THE FOOD FISHES OF ALASKA. 315 
cated veterinary surgeon are important. No definite directions for treat- 
ment can be given. 
There are several other forms of disease in the foot, but they are 
either so slight, or so rare, or so little amenable to treatment, that we 
will not cumber this article with them. In closing, we advise that in all 
serious or doubtful cases of lameness an educated veterinary surgeon 
be called. If such a one is not obtainable, the advice of an educated 
physician may aid in determining the locality and cause of disease. 
This known, treat the case according to the suggestions of this article. 
THE FOOD FISHES OF ALASKA. 
Though not generally appreciated, the importance of the Alaska fish- 
eries to the population of our western coast can hardly be overestimated. 
At the present time, however, the American fisheries upon the coast of 
Alaska are almost exclusively devoted to the capture ofthe cod. In the 
following paper we give a résumé of the growth and condition of that 
fishery, and also some account of the other marine and of the fresh- 
water fish of the Territory, the periods when they appear, the methods 
of capture, and the extent to which they may be made available by our 
American fishermen, either as bait or for home consumption. For con- 
venience in reference, they will be divided into two classes, marine and 
fresh-water fishes, and the details of the fisheries will be given in gen- 
eral under the respective heads. To assist the fishermen and others in 
their intercourse with the inhabitants of the Territory, the native and 
Russian names of the several species are given, whenever known, as 
well as the English and scientific names. The range of the several 
kinds in these waters is also given, as far as possible, and the seasons 
during which they especially abound. Few observations having been 
made by competent men upon these points, the information here recorded 
is necessarily very far from complete. When we recollect that a popu- 
lation of thirty thousand souls has from time immemorial sustained 
itself chiefly on the product of the fresh-water fisheries, and that, with 
all the prodigality and want of forethought characteristic of aborigines, 
few ever suffer with hunger, we may more adequately recognize the 
abundance of the finny tribes. 
MARINE FISHES. 
The principal marine fishes of Alaska are the cod, halibut, herring, 
ulikon, smelt, mullet, and tom-cod. 
Cop.—Gadus macrocephalus, Tilesius; Russian, Treska. Gadus, Sp., 
“small cod” of the fishermen. 
Cod, in the North Pacific, as in the North Atlantic, are the most 
important of the marine fishes from a numerical as well as an eco- 
nomical point of view. They form the staple of the Alaska fisheries 
at present. They have from time immemorial formed one of the staple 
articies of food upon which the littoral inhabitants of the Territory 
rely. Their distribution is extensive, ranging from the Straits of Faca 
to the ice-line of Bering Sea, in latitude 59° north. This line appears 
to be their northern boundary, although itis possible that stragglers 
