242 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



of the Great Lakes, especially Lake Michigan, owing to the fatness of 

 the waste from chubs (IToj^'s white-fish) secured in great quantities 

 in tliat lake. These ostal)lislnnents are snuill, the necessary pots or 

 kettles, boxes, barrels, etc., not exceeding 1300 in value. The viscera 

 are usually saved by the fishermen in tiglit barrels furnished by the 

 oil men, wlio receive this refuse for carting it away; AvatxM- is added, 

 and the whole mass cooked in large oi)en pots or kettles for a length 

 of time ranging from three to six hours. As the oil accumulates at 

 the surface it is skimmed off and stored in suitable receptacles, the 

 solid matter being discarded as of no value. When a barrel or two 

 of oil has accumulated, it is reboiled and coarsely refined. 



There are 8 or 10 of these oil-producing plants on the shores of the 

 Great Lakes, and the total output prol)ably does not exceed 20,000 

 gallons, Avhereas the total possible is upward of 200,000 gallons. One 

 plant at Sheboygan, Wis., receiving the viscera from a catch of 296,365 

 pounds of blue-fin white-fish and chubs and of 110,260 pounds of trout 

 In 18!»i), produced 1,180 gallons of oil, which sold for 1301. 



Considerable oil exists in various j)arts of the body of sturgeon, 

 especially in the viscera and under the dorsal scutes or bosses. In 

 the sturgeon fisheries of Russia it is customary to extract this oil and 

 use it not only technically but also for culinary purposes and for food, 

 especially to soften caviar when it is somewhat dry. A few hundred 

 gallons of sturgeon oil are prepared in the United States each year, but 

 no special properties are attributed to it. It sells for about the same 

 price as menhaden oil and is used for similar purposes. As a general 

 rule, owing to its preparation from fresh materials, this oil is clear 

 and l)]'ight and of pleasant odor and flavor. 



MISCELLANEOUS OILS. 



Alligator oil is much used among the hunters and swampers of the 

 Gulf States. It is employed as a lubricant, an illuminant, for softening 

 leather, and in the treatment of rheumatism, scrofula, etc. Although 

 this oil is rarely met with in commerce, there are probably few profes- 

 sional alligator hunters who do not lay in a supply each season. About 

 fifteen years ago alligator oil was introduced in France for leather- 

 curiying and met with much favor, owing to its imparting greater 

 weight to the leather than whale, seal, or cod oils. It was received 

 from Mexico and Central America and sold in France at about one 

 franc per kilogram, e(|uivalent to about 70 cents per gallon. It is 

 described as of a reddish color, of 0.!)28 specific gravity, and to con- 

 sist chiefly of 60 per cent of olein, 32 per cent of margarine and stearin, 

 11 per cent of free oleic acid, and 0.02 of iodine." 



In many parts of the world oil is extracted from various species of 

 turtle or terrapin and used for medicinal or technical purposes. In 

 ^he Chesapeake region certain remedial qualities are supposed to exist 

 in the oil of the celebrated diamond-back terrapin. It has been 



(> See Oil, Paint, and Drug Reix>x'ter, 1889, June 15, p. 55. 



