The Apparatus consists of a tin case, separated into two parts by an open work partition. In one of these the fish are placed, and in the other is fixed a mechanical contrivance for keeping up a considerable supply of air in the water.
In November, 1853, 33 Greylings were sent from the Wye at Rowley to the Clyde at Abington, a distance of about 250 miles with the loss of only two fish.
The Apparatus is composed of a zinc cylinder, about three feet high and two feet in diameter, with a strong iron handle running round the middle; to the top, a small force pump is attached, and by this fresh air is forced through a star shaped distributor at the bottom of the cylinder; a ring to bring the fish up for inspection, and a loose concave rim to prevent splashing over, complete it. A drawing with particulars was deposited with the Society of Arts, in London.
THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF FISH.
Fish have so many enemies that were it not for the millions of embryo or spawn deposited by the female, the breed of Salmon and Trout (to say nothing of other species) would long since have become extinct. Eels, fish, birds, water rats, toads, frogs, and last but not least, the water beetle,[8] ] prey upon the ova, spawn and young fry; floods also sweep away and leave on banks, or rocks, a considerable quantity of spawn, which of course comes to nothing. Escaping the above perils and causalities, and arrived at maturity, they become the prey and food of the otter and heron, king's fisher, gull, &c., who emulate man in their destructive propensities. The larger fish also prey upon the smaller. Luckily otters are not so numerous in any English river as they used to be. Night lines, shackle, rake and flood nets, and other devices not at all creditable to those who use them, and to which I shall not further allude, make terrible havoc amongst fish, and mar and spoil the fair and honest angler's sport, but in most rivers and brooks of Trouting celebrity, such practices are greatly on the wane. Proprietors will not sanction such wholesale destruction; and now almost universally adopts measures for the detection and punishment of such depredators.
LAWS RELATIVE TO ANGLING.
It would occupy too much space to be diffuse in reference to angling laws; I shall therefore briefly observe that all persons discovered robbing fish ponds during the night, and all persons found poisoning fish are liable to transportation; all persons using nets, listers, snares or other unlawful devices, are liable to the forfeiture of such nets, &c., and also subject to a fine at the discretion of the magistrates before whom such offenders may be brought; and also, that any person angling in any brook or river without the permission of the proprietor or proprietors of such river or brook, is liable to a penalty as a trespasser, and also to the forfeiture of any fish he may have caught.