140 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



conclusiou that a new source of food is within reach, which at no distant 

 day may contribute materially to human welfare." 



Mr. Goodale exhibited specimeus of the extract of fish at the Inter- 

 national Exhibition in Philadelphia. 



The writer has had an opportunity of testing the qualities of the pre',»- 

 aratiou and can testify to its agreeable flavor and manifestly nutritive 

 properties. Two tablespoon fuls of the jelly dissolved in hot water yield 

 a large dish of savory soup, most closely resembling the potage consomme 

 of the French cooks. 



Professor S. W. Johnson, of Yale College, wrote to Mr. Goodale : " I can- 

 not doubt that the fish extract is entirely new, and as food or stimulant 

 is equal to beef extract in all respects (except possibly in the matter of 

 iron*), and if put into the market in the proper shape would shortly 

 share the patronage now so largely bestowed on beef extract, &c." And 

 again : " I find your extract of fish both by actual use and by chemical 

 analysis in all respects equal to the best Liebig's extract of beef. 



Mr. Frederick Law 01mstead,of New York, wrote: "I have made a 

 trial of your extract and find it more palatable than any beef extract 1 

 have used. It is not at all fishy, but I think it has a slight distinctive 

 agreeable flavor which is also found in rich fish gravy. I am strongly 

 disposed to regard it as a very important invention." 



The extract of fish has also been tested in hospitals in Portland, Me., 

 and in New York City. Concerning the latter. Professor Johnson may 

 again be quoted: "The fish extract was tried in this hospital. The 

 physicians consider it in no way inferior to Liebig's. It was not sus- 

 pected by nurses or patients to be anything else." 



Possible yield of ^^ extract of Jish.^^ 



193. Mr. Goodale estimates that the fish used by the factories in the 

 towns of Bristol and Boothbay, Me., in 1873, 1874, and 1875, allowing 

 the product to equal one-fifth of the weight of the live fish, would have 

 yielded in either year upwards of a million of pounds, or five hundred 

 tons of extract of fish. Carrying out the same calculation for the entire 

 catch of the Atlantic States the potential yield of the menhaden fisher- 

 ies would exceed ten millions of pounds. 



37. — Menhaden as food for animals. 

 Menhaden scrap as food for cattle and poultry. 



194. At a meeting of the "Maine Board of Agriculture and Farmer's 

 Convention " at Wiscasset, Mr. Wasson gave an interesting account 



* With regard to Professor Johnson's suggestion of possible difference In contents of 

 iron, I cannot speak confidently, but my impreesiou is that thiselernent occurs mainly 

 if not wholly in the blood corpuscles; that these are entangled in the albuminous 

 constituent, as it coagulates in boiling and are removed In the serum which rises .lud 

 is taken off, consequently that iron would not be found in appreciable quautit; in 

 extract made from either beef or fish, — S. L. Goodale. 



Professor Johnson's later analyses seem to confirm the impression of Mr. Goodale. 



