The Hagfish

66 FOjREST AND STREAM.

[Feb. 14, 1889.

Mr. L. R.Brown,ofthe

"Q"

offices, isafrequent; visitor tothe club grounds; Mr.H. A. Sloan, ofSouth

Water

street,is prized by

many men

outside theMak-saw-bas;

Mr.G.

W.

Randle,one of the heaviest

game

handlersin thismarket,isalsooneofthe ardents; Chas.P.

McAvoy,

of the

McAvoy Brewing

Co.,andJ. J. Gore, of the big firm of Chapin

&

Gore, oughtto pretty nearly be able to liquidatematters,andFire-Marshall D.J.Sweniecer- tainly can if they can't; John

Watson

comes pretty nearlybeing a household word, ands>does CharlieKern;

Cbas.Wilcox,T.BentonLeiter,J.

W.

C.Haskell,

W.

L.

Shepard,T.

W. Wilmarth —

^alltheseare

names

you hear aboutbothinthecityand aroundtheclubs. Itisuseless tobegin singling out names,for therewould be about seventy-five singles. Itisbetter totake a pot-shotatthe flock,asbelow:

Officers—President, R. B. Organ; Vice-President,

W.

P.Mussey; Secretary,C.S.Petrie; Treasurer,J.A.Kin- ney. Board of Managers: R.B.Organ,

W.

P.Mussev, T.BentonLeiter,

W.

H.Haskell,C. S. Petrie.

List of

Members—W.

A. Barton, A.J.Baxter, Dixon Bean,Matt.Benner, L. R. Brown, H. C. Buechner,C.

Bentham,

W.

J. Campbell,G.S.Chapin,H.P.Crane,C.

A. Crane,F. F.Croxton,JosephP.Card,A.E. Dyer,

W.

C.Dyer,C.Ben. Dicks,E.E.Flint,

W.

H.Gleason,E. H.

Goodrich,J.J.Gore,

W.

H.Haskell, H. C.Hoyt,J.

W.

C.Haskell, CharlesHusche, FredHenrotin,J.T.'Hasting, H.P. Ishaun,J.A.Kinney, S. S. Kimball, Chas. Kern, C. C.Lamos,

W.

H.Leckie,T.BentonLeiter, Jos. Leiter,

W.

H.Lees,

John

Matter, Chas. P.

McAvoy,

Chas. H.

Mears, H.J.Milligan, G. F.

Morcum, Wm.

P. Mussey, T. H.Miller,Geo. G. Newberry,J. Milton Oliver, R.B.

Organ,Chas.S.Petrie,MichaelPetrie,J.

W.

Parmlee,F.

W.

Pond,C.E.Rollins,G.

W.

Rumble,G.

W.

Randle,J.

A.Sharp,H.A. Sloan,P. E.Stanley,L. P. Sutter,Jacob Sutter,JesseSherwood,D.J. Swenie,

W.

C.Stone,

W.

L.

Shepard,

W.

R.Smith,F.P.Taylor,J.E.Tilt, J.

Thomp-

son,

John

Watson,

John

F.Whiting, John B.Wiggins T.

W.

Wilmarth,J.

W. Woodward,

Chas. S.Wilcox.L.

K. Waldron,J. H.Wall, Everett Wilson,F.S.Waters.

The

membership is always full and applicants are alwayswaitingforavacancy. There is agood dealof

comment

in that.

The Mak-saw

ba Clubhas put

down

a great

many

quail annually ontheirgrounds. It is an understoodrule of the club that a

member

fchall put

down

two quail for every one he kills. Ifitwere.not for marauding na- tives,it wouldbe easy to

make many

bagsof_{38 as}one shooter didthisfall. This club surelyemulatesthe

man who makes

twoblades of glass

grow where

butone

grew

before.

Chicago,HI.,Feb.

