150 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 265. 



was about 43,600,000 cans, one does not wonder 

 that the streams of Alaska are becoming de- 

 pleted. This depletion, already serious, is 

 caused, not by over-fishing alone, but by ' bar- 

 ricading,' a process whereby the fish are actually 

 prevented from ascending the streams to spawn, 

 and are compelled to remain practically im- 

 pounded in the lower waters, awaiting the 

 pleasure of the packers. Although barricading 

 is punishable bj' heavy fine and imprisonment, 

 the laws are not enforced, and an industry now 

 yielding $3,000,000 annually is threatened with 

 ultimate extinction. 



Dr. Hugh M. Smith, in charge of the scien- 

 tific work of the Commission, and Mr. Barton 

 A. Bean contribute a paper on ' The Fishes of the 

 District of Columbia.' This and similar faun- 

 istic papers that the authors have published else- 

 where have proved of great convenience to ich- 

 thyologists and local naturalists, and will be of 

 no little assistance to students of geographical 

 distribution. A second paper by Dr. Smith is on 

 ' The Southern Spring Mackerel Fishery of the 

 United States.' The paper gives an account of 

 the history and importance of this fishery. It 

 reviews the reasons for the prohibition of the 

 fishery by Congress, in 1888 ; it gives an account 

 of the fishery subsequent to the five years of 

 closure, that is, since 1892 ; and considers cer- 

 tain questions that are suggested by the facts 

 connected with this remarkable, and in many 

 ways exceptional, action of Congress. It is to 

 be regretted that the spring mackerel fishery, 

 since the termination of the closed period, shows 

 no improvement ; the catches of the last seven 

 seasons have not paid for the expense of equip- 

 ping the vessels. 



The article on ' The Mussel Fishery and Pearl- 

 Button Industry of the Mississippi River,' by Dr. 

 Smith, contains a description of the mussels 

 used in button-making ; a history of the mussel 

 fishery, which has developed into an important 

 industry during the present decade, nearly four 

 thousand tons of shells having been collected 

 by the fishermen of the Mississippi River in 

 1898 ; and a statistical review of the button in- 

 dustry, since the time of its establishment in 

 Muscatine, Iowa, in 1891. The article concludes 

 with certain timely recommendations, which, if 

 early adopted by the States concerned, will 



prevent the destruction of the industry, now 

 threatened by improvidence and avarice. 



The eighth article, by Professor C.J. Herrick, 

 is on the ' Peripheral Nervous System of the 

 Bony Fishes.' It is based upon a study of the 

 silverside, and emanates from the biological 

 laboratory of Woods Hole. Since this paper 

 was issued in the form of a reprint. Professor 

 Herrick' s magnificent monograph has appeared 

 in the Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



Another contribution from the government 

 laboratory is made by Dr. Smith, in his ' Notice 

 of a Fileflsh new to the Fauna of the United 

 States.' A second capture of this fileflsh 

 {Alutera monoceros) was reported in a recent 

 number of Science. A third contribution from 

 the laboratory is by the reviewer, and is a brief 

 history of the discovery, disappearance, and 

 final reappearance of the tilefish. 



The concluding article is by Charles H. Ste- 

 venson, on the ' Preservation of Fishery Prod- 

 ucts for Food.' It covers more than two 

 hundred pages, is amply illustrated, and is ex- 

 haustive in its treatment. The methods of re- 

 taining, curing, preserving, storing, packing, 

 and shipping fishery products of the most di- 

 verse nature are thoroughly discussed by one 

 who has evidentlj' spared no pains to make his 

 paper of real value. H. C. Bumpus. 



BOOKS EKCEIVED. 



Scientific Papers. John "William Steutt, Baeon 

 Eayleigh. Cambridge University Press, 1899. 

 Vol., I., 1869-1881. Pp. xiv + 562. $5.00. 



T/ie Kinetic Tlieory of Gases. Oskae Emil Meyee, 

 translated from the second revised edition by 

 EoBEET E. Baynes. Loudon, New York and Bom- 

 bay, Longmans, Green & Co. 1899. Pp. xvi + 472. 



An Introduction to Physical Chemistry. jAMES 

 Walker. London and New York, The Mao- 

 millan Company. 1899. Pp. x -f 335. ?2.50. 



Outlines of Industrial Chemistry. FRANK HALL 

 Thorpe. New York and London, The Maomillan 

 Company. 1899. New and revised edition. Pp. 

 xvii -t- 541. 13.50. 



Miimesota Plant Life. CoNWAY MacMillan. St. 

 Paul, Minn. 1899. Pp. xxv + 568. 



The World and the Individual. JOSIAH EOY'CE. Gif- 

 ford lectures delivered before the University of 

 Aberdeen. New York and London, The Maomillan 

 Company. 1900. Pp. xvi -|- 588. $3.00. 



