210 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



With the decay of Magdalen herring supply the western 

 smoke-houses went out of business, and the industry was 

 carried on in the Passamaquoddy region, where the supply 

 of herring is more abundant and assured. 



The name sardine (fish of Sardinia) is applied to a 

 number of species of the Clupeidae family, of which there 

 are some sixty kinds. The true sardine of the Mediter- 

 ranean and nearby waters is the pomoltibus or Clupea Pil- 

 chardus, but the name now applies also to sprats, pilchards, 

 and to several varieties of small herring, when packed in 

 oil and enclosed in tin boxes. 



The idea of packing small fish in oil under the name of 

 sardines originated in France as early as 1850. The busi- 

 ness increased enormously during the first decade of its 

 existence and was taken up by other countries, Spain, 

 Portugal, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Japan. 

 It was not until about 1865 that Americans learned that 

 small fish, differing from the pilchard of France, were being 

 packed by the different countries as sardines. 1 



The pioneer of the sardine industry in the United States 

 was Mr. George Burnham, of Portland, who thus describes 

 his experiences in investigating the sardine industry in 

 Europe : 



"The idea of using the small herring as a substitute for 

 sardines occurred to the writer in 1865. It was well-known 

 to me that myriads of small herring were annually caught 

 at Eastport, Maine. These were too small to use for smok- 

 ing or pickling, and I thought they might be used with 

 profit as a substitute (for sardines), and if properly pre- 

 pared they would be equally good." 2 



1 Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics, State of Maine, Ke- 

 port for 1895, p. 142. 



2 Goode, Sec. V, Vol. I, pp. 489-490. 



