REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXXIX 



Mr. George F. Akers, of Nashville, Tenn., wrote on the 21st of May 

 that many shad were takeu during the year near Nashville. 



On the wOth of March a four-pound shad was caught at Wetumpka, 

 Ala., in the Coosa River, and on the 18th of April several shad were 

 taken at Eome, in George Creek, according to the report of Dr. George 

 A. Hampton. 



Specimens of the Ohio Eiver and Alabama shad were sent to the 

 National Museum for identification. 



A very decided increase in the catch of shad in the Roanoke River in 

 1878 is ascribed to the fact of the introduction of so many young fish in 

 previous years, as the result of the operations of the United States Fish 

 Commission on that river. 



It may here be remarked that the fishermen, at least on the Potomac 

 and in Albemarle Sound, distinguish what they call a May shad, a fish 

 coming in later than the ordinary shad, in Albemarle Sound appear- 

 ing from the middle to the end of May. These are said to be very 

 fat, with short, thick tails, and with the back more golden than blue. 

 Whether we are to estabhsh two species of shad, as has been done with 

 the herring, one comi)Osing an earlier run and another a later, has not 

 been shown for want of sufficient material. 

 Herring. — {Clupea harengus.) 



Experiments i)rosecuted at Gloucester before the eggs of the cod were 

 ripe showed satisfactorily that the sea herring could be multiplied arti- 

 ficially on a sufficiently large scale for economical purposes'. A large 

 run of the spawning fish came on the coast in October, and, for a few 

 days at least, ripe eggs could be had in any desired abundance. 



Mr. Clarke fitted up an extempore api)aratus by placing slides of glass 

 vertically in a long box, somewhat in the style of the Williamson api^a- 

 ratus, so that the same water was made to flow through a series of com- 

 partments. The glass plate was laid flat in shallow pans, and the eggs 

 dropped upon them, adhering tenaciously wherever they touched. A 

 portion of the milt being added, a small quantity of water was intro- 

 duced so as to dilute it, and by coming in contact with the eggs, pro- 

 duce the desired impregnation in the current of water. The eggs hatched 

 out rapidly, and a very considerable number of young were produced 

 and placed in Gloucester Harbor. 



Partial experiments, indicating the same general result, were made in 

 1877 at Noman's Land, by Mr. Vinal Edwards, of the United States 

 Fish Commission, and mentioned in detail in the report for the year 1877. 

 About the same time Dr. Meyer, of Kiel, made a very elaborate in- 

 vestigation upon the development of the herring and the means of 

 retarding it. He suggests that the result as published may be applied 

 to lengthening the hatching period of the egg of the American shad and 

 alewife, in connection with the effort to transmit these fish to Germany. 



It is proposed to test this question more fully during the coming year; 



