Ivi EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER- OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



valued in the materia medica ; the fish itself, and particularl.y its oil, 

 being- considered very efficacious in the treatment of consumption. 

 Indeed, all the virtues which are usually ascribed to cod-liver oil are 

 possessed, according to the Chinese, by shad-oil, and, in the opinion of 

 Dr. MacGowan, there is a good deal of foundation for this impression. 



The Yangtze Kiang, in which the shad is most abundant, is the larg- 

 est river in China, having a length, as estimated, of 3,314 miles ; and 

 the shad are said to ascend almost to its source. This is a fact of very 

 great importance in connection with the enterprise of stocking the 

 Mississippi River and its tributaries with shad, since the distance from 

 its mouth to the attainable waters of all the tributaries, excepting the 

 Upper Missouri, is much less than that traversed by the shad of China* 

 Indeed, a distance of about 1,500 miles from the mouth of the Missis- 

 sippi would probably cover the extreme limit which the shad could pro- 

 fitably reach. 



It is proper to state that while in the lower part of Yang-tze-Kiang 

 the- shad is highly valued as food, when it reaches the upper por- 

 tions it is called " pestilence fish," from its alleged deleterious prop- 

 , erties. This may be owing to the very extended journey which the 

 fish makes in nearly the sam.e latitude, (about 30° N,,) involving a 

 great amount of exhaustion and consequent emaciation, while, of 

 course, the temperature of the water becomes more and more elevated 

 with the advance of the season. The case is quite different with the 

 Mississippi River and most of the shad-producing rivers of tlie Atlantic 

 coast, the direction of which is more nearly north and south, their 

 sources being in a considerably higher latitude than their mouths, so 

 that the fish entering them at a certain season, and passing slowly up, 

 would about keep pace with the progress of the season, and not be sub- 

 jected to extreme heat until after the actual spawning-period had 

 passed, wheu, as is well known, all fishes are more or less unfit for 

 food.* 



According to Dr. Day, India jDossesses a migratory shad, which ascends 

 the rivers for breeding purposes, like the American species in the United 

 States. This is known as the Alosa palasah, and in Madras is called the 

 sable-fish. These appear to ascend the rivers at a different season 

 from our own fish, and generally to breed at the commencement of or 

 during the monsoon. The main body of the shad begins to ascend 

 the Kistna River about the middle of October, and disappears by 

 April. In the Godaveri they ascend earlier, being most abundant from 



* Altbough not bearing on this subject, it may bo of interest to state that in the arti- 

 cle from which we derive these facts, Dr. MacGowau informs us that the different 

 species of sea-Avecds, especially of a Laminaria, are considered to be efficacious in goitre, 

 swellings of a scrofulous character, and cutaneous eruptions, those richest in iodine 

 being valued most. There is a popular belief in regions where mineral coal is 

 employed for fuel, that sea-weed is an indispensable corrective against the noxious fumes 

 of the coal-fire. (Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, VII, 

 1873, 235.) 



