3S4 AMERICAN FISHES. 



propagation of Herring were carried on in Germany by Dr. H. A. Meyer, 

 of the Commission for Scientific Investigation of the German Seas, at Kiel, 

 and in the fall of the same year by Mr. R. E. Earll, of the United States 

 Fish Commission, at Gloucester. A translation of Dr. Meyer's paper may 

 be found in the United States Fish Commission Report, part vi, pp. 629- 

 638, and a brief summation of Mr. Earll's experiments in the same 

 volume, pp. 727-729. 



Much has been written upon the food of the Herring, and the transla- 

 tion from an article in " Die Natur," No. 47, 1869, printed in the quarto 

 Report of the U. S. Fish Commission, expounds in a very satisfactory man- 

 ner recent views of European authorities upon the subject. 



The methods of capture of the Herring are fully described in the publi- 

 cations of the Fish Commission, but being always of a commercial 

 character will not be referred to here. The Herring fishery is as yet of 

 comparatively small importance in America, but is constantly increasing, 

 and in time will without doubt, approximate in extent that of Northern 

 Europe, especially after our countrymen shall have begun to pay attention 

 to the now multiplying resources of our Pacific coast, where there are at 

 least two species sufficiently abundant to be of value to fishermen. 



" One of these, Clupea mirabilis, is universally known as the Herring," 

 writes Prof. Jordan. It indeed scarcely differs in size, appearance, or 

 qualities from the Herring of the Atlantic. It reaches a length of about 

 a foot. It is found for the entire length of the coast, being exceedingly 

 abundant northward. All the bay sand outlets of Puget Sound are filled 

 with them in the summer. South of Point Conception they are seldom 

 seen except in winter. At San Diego they spawn in the bay in January. 

 Farther north their spawning season comes later. They are so abundant 

 in San Francisco Bavin the spring that eighty pounds can often be bought 

 for twenty cents. They are fattest and bring the best price in early winter. 

 The Herrings are smoked and dried, or salted, or sent fresh to the mar- 

 kets. Sometimes herring oil is expressed from them. The principal 

 herring-curing establishment is at Port Madison, on Puget Sound." 



Prof. Huxley, in his Norwich address, expressed belief that the true 

 Herring probably occurs in the Pacific, but there is no reason to believe 

 that his supposition was correct. 



Still another is the California Sardine, Clupea sagax. " This species," 

 writes Prof. Jordan, "is everywhere known as the Sardine, or by the 



