140 Americayi Fisheries Society 



clams will purchase more than four times as much ener- 

 gy. A similar comparison with oysters shows that the 

 amount of energy supplied by mussels is ten times as 

 great while with lobsters it is nearly twenty times as 

 much. Not only is this shellfish an abundant and eco- 

 nomical food, but it is tender, of fine flavor, and it has 

 been shown to be as digestible as steamed beef. A 

 French writer has expressed its food qualities by the 

 following ratio: "Mussels are to oysters as potatoes are 

 to truffles." In other words mussels are a substantial, 

 economical food, not a luxury. 



The conclusion to be drawn from all the evidence ob- 

 tainable is that the sea mussel is not only as palatable as 

 the oyster, but is the cheapest and most nutritious shell- 

 fish which can be placed on the market. 



Efforts to induce the American people to eat mussels 

 are now being made by several firms which are meeting 

 with varying success. A packing company in Maine 

 put samples of the canned and pickled shellfish on sale 

 in a number of the New England cities, but although at- 

 tractively put up in glass jars they were undersized, of 

 poor quality, and had evidently been sterilized at too high 

 temperature, which resulted in a decomposition of the 

 protein into compounds which gave the product a dis- 

 agreeable flavor. The project naturally met with poor 

 success and no further attempt to put goods on the mar- 

 ket was made during the past year. 



One of our largest oyster companies has also taken 

 an interest in the commercial possibilities of this mollusk. 

 They have put out splendid samples of it in the form of 

 pickled mussels, deviled rmissels and mussel cocktail such 

 as you see here on exhibition. The materials used are of 

 finest quality and they are put up in a most attractive 

 manner. If the goods taste as well as they look I predict 

 a bright future for them. The president of the concern, 

 however, speaks of them in a pessimistic tone. The com- 

 pany has been at considerable expense to get out these 

 samples, but the result has been nothing more than fa- 

 vorable reports as to their quality and flavor; no orders 



