336 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vii. 



flux. The valuable product from the cupola is a coarse copper 

 of 85 per cent, which is treated in the same manner as the crude 

 mineral, and a poor slag carrying not over 3-lOths per cent of 

 copper. 



One thousand pounds of coal are said to be consumed in the 

 reverberatories to every 2000 lbs. of mineral smelted. Poling is 

 done with birch rods. At Detroit, when poplar could no longer 

 be obtained, oak was substituted without affecting the^toughness 

 of the metal. — Quarterly Journal of Science. 



NOTES ON THE MARINE FISHERIES, AND PAR- 

 TICULARLY ON THE OYSTER BEDS, OF THE 

 GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE.* 



By J. F. White AVES. 



The following notes are, to a large extent, a compilation of 

 scattered items of information, gathered from various persons re- 

 siding along the coast. Captain J. N. Purdy, who commanded 

 the Nickerson during the first three cruises, and who has had 

 great experience as a fisherman, both in Canada and in the United 

 States, has helped me very considerably in the preparation of this 

 part of my report ; and to him I am indebted for most of the 

 facts subjoined. The late M. H. Perley's Report on the Sea and 

 River Fisheries of New Brunswick, published at Fredericton in 

 1852, contains a valuable amount of local information not to be 

 met with elsewhere. These notes may be looked upon as supple- 

 mentary to that useful volume. The classification adopted is 

 essentially that of Dr. Gunther's Catalogue of Fishes, in the 

 British Museum. Professor Theodore Gill has published a critical 

 " Synopsis of the Fishes of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Bay of 

 Fundy," in vol. ii., new series of the '' Canadian Naturalist." 

 As this latter paper is probably more accessible than Dr. Gunther's 

 elaborate work, the names given by both authorities are quoted 

 here. References are made only to those fishes or invertebrates 

 which are of some economic importance. 



, Mackerel. — Scomber, scomber, Linn., and S. pyiewnato- 

 pliorus f De La Roche. Gunther. Scomber grex, Mitchill, Gill. 

 For the last four years mackerel have re-appeared in White and 



* From the Sixth Annual Report, published b}' the Department of 

 Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, 1874. 