4.—

Thereportsofshooterslately in fromtheSouthwillservetogive

some

lightonthe ques- tion,where dotheducksgo? Mr.Jesse

Cummings, who was

one of the Chicagoparty

who went

to Galveston aftercanvasbacks, says theyfounda brackish lakenear the Gulf about fifty miles from Galveston,

known

as Stevenson's Lake, where the canvasbacks

swarmed

in thousands. Other baysandcreeks along thecoast,clear on

down

to the Mexicancoast,were fairly alive with mallardsandotherducks,and their

numbers

surpassed anythinghe

had

dreamed. The birds,however, showed

more

thantheir Northern cunning,theybeing hunted

all the

way

along their flight. Market hunters were

among them

even there, and one Chicago commission

man was

sending

two

or threebarrels ofcanvasbacksto Chicago every day, packed on ice.

The

shipping re- quired dailytripsofasailing vessel toGalveston.

In sleepyoldMexico,however,thereseemstobefound asection

where

the ducksarenot harassed so continu- ally,and where theyarefoundinwonderful abundance.

Mr.Wilfrid N. Lowe, president of the Illinois State Sportsmen's Association,isjust back fromatripwhich extended as far south asthe CityofMexico.

He

says thatalongtheCasaGrandeRiver the railwaytrainpassed withinfortyyardsof greatbanksofducksandgeese,

who

did notstir,oratmostonlylazilyflopped

away

toalight alittlefurtheron.

At

thelakes"

known

asLas Palomas, Mr.

Lowe

andhisfriendshad^allthe jack snipeand duck shooting theywanted, andtheyfoundthebirds astonish- inglyfat. The laguna country near Chihuahua is also a tremendouslyslockedwildfowl country; indeed, great portionsof interiorMexico

swarm

with waterfowl, con- trarytopopularbelief.

Gen.PachecoinvitedMr.

Lowe

andhisfriendstovisit his ranch in Mexico, west of the railway,andassured

him

thatevery

man

oftheparty shouldkilla deer every day,

and

see bearandother big furred

game

asoftenas theyliked. Mr.

Lowe

had a most enjoyable trip, and likeeverybody else

who

visitsthat wonderfuloldcoun- try,hereturns infatuated withit.

Mr, F. P. Taylor says thathe

saw more

quail in the Indian Territory than he thought there were in the world. Other

game

alsoisabundant.

The numbers

of greyhoundskeptby

ranchmen

is increasing. TheBurt.

Barnett outfit has apackofover twenty.

The

Indians areallinearnesthopes that the Springerbill willnever be passedby both houses of Congress.

They know

it

would

be the worst thingfor

them

that everhappened.

The Fox

RiverAssociation is stillgrowing.

The

offi- cerswishitgenerally published that theydesire

commu-

nications from other clubs andsportsmen's associations relativetothis

work

inhand, andthatthey wishallsuch organizations to join inonegreat organization,sothat all opposition

may

be at once crushed and overcome.

The

Rock

River Associationis a good one anda strong one,and inpractically the

same

work.

Do

the

Rock

River

men know

the size

and

importance of the

Fox

RiverAssociation?

Would

itnotbewell for thetwoto join forcesand membership? Therepromisestobea good membership fromthe

Sandwich

Club.

Thefollowing papers descriptive of the shooting clubs ofChicago, withillustrations,have been printedin the

Forest and

Stream:

Fox Lake

District,Dec.27.

MineolaClub, Jan.10.

Fox Lake

ShootingandFishing Club, Jan.24.

Odd

Corners

About Fox

Lake, Jan.81.

Fox

RiverAssociation, Jan.81.

WaltonianClub, Jan.31andFeb.7.

TollestonClub,Feb. 7.

Others are in preparation. Next

week

will be given theEnglish

Lake

Club.

Itisagainimpressed

upon me

thatForest

and Stream

goes even untotheuttermost endsof theearth. Since beginningtheduckclubarticles which havelatelybeen runninginthepaperIhave hadallsortsoflettersdropin onme, thoughnotanysort Iwasnot gladto get, forsuch lettersfrom

unknown

friends are

among

themostprized treasures of any writer's collection. I have tried to answer some questions about Western duck shooting methods in

work

already published ortofollow,andto privatelettershavereplied as bestIcould.

