CHAPTER XL VIII 

 THE ECONOMIC BIOLOGY OF VERTEBRATES 



Vocabulary 



Isinglass, a kind of gelatin, not the substance in coal stove windows, 



which is mica. 



Appropriate, to take away for use (used as a verb). 

 Appropriate, suitable (used as an adjective.) 



Fishes. The chief value of fish is as food, both for other animals 

 and for man. Out of 12,000 known species, at least 5000 are valu- 

 able as human food. 



The annual catch of salmon, cod, halibut, mackerel, and herring, 

 amounts to many millions of dollars, while the shad, smelt, perch, 

 and bass are almost as valuable. The Pacific salmon alone are 

 worth about $15,000,000 per year and the Atlantic cod returns 

 about $20,000,000. In fact it was the cod returns in fisheries that 

 induced the settlement of New England and pictures of this cele- 

 brated fish may yet be seen in the state-house of Massachusetts, 

 on the bank notes of Nova Scotia and the postage stamps of 

 Newfoundland. The fish crop of Alaska in 1915 amounted to 

 three times the purchase cost of the whole territory. 



Fish are eaten fresh, smoked, salted, dried, pickled, and canned. 

 Despite these various ways of preparation we do not use them as 

 extensively as we should. 



The Government maintains departments of fisheries in thirty- 

 two states which regulate the times and methods of catching, 

 provides hatcheries for artificial raising of valuable kinds and dis- 

 tributes young fish to stock ponds and rivers, so that the supply 

 may not become exhausted. 



Another important use for fish is as fertilizer since they are 



480 



