FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1922. 9 



industry, based largely on the supply of pearl essence produced in 

 the United vStates, principally from herring and alewife scales. 



A process of making a pearl essence has been elaborated in the 

 Fishery Products Laboratory, which in technique is a radical depar- 

 ture from any methods known to have been used hitherto. By this 

 method, the lustrous material from the scales is removed in water, 

 together with any dirt, blood, slime, etc., that may accompany the 

 scales. The crude suspension is then treated chemically in such a 

 way that the lustrous or nacreous particles are removed bodily from 

 the crude liquor, leaving all else behind, and are transferred to ether 

 and then to ethyl or amyl acetate. These latter substances are 

 solvents of nitrocellulose, which, when dissolved in the suspension , 

 makes a pearl lacquer. This, applied to glass beads, makes the 

 "indestructible" pearl of commerce. "Essence" has been prepared 

 by this process from the alewife, herring, gizzard shad (Dorosoma 

 cepedianum) , shad, silver carp or quillback {Carpiodes velifer), and no 

 doubt could be prepared successfully in large quantities from the 

 California pilchard or sardine and from many other fishes. The 

 details of the process will be published in a separate document. 



FISHERIES EXHIBIT AT THE BRAZILIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTENNIAL 



EXPOSITION. 



The act of Congress authorizing the United States to participate 

 officially in the Brazilian International Centennial Exposition at 

 Rio de Janeiro, contained the foUowmg clause: 



Sec. 6. That the Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized to collect and prepare 

 a suitable exhibit of the fisheries industry of the United States for exhibit at the said 

 «xposition and accompany the a.xme with a report respecting such industry, to be 

 printed in the English, Spanish, and Portuguese languages, the expense of the same 

 to be paid out of the appropriation hereinafter p^ndded for. 



Under authority from the Secretary of Commerce, the Bureau of 

 Fisheries prepared and managed that part of the exhibit that related 

 to the tisheries of the United States. (See figs. 1 and 2.) 



The organization and functions of the Bureau of Fisheries were 

 shown by a chart and an automatic projection machine, which 

 showed successively 70 slides. The salmon industry was exhibited 

 by means of an illustrated chart, showing life history of the salmon, 

 the methods of propagation, the fishery, and methods of canning and 

 salting the salmon. The chart was supplemented by an exhibit of 

 salmon eggs in various stages of development, a model salmon-pile 

 trap, a display of canned salmon, a projection machine showing 

 20 slides, and 2 jnotion-picture films. 



The New England bank fisheries were represented also by illus- 

 trated charts, dealmg with fish-cultural and industrial aspects of 

 the fishery, two vessel models, and 120 implements, and a variety of 

 exhibits of canned, smoked, and salted fishery products, nets, lines, 

 twine, models of fish, and several large transparencies showing New 

 England fishing operations, hatchery work, etc. An exhibit was 

 made also of the bureau's work on the preservation of nets. 



The sardine industry was represented by two large illustrated 

 charts, supplemented by a model of a sardine weir and a display of 

 canned sardines. Seventy-five pictures of the oyster industry were 

 shown succcssiveh" by an automatic projection machine. The chief 



