THE SEA A FOOD RESERVOIR MOORE. 597 



expanding to the air. These little plants grow and swell with added 

 substance, and each eventually cleaves in two and the progeny them- 

 selves divide in turn until vast numbers are produced. 



The coastal waters in which this occurs are the feeding grounds of 

 the menhaden, whose food consists solely of minute aquatic organ- 

 isms which it strains from the water at and near the surface. The 

 throat of the menhaden is lined with a series of fine filaments at- 

 tached to the gill arches like the barbs of a feather to the side of the 

 quill, and these overlap one another so as to make a beautifully fine 

 screen through which the water taken into the mouth must pass 

 before it can gain exit through the gill openings. Thus equipped, the 

 fish swims open-mouthed, screening out of the water and swallowing 

 the minute organisms, many of which are the little plants previously 

 mentioned, and the others, almost equally small animals which feed 

 on those plants. 



Although the menhaden is a relative of the shad and the herring, 

 and has excellent food qualities of its own, it is not generally eaten, 

 possibly because it has long been known as a source of oil and ferti- 

 lizer. It is extremely abundant, moving in large schools which are 

 preyed on by many of the most prized of our food fishes, and when 

 we eat one of them we bring back to the land something with which 

 the land parted at the beginning of the cycle. If we eat the men- 

 haden itself this return is accompanied with the utmost directness 

 and economy. 



The sea, therefore, is a great conservator, receiving and storing, 

 and making available for man's use in another form, mucli matter 

 which at first sight seems irretrievably lost. It is for man to deter- 

 mine whether he will use this store, particularly at a time when defi- 

 ciencies are appearing in the supply of what he is accustomed to use, 



it is the general verdict of those versed in the science of dietetics 

 and home economics that the consumption of fish in American homes 

 is far below what it should be. The composition of fish is essentially 

 the same as that of meats and poultry. Pound for pound, dressed 

 fish of all kinds are approximately as rich in protein as beef, mutton, 

 and chicken. The quantity of fats varies in the different kinds and 

 with the season, but in general it is less than is contained in meats. 

 The protein, however, is the important constituent, as there is no sub- 

 stitute for it in the diet, while fats can be supplied from other and 

 cheaper sources, and to some extent be replaced by starches and 

 sugars. 



In the diet of the average family in the United States, meats and 

 poultry furnish many times as much of the protein as is supplied 

 by fish, notwithstanding that the latter affords it at a lower cost if 

 reasonable judgment be displayed in marketing. 



65133°— SM 1917 39 



