abstracts: fisheries 41 



names, such as scrub, elfin-wood, bush-forest, heath-scrub, maqui, 

 shrub, steppe, etc. It may be described (though not defined) as a 

 mixed forest of stunted trees, the result of peculiar climatic conditions, 

 such as deficiency of moisture, excessive transpiration, barren soil, high 

 altitude , and wind. 



The economic importance of chaparral is due chiefly to the necessity 

 of watershed protection in a region where water is scarce ard is of the 

 utmost importance for irrigation and municipal supply. In southern 

 California chaparral protects about three-fourths of the upper water- 

 sheds of the streams along the coast. It serves to conserve and regulate 

 the flow of streams in two ways: (1) By the root systems which pene- 

 trate the soil and assist the water to percolate, while they prevent 

 erosion; and (2) by lessening the evaporation. 



In the chaparral, as it now exists, those species best suited for cover 

 are not the most numerous. The growth of the better sorts should be 

 encouraged, and possibly some foreign species should be introduced. 



F. G. P. 



FISHERIES.- — The food value of sea mussels. Irving A. Field, U. S. 

 Fisheries Laboratory, Woods Hole. Bulletin of the Bureau of 

 Fisheries, 29: 85-128. Pis. 18-25, figs. 2. 1911. 



Sea mussels (Mytilus edulis) are so palatable and nutritious, and are 

 likewise so abundant and available, that to neglect them for table use is 

 waste. They are found along the coasts of practically all the northern 

 half of the Northern Hemisphere, and in the slightly brackish bays and 

 estuaries of New Jersey, Long Island, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts 

 they exist in beds so extensive that they can be collected daily by the 

 ton. Many have pronounced them equal or superior in flavor to the 

 oyster, and obviously to the coastal population they would be a cheap 

 food. They pre, moreover, in season when the oyster is out of season, 

 they breed prolifically, and, requiring less special conditions for growth 

 than does the oyster, they may be more easily cultivated. 



The readiness with which mussels spoil is the one difficulty in market- 

 ing them raw, for they must be used within 24 hours after being taken 

 from the water. Dr. Field finds, however, that canned or pickled they 

 will retain the natural flavor for months. He describes preserving 

 methods, developed by his experiments, and appends a number of 

 recipes for preparing mussels for the table. 



While the main purpose of the report is practical and directed to the 

 encouragement of an industry new to America, a large part of Dr. Field's 



