X INTRODUCTION. 



'' The returns from those engaged in the business for 1878 is also ap- 

 pended, showing an increase of products encouraging to a vigorous prose- 

 cution of the enterprise, viz. : 



1878. 



Men employed on vessels fishing 386 



Vessels employed fishing 78 



Men employed on shore 201 



Fish taken 118,309,300 



Gallons of oil made 234,168 



Tons of guano 10,832 



" This industry is yet in its infancy, and the best means of handHng the 

 product of the fisheries of the rivers and bays of the State may not yet be 

 fully understood, but with the ingenuity and energy of the fishermen and 

 patronage of the farmers in the liberal use of the fertilizers made, and the 

 protection of the Legislature we have no doubt that ultimately the enter- 

 prise and capital employed in this business will realize satisfactory results. " 



The much-vexed problem of the spawning habits of the menhaden lias 

 been advanced a step nearer to solution by Mr. D. T. Church, who sends to 

 the Smithsonian Institution, November Oth, a number of specimens of 

 large menhaden, taken from a large school which appeared at the mouth 

 of Narragansett Bay, November 1st. These fish had the ovaries nearly 

 ripe, and probably would have spawned within a month. This is a very 

 satisfactory corroboration of the views supported on pages 95-100. 



Col. M. McDonald sends me four menhaden caught by him in gill-nets 

 in Hampton Creek, Va., November 27th, one of which was full of nearly 

 ripe eggs. Mr. d'Homergue states that the November fish at Barren Island 

 are full of sjiawn. 



Another vei*y important result obtained by the study of these fish, is 

 the first accurate approximation to an idea of the fecundity of this species. 

 I wish to cancel the estimate of the number of eggs in the ovary of a men- 

 haden on page 90. The particles counted at that time must have been 

 agglomerations of eggs, so closely united in the immature ovary as to be 

 incapable of proper separation. The eggs in the fish sent by Mr. Church 

 are very much more minute than the first, and there cannot be less than 

 150,000, a number far exceeding the highest estimates for shad and her- 

 ring, and indicating that the menhaden must be ranked among the most 

 prolific of fishes. 



The attempt of the Maine Legislature to regulate the fishery in that State 

 has been of little moment, owing to the unexpected absence of the men- 

 haden from that region. This movement has met with much opposition 

 on the part of the oil and guano manufacturers. It is to be hoped that the 

 constitutionality of the law will be tested in the courts. 



G. BROWN GOODE. 



Smithsonian Institution, ) 



Washington, D. C, Dec. 1, 1879. f 



