272 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [36] 



From the descriptions given the fish seen by the crews of the Eliza- 

 beth Ostle and the Avoumore were undoubtedly all Tile-fish ; at least 

 no others are mentioned, and it is probable that the " Nova Scotia man,"^ 

 spoken of as one of the crew of the Elizabeth Ostle, would have quickly 

 noticed the presence of cod or any of the other species of the Gadidce. 



But Captain Larsen, after speaking particularly of the Lopholatilus 

 and the Peristedium (for from his description these were the fish he 

 saw with few exceptions), says : " Besides these there were large, flat^ 

 brown-looking fishes and thousands of small fishes, shiny in color, 

 about a foot long." As to the species to which these last tw^o men- 

 tioned kinds belong it is useless to conjecture, and we must therefore 

 leave it as one of the unsolved problems of this most wonderful phe- 

 nomenon. 



14. — THEORIES ADVANCED AS TO THE CAUSE OF THE MORTALITY. 



Were these millions of fish dead, or were they only in a torpid con- 

 dition, with their vital functions temporarily suspended?* If dead, 

 what was the cause of this wholesale, this astounding destruction "? If 

 not dead, but only benumbed, to what shall we ascribe the phenome- 

 non "? These are the questions which most naturally arise in the mind 

 when studying the various phases of this singular appearance of mill- 

 ions of fish floating on the sea, and it is not at all strange that many 

 and varied theories have been advanced to account for the strange oc- 

 currence. From the very nature of the case we cannot arrive at any 

 definite conclusions as to the facts, and must therefore, for the present, 

 at least, content ourselves with conjecture. Nothing further, therefore^ 

 will be attempted here than to present the several theories which have 

 been advanced, and to discuss in as impartial a manner as possible the 

 probability of their correctness. 



The generally received opinion in regard to the floating fish was that 

 they were dead, but this w^as not the belief of all, as is shown by the 

 following letter published in the Cape Ann Advertiser of July 14, 1882^ 

 previously referred to, and with which was sent to the editors of that 

 paper a specimen of the Peristedium, one of the "small fish" alluded tO' 

 in the letter, and which I saw : 



" Messrs. Editors : 



" The large quantities of fish found floating last fall and winter between 

 Cape Hatteras and New York were reported as dead. I fell in with 

 many of both last fallt and this spring, and had the curiosity to examine 

 them, and found that they were not dead, but apparently blind, having 

 air bubbles inside of the outer covering of their eyes. On taking them 



* lu the account of the cruise of investigation in the smack Josie Reeves, which 

 is appended to this paper, it will be seen that there is strong presumptive evidence 

 that most if not all of the floating fish were dead, or finally died. 



t The allusion made here to fish having been found the previous fall is an evident 

 error, for no other statement to that effect has been received. 



