HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 285 



up Oil the fin, aud very minute ones distributed ulmost to the tip. Ab- 

 domen covered internally with a black pigment. Intestines long and 

 convoluted; ca3ca numerous, attached to a stout muscular stomach, lined 

 with a white rugose membrane, covered with numerous papillas. Air- 

 bladder simple. 



Color. — Summit of the head and back greenish; silvery on the sides. 

 In the plates, more of a yellow hue is given to this fish than belongs to 

 him. A dark brown spot on the shoulders, behind the opereles. Irides 

 yellow. A space anterior to the eyes so translucent as to permit opaque 

 objects to be seen through on the other side. 



Length 8.0-14.0. 



Fin-rays, D. 20; P. IG; Y.6; A. 22; C. 20|. 



This fish is known under the various names of bony-fish, hard-head, 

 mossbonkers (or, as it is pronounced by our Dutch inhabitants, morse- 

 bonkers), panhagen, and menhaden ; the last being the name given by 

 the Manhattans, and j)anhagen (pronounced panhangen) the Narragan- 

 sett epithet. At the east end of the island, they are called skippangs, 

 or bunkers. Although seldom eaten, as it is dry, without flavor, and 

 full of bones, yet it is one of the most valuable fish found within our 

 waters. Its use as a manure is well known in the counties of Suffolk, 

 Kings, and Queens, where it is a source of great wealth to the farmer 

 who lives upon the sea-coast. They are used in various ways: for Indian 

 corn, two or three are thrown on a hill ; for wheat, they are thrown 

 broadcast on the field, and plowed under ; although it is not uncom- 

 mon to put them in layers alternately with common mold, and when 

 decomposed spread it like any other compost. Its effects in renovating 

 old grass-fields, wh^n spread over with these fish at the rate of about 

 two thousand to the acre, are very remarkable. Its value, however, as 

 a manure has one drawback in the abominable and unhealthy stench 

 which poisons the whole country, and, according to the testimony of some 

 medical writers, lays the foundation of dysenteries aud autumnal fevers. 

 They appear on the shores of Long Island about the beginning of June, 

 in immense schools ; and as they frequently swim with a part of the 

 head above or near the surface of the water, they are readily seen and 

 captured. They are commonly sold on the spot at the rate of $2 the 

 wagon-load, containing about a thousand fish. The largest haul I re- 

 member to have heard of was through the surf at Bridgehampton, at 

 the east end of the island. Eighty-four wagon loads, or, in other words, 

 84,000 of these fish were taken at a single haul. On the coast of Massa- 

 chusetts they are used as bait for mackerel, cod, and halibut; and many 

 are packed away for exportation to the West Indies. According to Dr. 

 Storer, in 1836, 1,488 barrels were thus salted down for exportation. 

 I am not aware that its geographical limits pass beyond the coast of 

 New Hampshire on one side, and Chesapeake Bay on the other. 



