Italy. 279 



the Adriatic, remarkable for the shape of their hull and their strange sails coloured in brown 

 or deep red and covered with quaint figures "and strange devices ; next come the paranze or 

 paranzelle of the Mediterranean, far less showy and characteristic. These boats generally work 

 in pairs and mostly use trawling nets. 3. Fishing Implements. The number and variety of 

 these is very great and rendered apparently more so on account of the different terms used for 

 the same implement in different parts of the country, so much so that at one of the general 

 meetings of the Fisheries Committee the writer proposed a resolution, which was passed, desiring 

 Government to have a synonymical and descriptive list collected and published to facilitate the 

 application of legislative measures. The nets used are of many kinds, but may be classed in 

 two principal divisions, viz. standing and trawling nets (reti da posta and reti da strascico). 

 It is quite out of the question that I should here enter into a concise description even of the 

 principal varieties. I can merely state their names. To the first series belong the following : 

 Manaida, Manaidozza, Signorella, Vollaro, Mugginara, Tramaglio, each having special 

 varieties according to the species of fish for whose capture they are used : thus there is a 

 Manaida for anchovy, another for sardine, a third for Atherina, a fourth for Pelamid, and a 

 fifth, called Squadrara, for small sharks and angel fish (Rhino). Besides, the special nets which 

 form the Tonnare belong to this division. Trawling-nets are much used and of many 

 varieties. I may mention as more generally in use the following: Tartana, Tartanone, 

 Tratta, Scidbica, Sciabichella, Bragagna, Coccia, Rezzuola, Mazzonara, Agugliara ; they prin- 

 cipally differ in size and in the manner they are worked. Some are drawn by hand in shore, 

 others by a single boat, others by two boats sailing. To this division may be added the 

 Bilancia, Retequadra, and Giacchio or throwing net. Lines and hooks are also much in use, 

 and often very complex concerns, having different names according to the number of hooks, their 

 size, &c. ; the best known go by the names of Filaccioni, used along the coast, and Palamiti or 

 Palangrese, used in deep-sea fisheries. Traps of different sorts are used for large Crustacea, 

 especially lobsters, and go under the generic term of Nasse. Harpoons (Fiocine) of different 

 shapes are also in use, especially for capturing the sword-fish, chrysophrys, &c., and in the 

 curious nocturnal Zampadara-fishery. Special implements are employed for the capture of 

 mollusca and shellfish and for dredging precious coral. Illegal modes of capturing fish are 

 besides but too often resorted to : thus dynamite (torpedini), cocculus, and the mela terragua 

 (Cyclamen), used in the capture of rock-loving fish, with the Chiusarana along the Neapo- 

 litan coasts. 4. Marine Animals. These will be classed systematically, a. Seals and Whales. 

 These do not afford any special fishery in the Italian Seas. The Mediterranean seal (Pela 

 gius monachus), found also along the S.E. shores of the Adriatic, is by no means common and 

 rarely captured ; they are mostly taken alive with nets placed at the entrance of the grottoes 

 they are known to frequent, and sold to showmen, who exhibit them alive. True whales are 

 of very rare occurrence, only one authentic capture of the all but extinct Basque whale 

 (Balxna Uscayensis) is on record, and took place at Taranto on the 9th of February, 1877 ; one 

 instance of the capture of Balsenoptera rostrata is also known, near Villafranca, in February, 

 1878. Karely, too, has the fin-backed whale (B. musculus) been caught or stranded. Sperm- 

 whales (Physeter macrocephalus') have occurred now and then in both seas, and occasional 

 specimens of Ziphius cavirostris, Orca gladiator, Pseudorca(ty, Grampus griseus and Glolicephalus 

 melas have been taken. The common cetaceans in the Italian seas are dolphins (DelpJiinus 

 tursio and D. delphis), who often cause great damage to fishermen by destroying their nets, so 

 much so that those of the Ligurian coast lately petitioned Government that a prize might be 

 awarded for the capture of dolphins ; these are not sought for, although their flesh is eaten 

 along the Adriatic, but near Palermo there is an establishment where they are boiled down 

 for oil, together with the heads of thunnies and other refuse of that fishery, b. Turtles. One 

 species alone may be called common, it is the Thalassochelys corticata, sold as coarse food in 

 the markets of Souhern Italy ; two other species, Chelone viridis and Sphargis coriacea occur, 

 but are extreme rarities, c. Fish. Of the 460 species known to inhabit the Mediterranean and 

 Adriatic Seas, most are sought for by fishermen and used as food ; I need only except : Cen- 

 triscus, Argyropelecus, Coccia, Maurolicus, Gonostoma, Chauliodus, Scopelus, all Lophobranchs, 

 Orthagoriscus and Branchiostoma, as unfit for human food ; the Elasmobranchs are all eaten, 

 even the larger species of sharks which are sent to inland markets, and cut up, sell well. As 

 I before remarked, the Italian seas do not afford many cases of large and important special 