A few

weeks ago a gentleman of Chelmsford, England, wrotein re- gard to

work

he

was

preparing for the

London

Field, to-day I got a letterfroma manufacturerof artificial flies in county Tyrone, Ireland, wanting to

know

if

Chicago duck clubs could supply

him

with certain varieties of duck plumage thatheneeded.

Can

they?

Why,

of course they can. Chicago can do anything.

Allthisonlysatisfies

me

evenmorethatpeople readeven thevery poorest part of thisjournal;andIbelieveifI wantedthe earthIshould advertiseforitinForest

and Stream

with a prettygood

show

ofgetting

what

I

was

after.

Mention

was made

some weeks agoofa bigducking tripundertaken by

some

Chicago shooters.

The

party was finally

made

up, I believe, ofMessrs.

W.

B.Cbat- field, Jesse N.

Cummings

and R.

W.

Cox,

who

were accompanied by John Taylor, the keeper of English

Lake

Club House, and

Tim and

Frank

Wood,

keepersof the

Swan

LakeClub.

The

partyhavereturnedafteran absenceof aboutamonth.

They

wenttoGalvestonBay, Texas,andthey actually got

among

thecanvasbacks and hadbig shooting.

Mr.Fred Taylor hasbeen backfromhis IndianTerri- torytrip for

some

weeks. Ihave been unable to find

Mm,

andshould be afraidto approach him, anyhow, on accountofthe largenessofthe time hemust havehad, I

want him

to talk to

somebody

elseagoodwhile first, because they sayheisnotalwayssafe

when

loadedwith

aturkeystory. E.

Hough.

175

Monroe

.Street.

New York

Society

for

the Protection of

Game.—

At

themeetingof thissocietylast

Monday

night acheck for §2,000was turnedover toSecretaryT.N. Cuthbert, tobe usedforthe prosecutionof

game

dealers

who

have been sellingquailandgrouse outofseason. Fish

Com-

missioner

Eugene

G.Blackford and Mr. E. P.Rogers wereelectedmembers.

Fred

A.

Allen

of

Monmouth,

111.,sends us a pricelist ofhisexcellentduck andgoosecallers.

He

isdoinga big businessincalls, andhissuccessisa

new

instanceofthe truth thatitpaystoadvertiseagoodthing.

FobestandStream, Box2,833,N. Y.city,has descriptiveillus- trated circularsof VV.B.Lcffin swell'sbook,"Wild Fowlshoot- ing,"whichwill hemailed free onrequest. The bookispro- nouncedby "Nanit," "Ulnan,""DickSwiveller," "Syhillene"and othercompetentauthoritiestobe the besttreatiseonthe subject

"Sam

Lord'sCamps.'"

By

JR.E.Robinson. No-wready.

THE HAGFISH.

MOST

^ofus doubtlesshave looked upon the hagfish, orslimeeel, asacuriosity chieflyon accountofits blind, lipless,

and

parasitic existence: its dentition adaptedtoburrowingintothefleshofitsprey;its large eggs provided witha

homy

case

and

polar threads for adhesion,anditswonderfulcapacityforgivingoffslime.

We

learnsomething still

more

singular,however, from the writings ofWillielm Miiller,J.T.

Cunningham,

and FridtjofNansen concerning the life historyof Myxine,

namely

thatitnearlyalways combinestwo' sexesinone individual.

As

the studies of Nansen,the curator of Bergen

Museum,

Norway, andrecent explorerofthe in- teriorofGreeland, are the latest and most satisfactory on this interesting subject,

we

cannot do betterthan quotefromliispaperintheannualreportof his

museum,

Bergen,1888:

