THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 85 
in the development of a hump in the nape of the neck or in the back of 
the male, as in the sea bass. | . 
A change of color is also a very common feature, the male generally 
assuming brilliant tints during the brief season which are not appre- 
ciable at other times. 
It is difficult to say how long fish can maintain their ability of propa- 
gation or reproduction, some forms, in all probability, being more per- 
sistent in this respect than others. 
In conclusion, a volume could readily be written in regard to the pe- 
culiarities of habit, condition, and relationship of fishes, but as the 
present essay is intended more particularly as an illustration of the 
fisheries of the North Atlantic, I shall now bring this portion of my 
subject to a conclusion, and proceed to a more important division, 
that of the methods, processes, and results of the fisheries themselves. 
IL—METHODS OF CAPTURE. 
A.—THE FISHING GROUNDS. 
In the Western Atlantic there is a remarkable chain of submarine 
elevations situated between the Gulf Stream and the east coast of 
North America, and extending from the vicinity of Cape Cod to a 
point far east of Newfoundland, a distance of more than 1,100 miles. 
Many of these elevations are of large extent, and, together with others 
of a similar character but comparatively smaller size that are nearer 
the land, lying inside of the main range, they constitute what are 
known as the “banks” or the great fishing-grounds for cod (that is, 
the various species of the Gadide, of which the cod, Gadus morrhua, is 
by far the most abundant) and halibut. 
Tor the better understanding of the relative position of the banks, 
their importance, W&e., the description will begin with the southwestern 
grounds and proceed to the north and east. 
GEORGE’S BANK. 
George’s Bank is by far the largest and most important fishing- 
ground near the coast of the United States, and is second to none in 
the Western Atlantic except the Grand Bank of Newfoundland. It 
lies to the eastward of Cape Cod and Nantucket Shoals, and is seem- 
ingly an extension of the latter, since the water is no deeper between 
the southern part of the shoals and the western part of the bank than 
in many places onit. As laid down on the charts the southern limit is 
in 46° 40’ N. latitude, although 10 miles south of that the depth of 
water does not exceed 44 fathoms, and therefore the southern boundary 
may be placed at 40° 30/ and the northern at 42° 05’ N. latitude. The 
eastern part is in 66° 27’ and the western in 69° 00’ W. longitude, mak- 
ing the greatest length about 130 miles from the northeast to the south- 
west extremity. and the greatest width 95 miles nerth and south. The 
