450 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



of the fisli being bruised aud scraped severely! Out of the six huudred 

 that were shipped only nineteen were left alive, and of these the last 

 two died on Thursday, October 29, when in mid-ocean. 



Fishermen sometimes keep the soles, after taking them from the 

 trawl, alive in the wells of their vessels for as much as eight or ten 

 days before they are sent to market ; and it is not a rare thing to find 

 soles alive after lying for a day or two fully exposed on the wet boards 

 at the bottom of the hshing-smack. This shows that they are not a 

 particularly delicate fish. The fishing time for them is from April 1 

 to the early or middle part of October. Small ones are geuerallj' taken 

 early in the season, and large ones later on. The largest soles are 

 taken in the North Sea, in water deeper than G fathoms.' They grow 

 to about 18 inches in length. Very few other fishes are found on the 

 same bottom where the soles are taken, but minnows and shrimps are 

 often caught in the trawls with the soles. It is not certainly known 

 upon what they feed. The spawning seasou is after June, or from the 

 latter part of June on, as fish full of roe are taken in May, aud others 

 that are spent are taken in July, August, &c. Young of about IJ 

 inches in length have been taken in February. The soles come into 

 the mouths of the rivers in spring and ascend as far as the water is 

 sufiiciently salty, and i^robably spawn there or along the shores. The 

 temperature of the sea during summer is about 43'^ F. The price of 

 soles in London ranges from Qd. per pound [12 cents], which is very low, 

 to 7s. Gd. per pound [$1.82], which is very high. The sole is considered 

 the choicest fish in English waters. Among the fishermen it is gener- 

 ally fried. 



Food for soles. — Mr. Fred Mather, under date of i^ovember 19, 

 1885, wrote : 



I offered them soft clams to eat, and they took the pieces, but invar- 

 iably ejected them. Then I considered the structure of their horizon- 

 tal mouth, with teeth on the lower side, and it suggested an implement 

 for pulling up sand-worms {Arenicola piscatorhim). On following up 

 this suggestion I found that the soles come out of the sand about dusk 

 or a little before, and hunt for aud greedily devour the sand-worms 

 that they can find. 



Preserving fish with boracic acid. — A Scotch firm of dealers 

 in boracic acid as a fish preservative gives the following method for 

 j)reserving various kinds of white fish, such as haddock, whiting, &c. : 



The fish should be steeped (according to their size) from one to six 

 hours in a solution of pure boracic acid, containing 7 ounces of the acid 

 to every gallon of water used. After this treatment, pack in ordinary 

 fish-boxes, and sprinkle slightly with a finely-powdered mixture of one- 

 third boracic acid and two-thirds common salt. The moderate use of 

 boracic acid in food may be regarded as even beneficial, while it is cer- 

 tainly not injurious.* 



* For a mode of treating herring with boracic acid, see Bulletin for 1866, page G6. 



