30 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



some other fields of science. It was wliat are sometimes 

 denominated as the practical or applied aspects of this 

 science that have been particularly emphasized and devel- 

 oped. Specific examples of this may be taken from various 

 parts of the field. 



Thus, the need of conserving and even increasing as 

 largely as possible the food supplies of the nation led to 

 research inquiry into those influences which tend to reduce 

 the numbers of food animals and thus def>lete the food sup- 

 ply. A study of the national bill-of-fare, as shown by the 

 statistics of commerce in food articles, indicated at once 

 that the population of the central area of the United States 

 consumed on the average a very much smaller supply of 

 fish as food than was utilized by most other countries in 

 the world. Further inquiry into the situation indicated 

 the presence of numbers of different kinds of fish that were 

 utilized only exceptionally, if at all, as human food. Ex- 

 perimental data furnish in various ways the evidence that 

 among these types of fish which were neglected or scorned 

 were various sorts that possessed qualities of flesh and 

 flavor such as to make them admirable articles of food. 

 It appeared in the examination of the situation that pr'> 

 judices of one type or another interfered with the use of 

 these fish, and a campaign of publicity which utilized 

 zoological as well as psychological influences resulted in 

 largely increased consumption of types of flsh that were 

 previously utilized as well as created a demand for species 

 that had never been included in the human bill-of-fare. 



Improvements in methods of catching, preserving, dis- 

 tributing, marketing, and preparing various flsh foods 

 were included in this campaign, and the demand for better 

 knowledge of the species of flsh, of their distribution and 

 habits made demands upon zoological investigators 

 familiar with this group that could be met in part only by 

 examination and critique of existing data and demanded 

 as well renewed study of the fish and their distribution, 

 food, environment and habits. 



It is evident that the same general problem demanded a 

 reconsideration and improvement of the methods which 

 were in vogue for maintaining and increasing the number 

 of flsh. As a result hatchery methods, the plans for 

 obtaining supplies of flsh eggs and for planting them under 

 favorable conditions, the possibility of flnding unutilized 