"On

openinglargespecimensof

Myxine we

generally findwell developedovain their sexual organs. Ifwe, however,take smaller specimens, ofabout28to 32centi- metersin length,

and

examine their sexual organs,

we

generallyfindthat the anterior portion is but slightly prominent,andcontainsverysmalland

young

ova,while the posterior portionisoftenvery broad

and

prominent, is lobate, and has a distinct whitish color along its

margin,

and

has, inallrespects,the appearancethat

we

wouldexpecttofindin atestis:andthisit reallyis. If

we

take a pieceofthemarginof thisportion ofthe gen- erativeorgan,teaseit,andexamineitin the fresh state underthe microscope,

we

generally find abundance of spermatozoain various stages of"development. There canthusbeno doubtthat that portion of the generative organisarealmaleorgan. * * * Those

young

speci-

mens

of28to30centimeters in length are consequently hermaphrodites,with quiteimmature ovaries,but well developedtestes,and they

must

be abletoperform male functions. If

we now

examine

somewhat more

minutely thegenerativeorganofthe large specimens,which gen erally contains a

number

of large

and

well developed ova,

we

find that those ova occuronly in the anterior portion of the generativeorganandthat themesoarium ofthisportionis veiy broadand prominent, while the

membrane

correspondingtothe mesoarium of the pos- teriorportionofthegenerativeorganisverynarrow and carriesnoreproductive elements, neitherova nor sperma- tozoa.

"If

we

examine specimensof

Myxine

of sizesbetween thatofthese largefemalesandthatofthehermaphrodite previouslymentioned,

we

will often find specimens in which the anterior portion of the generative organ is

ratherprominentandcontainsoblong

young

ova,while theposteriorportionisoftesticularnature andnotvery prominent. These specimensseemconsequentlyjust to beina transitory stagebetween male and femalestate.

Indeed,on examining asufficient

number

ofspecimens,

we

will easilybe abletofindeverytransitionstagefrom hermaphrodite males to fully developed females, and the ruleseemstobethat,the larger thespecimen is,the

more

are the female organs developed,andthe

more

do themaleorgans disappear.

"From what

hasbeenstatedabove

we

seem already entitled toconclude thatMyxineisgenerally, oralways(?) inits

young

statea male; whileata

more

advanced age

it becomes transformedinto a female. Indeed,I have not yetfoundasinglefemalethatdidnot

show

traces of the earlymalestage.

"Myxine

glutinosaisa protandric hermaphrodite.

Up

toabodylength of about 32 or 33 centimetersit is a male,after thattime it produces ova. Theproportion between the posteriormaleportionofthe reproductive organ and the anteriorfemale portionisnot constant;

themaleportionisgenerallyaboutone-thirdofthewhole length of the organ. The

few

true males of

Myxine

observed are probablytransformedhermaphrodites.

The young

testicular follicles,orcapsules,have astructure quite similar to that of the

young

ovarian follicles.

* * * Nearlyripespermatozoa

may

befoundin speci-

mens

of

Myxine

at every season of the year.

Myxine

depositsitsovaateveryseasonofthe year."

Deposited eggsofthe hagfish are excessivelyrare. The

few

specimensexistingin

museums

have been obtained bydredging, but the actual placesofdepositremain to be discovered. Perhaps

we

must seek

them

indeeper water than thatin which the fish itself is habitually taken.

A

slime eel ofarelated genus

was

trawled bv the Albatrossin

upward

of400fathoms off the coast of California,containing

many

matureeggs.

We

are indebted to Mr.

Thomas

Lee,one of the na- turalistsaboard the Fish Commission steamerAlbatross during hervoyagetothePacific, forthe followinginter- esting communication about the southern hagfish, or slimeeel,

Myxine

australis:

"While running through the Straitsof Magellanin February,1888, Iwas

much

surprised bythe slime-pro- ducing powers ofthe hagfish.

We

took thesefish ata

number

of anchorages; but at Boija

Bay

the supply seemed inexhaustible.

At

night

we

were skinningand skeletonizinga

number

of gullsandcormorants,andput all the refuse from the laboratory tables into our fish baskets. This baitproved most attractive,andthebas- kets

came up

withlarge quantities ofhags andentirely coveredwithamassof slime. Ithentriedholding ahag withstout forceps, to see

how much

moreof thisslimeit

could produce. The fish tied itselfintoaballaboutthe point of the forcepsandalmostimmediatelycoveredit- selfwithslime. RepeatedlyremovingtheslimeIthink Icollected a pint before the supplyseemedtoslacken, and even thenitseemeda hopeless jobtoget thefishfree fromit. Icould not discover

how

it

was

produced,and canonlytestify to the fact ofitsvery rapid production andingreatquantities."

