do find a great difference at times (and some whole seasons) in size and quality.

“Our usual average catch here in Long Island Sound has been about 8,000,000 per season, beginning June 1, ending October 1. The past season, 1877, our catch was 15,000,000; nearly double the catch of previous years.

"In 1870 there was a large quantity of large fat-fish in the sound; these fish could be seen occasionally several feet under the surface by persons at the mast-head, but could not be seen by the fishermen from the deck of the vessel except occasionally. For some cause, we think they were at the bottom feeding; they did not appear on the surface sufficiently long for the fishermen to catch them until very late in the

season.

"On the 10th day of August we had made only 14 barrels of oil. Some of our neighbors, having got discouraged, closed their factories, thinking there would be no catch for the season. At this time the fish suddenly made their appearance on the surface, and were caught in great abundance. They being unusually fat, yielding from 12 to 14 gallons of oil per 1,000, we made in the next six weeks 3,000 barrels prime oil.

"In 1871-72 there was about the usual quantity of fish, yielding from 4 to 6 gallons of oil per 1,000; an average of several years previous to 1870.

"In 1873 there were immense numbers of small fish from one to two inches long appeared on the surface in the month of September; thousands of shoals could be seen at a time and great numbers in each shoal; these appeared to take possession of all the waters for the remainder of that season.

"In 1874 these small fish appeared again late in the season and were about double the size they were in 1873.

"In 1875 they appeared again much earlier; and in 1876 they came in about the 1st of June, having increased in size and numbers; apparently they occupied the whole waters of the sound, so much so, the larger fish that frequented these waters were actually crowded out of the sound, or left for other waters, and remained off Block Island, at sea, the remainder of the season, and gave up the field to be occupied by the smaller fish.

"The result of this abundance of small fish was a complete failure of the business for the two years 1875 and 1876 in Long Island Sound, the factories and fishing gears having run at great loss.

"In 1877 we provided ourselves with smaller mesh-nets and proceeded to catch the smaller fish, which had now attained a size about two thirds the average here and averaging about one-half pound each. We could catch these by using nets of 23 inches mesh. They were hardly worth catching, but the men could not stand another season of light catch, and there was no alternative for them; they must catch these or noth

ing. There was not much oil in them, averaging only from 1 to 3 gallons per 1,000. Consequently, those manufacturers who carried on a large business barely paid their expenses."

On the coast of New Jersey.

112. At Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to Mr. A. G. Wolf, the mossbunker is the most numerous fish. About 215 barrels were taken in 1873 by Adams & Co., and about the same the previous year. The fishing does not tend to diminish their numbers

At Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor, the mossbunkers are "a thousand fold more numerous" than any other species. In 1873, 7,200 barrels were taken; in 1874, 12,000. Mr. Morris thinks that there is no decrease from fisheries or any other cause.

At Cape May, Mr. D. E. Foster writes they are more numerous than any other fish, but are not so plenty as on the eastern coast of New Jersey. As none are caught in this vicinity, the fisheries are not likely to affect their abundance, nor are they at any point south of Delaware Bay.

On the coast of Delaware.

*

113. About Bombay Hook, Delaware, according to Mr. J. B. Benson, the old wife is the most numerous fish in July and August. At Mispillion River, writes Mr. James II. Bell, "they rank equal to, if they are not more abundant than, the sea trout, and far exceed any other fish in number: a thousand bushels of trout are sometimes taken at a haul, but the main fishing season does not last over a month, while menhaden are caught more or less during six months of the year. No diminution is noticeable, and the number seems to be about the same one year with another. These fish are not sought in this vicinity for any purpose whatever they are caught in seines laid for other fish and are left on the beach to rot or taken home to feed hogs, or are composted for fertiliz ing the soil, for which they are only valuable. The quantity taken from the water never seems to affect the supply."

On the coasts of Maryland and Virginia.

114. In Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds, Maryland, the alewife is the most abundant fish. Mr. Lawson thinks that their number is decreasing from the influence of the fisheries.

At Apateague Island, Accomac County, Virginia, the alewives are more abundant than any other fishes, and are increasing, according to Mr. J. L. Anderton; and this is also the case at Cape Henry, in the opin ion of Mr. Richardson.

Mr. H. L. Dudley informs me that a party of New London manufac turers, visiting the Chesapeake in 1866, found menhaden in almost incredible quantities. As he expressed it, "they were so thick that for

25 miles along the shore there was a solid flip-flap of the northwardswimming fish." One enthusiastic member of the party jumped into the water and with a dip-net threw bushels of fish upon the beach.

On the coast of North Carolina.

115. Mr. Manning writes that at Edenton, North Carolina, these fish are very few.

According to Messrs. Jennett and Simpson the fat-back is by far the most numerous species on the coast of North Carolina. Mr. Simpson writes: "Heretofore the fat-back has been only about one-third more abundant than any other species, but I have seen twice as many during the fishery season of 1873 as I ever saw of any other species on our coast. They are on the increase, and not even their wholesale destruction by the bluefish seems to affect their abundance. About fifty barrels were netted in 1873 at Cape Hatteras. In 1877, in Cape Dare County, about 300 barrels."

"At Beaufort," writes Mr. A. C. Davis, "the menhaden are more abundant than any other species and are increasing; and so it is at Body's Island, North Carolina, where 50,000 barrels were taken in 1868, the fishery having since been discontinued. About 500 barrels were taken in 1877. They are used only for fertilizing purposes."

