[37] HISTORY OF THE TILE-FISH. 273 



on board and laying them on deck in the warm sun, four out of five par- 

 tially recovered and moved. Among those seen last year were hake, 

 and I have heard of cod being seen. Some of the small fish had so 

 much life that they would dart away a few feet on being disturbed. 

 One of the number I secured, which I have preserved and forward to 

 you. Please interest yourselves in finding out the name and class it 

 belongs to and let me know. The color of the fish when taken was red. 

 " Yours, very truly, 



"I. F. MACOMBEE, 



" Schooner Alice Tarlton.''^* 



Captain Coney, of the brig Rachel Coney, says that most of the float- 

 ing fish he saw were not dead, but apparently benumbed or " loggy," as 

 he expresses it. He thought their condition was owing, perhaps, to a 

 lack of food, for he found nothing whatever in the stomachs of a dozen 

 or more of the fish which he opened. 



Captain McLain, of the schooner Herald of the Morning, says that 

 the Tile-fish that he secured, and which was the only one he saw, was 

 apparently alive when taken from the water, and retained its muscular 

 activity in a most wonderful manner for quite three hours, so that, even 

 after being eviscerated and placed on ice, the involuntary action of the 

 muscles caused it to move to such an extent that it fell out of the pen 

 onto the ice-house floor. 



Other observers noticed that at least some of the fish had the api)ear- 

 ance of being alive, though as previously stated, the general opinion 

 seems to have been that the majority were dead. Undoubtedly this last- 

 mentioned opinion was correct, and it seems highly i^robable that few 

 indeed of these millions of floating fish ever regained sufficient strength 

 to enable them to return to their usual haunts, even supposing they 

 were not all dead when seen. 



But whether the fish were dead or only temporarily disabled, their 

 appearance upon the surface of the water in such extraordinary num- 

 bers is unquestionably due to some special cause, and probably only 



* The mention of " air bubbles inside of the outer covering of their eyes" is a feat- 

 ure worthy of notice iu this connection, since a similar appearance is often noticea- 

 ble in some of the Gadidoe, especially the cusk (Brosmius americanus) when caught on 

 a trawl. Though the fish are rarely dead when they come to the surface of the water, 

 their eyes seem forced nearly out of their heads and are filled with air bubbles, 

 while their stomachs are usually turned inside out and distended to their utmost ex- 

 tent with air. The fish are said to be "poke blown," and, though still retaining 

 considerable activity and muscular motion, it is extremely doubtful if they are ever 

 able to regain sufficient strength to enable them to return to their normal condition. 

 I deem this all the more improbable, since I have often seen fish drifting about on 

 the surface of the sea which had broken loose from a trawl, and which, notwithstand- 

 ing repeated exertions and flappings of their tails were totally unable to recover 

 themselves sufficiently to get underneath the water, or to prevent themselves from 

 floating belly up. Undoubtedly, in nearly all such cases, the fish, if still "lively" 

 when they first came up, have evidently died because of the unnatural position in 

 which they were compelled to remain. 

 S. Mis. 46 18 