Couch describes a slime eel {Myxine yhdinosa)that

was

placed inareceptacleholding threeorfour cubic feet ofwaterandfilleditsoentirelywithslimethat the whole mass could beliftedout with astick in a single sheet. The lateral line atthesides of thebellycontains 108large glands, or

mucous

sacs,eachwith an openpore on the uppersurface,from whichthe slime is poured out. Capt.J.

W.

Collins states that hehas seen trawls which werein thewaterthreehours

come

up with cod andhaddock weighing fromtentofifteenpounds,having their intestines whollyeaten outby slimeeels. Some- times

when

the trawlshavebeen

down

from onetothree dayscertainfishwillhaveallthen: flesheatenunderthe skin; this applies to fishhookedin thegillsthatdievery soonafterhooking.

The

pug

nose^eel(Simenchelysjxxrasiticus)burrowsinto thefleshofhalibutand sometimeseatsits

way

along the wholelength of thevertebra?.

Lampreys

attachthemselvestoanythingtheycanreach, butthey arefoundin

mid

depths or at the surfaceand noton the bottom. Capt.Collins

knows

ofonethat

came up

onapatentlogthat

was

towingat the rate of eight ortenknotsanhour.

A

^{species of}Ophichthys has beentakenout of cod, but wasprobably swallosved and, perforating theabdominal wallinits effort to escape,became encysted andhard- ened in theflesh,just asfrequentlyhappensinthe case of the lant

(Ammodytes

americamis). The latter even getsintotheliverofitscaptor occasionally,but,strangely enough, does not interfere with the health of the swallower.

THE TROUT OF STERLING LAKE.

EditorForest

and

Stream:

Ihavejustperusedthearticleinyourlastissueonthe trout in Sterling Lake. For

many

years inthe past I was veryfamiliarwiththat beautiful sheet ofwaterand spenta

number

of

summers camped

onitsshores,

when

its surroundings were wild and primitive,and almost

unknown

tothe outer world. It

was

agrandpond,with waters as clear as crystal, cold and of great depth.

Duringthe

summer

of1865Iput in mostofthe season there and

made

aspecial effort to

captme some

ofthe salmontrout,which anold friend long resident in that section

had many

yearsbefore assured

me

weredenizens ofitswaters. Itried deeptrolling

and

every

method

I could thinkof,butwitha single exceptionwithout suc- cess.

One morning when

Ihad aboutgiven up,I found a troutof21 bs.weight on aline which had been setin water 150ft. deep. In

many

respects it resembled the fish described in the article just read. It bore little

resemblancetoabrooktrout—head andtail as notedin your article andafewsmall black and redspots

on

its sides. Thefleshwasofadeepsalmon color. Ilearned fromoldHirani Garrison,

who

wasinthe employof the Sterling Iron Co.and had charge ofthe outlet of the lake,thatsomeyears beforehe hadpicked

up

adeadfitm ofthe

same

kindinthe outlet,which he found toweigh 151bs.

He

also informed

me

thathe

had

several times observed pairsof these fishlyingoff the rocks,on the edgeofvery deepwater.

Garrisonhadlivedtherefor

many

years,and although not a sportsman,had

made

thelakea"specialstudy.

He knew

ofbut one

man who

succeeded incapturing these fishand hevisitedthe lakealone duringNovember, and permittedno onetowitnesshismethods.

Butthere are othertrout inthelake,whichdifferfrom brooktrout,althoughnot so greatlyasthefish Icaught in 1865.

Several friends, during the winter of 1878-79,

went

with

me

toMunroe,Orange county,to relieve the care and worryof citytoil,

by

havinga tramx>withguns and dogsthroughthewoods. Birdsbeing scarce onedayI