292 I5ULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



has taken in tlie conferences and in the discussions which have taken 

 place throughout the exhibition were acknowledged to be of very great 

 benefit and advantage to all those concerned. 



We would wish also to bring under your excellency's notice the ser- 

 vice of the assistant commissioners, Messrs. Earll, Bean, Clark, and Cap- 

 tain Collins and the gentlemen in charge of special exhibits, who have 

 so ably carried out the dnties intrusted to them by your Government. 



And, further, we cannot conclude without exx)ressing our gratitude 

 for the eminent services rendered in the jury department, for the whole 

 of the Exhibition, by the following gentlemen, namely, Messrs. Earll, 

 Hitchcock, Eussell, and Clark, and also Captain Collins aud Lieuten- 

 ant McLellan, who were so good as to undertake the onerous duties of 

 the jury work. 



(The great International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883. Koyal 

 Horticultural Gardens, Exhibition Eoad, South Kensington.) 



London, November 16, 1883. 



133.-JPKOPO»ED PKOPAGATIOIV OF CATFISII AS A FOOD-FISO. 



By DATID S. JORDAN. 



[From a letter to Prof. S. F. Baird.] 



I feel very favorably inclined toward the catfish for the purpose men- 

 tioned. The two best species, so far as my experience goes, are Amiurus 

 nehidosus and A. melas. The white cat of the Potomac (A. albidus) is 

 good looking, but I have had no experience with it in life. 



A. neMdosus {catns : atrarius) is the common cat of the Schuylkill, 

 Delaware, Hudson, and the Great Lakes. It is the species so success- 

 fully introduced into the Sacramento, and it is now daily in large num- 

 bers sent to the San Francisco markets. I should suppose that some 

 seining point on the Great Lakes or the Delaware Eiver would be the 

 best place to get this. 



A. melas is darker and grows rather smaller. It is very hardy and 

 grows rapidly, getting its full size in about three years. It is widely 

 distributed, but I have found it commonest where I was born, in the 

 Genesee country. I had these on the farm, when a boy, and reared 

 them in a large frog pond, fed by rains only. They are at least not in- 

 ferior to the other in hardiness or in quality as food. 



Of the larger cats A. nigricans, reaching a weight of 25 to 50 pounds, 

 is probably the best. In the South are numerous others of which A. 

 nataUSj also a small species, seems to promise most. But for the North 

 and for other countries, A. nebulosus is probably best worth trying. 



Indiana Univeesity, 



Bloomingto7i, Ind.^ April 30, 1884. 



