324 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



taken from salmon caught in the rivers Toruea, Kemi, Simo, Ijo, Hau- 

 kipudas, Ulea, Sukajoki, Pybajoki, Kumo, and Kymmene, have all been 

 of the same general type, and were evidently all intended for the same 

 object. 



As the question whence these characteristic and frequently occurring 

 hooks and weights came is of great interest even from a practical point 

 of view, 1 have given some time to its examination. The result of my 

 researches show with a considerable degree of certainty that tliese hooks 

 came to us from the north coast of Germany, where they are very gen- 

 erally used during winter for catching salmon. From statements by 

 Professors Wittmack, Benecke, Mobius, and Heincke, it appears that 

 during the winter months, especially during March and April, very suc- 

 cessful salmon fisheries with hooks and lines are carried on along the 

 northern coast of Germany from Eugeu to Memel, at a depth of from 30 

 to GO meters [about 16 to 32 fathoms] and at a distance of from 10 to 30 

 kilometers [about 6 to 20 miles] from the shore. This method of catching 

 salmon seems to have been very generally used from ancient times on 

 the coast of Pomerania, where it is more common than in any other part 

 of the German coast. According to Professor Benecke, however, it has 

 during the last twelve years spread as far east as Memel, and possibly 

 also to some parts of the Russian coast. The apparatus used in these 

 fisheries resembles in all its leading features the salmon-liue used on the 

 coasts of Skane and Blekiuge [Sweden], but the hooks and weights as 

 well as the line are different from those employed in southern Sweden. 

 Professor Benecke, of Konigsberg, to whom I sent a brass hook taken 

 from a salmon caught in the Ulea River, wrote me a letter entirely con- 

 firming the conclusion at which I had arrived, namely, that these hooks 

 came from the coasts of Prussia and Pomerania. As they are not used 

 in any other part of the coast of the Baltic or anywhere in the Baltic, 

 it is evident that the salmon carry these hooks to Finland from the Prus- 

 sian and Pomeranian coasts, where they are used in the salmon fisheries 

 and where the fishermen annually lose a considerable number. 



Occasionally large hooks of tinned iron or steel wire are found in sal- 

 mon caught in Finland. These hooks are of an entirely different kind 

 from the Pomeranian brass hooks, and the two in my possession do not 

 at all resemble each other. The one taken from a salmon caught near 

 Christinestad by Mr. Hasselblatt, and presented to me by ^Ir. H. O. 

 Foutell, of Christinestad, resembles in shape, looks, and size the hooks 

 which are used in winter for catching salmon in the open sea near 

 Bornholm,* and in the southeastern i^artof Skane and Blekiuge. This 

 hook is fastened to a conical leaden weight by means of a peculiarly 

 constructed hem J) line, measuring about 3.5 millimeters [about oue-eighth 



* Capt. Ivar Breuner, of Helsingfors, .has had the kindness to send nie, for the 

 purpose of comparison, two salmon hooks, with lino and weight, brought by him from 

 Born 'olm. These hooks, even to the smallest detail, are the exact counterparts of the 

 iool from Christinestad. 



