A limited number of California brook trout has been introduced into these streams by the State Fish Commission. The German carp has also been introduced, and for the past five years have been distributed in all sections of the State. They are now becoming numerous in all the rivers and ponds of the State. The collection of fishes which formed part of the State's exhibit at New Orleans consisted mainly of specimens of fishes mounted in plaster of Paris and put up in alcohol, collected in the State for this especial purpose, and representing nearly all sections, together with a portion of Holbrook's plates of the fishes of South Carolina, and a few photographs of the salt water fishes. The specimens put up in plaster of Paris, prepared by "Davidson's process" of ichthy-taxidermy, were 84 in number. Among the best specimens was a black bass weighing 14 lbs., a leather carp, 12 lbs., a scale carp, 13 lbs., golden bass about 25 lbs., sheephead, and specimens of drum, &c. These specimens were taken fresh, placed in a mould-board and covered on one side with plaster of Paris. The reverse side was then opened and every particle of flesh was removed from the skin and an antiseptic then applied. The skin, so prepared, was then filled with plasterthis allowed to harden, and the whole taken from the mould, the fins expanded in natural position, and the natural colors reproduced artificially, a glass eye supplied, and the specimens mounted on a plate or board, ready for exhibition. The specimens so mounted were very life-like, and made a handsome appearance. This is a new process of preparing specimens, and is probably the best known, as it shows the specimens in a manner nearer approaching nature thau any now in use. We are indebted to Dr. Davidson, of Boston, Mass., for the invention. The specimens in alcohol were put up in the usual way, and numbered 86 different kinds of fresh and salt water fishes. The whole exhibit was contained in a handsome glass case, 16 feet long, 10 feet high and six feet deep, with a partition through the centre lengthways, on which were grouped, according to size, the specimens in plaster. Above these, on the partition on either side, were arranged Holbrook's plates, neatly framed in pine frames oiled and varnished. Near the floor of the case and next to the glass were two shelves, on which were placed the glass jars containing the specimens in alcohol. On the floor rested a fine specimen of the South Carolina alligator, neatly mounted and measuring ten feet six inches; also specimens of the diamond-back terrapin in suitable proximity. On the outside of the case were hung photographs of some of the principal sea fishes. A catalogue of the exhibit is published with the official catalogue of the State's exhibit. C. J. HUSKE, Superintendent Fish and Fisheries South Carolina. CATALOGUE. A catalogue containing a list of each specimen contributed for exhibition, the name of contributor and County, was published in the Exposition Report of the Department. It is, therefore, only necessary to republish here a summary of the catalogue. Every County in the State was represented. In the agricultural division of the exhibit there were 60 specimens of corn, 32 specimens of cotton, 123 specimens of wheat, 98 specimens of oats, 30 specimens of rice, 16 specimens of rye, 10 specimens of barley, 96 specimens of wine, 401 specimens of fruits, 42 specimens of preserves and pickles, 109 specimens of grasses and hay, and 79 specimens of miscellaneous vegetables, such as beets, beans, peas, olives, egg plant, cushaws, onions, okra, pumpkins, pindars, nuts, &c. The collection of woods contained 425 pieces and 123 different kinds, embracing some of the best and most valuable varieties. The manufactured products consisted of bagging, cotton goods, hosiery, silk, naval stores, shingles, wagon spokes, axe handles, &c. The mineral exhibit contained gold, iron, copper, lead, granite, kaolin, limestone, marble, dolomite, felspar, stentile, asbestos, mica, massive corundum, barytes, ochre, oilstone, grindstone, fossil hickory, shell marl, manganese, and of the rarer minerals cabinet specimens. Included also in the mineral exhibit was the rare handsome collections of phosphate specimens loaned by Captain C. A. Scanlan and Major E. Willis, the first containing 375 specimens and the latter about 150 The birds and animals from the Charleston Museum, exhibited by Dr. G. E. Manigault, the Curator, were very attractive. There were six specimens of the latter and two hundred and fifty of the former, and the following specimens of mammals, birds and reptiles grouped: Golden eagle and wild turkey, rattlesnake and mocking birds defending their nest, red fox with mallard duck, raccoon with Southern gray squirrel; also, the following skeletons of mammals: Pig-tailed monkey. Sacred monkey of India. Black spider monkey. Brown mink. American black bear. English badger. Azara's fox. Scotch staghound. Fox squirrel. Indian fruit bat. Tayra. (Galictis barbara), from South America. The following skeletons and birds: Crested currasson, horned screamer, roseate spoonbill, cassowary, and skeleton of yellow-bellied terrapin; and the following skeletons of fishes: Pompano or pompino, drum, sheephead and angel fish. The fish exhibit contained eighty-four specimens in plaster, 104 in alcohol, and some miscellaneous specimens. A special Report on the Exposition work was made by the Department of Agriculture in July, and 5,000 copies were published. At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture held May 6, Dr. A. B. Rose, Colonel W. L. Trenholm and Mr. Casper Chisolm, representing the Agricultural Society of South Carolina, appeared before the Board and requested permission to place the specimens exhibited at New Orleans on exhibition at Charleston during the State Exhibition to be held there in November. The Board authorized the Commissioner to transfer the exhibit to the Society, and it is now in Charleston, and at the close of the Exposition there it will be transferred to Columbia and placed on permanent exhibition in the building of the Department of Agriculture. A financial statement of the disbursement of the State appropriation for expenses of making the exhibition at the Exposition is submitted at the close of this Report. The regular appropriation having been exhausted in making the exhibit, three hundred dollars of the funds of the Department of Agriculture were used to defray the cost of packing the articles to be returned. The permanent value of the articles returned amounts to over $3,000. |