I.-THE NATURAL AND ECONOMICAL HISTORY OF THE AMER- 

 ICAN MENHADEN. 



By G. Bkown Goode. 



A— INTKODUCTIOK 

 1. — Object of the memoir. 

 Previous memoirs in this series. 



1. In the first report of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries,* 

 was commenced the publication of a series of memoirs upon the im- 

 portant fishes of the United States. Professor Baird inaugurated the 

 work with two treatises from his own pen with the following titles : 



I. The Soup. Stenotomus argyrojjs, (Linn.) Gill.t 



II. The Bluefish. Pomatomus saltatrix, (Linn.) GilLf 



The present memoir is the third of this series. The work of prepar- 

 ing it was assigned to me in September, 1874. I have tried to make it 

 exhaustive, including everything known about the subject, and statistics 

 up to January 1, 1878. There are still, however, many questions which 

 need further study, for the subject is not at all well understood. I send 

 the manuscript to the printer with reluctance, hoping at some time to 

 resume the study of the many unsolved problems. 



TJie commercial importance of the menhaden. 



2. The menhaden has grown greatly in favor within a comparatively 

 short time. Twenty-five years ago, and before, it was thought to be of 

 very small value. A few millions were taken every year in Massachu- 

 setts Bay, Long Island Sound, and the bays of New Jersey. A small 

 portion of these were used for bait; a few barrels were occasionally 

 salted in Massachusetts to be exported to the West Indies. Large 

 quantities were plowed into the soil of the farms along the shores, stimu- 

 lating the crops for a time, but in the end filling the soil with oil, parch- 

 ing it, and making it unfit for tillage. Since that time manifold uses 

 have been discovered. As a bait-fish, this is found to excel all others. 

 For many years much the greater share of all our mackerel have been 

 caught by its aid, while our cod and halibut fleet use it, rather than 



* United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. | | Part 1. | | Report ( 



on the I Condition of the Sea Fisheries | of the | South Coast of New England | in | 



1871 and 1872. | By | Spencer F. Baird, | Commissioner, j | With 8uj)plementary 



papers. | | Washington : | Government Printing OfBce. | 1873. Bvo., pp.xlvii, 852, 



40 i)lateH, 2 maps. 



t Op. cit., pp. 228-235. i Op. cit., pp. 235-252. 



1 F 



