J. riSCICULTURE AND THE FISHERIES. 459 



lished amonor the circulars of the Deutsche Fischer ei-Verein. 

 During their stay they visited most of the fish-hatching es- 

 tablishments of the United States, and they speal^ in terms 

 of high commendation of those under the charge of Dr. Slack, 

 Mr. Livingston Stone, Mr. Brackett, Seth Green, and others. 

 Of the fish-ways that attracted their attention, that of Mr. 

 Brackett is commended by them, as, in their opinion, best 

 fitted to allow the ascent over natural or artificial falls of 

 such fish as the salmon, shad, and alewife. They also paid 

 particular attention to the subject of American oysters. 



THE FISH OP THE CASPIAN SEA. 



The Caspian Sea is extremely rich in various species of fish, 

 many of these occurring in prodigious numbers. Indeed, ac- 

 cording to Alexander Schultz, the yield is very much great- 

 er than that of the Great Bank of Newfoundland. Thus in 

 one single district 15,000 sturgeon are frequently taken in a 

 day, and when the fishing is interrupted for twenty-four hours 

 the w^aters become almost choked by the abundance of fish, 

 which are so numerous as to press each other out upon the 

 shore. The total yield of the Casj^ian Sea for one year in 

 fish and fish products has been estimated at 13,000,000 

 pouds (about 469,430,000 pounds avoirdupois), worth about 

 812,000,000. 



There are several varieties of sturgeon among the fish tak- 

 en, including the sterlet, as well as the carp and other cypri- 

 noids, the salmon, the Coregonus (similar to the whitefish of 

 the American lakes), several kinds of herring, etc. A pecul- 

 iar phenomenon observed, especially among the sturgeon, is 

 that of a kind of winter sleep. At the approach of cold 

 weather they seek the deep portion of the rivers, and remain 

 there in a state of torpor, during which they secrete a viscid 

 matter, which forms a coating over the entire body, called 

 by the fishermen a pelisse. During* this period they appear 

 to eat nothing, their stomachs always being found entirely 

 empty. Report of A. Schidtz^Vienna Exposition^ 1873, 40. 



PEICES OF AMERICAN FISH-EGGS AND FEY IN ENGLAND. 



According to a list of prices for eggs and young fish at the 

 establishment of Mr. Parnaby, in Keswick, England, the se- 

 curing of American fish for breeding-ponds is something of a 



