Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/458

 [Vol. v., No, 1

��extreme soulh, whure crawfish were abundant, it did not hibeniste; so that he conaiclered hibernaUon to be the result of lock of food, rather than of tempera- tare. Mr. Goode, in discussing this ptiper, regarded hltiernatlOQ as purely a matter of physical cause and effect, holding that the hibernation or noii-hibernatloti (if the black baas in agiven latitude depended entirely upon the temperature of the warmer retreats accessi- ble to the tlsli. Black bass always hibernate in shal- low bodies of water in cold climates,

Mr. Fred. Hnther, In a paper on smelt<hatcli!ng, gave an account of some experiments in hatching the smelt Osmenis mordax, which seemed to indicate that quiet, almost stagnant watei', and the presence of allrae anil fungus, were beneficial rather than det- rimental to the proper and rapid development of the eggs.

Mr. F. W. True read a paper on the porpoise fish- ery of Cape Halteras. This Cshery was regarded as in Its infancy in this country, and capable of great development if the animal could be taken in suffi- cient quantities to secure the introduction of Its oil and leather into the markets. The company re- cently formed at Cape Hutteros by a parly of Phila- delphia eapllalists hoped to utilize the meat of the porpoise for food. It Is estimated, that, at the close of the present season, not less than four thousand porpoises would have been captured by this t.'uropany. Ur, Goode thought, that, if the flesh could In some way be divested of its oily taste, it might be a very palatable article of food. He had while in London, In 1833, lasted some whale-flesh (put up In Norway In hermetically sealed cana), and spoke of its resem- blance in flavor to beef <t la mode. The oil be con- sidered superior, lor Iubr1caliiig-purp0!<es, to any other animal oil, but thought lliat its present high price would prevent it from coming itito general use. He also said that in Europe boots made from porpoise leather were held in high esteem, and cost from fifteen to twenty dollars a pair. He considered the leather as most desirable fur belting and lacing pur- poses. Mr. Lyman expressed his belief that the products of the porpoise fishery might be made of considerable commercial value, provided the animal could be taken In sufficient quantities.

Mr. Frank N. Clark gave some results of artificial propagation and planting of while-fish In the Great

Mr. A. Nelson Cheney submitted a paper entitled of certain fishes? ' This was followed by a paper by Mr. J. S. Tan Cleef, on ' How to restore our trout- stream h.'
 * Does transplanting affect the food or game qualities

Dr. Tarleton B. Bean exhibited a nearly complete aeries of salmon and trout of North America, showed a species of Oncorhyncus, Salmo, and Salvelinus. He said that the species could he, for the most port, very well identified by a single character. In the genus Oncorhyncus. O. chixilcha might be known by its very large number of branch ioBl«gal rays, and the numerous pyloric coeca; O. nerka, by its lal^ number of glll-rakers, usually about forty; while of the other species have more than twenty-

���seven. O. kjsuich has but few pyloric coeca, enty to eighty. O. gorbuscha has very small no much smaller than any other species of this gentw, that ihls character alone will suffice to distingulsb it. O. keta, the last species, resembles O. cliouichu ili most respects, but has a smaller number of brsnchi- ostegal rays.

The species of Salmo are easily divided into two groups, one of which has liyoid l4-etli, the other ha,T- ing none. Of the first group (here are two smkU» scaled species, — S. Gairdnerij and its fresh-water form irldeus, In which the scales are never iu Tnoro than a hundred and fitly longitudinal rows. Tba small-scaled form S. spiiurus, with Its oRsboot 8. pleuriticus, has sometimes a« many as two hundred scales in the longitudinal series. The group with byold teeth Includes Clark's trout, S. purpuratns, with Its varieties, Bouvieri, stomias, and Hensbawl,

The species of Salvelinus divide themselves into two great groups, the first of which hns a tooth- bearing crest on the vomer. This is represented by namaycush and its variety slscowet. All of tba other SalvelinI are red-spotted, and have no creal on the vomer. These are i^aln divided Into two great classes, one having hyoid teeth, atid the other having none. The Salvellni with hyold teeth are oqnaasft, naresi (which is a near relative of oquassa), aroturus (the moat northerly sal monoid known], malma, the Pacific red-spotted char, and salvelinus (which hH been introduced into New England from Bavaria^, The group without hyoid teeth includes fontlnalU, known In the seurun condition as immaculatus, and iu its northern habitat varying into hudaonlctts of Suckley. It Is a giant la this genus, reaching a weight of fifteen pounds. This Labrador form hu a lat^r number of glll-rakers than the common fo»- tinalis, and tlieie seem to be fewer tubes in the laU era! line; so that wo may be obliged to consider it aft a apecirs distinct from fontinalis. The last specloa of this group Is S. stagnalls, a Greenland specleif. which reaches a large size, and U dlsllngiiisheil b; its greatly elongate form.

The three species recently Introduced from Buropt into America are Salvelinus salvelinus (already meiH tluned}, Salmo levenensis (the Loch Leven trout of southern Scotland and northern England), and Salmo fario (the river-lrout of central and northern Europtt and England).

The species of Salvelinus, both eastern and wesU ern, attain their greatest development In the north- ern portion of their habitaL Thus the S. malma of the west coast Is represented in the national musemn by examples more than two feet In length from Alaska; and the Labrador form of the eastern broob* trout bears more resemblance In size to a Watnfl salmon than to any tiling else. Another noiJceabI* fact about our salmonoids is that almost all of (be weatorii forms are black-spotted, while all but one at the indigenous eastern forms are red-spotted.

Col. McDonald, In a discussion of the ' Objectlva points in fish-culture,' presented an argument for a moreextendedapplit-'ationof the methods of scientlBo research, showing how excccditigly valuable to fiah-

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