Mr. Simpson describes their abundance at Cape Hatteras in 1874 in these words: "During the past season the fishermen provided themselves with seines and boats in time to meet the first run of the bluefish. The seines were made of cotton marlin and were about 100 yards long, 24-inch mesh, and from 40 to 50 meshes deep. The bluefish made their first appearance on the coast from the north. The menhaden passed about three days in advance of the bluefish. I do not think I ever saw so many of this species at any one other time, or at any one other season. From the balcony of the light-house at least 25 schools might have been seen lying along the coast, both north and south of the cape. Each school seemed to cover many hundred yards of surface and to be moving south at the rate of from four to five miles an hour. This continued, and school after school followed, for ten days, before the appearance of the bluefish; and when the bluefish did appear there seemed to be more of the menhaden with them than had passed the station during the three previous days. Hundreds of barrels, I think, were washed ashore and were driven so close by the bluefish that they had not the power to resist the surf, which was quite rough or heavy, and they were consequently thrown ashore upon the beach. Only a very small quantity of these fish were saved, as the fishermen give their attention more particularly to bluefish, but some of them were saved and salted down, when they were sold to a good advantage. Some sold as high (in trade) as to bring ten bushels of corn, equal to $7 in currency, for one common fish-barrel of the menhaden.

"It has been generally thought by old experienced fishermen here,

that the bluefish drive the fatback south in winter, but I have learned differently during the past season from personal observation, which the following fact strongly attests. The menhaden came three days in advance of the bluefish, and entered the sound at all the principal inlets, and made their way directly for the fresh-water rivers. They could be seen as numerous in the sound heading north as they were in the sea heading south. Furthermore, by a letter from a gentleman of Ply. mouth, N. C., I learn that they passed that place, eight miles above the mouth of the Roanoke, in five days after passing this station; and, by another letter from Windsor, 38 to 40 miles above the entrance, I hear that they arrived there as early as the 18th of December. Thus it may be readily seen that the bluefish are not the cause of the fatback coming south. I would sooner think that the fatback caused the bluefish to come south in winter, as they generally follow in the sea, and among the last of the run of fatback.

"Last year there were not so many of the menhaden, but there were millions of young spot about two years old; but, however, this winter there was not a spot to be seen."

Dr. H. C. Yarrow found enormous schools of very small menhaden about Fort Macon, N. C., December 31, 1871.

Dr. Elliott Coues, U. S. A., states that they appear in great numbers about the harbor at Fort Macon, N. C., in spring and summer.*

On the coast of Florida.

116. In the Saint John's River, Florida, the menhaden are more abundant than any other fish, and apparently on the increase. They clog the shad-nets in the spring.

Summation of evidence.

117. The statements above quoted seem to indicate that the menhaden is by far the most abundant fish on the eastern coast of the United States. There is, moreover, no evidence whatever of any decrease in their numbers. They are apparently quite as abundant as any species on the eastern coast of the United States, not even excepting the cod, herring, and mackerel. There are, however, no data for definite comparison, nor is there any means of determining the ratio of increase or decrease within a given period of years. The same must be said regard. ing the effects of the wholesale capture going on every year on certain parts of the coast, for the present perfection of fishing apparatus and the skill of the fishermen is likely to prevent any apparent diminution in the yearly returns of the fisheries, even though the species be gradually approaching extinction. It is quite evident that with the improved methods now in use a much larger proportion of the fish frequenting any given body of water may be taken than was formerly possible.

*Notes on the natural history of Fort Macon, N. C. <Proc. Phil. Academy of Natural Sciences.

18.-ABUNDANCE IN THE FUTURE.

The probability of future decrease.

118. There is no evidence of a decrease in the abundance of menhaden during a period of fifteen or more years of fisheries conducted on an immense scale. It seems, therefore, that no one can reasonably predict a decrease in the future. The movements of marine fishes are capricious in the extreme. The only cases in which the fisheries have been clearly shown to exercise a pernicious effect is where the spawning fish are taken in great quantities. It has been clearly determined that the menhaden are never captured upon their spawning-beds.

F.-FOOD.

19.-FOOD OF THE MENHADEN.

The opinions of fishermen.

119. Fishermen generally say that the menhaden feed on "brit" and "seed," "red-seed," "cayenne," or "bony-fish feed." These are sailors' names for small floating animals of any kind, such as the minute crustacea, mostly entomostracans (ostracoda and copeopoda), which swarm the surface of the North Atlantic and are the favorite food of mackerel, herring, and many smaller species. They describe this food as "something of a red or green color and about the size of hay-seed," and very naturally suppose the menhaden to be feeding upon it when they are swimming with their heads at the surface. Others think that they "live by suction," meaning that they feed by drawing through the mouth water containing particles of organic matter. The sturgeons, pipe-fish, and cyprinidæ, all with toothless mouths, are supposed to have this habit. Others say that they feed upon the jelly-fishes (acalephæ),* upon the "mossy substance" which clings to the eel-grass (Zostera marina), and upon the " scum or "mucus" which floats on the surface. Perhaps all are right, for most fishes relish changes of diet. At Greenport, N. Y., according to Mr. W. S. Havens, the slimy coating of the eel-grass (which is composed of small algæ, Spyridia filamentosa, with various species of Polysiphonia and Ceramium, &c., often clogged with a soft, slimy deposit) is known as "bunker-feed."

Peculiar movements of the menhaden.

120. Captain Loring has seen the menhaden in Provincetown Harbor in groups of from 20 to 500 gathered among the eel grass in shoal water, swimming around and around in circles. He supposed them to be spawning, but it seems quite probable that they were feeding. Mr. Hance Lawson states that in Chesapeake Bay the schools break up into small

Acalephæ do not have the appearance of being nutritious food, but the fattest hogs I have seen in Florida are those at Mayport, which greedily devour a large species of discophore which is cast on the beach in great quantities.