AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 459 



nostrils are double, and eyes exceedingly prominent. It has a 

 long, fuur-sided tail, blunt at the end, and is devoid of fins, with 

 a budy entirely made up of segments, protuberant and heptangu- 

 lar; the jaws are straight. When swimming, the hippocampus 

 maintains a perfectly vertical position. It uses its tail to hold on 

 to anything it may find in the water, and thus fixed, it darts at 

 its prey and seldom fails to secure it. 



The Mossbonker {Jlosa Menhaden). — I am endeavoring to breed 

 this bony, hard-headed fish, for manure. The top of his head is 

 green, and sides silvery white; he is immediately recognised by 

 a dark spot on tlie shoulders, just behind the opercles, and there 

 is a transparent space behind the eyes that you may look through 

 and see any opake substance on the other side. Scales cover the 

 fish in such a manner as to present the appearance of a sheath, 

 and what is more singular still, the fins are enveloped with them. 

 The stomach is covered inside by a verv black substance, and the 

 intestines are convoluted. The meat may be eaten; it is exces- 

 sively dry, and filled with bones, without possessing the least flavor, 

 and seems intended by the Creator as a manure, fur which pur- 

 pose it is the. most valuable fish that swims, and is one of the 

 chief sources of wealth to the inhabitants of Long Island. For 

 corn, they place three or four in a hill; fur wheat, cover the field 

 with them and plow them under; for grass, decompose them in 

 the compost heap. 



Its value, in my estimation, has a drawbaci:, that leads me to 

 think I never will be able to use it as an enricher, and that is its 

 unhealthy and abominable smell, which may be percieved, if my 

 olfactory nerves are true, the moment you reach the fish district; 

 and I believe it to be the originator of fevers and other diseases 

 that are knowai to exist in the neighborhood of those using them 

 in the fall of the year. 



From the 1st to the 10th of June, shoals covering immense areas 

 appear near the shore of Long Island, with their heads partially 

 above the surface of the water, thus stupidly indicating their 

 whereabouts. One thousand fish are considered a wagon-load, 

 worth about two dollars, and eighty-six wagou-luads have been 

 taken at a single haul of the nets. 



The inhabitants of Massachusetts pack and export immense 



