommended

to

me

the introduction of the blackbass,

and

alsothatIreceived

some

of

them when

Mr.

Eckardt

retm-ned

from

America. I

am

pleasedtosay thatthefish

have

multipliedabundantly.

We

had

1,200 in thefallof1884,

and have

caught

more than

3,300 frythisseason,

>he Menml

AddressallcommunicationstotheForest

and

stream Fublish- ingCo.

FIXTURES.

mwm SHOWS.

Sept.23, 33,34and35.—

Dog Show

oftheMilwaukeeExposition As- sociation. JohnD.Olcott,Superintendent,Biilwaulcee,Wis.

Sept.39,30andOct.1,3.—Thu'dAnnual

Dog Show

of theSouthern Ohio Fair Association. H. Anderson. Secretary, Dayton, O.

Sept.39,30andOct. 1.— Twelfth

Dog Show

of theWesternPenn- sylvania PoultrySociety,Pittsburgh, Pa. C. B.Elben, Secretary.

Oct,6, 7,8and9.—Second Annual

Dog Show

of the Philadelphia KennelClub,inconjunctionwith the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society. B.Comfort. Secretary, Philadelphia, Pa.

Oct.6,7,8and 9.—Fourth ^Vnnual

Dog Show

of theDanburyAgri- cultural Society. S.E,Hawley,Secretary,Danbury,Conn.

Oct.7,8and9.—

Dog Show

of theVorkCountyAgriciUturalSoci- ety. Entriesclose Sept.38. A.C.Krueger, Superintendent, Wrights-

-ville.Pa.

Oct. 8and9.—Second Annual

Dog Show

of theStafford Agricul- tural Society. R.S.Hicks, Secretary, Stafford Springs,Conn.

FIELD

TRIALS.

Nov. 9.—Second AnnualFieldTrialsofthe Fisher's Island Club, for

members

only.

Max

Wenzel. Secretary,Hobokeu,N.J.

Nov. 9.—FirstAnnual Trialsof theWestern Field TrialsAssocia- tion, atAbilene, Kan. Entries close Oct,15. A. A.Whipple, Secre- tary,KansasCity,Mo.

Nov.16,1885.—SeventhAnnualFieldTrialsof the Eastern Field Ti'ials Club,HighPoint,N.0. Entries forDerbycloseMiay1,

W.

A.Coster.Secretary,Flatbush,L.I.

November.—

Fom-th AnnualTrialsof the Robins Island Club,Rohins Island, L.I.,for

members

only.

Wm.

H. Force, Secretary.

Dec.7,— SeventhAnnualFieldTrialsofthe National Field Trials Club,GrandJunction, Tenn. EntriesforDerbycloseApril1, B.M.

Stephenson,LaGrange, Tenn., Secretary.

A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE.

rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER,

forthe registration of pedigrees,etc.(withprizelistsofallshows andtrials), ispub- lishedeverymonth. Entriescloseonthe 1st. Should bein early.

Entry blanks sent onreceipt ofstamped andaddressed envelope.

Registration fee(50cents)mustaccompanyeachentry.

No

entries insertedunlesspaidinadvance. Yearly subscriptiongl.ijO. Address

"American Kennel Register,"P.O.

Box

3833,

New

York,

Number

ofentriesalready printed

2

'704.

JUDGES AND REPORTERS.

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

Apropos

of the

coming

dog shows;

now

thattlie"all

round"

judge,

however

excellent,has

had

his day,

why may

not the

"allround"reporter retire intothe

background

also,

and

let eachspecialjudge speakforhimselfover his

own

signatirre, after

making

his decisions?

Then

the

many who

areunable toattend

and

seetorthemselves

may

perhaps acquire

some

information aboutthe dogs, at presentwithheld.

The

reporters

have

never failed to give us spicyreadmg,interesting

and

amusing,disclosing

them

varying moods.

Now

then-pens are clipped in

honey

tolaud theastuteness ofA.inbesto-wingblue ribbons

upon

certain dogs,

and anon

plunged into bitterest

gaU

to

blame

blunderingB. for

Ms

stupidfailure to decorate others of theircaninefriends.

Meanwhile we who

areti-ying to learn

somethuig

about the dogsofvarious breeds are left perishing in our ignorance.

One

critic tellsus

— by way

of consolationpex'haps—that only the

good

dogs arenoticed at all,yet

how

heridicules

them

!

We

read, forexample, that the

winner

"isnot^cleanenough,leggy, faulty atbothends,"

orthatthefirstprizeanimalinClass 1,000is"faultyallover,"

or"faulty inhead, ears,body,legs, tail," etc., until, utterly bewildered

and weary we

beginto

wonder how much worse

thosepoor creatures could be

who

received

no awards and were

sparedallcriticism.

Ifjudgesareauthority

on

the classes assigned them, can they not be allowedorpersuadedtospeakforthemselves?

Or

ifthey arereallyincompetentwillnottheirstatementsaswell as their

awards

convict

them? The

wise

"LUhbulero"

tothe contrary notwithstanding, the English

Kennel

Gazettereports after

any

ofthe

leadmg Enghsh shows

are instructive

and

exceedinglyinteresting,

though

quite free

from

personahties.

They

giveus something about the

good

points ofthewinners aswellas their faults,

and moreover we know

just

who

is responsible foreach

account—

amatterof consolation

some-

times.

An

artist,puzzled

by

the conflictingstatementsofreporter

and

the remarkablefact(?)innaturalliistorythatdogs

change

in quality

and

proportion

with them

owners'nftmes,suggested that largepaintingsoftypicaldogsof

aU

breedsbe

made and

placedin.conspicuouspositionsatthe shows,

where

^allcould see

and

studythem,

and

judge

and compare

forthemselves -w'ithoutfollowing judges or heedingreporters'notebooks.

Constant Reader.